California Dreamin': Ducks begin long stay in state vs. Stars

Anaheim will play seven games over 15 days beginning Friday night against the visiting Dallas Stars, but the Ducks won't have to leave Southern California during that span.

Six games will be at Honda Center in Anaheim, and the other contest will be about 30 miles north against the Los Angeles Kings on Dec 27.

"We're kind of in the thick of it here with the schedule, and we want to just make sure that we're pushing forward," Ducks forward Ryan Strome said. "Good chance at home ice here to keep establishing our game and feel good about ourselves over the break."

The Ducks will host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night in the second half of the back-to-back set, and the Seattle Kraken will visit on Monday before Anaheim gets a few days off around Christmas.

"I don't know if many guys in here are going to complain about less practices, more games," Strome said. "You just kind of roll with the punches. Every team's dealing with the same thing, right?"

Dallas flew to Southern California late Thursday night after beating the host San Jose Sharks 5-3 for their sixth win in the past eight games. The Stars will fly home to face the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday before hitting the road for a game against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.

"We get Dallas on a back-to-back (Friday); feels nice to get the second end of the team on that," Strome said. "But at the end of the day, every team's dealing with it, so it's an even playing field for everyone."

The Ducks activated goalie Petr Mrazek from injured reserve. He'll likely back up Lukas Dostal against the Stars and start vs. the Blue Jackets.

Dostal is 2-0-1 against Dallas in his career, with an .882 save percentage and a 3.63 goals-against average.

Anaheim returned Ville Husso to San Diego of the American Hockey League after he went 5-3-1 while Dostal and Mrazek were sidelined with injuries.

"Super happy for him," Dostal said of Husso. "He's a great guy. It's so nice to be around him because I had a chance to meet him last year, and we had a very nice duo. He's done a hell of a job down there and deserved a chance. He played really well for us."

The Stars are expected to start Casey DeSmith in goal after Jake Oettinger made 34 saves against the Sharks. DeSmith is 4-2-0 in his career against Anaheim, with a .919 save percentage, a 2.36 GAA and one shutout.

Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan said goaltending is a key to being successful in back-to-back games.

"Certainly your goaltender coming in on the back-to-back is big, and then the little things, again, special teams get big in those games and can give you some life," Gulutzan said. "Not really overly concerned with back-to-backs; it's more the three in fours that can give guys trouble."

The Ducks beat the Stars 7-5 in Dallas on Nov. 6 when Anaheim was in the midst of a season-long seven-game winning streak, and Oettinger gave up six goals in that contest. He hasn't given up more than four in any other outing this season.

--Field Level Media