ANAHEIM –– The Ducks didn’t settle for any moral victories on Sunday afternoon when they parlayed a swimming start analytically into a soaring finish on the scoreboard, upending the Edmonton Oilers, 5-3, behind four unanswered goals at Honda Center.
The line of Mason McTavish, Cutter Gauthier and Robby Fabbri saw each member produce a goal and an assist. Drew Helleson added a goal before Ryan Strome deposited the game-winner. Lukáš Dostál halted 20 shots.
Edmonton captain Connor McDavid engineered a pair of power-play goals by Leon Draisaitl. Evan Bouchard chipped in a goal and an assist. Backup goalie Calvin Pickard had 27 saves.
Despite going 0-for-5 on the power play –– they’ve scored just one goal in their past 28 opportunities –– and surrendering two man-advantage markers, the Ducks’ even-strength excellence won out on Sunday. Their torrent of tallies condemned the Oilers to a Southern California sweep after losing 4-3 in overtime to the Kings on Saturday.
The Ducks had recently turned in a win over the Winnipeg Jets when they had the NHL’s best record and played competitively in losses against other top teams like Colorado and Vegas.
“Last year we probably would have lost that game five-nothing, but it feels like this year we’re going toe to toe with these teams,” Strome said. “Whether it’s Colorado or Winnipeg or now these guys, obviously it’s only December, but I think it’s a really good sign when we’re playing them straight up and down and competing. It’s nice to get a win. This is one of the hardest-working teams I’ve been a part of.”
The third period featured wild momentum swings with the Ducks recording the period’s first four strikes on net before the Oilers put up 11 of the next 12.
But with 2:36 to play, Strome’s stuff attempt broke the tie, after a video review determined his shot had completely crossed the goal line. McTavish would send the puck into a vacated cage 52 seconds before the final horn.
“I told the ref I thought it was in, but the way it’s going for us right now, I didn’t want to celebrate or say [too much],” Strome said. “It seems like we’re hitting crossbars and we’re hitting posts, I had one go off my knee that just went over the net.”
Although the Ducks hit the net 10 more times than the Oilers did through 40 minutes and commanded play five-on-five, they had to settle for a 3-3 tie through two periods after falling down 2-0 and 3-1.
Fabbri came up with an equalizer with 2:27 on the clock. Gauthier nudged the puck ahead to McTavish at the left dot, where he swept a pass back to the inside part of the right circle. Fabbri’s kneeling one-timer became his fifth goal as a Duck.
“(McTavish) tricked me, too, I didn’t see (Fabbri) coming down the far side, and he made a great pass,” Gauthier said.
The hosts had pulled back within a goal with 7:41 remaining in the stanza, and in fortuitous fashion. Pickard’s clearing attempt appeared to hit Troy Terry before it went directly to Helleson, who didn’t hesitate to fling a shot from the far corner of the offensive zone. Edmonton defenseman Darnell Nurse tried to knock the shot down but instead deflected it past his own goalie.
Edmonton cushioned its lead with a second power-play goal, their ruthless efficiency standing in stark contrast to the Ducks’ 1-for-28 woes. For the second time, it was McDavid to Draisaitl for a redirection goal, this time with a pass coming from below the goal line to just above the right hash marks.
The game opened tentatively with little action for either side, but soon was in danger of getting away from the Ducks, who scraped back a goal to leave their first-intermission deficit at 2-1.
Dostál’s save on a McDavid breakaway quelled a threat before the Ducks’ first goal halved their disadvantage with 6:08 left in the first period. Gauthier motored ahead of one defender in the neutral zone and then weaved through two more in the Edmonton end before flicking a hard, low-flying shot past Pickard. It was the rookie Gauthier’s fifth career goal after a quiet afternoon in a 3-1 loss to Philadelphia on Saturday, a date he said he had “circled on his calendar.”
The Oilers struck at the 8:03 and 11:59 marks.
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They went up 2-0 just eight seconds after killing their first penalty of the game, with former Kings winger Viktor Arvidsson exiting the penalty box in time to earn an assist on a counterattack tally by Bouchard, who trailed the rush for a precise snipe.
As it did against the Kings on Saturday, Edmonton converted on its first power-play opportunity. This time it was a rare four-on-three situation that saw McDavid take the helm. He nearly set up Zach Hyman in front and then zipped a dot-to-dot seam pass for Draisaitl, who zipped a one-timer through Dostál.
“We were able to dig in, particularly when we got down –– we didn’t start out too well, two-nothing, but the bench was positive –– and we were fortunate to get into a rhythm,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “The team has a lot of belief. They’re really a good group of people.”