(Best E Casino) - At this point, Anaheim is looking to see if there is anyone else from last year's team not around that they can still add to the roster. The Ducks will try to stay undefeated since the return of Teemu Selanne when they take on the Detroit Red Wings this afternoon at Joe Louis Arena.
The Ducks are 3-0-0 since Selanne returned to the ice after he decided not to retire and instead signed a one-year deal. Anaheim had lost six in a row, including the first four tests of its current franchise-record nine-game road trip, before getting last season's leading goal scorer back.
A similar thing happened when Scott Niedermayer also opted not to retire and rejoined the Ducks in mid-December. Anaheim posted at least a point in last year's Conn Smythe Trophy winner's first five games back (4-0-1).
Selanne is still in search of his first goal of the season, as it was rookie Ryan Carter who led the team to a 2-1 victory over New Jersey on Friday. Playing in his 28th career game, Carter netted the first two goals of his career in the win.
The Ducks won at New Jersey for the first time since February 11, 1996.
Jonas Hiller made 34 saves for the Ducks, who improved to 3-3-1 on the their epic trek. The club is now 14-15-3 as the visiting club this season and wrap the swing in Colorado on Tuesday.
Hiller was giving a rest to Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who is 2-0-1 with a pair of shutouts and a 0.32 goals-against average in his last three starts. Giguere had dropped four in a row before that span.
Anaheim is trying to keep pace in the Pacific Division, as it enter's this afternoon's game in third place in the standings, six points behind front- running Dallas.
The Ducks also hope that Selanne can help the club halt its nine-game regular- season losing streak in Detroit. Anaheim is a mere 1-17 with a tie in its last 19 at Detroit, and hasn't won there in the regular season since March 19, 2002.
However, the Ducks knocked off the Red Wings in six games in last year's Western Conference finals, winning a pair of games in Motown.
The Red Wings have won four of six and seven of their last 11 overall versus the Ducks in the regular season.
Detroit comes into this game as losers in two straight though. After blowing a third-period lead and falling to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday, the Red Wings lost a 3-2 overtime decision to Toronto on Saturday.
Nik Antropov's goal 1:02 into overtime clinched the win for Toronto. The scoring chance came after a Red Wings turnover led to an odd-man rush for Toronto. Then, with Detroit goaltender Dominik Hasek scrambling to get back into position, Antropov took advantage of some crisp passing and knocked a feed from Anton Stralman into the net.
Nicklas Lidstrom had a goal and an assist for the Red Wings, who have dropped two straight on the heels of an eight-game win streak. Detroit has a pair of three-game losing streaks this season, with those occurring from November 11-17 and January 10-15.
Mikael Samuelsson also scored, while Hasek turned aside 22 shots in defeat. The Red Wings still lead the NHL with 87 points and bring a 21-5-2 home mark into this test.
Daniel Cleary is out for today's game after suffering facial lacerations in yesterday's loss. Cleary was hit with a slap shot in the first period. He fell to the ice and immediately covered the left side of his face with his glove. He then skated off with a towel covering his face, was immediately escorted to the locker room, and taken to the hospital.
