EDMONTON, Alberta — Prior to their first-round playoff series, one clear advantage the Edmonton Oilers appeared to have against the Ducks was special teams – but it’s been the polar opposite through two games.
The Ducks have dominated those units and it’s helped them pull even in the best-of-seven series.
They scored twice on the power play, once short-handed and held the Oilers’ top-ranked power play off the scoresheet in a 6-4 win in Game 2 on Wednesday night at Rogers Place, knotting the series as it shifts to Anaheim for Games 3 and 4 on Friday and Sunday at Honda Center.
Cutter Gauthier (two goals and one assist) and Alex Killorn (one goal, two assists) led the Ducks with three points each in Game 2. Ryan Poehling also had two goals, Jacob Trouba scored one, Jackson LaCombe had three assists, and Lukas Dostal had 34 saves for his first career playoff win, as the Ducks escaped with a win despite another fierce third-period comeback bid by the Oilers.
Leon Draisaitl had a goal and an assist for Edmonton, while Josh Samanski, Connor Murphy and Zach Hyman also scored for Edmonton. Connor Ingram made 22 saves.
Gauthier’s second goal with 4:52 left stood as the game-winner. Poehling secured the win with an empty-netter with 1:10 left.
The Ducks led 4-3 entering the third, and Samanski scored his first-career playoff goal to tie the game with 6:09 left, but Gauthier restored the Ducks’ lead just 1:07 later.
Gauthier, who was quiet in the Ducks’ Game 1 loss, was one of their best players on Wednesday.
After Draisaitl made it 1-0 at the 8:58 mark, Gauthier tied the contest with the Ducks on the tail end of a power play with 7:12 left in the opening frame.
The Ducks’ penalty kill was ranked 26th in the league in the regular season (76.4%), but they’ve been outstanding killing off the Oilers’ top-ranked man-advantage unit (30.6%).
The Ducks are a perfect 6 for 6 on the penalty kill, and their power play has scored three times. Gauthier and Killorn scored their two man-advantage goals in Game 2, and Poehling produced the short-handed goal.
After Trouba’s point shot made it 2-1 at 2:44 of the second period, Killorn made it 3-1 just 3:11 later when his centering pass to Beckett Sennecke bounced right back to him for his first of the postseason.
After Murphy made it 3-2 at the 11:46 mark of the middle frame, the Oilers got another chance to tie the score, but the Ducks’ pressure on the PK had Edmonton’s power play in disarray.
Killorn intercepted a pass and was able to keep the puck inside the Oilers’ zone before Poehling perfectly tipped his shot under the crossbar to restore a two-goal lead.
Hyman made it a one-goal game again when he redirected a point shot from Mattias Ekholm with 2:12 left in the second.
Just over five minutes into the third, Beckett Sennecke had a chance on his backhand after his initial shot was blocked, but it hit the outside of the post to keep the margin at one goal.
Edmonton pressed in the third. One of its best chances came on the redirection of a point shot from Murphy, but Dostal fought through traffic and made a nice left pad save.
With just under nine minutes left, Matt Savoie jumped on a loose puck that came off the skate of a Ducks defenseman and ripped a shot that Dostal was able to smother at the top of his crease.
McDAVID BANGED UP
Oilers captain Connor McDavid was slowed by an apparent leg injury.
The three-time Hart Trophy winner appeared to catch an edge at the 4:29 mark of the second period after getting tangled up with teammate Mattias Ekholm and the Ducks’ Ian Moore. McDavid briefly left the game before returning just over three minutes laterand logging 24 minutes on the ice.
LATE HITS
The Oilers were missing Game 1 hero Jason Dickinson, who didn’t dress for Game 2 because of a lower-body injury. Former Duck, Adam Henrique also missed Game 2 due to injury. Both veterans are key members of the Oilers’ penalty kill unit.
Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas missed Game 2 with an injury. He was replaced by Drew Helleson on the Ducks’ third pairing.
More to come on the story.