THE BRIGHT SIDE

• Pat Maroon got the Oilers on the board and it was a goal that his team desperately needed. The Ducks were up by three goals and Pat Maroon scored by getting himself to the front of the net and having Nuge’s deflected shot bounce in off of him.
• Anton Slepyshev got the Oilers back to within one goal within the first two minutes of the second period by charging to the net and getting a lucky garbage goal bounce. That’s the kind of the goal that the Oilers haven’t really been scoring lately and it was a well-timed Gigantor of a goal.
• Connor McDavid scored a huge goal in the second period that temporarily tied the game up at three goals apiece. McDavid almost broke Sami Vatanen’s ankles with a quick move up near the blue line before absolutely sniping the top corner.
• Ryan Nugent-Hopkins didn’t get any points in the first round against the Sharks but he’s quietly landed himself two points in his last three games to go along with his fine defensive work. His points are starting to catch up to his two-way play and that would be a huge add for the Oilers as the playoffs move forward.
• Two assists for Kris Russell which was more than the number of blocks that he had on the night. Who saw that coming?
• The Oilers penalty kill was perfect tonight, killing off all four of the Ducks’ chances. While the penalty killing was excellent, Edmonton still gave the Ducks too many chances with the man advantage.
• Having Oilers fans sing the American National Anthem was a pretty cool moment. Nice work, Nation.

THE FACE PALMERS

• The Oilers had a tough start to the game when the Ducks pulled out a set play off of a defensive zone faceoff win that saw Ryan Getzlaf send Rickard Rakell in alone on a breakaway. To the Ducks’ credit, it was a hell of a pass from Getzlaf on a play that the Ducks clearly had planned out.
• Jakob Silfverberg continued his hot start to the playoffs as he was able to bang home a loose puck at the side of the net after the Oilers were unable to break out of their own zone. Silfverberg wasn’t done, though, as he gave the Ducks some insurance early in the third period. The goal should have been called back for being offside but who are we to actually have a call go our way?
• Ryan Getzlaf read Darnell Nurse like a book on his attempted breakout pass/rim around the boards and after intercepting it he walked in and ripped it past Cam Talbot to give the Ducks a three goal lead.
• Chris Wagner scored his first ever playoff goal only seconds after Connor McDavid had tied the game up with an absolute beauty. Wagner’s goal not only gave the Ducks back the lead, it also seemed to stop the bleeding as the Oilers were coming on like a hurricane and Anaheim really had no answer for them. That’s a goal that Talbot usually stops but it found the space between his arm and blocker.
• How is it that the Anaheim Ducks are able to get away with as much stick work as they do? I can’t wait for the time to come when the Oilers have enough playoff experience that they’re able to hack and slash as much as they want.
• As you would expect from my last point, I was once again unimpressed with the officiating, as per tradition. I don’t know why Ryan Getzlaf is allowed to do whatever he wants but that’s a thing, apparently.
• The Oilers got three power play chances but couldn’t manage to score on any of them. Had they been able to get even one goal on the PP then this game could have gone another way.
• It was a tough night for Darnell Nurse on a few occasions, including the giveaway on Ryan Getzlaf’s first-period goal. Darryl has been solid throughout the playoffs so far, but he’s been an adventure in the last two games.
• Not close to the night Cam Talbot wanted to have as he got caught for six goals with probably half of them being markers that he’d like to have back. You know Talbot will want to forget about this one, and he’ll have to because suddenly Game four is a must-win night for the Oilers. Talbot finished the night with 22 saves and a .786 save%.
• Lucic and Eberle share the green jacket by finished the night with a -3 next to their names. I’m not really a big +/- person but I think it was telling about the night these two had.
• The NHL site lists the Oilers with 14 giveaways but I’d swear that the number is higher than that. Edmonton gave the puck away at the blue line far too often and those are the kind of mistakes that will always come back to haunt you.
• The Oilers got pumped again in the faceoff circle after winning only 42% of the draws. Lather, rinse, repeat. Edmonton needs to find a way to get better on the dot because the Ducks cashed in a couple times directly after a faceoff.

SCORING SUMMARY

BEST OF THE TWEETS

GEAR UP FOR THE PLAYOFFS