The Ducks awoke Friday to find themselves closer to the top of the Pacific Division standings than to the bottom, as it’s been since the early days and nights of the 2021-22 season. But there were reasons for concern as they prepared to face the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.

Fault lines developed in their overall play during lopsided defeats Wednesday to the Calgary Flames and Thursday to the Edmonton Oilers, which extended their losing streak to division opponents to three in a row. They were outworked, outskated and outscored in each game.

The Ducks were outscored by a combined 13-5 in the two games.

Do the Ducks (23-19-9, fifth in the Pacific) have it within themselves to produce a bounce-back game against the Canucks (23-21-6, sixth)? More to the point, do they have it within themselves to raise their play and match the speed, intensity and physicality of their opponents?

“I think it’s there,” Ducks left wing Adam Henrique said via Zoom. “It’s within the group. I think we’ve shown that. It’s a matter of our guys having the confidence to go do it night in and night out. It’s a pivotal time of the year. Every single point is huge. Playing within the division, it’s always huge.

“But now it can either separate you, or keep you in the mix, or put you in and – I don’t want to say give you a bit of a breather – but that’s what you’re looking to set yourself up for, for that stretch run. We’re in it now. We’re in the stretch run. We have to find a way to turn this back the other way and put points on the board and get wins.”

TAKING A MOMENT

Ducks coach Dallas Eakins gave the team the day off Friday in Vancouver, a typical day of rest in the NHL after playing on consecutive nights. He reflected late Thursday night on the Ducks’ journey from a last-place team in 2020-21 to Stanley Cup playoff contender in 2021-22.

“Hey, who would think we would be where we are in the standings?” he asked. “Who would think we would possibly be in a playoff race right now? Last year, if we would have lost a game like this (Thursday), it would have been, ‘Ho-hum, we’re out of it. Let’s get ready for the next one and see what happens.’ Our guys are (upset). They want to be in the race. They want to win games.”

Rather than criticizing the Ducks, Eakins praised the Oilers.

“We’re not as far along as a team like Edmonton,” he said. “We’re going to take our lumps some nights. We understand that, but our guys are fully committed as we build our organization, hopefully, in a winning environment. If it’s not going to be in a winning environment, it’s certainly going to be a competitive one. I know the score says one thing out there, but our guys were playing as hard as they could.”

SECOND PERIOD WOES

The Ducks trailed 2-0 after the first period Wednesday, a manageable gap, but their deficit grew to 4-1 after two periods as the Flames assumed command. The Ducks led 2-1 after the first period Thursday, a narrow lead, but they trailed 4-2 after two periods as the Oilers took control.

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In two games, the Ducks have been outscored 5-1 in the second periods.

“I never read anything into that,” Eakins said. “People like to focus on, ‘Oh my God, it’s the start of the second period now. They’ve got a big problem. They better start talking about that.’ Every moment in the game is important. It doesn’t matter if it’s the first of the period, the middle of the period, the end of the period. We were simply outmatched by (the Oilers on Thursday).”

Ducks at Vancouver

When: 7 p.m. Saturday

Where: Rogers Arena, Vancouver

TV: Bally Sports SoCal