ANAHEIM, Calif. — The N.H.L.’s Ducks hosted Orange County’s biggest field trip on Tuesday when they welcomed roughly 16,000 elementary school students to Honda Center. Anaheim players enjoyed the task of using hockey to educate children on some basic tenets of science. But they also admitted that the event, now in its 16th year, is considerably more fun when the team is winning.

And after a disastrous start to their season, the Ducks are winning a lot.

Anaheim slogged through a 1-7-2 start that appeared to put Coach Bruce Boudreau’s job in peril, but the Ducks have rocketed up the Pacific Division standings in the past two months. That dominance was on full display during a recent make-or-break trip spanning seven games over 12 days in which Anaheim was 5-1-1.

“We talked about how a lot of people probably think it is going to be our downfall,” center Ryan Kesler said of the trip. “It’s a long, grueling trip traveling a lot of miles. We just kept winning. That’s been our model since Christmas. Just play.”

The road swing was the high-water mark of a remarkable turnaround for Anaheim, but upon their return, Ducks players were mostly preoccupied with maintaining their strong play at home.