ANAHEIM — The Ducks swapped goals with hockey’s hottest club on Friday night, but they eventually succumbed to the Edmonton Oilers, falling 5-3 at Honda Center.
A hat trick from Oilers forward Evander Kane and a trio of assists for Connor McDavid, including one on what proved to be the third-period game-winning goal by Leon Draisaitl, denied the Ducks a third straight win at home and an opportunity for points in each of their last five games.
Following an eight-day break tied to the NHL All-Star Game, the Ducks used an energetic opening period to gain a rare advantage against the visitors.
After suffering 7-2 and 8-2 defeats against the Oilers earlier this season, the Ducks (18-31-2, 38 points) outscored the resurgent Canadians for the first time in seven periods, temporarily getting the best of a red-hot team (30-16-1, 61 points) that has lifted itself from outside the playoff picture to the third spot in the Pacific Division in recent months.
While McDavid, the Oilers’ star captain and points leader, served a two-minute minor for interference, Cam Fowler’s power-play goal at 18:40 (the defenseman’s first since the middle of November) gave him three on the season.
Assisted by Adam Henrique and Frank Vatrano, who was fresh off a pair of goals during All-Star festivities in Toronto, Fowler took the puck off a faceoff in the Edmonton zone. He moved inside the blue line toward the middle of the ice before firing a wrist shot through traffic that redirected off an Oilers’ stick, besting goaltender Calvin Pickard on his glove side.
The turn of events was short-lived as Edmonton ramped up its attack and play on both sides of the ice loosened up, prompting a trio of alternating goals during a stretch of 3 minutes, 40 seconds.
Kane’s goals, at 9:11 and 12:51, leveled the score twice for Edmonton, which outshot the Ducks 13-2 in the middle period.
Putting the Oilers on the board with an assist from 38-year-old former Duck Corey Perry, finished from…
Read the full article here
