ANAHEIM Reggie White Jersey , Calif. — As the playoffs close in, teams like the Dallas Stars play out the string. Others, like the Anaheim Ducks, tune up for the postseason. These two squads meet in Anaheim on Friday night with the Ducks still vying for second in the Pacific Division.

Anaheim (42-25-13) defeated the Minnesota Wild at home on Wednesday night. The win clinched the Ducks’ sixth consecutive playoff appearance. Ryan Miller made 26 saves in the win. Ondrej Kase scored the winning goal to up his season total to 20. The Ducks are on a three-game win streak and are 8-1-1 in their last 10 contests. The Wild were playing with a depleted defensive corps due to injuries suffered by Ryan Suter and Jared Spurgeon.

Dallas (41-31-8) defeated the Sharks 4-2 in San Jose Tuesday night, coming back from a 2-0 deficit. They have gone 3-5-2 in their last 10 games but have won their last two contests. Mike McKenna got the victory on the strength of 17 saves after he replaced starter Kari Lehtonen in the Dallas goal. Lehtonen stopped 12 shots and allowed both San Jose goals. He exited after being stunned by a hard shot late in period one.

The Stars were knocked from playoff contention on Sunday. They looked disinterested in the first part of the San Jose game but tied things as the last five minutes approached. Jamie Benn scored both the go-ahead goal and the empty-net insurance marker in the last 3:06.

Benn said, “It was a tough first period and even the second, but we found a way to regroup and came out with a great effort in the third.”

McKenna is the prototype of the NHL journeyman. His last appearance was with Colorado in 2015. He last won a game in December of 2013. Upon taking the net, he immediately turned away a four-shot onslaught by the Sharks. Dallas locked the game down late, allowing only one shot on goal in the third period. This was McKenna’s sixth NHL victory.

Lehtonen is on injured reserve with day-to-day status. The Stars lost primary goaltender Ben Bishop to an injury in mid-March. He started 51 games and played in 53 this season. Coach Hitchcock said Lehtonen will likely be available for Friday, but the team announced Thursday that McKenna will play against the Ducks.

“Sometimes guys just earn it in this league — and I think, quite frankly, he’s earned it,” Hitchcock said as reported on the team’s website.

Anaheim is missing two crucial members. Cam Fowler suffered an upper-body injury versus Colorado on Sunday and is expected to miss two to six weeks. John Gibson was knocked over in his net in the first period versus Colorado. Both are on the injured reserve list.

Defenseman Francois Beauchemin said, “Now that we’ve clinched Jay Novacek Jersey , it gives Gibby more freedom to really heal 100 percent before coming back.”

The Ducks can claim second place from San Jose depending on what the Sharks do in their last two games. For the past five years, the Ducks have won the Pacific. This year, injuries made that impossible.

Ryan Getzlaf said, “This whole year has been a bit of a struggle. With the start we had, and the players we had out of the lineup, it was tough to see the big picture at that point. Our guys did a good job battling throughout the whole year. We accomplished one goal we wanted.”

Coach Randy Carlyle commented, “We felt if we played the right way and gave ourselves a chance, this group was capable of putting together a longer string of wins and (qualifying) for the playoffs. Now the goal changes. Yes, we have accomplished the goal we set out, but now we’re in a position with four points available to solidify or even improve our position if we continue to have success. We want to play the right way going into the playoffs.”

The Stars finish their season on the road Saturday, playing Los Angeles. The Ducks finish their regular-season campaign with a game in Arizona that same night.

The Oakland Athletics put on quite the power display in beating the San Diego Padres 12-4 on Wednesday.

Light-hitting Franklin Barreto got the barrage started when he connected for a 424-foot, three-run home run in the second inning off rookie lefty Joey Lucchesi, who was returning from more than a month on the disabled list. Josh Phegley, Mark Canha Jack Mewhort Jersey , Matt Olson and Jed Lowrie also went deep for Oakland.

”This team’s got a lot of power,” Lowrie said. ”Continue to put quality at-bats together, that’s when this game starts to get fun.”

The A’s hit seven homers in sweeping the two-game series. Stephen Piscotty tied Tuesday night’s game with a homer with two outs in the ninth off Brad Hand and Lowie hit a two-run shot with two outs in the 10th for a 4-2 victory.

”We have it in us, that’s for sure,” manager Bob Melvin said. ”The ball carries a little better in day games here, similar to our place. After last night, other than the last couple of innings, hits were hard to come by. We started out early, led by Frankie, which was good to see.”

Barreto and Phegley went back-to-back with their first homers of the season in the second inning off left-hander Joey Lucchesi (3-3), who had been on the disabled list for more than a month. Barreto, hitting .071 coming in and batting seventh, homered into Oakland’s bullpen well beyond the fence in center field on a full-count pitch. Phegley homered off the Western Metal Supply Co. brick warehouse in the left field corner on a 1-1 pitch. Lucchesi hit Olson with a pitch opening the inning and then walked Piscotty ahead of Barreto’s homer.

Robbie Erlin got the last out of the second before allowing consecutive homers to Canha and Olson in the third. It was Canha’s ninth and Olson’s 15th. Phegley added a sacrifice fly.

Lowrie connected off Phil Hughes in the eighth, his 11th.

Frankie Montas (4-1) benefited from the long balls as he threw 6 2-3 strong innings. He held the Padres to one run and five hits Randy Gregory Jersey , struck out six and walked three. He allowed Cory Spangenberg’s RBI single in the third.

”It’s always good getting support from the guys, especially early in the game,” he said. ”I just tried to keep myself in the game.”

Montas was the only Oakland player in the starting lineup who didn’t have a hit. Melvin said he wouldn’t have minded if his pitcher went 0 for 4, because that would mean he went deep into the game. He went 0 for 3.

”Honestly, I wanted to hit the ball really bad, but I was not about hitting the ball because the guys were actually doing it for me,” Montas said. ”So I was just going to do my job pitching.”

Lucchesi went just 1 2/3 innings, allowing four runs and three hits.

”The first inning I felt OK and then I guess I felt a little bit off, maybe a little rusty,” said Lucchesi, who hadn’t pitched since May 14 due to a strained right hip. ”I couldn’t get my offspeed to work. I felt like I was doing something weird with my arm. I just didn’t have it.”

Manager Andy Green thought Lucchesi looked sharp in the first. ”His stuff kind of fell off somewhat rapidly today,” Green said. ”This was a tough return for him, but he’s going to bounce back from it and be just fine.”

Trailing 10-1, the Padres had infielder Cory Spangenberg pitch the ninth. He allowed two runs on two hits and two walks in his second appearance of the season.

”You’ve got to preserve bullpen arms L. P. Ladouceur Jersey ,” Green said, adding that it made no sense to use a reliever such as Matt Strahm just to try to hold the game at 10-1. ”So we were to Cory. At that point in time you get what you get and he got us through.”

San Diego’s Christian Villanueva homered in the ninth, his 16th.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Padres: Placed RHP Bryan Mitchell on the 10-day disabled list with an impingement in his right elbow to make room for Lucchesi on the 25-man roster. Mitchell (0-3, 7.08 ERA) hasn’t pitched since June 5. Mitchell has been disappointing since being acquired from the New York Yankees along with third baseman Chase Headley. The Padres wanted Mitchell so badly they were willing to take on Headley’s $13 million salary, but the deal has backfired. Headley was released on May 19 and Mitchell was demoted from the rotation to the bullpen.

UP NEXT

Athletics: RHP Chris Bassitt (0-2, 2.45) is scheduled to start Thursday night’s opener of a four-game series at the Chicago White Sox, who counter with RHP Lucas Giolito (4-7, 7.19).

Padres: RHP Tyson Ross (5-4, 3.51) is set to start the opener of a four-game series Thursday night at San Francisco, opposite LHP Madison Bumgarner (0-2, 4.67).

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