The Ducks will head north of the border of the start of a two-game divisional road trip, tonight taking on the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome. PUCK DROP: 6:30 P.M. PT | WHERE TO WATCH | AUDIO

The Anaheim Ducks are 9-9-2 since the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off break and have fallen entirely out of the Western Conference Playoff race, in which they had made a brief appearance early in March when they were within six points (as recent as March 5) of the second Wild Card spot.

Welcome back to another edition of NHL Predictions. Each day, our team here at Last Word on Hockey reviews the scheduled games and offers insight and analysis to help predict who will win in key head-to-head matchups.

The Ducks, who play Thursday night at Calgary, see individual and team improvements despite scant postseason odds.

The Canadiens and Blue Jackets both take the ice Thursday. Here are matchup details, full bracket projections.

Gus Jaimes' exclusive T-shirt designed for local hockey fans is one of the ways the tattoo artist represents Anaheim

Sam Colangelo and Trevor Zegras each had a goal and an assist, Jackson LaCombe also scored, and Lukas Dostal made 28 saves for the Ducks (33-33-8), who swept the season series with the Sharks for the first time in their history. The Ducks finished their five-game homestand by winning three of the final four.

Mason McTavish scored the lone shootout goal to help the Anaheim Ducks sweep their season series over in-state rivals, the San Jose Sharks.