AT THE MORNING SKATE:

After leaving Thursday's practice early, forward Sam Gagner did not take part in Friday's morning skate at Rexall Place.

Head Coach Pat Quinn later confirmed that Gagner will miss tonight's game vs. the Ducks due to a nagging hip injury and is uncertain about when he will return to the line-up.

"Between he and our medical staff, they decided maybe a little break away would help look after this thing," Quinn explained.

"It was him that pulled himself off, so you know it's sore because he's the kind of kid that keeps pushing through that sort of stuff and has for a while now. So it was clearly sore enough not to try to continue yesterday (at practice) and today he's not going to play, and we'll just see whether time will make a difference for it."

O'Sullivan returns

While Gagner is out, the Oilers will keep their forward numbers intact by welcoming Patrick O'Sullivan back to the line-up. O'Sullivan suffered a gory finger injury March 9 vs. Ottawa and has missed the past seven games.

Although he was cleared to play last weekend, the forward said the extra days of practicing "certainly didn't hurt."

"My finger had more time to heal and the team's doing well. There's no urgency. It's not like we needed to make some changes or do anything like that, so I think those three things combined probably helped me. I was able to get some more practices and that's important," he said.

Despite continued pain in his finger, O'Sullivan is eager to trade the press box for the face-off dot.

"It's not 100% but it's good enough to play and it's one of those things where I play now or I don't play for the rest of the year," he added. "I'm excited for tonight. It's tough watching games."

Deslauriers goes for two

One player who won't have to watch tonight's game from the sidelines is goalie Jeff Deslauriers, who will get the start vs. Anaheim.

With both Oilers goalies coming off wins, Quinn could have had a tough decision to make today, but because of Deslauriers' strong performance Tuesday night vs Vancouver and rookie Devan Dubnyk's continued recovery from the flu, Deslauriers sealed the starting position.

"It was mostly based on a strong game that he had," Quinn explained. "Of course Dubnyk had a strong game before that, but Dubnyk still hasn't had a lot of food in him, to the point where we said one more day for sure."

Quinn concluded by saying that the team will likely alternate goalies through the remainder of the season.

Whitney vs. Visnovsky

One subplot of tonight's game involves defencemen facing former teammates. After swapping teams at the trade deadline three weeks ago, former Duck Ryan Whitney and former Oiler Lubomir Visnovsky meet eachother for the first time tonight.

Both players are looking forward to game.

"It's always fun playing against guys you've played with," Whitney said. "You can have a couple of little rivalries out there just from having some friends on the other team."

Lubomir Visnovsky

"Tonight, for me, it's a special night," Visnovsky added. "I'm back in Edmonton and I will play against my ex-teammates. I've got lots of good friends there and I will be excited tonight. I think it will be good for me."

The blueliners have excelled with their new teams, and Whitney said it's worked out for the best.

"I'm really happy here, so that's good. That's what I'm kind of thinking about. I don't know [Visnovsky] that well, but the guys said he's a really good guy, he's fit in well there, so it seems like right now it's pretty good."

With Visnovsky in the line-up and a playoff spot in the distance, Whitney is expecting the Ducks to play a tough game tonight.

"I think they're pretty desperate right now," he said. "I don't know if they're technically eliminated, but they've got to win probably the rest of their games so they'll be desperate, they'll be playing hard, and it will be fun."

Petry turns pro

Jeff Petry

In other news Friday morning, the Oilers announced they have signed defenceman Jeff Petry to a two-year entry-level contract. Petry, 22, has played the past three seasons with Michigan State University and is expected to report to the AHL's Springfield Falcons for his first professional assignment.

• READ THE PRESS RELEASE

DUCKS (34-31-8) at OILERS (24-42-7)

Last 10 -- Anaheim 4-5-1, Edmonton 5-4-1

Season series -- They've met twice so far, both in the week before the Olympic break, and both games were Duck wins. The second matchup came on the final day of action before teams split up for two weeks and all eyes in Canada were on Ryan Getzlaf, who had sustained a high ankle sprain the week before. Getzlaf's two power-play goals and two assists removed any doubts he'd be ready to join Team Canada as the Ducks rolled 7-3.

Big story -- Former Oiler Lubomir Visnovsky makes his return to Rexall Place since being dealt to the Ducks at the trade deadline earlier this month. Likewise, it's also Ryan Whitney's first game against his old team. The Ducks are mathematically still in it, but they're 11 points behind the eighth-seeded Red Wings with nine games remaining and a big chunk of their firepower out of action.

Team scope

Ducks -- How badly will they miss Getzlaf? Any time you take 69 points out of the lineup, there's a gaping hole left behind. Not that they were exactly on a tear with him. They've pulled an oh-fer on their Western Canada swing with a loss in Calgary to match the one in Vancouver, and now they face an Oilers team that has embraced the role of spoiler in the season's final weeks.

"We put ourselves in a tough spot by the way we played early in the season and our room for error is minimal," Ducks captain Scott Niedermayer said, looking back at a 10-13-6 start that the team has spent the season trying struggled to overcome. "So it's frustrating when you don't get points when you need them."

Oilers -- Wherever they are in the standings, the Oilers had better luck against the Canucks than the Ducks did. They jumped out to a two-goal lead and Jeff Deslauriers made it hold up for his third win in a row, a 3-2 victory. It was the Oilers' fifth win in six games atRexall Place this month and third straight overall. They can make it a perfect four-game homestand with a win over the Ducks.

"He was really sharp ... and confident and in mental control," Edmonton coach Pat Quinn said of Deslauriers, who gave up all seven goals against Anaheim on Valentine's Day. "Our guys battled hard all night long and I like how they played around him."

Who's hot -- Oilers defenseman Ryan Whitney led the team in ice time against Vancouver and was a plus-2, making him plus-6 in the last three games. He'll be facing his former teammates for the first time since being traded from the Ducks along with a draft pick for defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky. With the win over the Canucks Tuesday night, Deslauriers has beaten both Roberto Luongo and Martin Brodeur in a two-week period.

Injury report -- The Oilers returned to practice Thursday after a day off, and forward Patrick O'Sullivan (finger) was medically cleared to play Friday. Goalie Devan Dubnyk (flu) is still not 100 percent and is taking it day by day. Forward Sam Gagner left practice early. No confirmed report yet but Quinn did comment that he has been battling a hip injury.

Stat pack -- Bobby Ryan has three goals and an assist against the Oilers in two games. Niedermayer also has four points, a goal and three assists. Ethan Moreau and Shawn Horcoff have three points each against the Ducks this year.

Puck drop -- Misery loves company, and the Oilers, the only team mathematically eliminated from the playoffs in the NHL, would be more than happy to bring some teams along with them.

-- Matthew Mankiewich, NHL.com