EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) After scoring three goals in the first 12 minutes, Anaheim let the Edmonton Oilers tie the score midway through the second period. The Ducks then pulled away for a crucial win.
Jakob Silfverberg scored twice to lead Anaheim to a 6-3 victory over Edmonton on Sunday night, cutting the Oilers’ series lead to 2-1,
“It’s about getting ourselves back in the series, giving us a chance,” said Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf, who had a goal and an assist. “You never want to fall down 3-0 in any series. It’s a long climb. We take this one, learn from what we did right and wrong and get ready for the next one.”
Rickard Rakell got Anaheim on the scoreboard 25 seconds in, and Chris Wagner and Ryan Kesler also scored. John Gibson stopped 24 shots. The Ducks had lost the first two games of the series at home.
Just 48 seconds after Connor McDavid scored his first of the series to tie the score and rally Edmonton back from a 3-0 deficit, Wagner put the Ducks back ahead by firing a shot that deflected off Talbot’s arm and in at 9:28 of the second period.
Silfverberg knocked in a feed from Josh Manson at 4:56 of the third to make it 5-3. The Oilers challenged the play for offside, but the goal stood after a video review.
“It’s one of those, your eyes are telling you it’s offside, but if you’re the linesman you’re going `I don’t know for sure’ and the call on the ice stands,” Oilers head coach Todd McLellan said. “It’s disappointing because they likely know it’s offside, but they can’t confirm it. Let’s not kid ourselves. That wasn’t the backbreaker. The backbreaker was the 25 seconds in.”
Kesler swept in a rebound with 9 1/2 minutes left to cap the scoring.
“The thing we’re doing properly is responding to adversity,” Getzlaf said. “We’re not getting out of sorts. There’s going to be ups and downs through every playoff game, every series and it’s about controlling our emotions and using it to our advantage.”
Patrick Maroon and Anton Slepychev also scored and Kris Russell had two assists. Cam Talbot finished with 22 saves.
“Whatever luck we may have had in Game 2 definitely wasn’t there tonight,” McDavid said. “We did a good job battling back to tie it up, but ultimately we definitely didn’t deserve to win that one.”
Game 4 is Wednesday night.
Talbot was stellar in Game 2 with 39 saves, but the Ducks got to him early scoring on two of their first three shots of the game.
Rakell got a long pass from Getzlaf behind the Edmonton defense and scored on a breakaway 25 seconds in for the fastest playoff goal to start a game in franchise history.
Silfverberg got his stick on a loose puck to make it 2-0 at 5:33 when Oilers defenseman Adam Larsson failed to clear it away from Talbot.
Getzlaf beat Talbot with a wrist shot from the hashmarks with 8:09 remaining in the first. Getzlaf had corralled Darnell Nurse‘s clearing attempt around the boards to gain possession of the puck.
“Tonight, it really showed we have to come out with that attack mentality,” Silfverberg said. “It’s something we’ve been talking about the two previous games.”
Russell finally gave the Rogers Place crowd something to cheer about when his shot from the point deflected off Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Maroon and past Gibson with 40 seconds left in the opening period.
The Oilers pulled to 3-2 at 1:28 of the second when David Desharnais’ centering pass from beside the net deflected off Slepychev’s skate and in.
McDavid tied it at 8:40 as he spun and cut back to lose defender Sami Vatanen and rifled a shot over Gibson’s left elbow.
NOTES: The U.S. national anthem got a unique rendition before the game when the microphone didn’t work Canadian country singer Brett Kissel. Decked out in an Oilers jersey and guitar, Kissel attempted twice to sing the anthem before throwing his hands in the air and encouraging the crowd to sing with him. The microphone resumed working in time for Robert Clark to perform the Canadian anthem. … Vatanen was in Anaheim’s lineup for the first time in the playoffs. He sat out the first six games with a knee injury . . . Ducks D Kevin Bieksa sat out a second straight game with a lower-body injury.
Photo credit – Perry Nelson / USA TODAY Sports / Edmonton, AB
