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Ducks begin lengthy homestand vs. Canucks

Dec 28, 2014 - 3:55 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The well-rested Vancouver Canucks will try to build off their most recent victory when they visit the Anaheim Ducks for Sunday's Pacific Division clash at Honda Center.

Prior to the NHL's Christmas break, the Canucks were able to put together a two-game winning streak on the heels of an 0-4-1 stretch. Vancouver halted the five-game slide with a 3-2 overtime win against Calgary on Dec. 20 and then capped a stretch of four straight games at Rogers Arena with Monday's 7-1 rout of the Arizona Coyotes.

The Canucks enjoyed five days of rest after Monday's victory, but hope they can muster the same type of offensive effort in tonight's game against the Ducks.

Vancouver's win over the Coyotes was its most lopsided victory of the season. It also was the first time the Canucks won a game by a six-goal margin since a 6-0 home rout of the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 6, 2011.

Alex Burrows had two goals to lead Monday's scoring barrage, which marked the club's first time posting more than four goals since a 5-0 win in Columbus on Nov. 28.

After mustering just 10 goals over their previous six games, the Canucks put up three in the first period on Monday to back a 38-save effort from Ryan Miller. Three of Vancouver's scores on the night came on the power play, where the club had gone 1-of-22 over its previous seven outings.

Daniel Sedin and Brad Richardson had a goal and an assist in the rout, with Kevin Bieksa, Chris Higgins and Shawn Matthias also lighting the lamp for the Canucks.

"We're happy with the win. We did a lot of good things," said Burrows.

Vancouver went 2-2-0 on its recent homestand and the club will now play two straight on the road, where it owns a solid 11-6-1 record in 2014-15. The Canucks will complete the brief swing Tuesday in San Jose. Vancouver is fourth in the Pacific and one point behind San Jose for the third automatic playoff spot in the division.

Miller is 3-3-0 with a 2.56 goals against average in his career against Anaheim. The veteran backstop is expected to start tonight.

The Ducks lead the NHL with 52 points, but Bruce Boudreau's club has dropped three of its last five games. Anaheim is hoping an eight-game homestand, which begins tonight, can get it back on the right track.

Anaheim played Saturday in Arizona and dropped a 2-1 shootout decision to the Coyotes. Shane Doan was the lone scorer in the four-round tiebreaker, as the Ducks fell to 2-2-1 in their last five games.

The blade of Doan's stick snapped off as he fired a shot at Frederik Andersen, who got a piece of the splintered wood with his shoulder but whiffed on the puck as it trickled past his left pad and inside the goal post. Devan Dubnyk stoned Ryan Getzlaf at the other end to seal the win.

Rene Bourque scored for Anaheim, which is still 9-2-1 in December, a month that the Ducks began with a seven-game winning streak.

Andersen had 28 saves, but was thrown by Doan's fluky shootout goal.

"For a split second, I followed his blade and the puck goes the other way," he said. "It's a bad bounce but you can't do much about it."

Anaheim, which won't play another road game until visiting Los Angeles on Jan. 17, boasts an 11-3-3 record in Orange County this season.

The Canucks and Ducks have split a pair of meetings so far this season, with each club picking up a road shootout victory. Anaheim has taken seven of eight overall in the series, but the teams have split the last six encounters at the Honda Center.