Ducks Beat Oilers To Get Back in Series

April 30, 2017

The Ducks scored a franchise record 6 goals on Sunday night in Alberta, defeating the Oilers 6-3 in game 3 of their 2nd round series.  The Ducks now trail 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

The final score was not indicative of how competitive the game was.  Anaheim jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but the Oilers fought back to tie the score, putting together a relentless attack in the 2nd period.  However, the Ducks scored 3 unanswered goals to retake control of the game, and get back in the series.

Rikard Rakell, Ryan Getzlaf, Chris Wagner, and Ryan Kessler scored for the Ducks, as did Jakob Silfverberg, who scored a pair.  John Gibson made 24 saves, including several on a pair of big stops on a 3-on-1 Oiler break in the 2nd period.

The Oiler goals came from Patrick Maroon, Anton Slepyshev, and Connor McDavid.  Cam Talbot made 22 saves for Edmonton, but he had a moment in the 2nd period he probably wants back.

Less than a minute after the Oilers tied the game, Wagner fired a slap shot from a sharp angle from the right wing boards, which deflected in off of Talbot’s blocker.  That ended up being the game-winning goal, at 9:28 of the 2nd period.

Anaheim caught several breaks after that.  The Oilers were on a power play a few minutes after Wagner’s goal, when Leon Draisaitl beat Gibson cleanly with a sharp angle shot.  Unfortunately for the Oilers, that shot bounced off the post, keeping the Ducks lead at 4-3.

Then in the 3rd period, when Silfverberg scored his 2nd of the game at 4:56, it appeared as though he was offside on the play.  Despite a coaches challenge, the officials ruled that it was a goal.

Kessler would close out the scoring halfway through the 3rd period, and the Ducks were on their way to their first win of the series.

Rakell took a long pass from Getzlaf and got behind the Oilers defense to score on a breakaway just 25 seconds into the game.  That was the fastest playoff goal to start a game in franchise history.

Silfverberg pounced on a loose puck a little over 5 minutes into the game when Adam Larsson was unable to clear the puck away from Talbot.

Getzlaf made it 3-0 at 8:09 of the 1st when he intercepted Darnell Nurse’s clearing attempt around the boards, then beat Talbot with a wrist shot.

With just 40 seconds remaining in the 1st period, Maroon deflected a shot past Gibson to put the Oilers on the board and give them some momentum heading into the 2nd.

Just 1:28 into the 2nd, the puck deflected off of Slepychev’s skate and into the net to pull the Oilers within 3-2.  Then McDavid tied it with a spectacular goal at 8:40, spinning away from Sami Vatanen and rifling a shot past Gibson.  The Oilers kept the pressure on throughout the period, even after Wagner’s goal, but Gibson continued to withstand the pressure.

Game 3 will be on Wednesday night in Alberta.  In the meantime, the Ducks will travel to Kelowna, B.C., to get away from the madness of Edmonton over the next few days.

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