Ducks Rally Falls Short Against Oilers

Photo: AP

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks returned home to face the Edmonton Oilers. Lukas Dostal got the start in net going against Jack Campbell. Olle Eriksson Ek was recalled and would play the back up for this contest. John Gibson was out due to an illness. Adam Henrique was activated off the IR and played in this contest. Troy Terry was also back in the lineup.

Recap

There was no score in the opening period. The Oilers had one power play chance and couldn’t convert. The Ducks got a power play at the end, which carried over to the second period.

Anaheim wasn’t able to convert on their power play in the beginning of the middle frame.

Edmonton scored a pair of goals to take a 2-0 lead. Halfway through the period, Klim Kostin would score on a 2-on-1 for the opening goal of the contest. A few minutes later and Nick Bjugstad would score in front of the Anaheim net. He got a pass from Kostin and beat Dostal glove side.

In the beginning of the third period, the Ducks finally got on the board on a goal by Terry. He brought the puck in towards the net from the right face-off circle and took a shot beating Campbell over the shoulder.

In the final minutes of the game, Anaheim pull Dostal for the extra attacker, but Zach Hyman scored an empty net goal to put this game away.

Analysis:

This was a much tighter game than the one played last week against Edmonton. The Ducks did get back Henrique and Terry, which helped. The teams battled to a scoreless tie for almost 30 minutes of play. Anaheim did give up a few odd man rushes in the second period, which hurt them twice as the Oilers cashed in.

The Ducks did a solid job of keeping the top line of Edmonton in check. They were all held pointless until the final minutes of the game when Hyman got an empty net goal. Dostal played well again in net stopping 30 of 32 shots on goal.

This was a quick game with only two power plays in the entire contest. Both teams had one chance with the extra man and neither team converted. Edmonton had the shot advantage at 33-28. The Oilers also won 59% of the draws in this contest.

Team Notes/Stats:

The Ducks set a record for consecutive regulation losses with nine. The previous record was eight held by the 1996-97 Mighty Ducks.

Anaheim controls their own destiny in terms of placement in the draft lottery. If the Ducks loss their remaining games, then they are guaranteed the first spot in the draft lottery.

What’s Next?

The Ducks hit the road and face the Coyotes Saturday at 2:30 PM.

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April 6th, 2023