New Jersey @ Anaheim preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 18, 2018 ) New Jersey 2, Anaheim 4

The New Jersey Devils began changing the script to their season on a California trip and look to make it two straight victories to start it off when they visit the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday. The Devils, who wrap up the trek Monday in San Jose, won the first four games of the season before losing 17 of their next 22 (5-12-5), but put their best foot forward with a 6-3 win at Los Angeles on Thursday.

“It’s a fresh start,” New Jersey's Kyle Palmieri told reporters after scoring twice in Thursday’s triumph. “You can’t worry about our road record (3-10-1), and you can’t worry about what happened in October and November. It’s about what we’re doing now, and it’s something to build off of, for sure.” The Devils had dropped six straight (0-3-3) before recording their highest total of goals since beating Washington 6-0 in the second game of the season on Oct. 11, while the Ducks saw their five-game winning streak come to an end Friday with a 4-1 setback against Carolina. Anaheim registered just 19 shots without second-leading scorer Rickard Rakell (lower body) after scoring 10 times in its previous two contests. “It was one of those games where nothing we seemed to try to do had any effect on it, any positive effect,” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle told reporters. “It was all frustration and lack of ability to execute.”

TV: 8 p.m. ET, MSG Plus (New Jersey), Prime Ticket (Anaheim)

ABOUT THE DEVILS (10-12-5): Palmieri’s two goals pushed his team-high total to 14 and matched the amount he produced in his previous 13 contests while leading scorer Taylor Hall (30 points) set up three tallies on Thursday. Nico Hischier may be breaking out of his slump as he has recorded two goals and as many assists in his last four games, while Travis Zajac has scored twice in the same span. New Jersey hopes its power play is beginning to perk up, as it has converted twice in the last three games after managing just one goal in the previous 12 contests.

ABOUT THE DUCKS (15-11-5): Rakell is questionable for Sunday’s contest and captain Ryan Getzlaf (team-best 22 points) hopes to get rolling again after being kept off the scoresheet in each of the last two games. Adam Henrique (six goals, 11 assists) saw his six-game point streak end on Friday, but Jakob Silfverberg scored for the second straight contest to reach the 100-goal mark for his career. Hampus Lindholm leads the team's defensemen in points (14) while blue-liner Jake Dotchin notched his first point with the team on Friday.

OVERTIME

1. The Ducks have won seven of the last nine meetings with the Devils but has split each of the last two season series.

2. Hall, who is one goal shy of 200 for his career, has notched 11 points in his last eight contests.

3. Anaheim signed GM Bob Murray on Saturday to a two-year contract extension through the 2021-22 season.

PREDICTION: Devils 3, Ducks 2