Ducks search for offensive answers as they prepare to play the Devils

The Anahim Ducks will continue to search for offense in-house unless they make an 11th-hour move before the NHL’s roster freeze, which goes into effect Saturday and runs through Dec. 27.

The Ducks continue a stretch of games that feature seven of eight on the road when they play the New Jersey Devils at 4 p.m. Saturday in a game that will be televised on Channel 13 and can be heard on 830 AM radio.

It can’t get much worse for Anaheim, which was shut out for the seventh time Thursday in a 3-0 loss at Buffalo and has scored one or zero goals in half of its 30 games. The Ducks are averaging an NHL-low 1.31 goals per game on the road and have not scored a power-play goal in December (0 for 13).

Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau has demoted Ryan Getzlaf in parts of the last two games; he has scored just one goal, into an empty net, in 26 games.

One of the offensive pieces the Ducks miss is winger Kyle Palmieri, who will face them for the first time since they traded him to New Jersey (his home state) in June. He has 13 goals, which ties him for the Devils’ lead and would lead the Ducks.

Palmieri told the Newark Star-Ledger that he thought the Ducks were going a “different way” toward the end of last season and “for me [the trade] was just a fresh start. I was excited about the opportunity, so I don’t think there is any bitterness toward Anaheim in that regard.”