Ducks Can’t Slow Down The Oilers
By Michael Walters
The Anaheim Ducks hosted the Edmonton Oilers in their ninth consecutive home game. John Gibson got the start in net against Jack Campbell. Max Jones was activated off the IR and returned to the lineup.
Recap
Ryan McLeod beat Gibson early in this one, but he hit the post and the puck stayed out. A few moments later Connor McDavid would find Dylan Holloway in the slot and he would score to make it 1-0 Oilers.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins made it 2-0 about a minute later as he took a shot from the top of the left circle and it deflected off Cam Fowler‘s stick and in.
The Ducks would get on the board as Max Comtois got the puck behind the net and then found Sam Carrick in front. He would score five-hole to cut the Oilers lead to one.
Connor McDavid would then answer back with an elite move. He would stop on a dime to shake off Trevor Zegras and then he backhanded the puck from the slot to make it 3-1.
Dmitry Kulikov turned over the puck with about a minute to go in the period and Klim Kostin scored to make it 4-1.
The Oilers extended their lead early in the second period. Kostin one timed a pass over Gibson’s shoulder to make it 5-1.
Zegras would get called for a penalty towards the end of the second period. Evan Bouchard found Leon Draisaitl in front and he redirected the puck behind Gibson.
Anthony Stolarz was in net for Anaheim to start the third period.
Simon Benoit scored just 48 seconds into the third period to make it a 6-2 game. He took a point shot that beat Campbell with some traffic in front.
The Ducks frustration came out in this period as Kevin Shattenkirk was called for cross-checked and then things got chippy with everyone on the ice. Anaheim killed off the penalty and also got a power play towards the end of the game, but didn’t convert. There was no more scoring in the period and the Ducks lost by a 6-2 final.
Analysis:
The Ducks got off to an extremely rough start in this one. They turned over the puck a few times early on and ended up finding themselves down by three after the opening period. Anaheim could never recover after the first period.
In the first period alone, the Oilers put up 31 shot attempts and had a total of 72 on the night. The Ducks had 34 shot attempts for the whole game and finished with 23 shots on goal. In terms of puck possession, Edmonton posted a CF of 67.92% and FF of 67.05%.
The Ducks couldn’t slow down the Oilers and left Gibson out to dry multiple times in the beginning of this game. In terms of special teams, the Ducks had three power plays and didn’t cash in on any of them. The Oilers also had three power plays and scored once with the man advantage.
What’s Next?
The Ducks host the New Jersey Devils on Friday at 7PM.
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January 12th, 2023