Emerging from slump, Hurricanes face wobbly Ducks

The Carolina Hurricanes appear to have reversed course following a dizzying stretch in which they lost six of eight games (2-5-1).

Winners of two in a row, the Hurricanes look to build off a season high-tying scoring output when they host the reeling Anaheim Ducks on Thursday in Raleigh, N.C.

Defenseman K'Andre Miller collected two goals and an assist, lifting Carolina to a 6-3 victory over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night.

"I think your chances come and go as the season progresses," Miller said. "I think just sticking with it, knowing that playing good hockey, the bounces are going to come."

Andrei Svechnikov notched a career-best four assists, Nikolaj Ehlers had three and leading goal-scorer Seth Jarvis scored and set up a goal in his return from an eight-game absence due to an upper-body injury.

"Huge. He didn't look like he had missed even a beat, right?" Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour said of Jarvis.

"He'd been out a long time. I think he had only a couple of practices with us, but he's a special player. When he's out there, you notice him, and that's good for us. He does so many things. That was a huge hole when he was gone."

Jarvis, who reached the 20-goal plateau for the third straight season, tallied twice in the Hurricanes' 4-1 victory over the Ducks in Anaheim on Oct. 16.

Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere matched his career high with three assists in the previous encounter versus the Ducks.

Rookie Brandon Bussi, who made 21 saves on Tuesday, secured his 15th career victory in just 18 contests, setting an NHL record for the fewest games to reach that win total.

While Carolina once again is trending upward, Anaheim is heading into the opposite direction. The Ducks dropped their seventh straight decision (0-6-1) with a 5-2 setback to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday.

Cutter Gauthier scored his 20th goal of the season against the team that was forced to trade him after he opted against signing, training or even communicating with the club. Gauthier was selected by the Flyers with the fifth overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft.

Gauthier became the second Ducks player with multiple 20-goal seasons before the age of 22. The other was Trevor Zegras, who scored two goals for Philadelphia against his former team on Tuesday.

A promising start to the season for Anaheim has been undone by its 2-9-2 stretch.

"First and foremost, our compete just has to be better," said Ducks defenseman Jackson LaCombe, who matched Troy Terry with two assists on Tuesday. "That's just a key that we have to figure out and come together and do. ... There's always areas you can clean up, but I think for us that's kind of our biggest thing."

Anaheim also has issues to address in net, as Petr Mrazek sustained an undisclosed injury in Monday's loss to the Washington Capitals. The Ducks summoned fellow goaltender Ville Husso from San Diego of the American Hockey League to back up Lukas Dostal.