Ducks Get Dropped By Oilers

Photo: USA Today

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks hit the road for a short two game trip in Canada. The first stop was in Edmonton against the Oilers. Lukas Dostal was in net and against Stuart Skinner.

Recap

The Ducks took the lead on a goal by Max Jones. Brett Leason found Jones next to the net and he slammed it home. The Ducks led 1-0 just over three minutes into the game, but the Oilers answered about a minute later with a goal by Evander Kane.

Jones then scored his second of the game to give the Ducks a 2-1 lead just over six minutes into the game. Jones got to a puck in the slot and did a spin move sending it home for the score.

The Oilers then answered with the next three goals. Connor McDavid scored on an odd man rush and then Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored on a breakaway. Zach Hyman then added another goal with about two minutes left in the period. The Oilers took a 4-2 lead to the locker room. They also had time remaining on a power play they were awarded in the final minute of play.

The Ducks killed off the remaining time on the Oilers power play to start the middle frame. Edmonton then extended their lead to three goals as Hamblin got his own rebound and beat Dostal with about five minutes into the period. About two minutes the Ducks turned over the puck and Hyman scored on a breakaway to make it a 6-2 game. John Gibson came in to relieve Dostal.

Anaheim did get a power play late in the middle frame, but they couldn’t cash in. The Ducks were down 6-2 after two periods of play.

And the end of the second period Radko Gudas fell awkwardly into the boards and he did not return to start the third period.

In the third period, the Ducks made five separate trips to the penalty box. The Oilers cashed in twice on the power plays with goals by Leon Draisaitl and Mattias Ekholm. Anaheim had one abbreviated power play in the period and they couldn’t convert with the man advantage. Ducks drop this one 8-2.

Analysis:

The Ducks had a decent start as they were able to score first, which they had only done seven times in the previous 20 contests. Max Jones lead the charge with two quick goals to give Anaheim 1-0 and 2-1 leads. After that it was all down hill. The Oilers scored the next three goals in the first period on odd man rushes to lead 4-2 at the end of the first. They added two more in the second and third to win big 8-2.

In looking at the even strength numbers the Ducks had 23 shots on goal to 26 for the Oilers. Anaheim also posted a 58.44 CF% and 58.49 FF% at even strength. But the key was the chances Edmonton created were odd man rushes and breakaways. The Ducks defense looked like Swiss cheese out there and left Dostal out to dry. Special teams were also problematic. The Oilers scored twice in six attempts. The Ducks went zero for three.

After having success early this season, the Ducks have done a complete 180 and nothing is going right for them currently. This was the team’s worst defeat on the young season. They need to make some changes and quick if they want to get back to winning.

Team Notes/Stats:

Jakob Silfverberg earned an assist on the second goal by Jones making him the 7th all-time points leader in Ducks history with 340 points. He passed Rickard Rakell, who had 339 points as a Duck.

What’s Next?

The Ducks travel to Vancouver to take on the Canucks on Tuesday.

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November 26th, 2023