Look for the Anaheim Ducks and Toronto Maple to stick with their strengths Friday night at Honda Center.The Ducks (8-9-3) have been one of the toughest teams to score against in recent seasons Washington Capitals T-Shirts Authentic , while the Maple Leafs (13-6-0) have featured one of the top-scoring offenses.Anaheim had the third-lowest goals-against average in the NHL last season at 2.55, but the Maple Leafs combined for 10 goals in a two-game sweep of the Ducks. Toronto tied for third in the NHL last season at 3.29 goals per game.Article continues below ...Anaheim hasn’t been as stingy this season. The Ducks are 11th in the league in GAA (2.85), but they continue to feature one of the league’s top goaltenders in John Gibson.The Maple Leafs, meanwhile, have become stronger on offense thanks to the addition of explosive center John Tavares. They’ve also tightened up on defense behind former Anaheim goalie Frederik Andersen.Andersen, who was drafted in the third round by the Ducks in 2012 and played his first three NHL seasons in Anaheim, has built some of the best numbers in the league this season. After making 42 saves Thursday night in a 5-3 victory at the San Jose Sharks, backup goalie Garret Sparks will start against the Ducks.Gibson and Andersen alternated starts for Anaheim during the 2015-16 season before the Ducks traded Andersen to Toronto in June 2016, making Gibson their No. 1 goalie. Anaheim signed Gibson to an eight-year contraction extension last summer.The Ducks have been very successful this season when holding opponents to two regulation goals or fewer, owning an 8-0-2 record in those situations, compared to 0-8-1 when they don’t.The main issue for Anaheim has been consistency, Gibson said.The Ducks started the season 5-1-1, marking the fifth time in franchise history they accumulated at least 11 points through the first seven games. Anaheim followed that run by losing seven in a row, however, one shy of the franchise record.Since ending the losing streak, the Ducks have alternated wins and losses over the past six games. They posted impressive one-goal victories against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Calgary Flames and Nashville Predators Washington Capitals Hoodies Authentic , only to lose their following game to the Los Angeles Kings (4-1), Minnesota Wild (5-1) and Vegas Golden Knights (5-0).“We’ve been able to win one here and there, but not go on a run,” Gibson said. “Hopefully, we can start stringing some together.”In the loss to the Golden Knights on Wednesday, Anaheim played without one of their top defensemen, Cam Fowler. He was struck in the face with the puck late in the third period against the Predators on Monday and sustained multiple fractures that will sideline him several weeks.The Ducks will likely start three rookie defensemen against Toronto, which is averaging 3.50 goals — good for third in the NHL.A big reason for the slight increase in offensive production this season has been the addition of Tavares, a five-time NHL All-Star who left the New York Islanders on July 1 and signed a seven-year, $77 million contract with the Maple Leafs.Tavares scored the first goal Thursday night against the Sharks, giving him five goals and 10 points in a seven-game point streak. Nick Jensen was just a Minnesota boy who played his first three seasons in Detroit.Then he walked into the Washington Capitals‘ locker room and saw the likes of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov, who welcomed their newest defenseman with open arms.“I never knew them before this and I just see them on TV, and it’s a little star-striking right away,” Jensen said.Jensen isn’t a star, but he and winger Carl Hagelin sure fit the mold of low key trade-deadline acquisitions who can pay big dividends during a long playoff run. The Capitals learned last year in getting defenseman Michal Kempny how a seemingly small trade can make a big difference, and the defending Stanley Cup champions are among the teams that made low-risk moves at last month’s trade deadline in hopes of reaping a high reward.Vegas paid a big price to land winger Mark Stone Washington Capitals Hats Authentic , Winnipeg gave up its first-rounder for center Kevin Hayes and both teams are better for those pickups. Yet recent history shows contenders who tinkered rather than making a splash at the deadline got it right.“To bring in people that are going to take major roles from some of your core guys, it starts to create some issues,” Washington coach Todd Reirden said. “Any time you have a chance to improve your players and acquire depth and give them a better opportunity to win, you don’t ever pass it up. But it’s something that seems like it’s been a successful one for us last year with a little bit of an under the radar acquisition and then this year the same thing.”Before the 2018 Capitals, the 2016 Penguins got Hagelin and defenseman Justin Schultz before the deadline, and a year later added Ron Hainsey and Mark Streit for blue line depth and repeated as champions even without Kris Letang. The 2015 Blackhawks similarly added forwards Antoine Vermette and Andrew Desjardins and defenseman Kimmo Timonen before winning their third championship in six seasons.While Columbus went all in to get forwards Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel even with Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky set to be free agents, other playoff teams tweaked to fill existing holes. Nashville paid reasonable prices to upgrade up front with Wayne Simmonds and Mikael Granlund. Winnipeg made perhaps its most important pickup with unheralded defenseman Nathan Beaulieu and Pittsburgh responded to injuries by trading for defensemen Erik Gudbranson and Chris Wideman.“We feel like we picked up some good pieces,” Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. “But for the most part, this is the group that we’ve got to get on the page and get going in the right direction.”Perhaps one reason minor deadline moves have as big an impact as substantial ones is there’s only a quarter of a season for players to get acclimated to their new teammates. It’s an ongoing process of watching video, studying and adjusting and it all happens on the fly in the midst of valuable games.“You have to make an impact pretty quickly,” Gudbranson said. “Just play my game, be physical, make the simple play, be solid and just communicate quite a bit.”TICKING CLOCKSNHL general managers have approved adding small digital clocks embedded in rink boards in all four corners beginning next season, an improvement that could add the odd goal or two because players won’t have to look up at a scoreboard for the time anymore.“It’s a good idea,” Flyers winger James van Riemsdyk said. “You have an awareness of how much time is on the clock no matter what, but to see it Custom Washington Capitals Jerseys , especially toward the end of a period or whatever may be happening, I think it’s only a good thing for players to have that.”The league’s Board of Governors must approve the idea first for it to become a reality in all arenas.HITCH’S MEMORYThe goal that haunts Buffalo Sabres fans isn’t etched in Ken Hitchcock’s memory. Twenty years since he coached the Dallas Stars to the Cup — a series that ended with Brett Hull’s infamous “skate in the crease” overtime goal — Hitchcock has barely watched the game.“I watched the game that we lost to New Jersey (in the 2000 Final) 20 times, and I know every shift,” said Hitchcock, who now coaches Edmonton. “I know everything that went on in that Jersey game. But I never looked at (Game 6 in 1999) until it came up in the summer on the NHL Network, and there was a one-hour highlight package that they show on games. That’s the first time I saw it.”GAME OF THE WEEKThe Blue Jackets need all the points they can get as they claw for a playoff spot, and it doesn’t get much bigger than their game against the Penguins on Saturday night.LEADERSGoals: Alex Ovechkin (Washington), 45; Assists: Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay), 77; Points: Kucherov, 108; Ice time: Drew Doughty (Los Angeles), 26:58; Goals-against average: Jordan Binnington (St. Louis), 1.68; Save percentage: Binnington, .933.