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| Ducks outlast Oilers |
The Ducks score six, including two from Cutter Gauthier, to top the Oilers 6-4. Troy Terry matches Getzlaf mark while Draisaitl moves up all-time playoff list.
It was Draisaitl’s first goal since returning from injury and his 53rd in 98 playoff games...
The teams combined for 65 shots on goal, with Anaheim goalie Lukas Dostal stopping 33 of them.
Edmonton outshot Anaheim in all three periods and battled back from a 4-2 deficit, but couldn’t complete the comeback.
The series shifts to Anaheim for Game 3 on April 24 and Game 4 on April 26.
Oilers Strike First After Cagey Start
Both teams took minor penalties in the first six minutes before Edmonton opened the scoring.
Leon Draisaitl fired home from his usual spot to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead.
It was Draisaitl’s first goal since returning from injury and his 53rd in 98 playoff games. Only former Oiler
Jari Kurri, with 66, has scored more among non-USA-born players before reaching 100 postseason appearances.
Edmonton’s Darnell Nurse took the team’s second penalty of the game, and that’s when things began to unravel for the Oilers.
Cutter Gauthier got Anaheim on the board with his first playoff goal, tying it 1-1 with just under seven minutes left in the first period.
Anaheim scored 68 game-tying goals in the regular season, the second-highest single-season total in NHL history.
Second-Period Surge Begins
The second period started, and the Ducks began to take control.
Jacob Trouba scored the first of three Anaheim goals in the period to give the Ducks a 2-1 lead, assisted by
Troy Terry and Jackson LaCombe.
Terry became the first Ducks player since Ryan Getzlaf in 2017 to post four points - two goals and two assists - through the first two games of a postseason.
Less than three minutes later, the Ducks kept the pressure on. Matt Savoie took Edmonton’s only penalty of the second period, and Anaheim capitalized.
Two-time Stanley Cup champion
Alex Killorn scored his first goal of the playoffs to extend Anaheim’s lead to 3-1.
It was LaCombe’s second assist of the night and the second point for both Killorn and Gauthier. Killorn and Gauthier each assisted on the other’s goal.
After opening the scoring, Draisaitl added an assist on
Connor Murphy’s first playoff goal to pull Edmonton within one.
At 33 years, 27 days, Murphy became the
oldest defenseman in franchise history to score his first playoff goal, passing Steve Staios at 32 years, 299 days.
Game 2 was Draisaitl’s 45th career multi-point playoff game, moving him past Mike Bossy and Gordie Howe into 21st all-time, tied with Brad Marchand.
Then Edmonton’s
Connor McDavid made a costly turnover in his own zone on the team’s third power play, leading to an Anaheim goal.
Killorn recorded his second assist and third point of Game 2 on
Ryan Poehling’s shorthanded goal, giving the Ducks a 4-2 lead.
Poehling became the seventh player in franchise history with a shorthanded playoff goal, and the first since Andrew Cogliano in 2014.
Edmonton responded before the intermission and cut the deficit to one heading into the third.
Zach Hyman tapped in his first goal of the playoffs, assisted by Mattias Ekholm and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, to make it 4-3.
Scoreless Stretch Snapped
The first 14 minutes of the third were quiet with no penalties or goals before Edmonton found the equalizer.
Josh Samanski beat Dostal with a wrist shot to tie the game 4-4 with six minutes left in regulation.
It was the 23-year-old’s first career playoff goal. He was set up by 22-year-old Matt Savoie for his first career playoff assist, and veteran Jack Roslovic picked up his first assist of the postseason.
Just over a minute later, the Ducks answered right off the face-off.
Gauthier buried his second of the game after a scramble in front of the Edmonton net, putting Anaheim up 5-4 with under five minutes left. Poehling added an empty-netter to seal a 6-4 win.
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