The Ducks returned from their first real migration of the season, a four-game trip northeast that saw them go 1-2-1, and geared up to face the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday.

It’ll be a showdown of No. 1 overall vs No. 2 overall in the 2023 draft – Chicago’s Connor Bedard leads the team in scoring and Leo Carlsson ranks second on the Ducks – but it’ll also be another game where the Ducks seek to further separate themselves from the onerous struggles of rebuilding.

They’ve already beaten the San Jose Sharks twice and a victory against Chicago would help them climb out of the crab bucket that is the bottom of the NHL standings, where they, Chicago and San Jose have been Western fixtures in this decade after enjoying considerable success in the 2010s.

It’ll still be a matchup of two of the lowest-scoring squads in the league, with Chicago producing the eighth-fewest goals overall and per game while the Ducks are in the very bottom spot in both categories.

Part of that has been a lack of production from the blue line for the Ducks, who have received just 10 points from their defensemen this season (Colorado leads the league with 34, and they run a somewhat similar system to the Ducks). Pavel Mintyukov’s two-goal effort against Utah represents the sum of his scoring output thus far and all but one of the goals scored by a Ducks defender, that of Olen Zellweger.

“The defense has to bring offense,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said earlier this season. “You need that weaponry on that back end to score in this league.”

The Ducks reassigned rearguard Tristan Luneau to the minors Friday. Though he has plenty of offensive ability, he hasn’t hit the scoresheet in six contests and the demotion will give him an opportunity to play more games and minutes.

Until their offense can become more consistent and get more from its back end, the Ducks will continue to use goalie Lukáš Dostál as a load-bearing wall. The Ducks have earned 10 of a possible 16 points with the 24-year-old Czech alchemizing scrap metal routinely.

In the eight games with Dostál in net, the Ducks have been outshot 290-209 and nearly doubled on high-danger chances with a 126-67 count in their opponents’ favor.

Theoretically, he should have a lighter load Sunday, with the Ducks last having played in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Penguins in Pittsburgh on Thursday while Chicago will have played 28 hours earlier against the Kings.

In the opposing net will be Arvid Söderblom, a backup netminder that’s posted leaner numbers than starter Petr Mrázek, albeit in just two appearances. The Swede last got the call on Oct. 19 in an overtime loss to Buffalo.

Bedard has been Chicago’s pace car this season, with veteran Teuvo Teravainen adding some pop up front. Teravainen spent the early part of his career in Chicago, including during the Blackhawks last Stanley Cup triumph in 2015, and returned as a free agent this summer after eight seasons as a Carolina Hurricane.

Chicago at Ducks

When: 5 p.m. Sunday

Where: Honda Center

TV: Victory+, KCOP (Ch. 13)