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ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The surprising Edmonton Oilers will face their first big divisional test when they play the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night at the Honda Center.The Oilers, who finished last in the Pacific Division last season, hold first place by two points over the third-place Ducks. Before this season, Edmonton finished last or next-to-last nine times in the past 10 seasons after reaching the 2006 Stanley Cup final.Connor McDavid, the first overall selection in the 2015 draft, has become the Oilers centerpiece and captain at 19. After missing three months of his rookie season because of a broken clavicle, McDavid leads the NHL with 14 assists and ranks third with 19 points in just his second season.Hes a very mature young man. Its surprising hes only 19-years old, the way he carries himself, left winger Milan Lucic told Sportsnet.ca.A former Oiler and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame went further in his praise of McDavid.I think hes the best 19-year-old hockey player Ive ever seen, Wayne Gretzky told todaysslapshot.com. His teammates idolize him and believe hes the guy who is going to lead them to the Promised Land.But Edmonton brings a three-game losing streak into Anaheim. In each of those losses, the opposing team began the scoring within the first two minutes.I think thats been a little bit of our problem lately, gripping the sticks a little too tight, Lucic told the Edmonton Journal after Sunday nights 3-1 loss at home to the New York Rangers. You know, that confidence and that swagger that we had in the first eight games seemed to get away from us. We havent had it in the last eight games.Tuesday nights game also will feature the home debut of Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm, who entered the season as a restricted free agent. The 22-year-old Swede signed a six-year contract worth $31.5 million on Oct. 27 but had to wait for a visa before rejoining the Ducks on Wednesday in Columbus for a 3-2 overtime loss. After three games, Lindholm owns a plus-1 rating but has yet to register a point or a penalty.Meanwhile, goalie Jonathan Bernier is providing stiff competition for John Gibson, Anaheims undisputed starter as the season began. Acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs in July for a conditional draft pick, Bernier ranks eighth among NHL goalies with a .934 save percentage and owns a 2.08 goals-against average despite playing just six games. The 28-year-old veteran also won both of his starts this season.Gibson, however, allowed 13 goals in his past four starts, lost two of three decisions and watched Bernier relieve him in both defeats.Despite Gibsons recent slump, right winger Jakob Silfverberg believes the Ducks are lucky to have two interchangeable starting goalies, a pattern Anaheim followed last year with Gibson and Frederik Andersen.It just brings calmness to the team when he steps up and makes some big saves at key times, Silfverberg told the Orange County Register in referring to Bernier. Weve been very fortunate, in my opinion, to have two very good goalies. I think thats exactly the same case this year. Vans Old Skool Sale . The lawyers filed a 33-page amended complaint Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, expanding on the suit originally filed Oct. 3 in New York Supreme Court. 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A statement from the worlds top-ranked player says all checks "were satisfactory and showed positive evolution" regarding the injury, which contributed to his loss to Stanislas Wawrinka in the final in Melbourne. DENVER -- Jason Hammel will carry an impressive scoreless streak into his start for the Chicago Cubs and oppose his former team in the rubber game of a series with the Colorado Rockies on Sunday.Hammel is 13-5 with a 2.75 ERA. He gave up two hits in seven scoreless innings in his last start Tuesday at Milwaukee.Hammel has not allowed a run in 22 innings and is 6-0 with a 0.95 ERA in six starts since the All-Star break.In his one start against the Rockies, Hammel gave up three runs in six innings on April 11, 2015, in a 9-5 win. Hammel pitched for the Rockies in 2009-2011 and 27-30 with a 4.63 ERA.Hammels start comes in the wake of the Cubs 9-2 win on Saturday night in which left-hander Mike Montgomery, in his first start for the Cubs after seven relief appearances and governed by a 60-65 pitch limit, worked 4 1/3 hitless innings before giving up a homer to Nick Hundley on his 60th and final pitch.Montgomery was filling in for injured John Lackey, who along with ace Jake Arrieta can be a free agent after 2017. The Cubs lack starting pitching depth at Triple-A Iowa, making Montgomery an intriguing possibility for their rotation.We think he can be very, very helpful to us, Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. Its an easy delivery. Hes pitching with confidence. I can see him settling in. And he knows he belongs here and can do this and be good. Not just pedestrian. This guy can be very good.Montgomery will have a limit of 80 to 90 pitches in his next start Friday at the Los Angeles Dodgers as he tries to build upon his outing against the Rockies.A free agent after this season, left-hander Jorge De La Rosa, 35, who will start Sunday for the Rockies, is in the final weeks of his career with Colorado. Hes 7-7 with a 5.29 ERA and has had no-decisions in his past three games, all Rockies losses, including Monday against Washington when he allowed four runs in six innings in a 5-4 loss to the Nationals.De La Rosa, who has been with the Rockies since 2008, is 52-19 with a 4.26 ERA in 102 games, including 95 starts, at Coors Field. Hes 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA in three games against the Cubs in Denver but has not faced them at homme since 2013.ddddddddddddDe La Rosas next start after Sunday is scheduled for Saturday at Washington. He is then next scheduled to pitch Sept. 2 at Coors Field against Arizona. That date is after the Aug. 31 deadline for making a trade after putting a player through the waiver process.And there is a chance, albeit perhaps a small one, that on Sunday, De La Rosa will make his final start for the Rockies at Coors Field.Regardless, the Rockies were able to get a look at their starting pitching future on Saturday night when Jeff Hoffman made his major league debut. He gave up seven hits and seven runs (six earned) in four innings, leaving with a sullied pitching line after giving up Kris Bryants three-run homer in the fifth inning.In reality, that line wasnt nearly as bad as it appears, and the Rockies, who acquired Hoffman, 23, in the deal last July that sent shortstop and franchise icon to Toronto, are extremely high on Hoffman.He will make his next start Friday at Washington and figures to be in the Rockies rotation to start the 2017 season. Hoffman gave up two hard-hit balls to the Cubs and four singles that found their way through the infield, three when the Rockies shifts didnt pay off.I wasnt getting ahead as much as I should have been, and that obviously opened up a whole world of opportunities for them, Hoffman said. When you are not getting ahead, and you are facing guys in the box who know what they are doing, they are going to find holes. Thats what they did tonight, they found holes with everything.Chalk it up as a learning experience for Hoffman in his big league debut before a sellout crowd of 48,113 at Coors Field.I felt very comfortable here, Hoffman said. I dont know why that was. I was really expecting to be nervous, to be jittery, all that stuff.For my first big league game, this was exactly what I was expecting. A ton of people. It was loud. It was electric. I just got to go out and do a better job of executing pitches.The Rockies are quite confident he will. ' ' '