Rakell, Perron return to Ducks lineup; Bieksa game time decision | NHL Upcoming Schedule

Anaheim Ducks' Sami Vatanen, bottom right, of Finland, celebrates his goal with his teammates including Rickard Rakell, of Sweden, during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Nashville Predators, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

The makeup game against Washington, that forced the team to fly from Colorado to D.C. for a back to back to close the season, ended up being the game that gave them the Pacific Division. In turn for their cross-country trek back to California, the scheduling overlord at the NHL gave the team a break by scheduling their first playoff game five days later.

A lot of hockey has to do with luck; we even have an analytic to factor it in. This past week one could conclude the Anaheim Ducks off-ice PDO has leaned in their favor.

After two practices and skating away from the team, it appears Rickard Rakell and David Perron willdefinitely be returning to the lineup for Game 1 against the Nashville Predators. Kevin Bieksa (upper-body injury) will be a game time decision.

Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf had his appendix removed earlier in the season, and was back after missing four games. Rakell went on to miss the rest of the regular season.

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