These are the types of games that the Edmonton Oilers have to win.
On Monday evening, the Oilers played their fourth and final game on this road trip, taking on the Anaheim Ducks and falling 3-2 to the non-playoff team. Let’s take a look at what happened in this one.
The Oilers opened the scoring with just over two minutes left in the first period. There was a scramble in front of Anaheim’s net, with Ducks’ netminder Lukáš Dostál falling on the ice. Eventually, the puck returned to the point, and Jake Walman blasted towards the net, with Adam Henrique tipping it past the young goalie for the 1-0 lead.
Just under three minutes into the second period, the Oilers’ defence broke down and Cutter Gauthier was left alone after a cross-ice pass, blasting it past Olivier Rodrigue to tie the game at one. Not sure what Max Jones was doing on this one.
Gauthier added a second goal about five minutes later, as he burned Evan Bouchard with speed, crossed the goal-mouth, and roofed it over Rodrigue’s glove on the backhand for the 2-1 lead. Good goal, awful defence from Bouchard.
With pressure on during the third period, Kasperi Kapanen turned the puck over, leading to a breakaway for the Ducks. Just five minutes into the final frame, the Ducks jumped out to a 3-1 lead as Mason McTavish made no mistake ripping it past Rodrigue’s glove.
The Oilers made things interesting in the final few minutes. Head coach Kris Knoblauch pulled Olivier Rodrigue with over three minutes left to play and Jeff Skinner made the score 3-2 with his 16th goal of the season. Despite a strong push up to the last seconds, that was as close as the Oilers would get.
Takeaways…
The referees had an abysmal game. Not because they helped either team win, but because they missed an obvious headshot from Ducks defender Radko Gudas. That started a whole bunch of drama before the end of the second period, but tempers settled in the third as the Oilers tried to claw back into the game.
Edmonton tends to allow teams to take liberties with their players and goalies and not do anything about it. That happened today after Gudas’s cheap shot, as no one dropped the mitts with him. It doesn’t just go back to what Corey Perry said after the Dallas Stars game a few weeks back, but they didn’t stand up for themselves in the 2023 playoffs, and the Vegas Golden Knights’ physicality killed them. Speaking of Podkolzin, he went down the tunnel after falling awkwardly on his knee after being tangled with Gudas. The way he went down, it looked serious, but he played in the third period. Edmonton dodged a bullet there.
The Oilers actually outplayed the Ducks, outshooting them 48 to 21. Unfortunately, if Ducks netminder Lukáš Dostál had a chance to save it, he did as both Oilers goals came via a deflection. Edmonton also failed to capitalize on numerous power plays, going 0/6. They really missed Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in this one.
Number-wise, Olivier Rodrigue didn’t have a great game, saving 18 of 21 shots for an .857 save percentage in his first National Hockey League start. Hard to really fault him on any of the goals, though.
Evan Bouchard was the cause of one of those goals, as he was burned by Cutter Gauthier on the Ducks’ second goal. It happened again in the third period, but he made up for it with an assist late in the game.
Despite the loss, the Oilers didn’t lose any ground in their chase for home-ice advantage, as the Seattle Kraken defeated the Los Angeles Kings 2-1. However, just five games remain this season, with a matchup between the two teams. The Oilers will need help if they wish to get home-ice advantage for the first round.
Up next, the Oilers return home to host the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday at 8:00 PM MT, returning. The Blues’ 12-game winning streak was snapped on Monday as they fell 3-1 to the Winnipeg Jets.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. They can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
