The Edmonton Oilers are down, but not out.

On Friday evening, the Oilers fell 7-4 to the Anaheim Ducks, giving the Ducks a 2-1 series lead with home-ice advantage. Let’s take a look at what went on in this one.

For the third consecutive game in this series, the Oilers opened the scoring. With about seven minutes left in the first period, Vasily Podkolzin forced a turnover, got to the faceoff dot, and ripped it past Lukáš Dostál for the 1-0 lead.

They held the lead for a little over three minutes. The Ducks had sustained zone time and got the puck back to the point. Drew Helleson’s shot was deflected in the high-slot by Mason McTavish, finally beating Connor Ingram to tie the game at one.

Special teams have been a big topic of discussion after the past two games. The Oilers killed off the first high sticking penalty, but were unable to kill the second. With about two minutes left in the first period, Leo Carlsson’s shot from the faceoff dot was saved by a screened Ingram, but the rebound came out right to Mikael Granlund for the tap-in.

Moving to the second period, the Oilers managed to tie the game just four minutes in. Their top line of Podkolzin, Leon Draisaitl, and Kasperi Kapanen had the cycle going. The puck came to Draisaitl on the boards as Kapanen was cutting to the net. Kapanen ripped it past Dostál for his third of the postseason.

The Ducks have been the better second period team through the first two games. That changed in Game 3. Less than two minutes following the game-tying goal, the Oilers took their second lead of the game. Connor McDavid got the zone entry, button hooked, and passed the puck back to Evan Bouchard at the point. The right-shot defenceman one-timed it, with Dostál making the initial save. However, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was the first on the rebound, depositing the puck into the net to give the Oilers the lead.

This time, the Oilers’ lead lasted just under seven minutes, so there’s improvement there at least. Once again, the Ducks generated a goal thanks to a rebound, as Ingram saved the initial shot from the point. Unfortunately, Granlund beat Mattias Ekholm and Bouchard to the loose puck, passing it to a wide open Alex Killorn to tie the game at three.

The Oilers came out playing hard in the third period, dominating the first two and a half minutes. Then they turned it over, leading to a two on one for the Ducks. Beckett Sennecke held the puck and beat Ingram with a laser to restore the Ducks’ lead.

Less than a minute later, the Ducks extended their lead. Bouchard gave Draisaitl a hand grenade of a pass at the blue line, leading to another two on one. Carlsson made a terrific move once getting in behind the defence, getting Ingram to bite and sliding it along the ice for the 5-3 lead.

Finally, the Oilers power play broke through. Midway through the third and at the end of their power play, McDavid shot or passed the puck toward the front of the net, with the puck taking a fortuitous bounce off a Duck stick and beating Dostál to bring the Oilers to within one.

The Oilers received their second power play shortly after, but McDavid was called for a cross-check, nullifying the chance. Shortly after the Oilers killed off that penalty, Jeffrey Viel beat Ingram short-side to give the Ducks a 6-4 lead. Jackson LaCombe iced the game with an empty-netter.

The Ducks dominated the Oilers, there is just no other way to put it. In the first period alone, the Ducks outshot the Oilers 20-7, with Ingram making quite a few big saves to keep the Oilers in it. They had their bright spots in the second period, but those back-to-back goals by the Ducks early in the third was a back breaker. If they play like they did on Friday, it’s going to be a short series.

Evan Bouchard and Connor McDavid picked up their first points of the postseason in this one. They still weren’t good. You can realistically fault Bouchard for two, maybe three goals. McDavid once again made a handful of egregious errors, though none led to a goal this time at least. The captain also took a penalty during an Oilers power play late in the third. Not great.

Back in 2017, the Ducks focused on shutting down McDavid, allowing Leon Draisaitl to blossom. Really, it was his coming out party as an elite NHL player, scoring five goals and 13 points in the seven games the teams played. The same is happening in this series.

The best Oiler line was once against the Vasily Podkolzin, Draisaitl, and Kasperi Kapanen line, generating two of the three goals that the Oilers scored. Kapanen potted his third goal of the postseason, while Podkolzin scored his first. Credit to Podkolzin for fighting at the end of the game, at least someone cares.

Those hostilities flared up at the end of the game, as all 10 skaters on the ice got into it, with Colton Dach the aggressor. This is the type of fight that they need going forward.

For the first time this series, the Oilers power play found a way to beat Dostál. That’s a good start, but their penalty kill is still leaking goals. Hopefully, Dickinson will be back next game because the Oilers need him.

Connor Ingram wasn’t great, at least in the final 40 minutes. He kept the Oilers in it during the first period, but when the Oilers limited shots, he allowed four on 21 in the second and third period. Oilers netminders seem to play better when they’re busy, it’s odd. Maybe the turn to Tristan Jarry for Game 4.

It’s not do or die time quite yet, but the Oilers need to wake up. Allowing at least six goals in back-to-back games is not how you win a series. They’ve been down 2-1 in the past, but they need to split the two games in Anaheim. Game 4 is on Sunday at 7:30 PM MT.