EDMONTON, AB – For the first time in nine long arduous years, the Anaheim Ducks have won a Stanley Cup Playoff game.
After the Edmonton Oilers erased a two-goal Ducks lead with just over six minutes remaining, Cutter Gauthier netted his second goal of the game with just under five minutes to play, and Ryan Poehling locked down the game with an empty-net strike to capture Game 2, 6-4, on Wednesday at Rogers Place.
With the series tied 1-1, Anaheim returns home on Friday for Game 3 for the first playoff game at Honda Center since 2018.
“It's a huge honor,” Gauthier said of being the man to snap the drought. “It's been a long, long time that the Ducks made it to the playoffs. So being in this position, we're super happy and grateful, but we're not gonna take it for granted either. So, every single night we go in and we have a game against these guys, we're gonna give it our all. And you're going to see that Friday night as well.”
Gauthier–Anaheim’s leading scorer from the regular season and a 40-goal man–got his first strike of the series on the power play, part of a three-point game. Alex Killorn responded to a personally subpar Game 1 with a three-point night, including a power play goal and shorthanded assist.
The Ducks went 2-for-3 on the power play with Killorn and Gauthier’s tallies, and Anaheim also shut down all four Edmonton power plays, including a shorthanded marker from Ryan Poehling.
Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl netted a goal and an assist for four points in the first two games of this series. Zach Hyman and Connor Murphy scored their first goals of the playoffs. Connor McDavid–the NHL’s regular-season points leader–was held scoreless for the second straight game.
Lukas Dostal made 33 saves in his first career playoff win, and the Ducks first playoff victory since the 2017 Western Conference Final. Connor Ingram made 22 saves in the loss.
“It's huge,” Dostal said. “Obviously, it's been a long time coming for this organization, so I'm also very glad that we can get a first win, but obviously it's a long series. They have a good team, but we show some resilience today. Guys played unbelievable.”
For the second time in two games–and as it was in 49 of 82 regular season games for the Ducks–Anaheim trailed on the opening goal, as Leon Draisaitl got the benefit of a bounce in front nine minutes in.
Draistaitl threw the puck in front, and as Dostál had overcommitted a bit, the cross-zone feed deflected off Drew Helleson’s skate and by the Ducks netminder, 1-0.
Unlike Game 1, however, Anaheim kept up their early pace and struck back nearly four minutes later, as Gauthier hit the scoresheet for the first time in the series.
Gauthier–who was second in the league in shots per 60 minutes in the regular season but registered just one on net in Game 1–came out firing and wired a wrister around a Beckett Sennecke screen to level the game on the power play, 1-1.
Dating back to the regular season, Anaheim has now scored power play goals in six straight games.
Dostál was sharp late in the period negating several Connor McDavid opportunities.
The second period was fast and furious, but the Ducks set the pace with goals in all three man-power situations.
Following two dominant possession shifts by Anaheim’s fourth and first lines, Jacob Trouba roped a shot to the far corner of the Edmonton net to put the Ducks in front, 2-1, less than three minutes into the period.
Three minutes later, Alex Killorn scored on the power play. Gauthier battled the puck down the right wall to Killorn, whose centering pass deflected off an Edmonton stick, off Ingram’s pad and right back to Killorn for the rebound goal, 3-1.
Edmonton got one back six minutes later, as Kasperi Kapanen held in a Trouba clear attempt at the blue line. Draisaitl found Connor Murphy, who blasted a shot around layers of traffic in the slot, 3-2.
The Oilers had a chance to tie on the power play with five minutes left in the period, but that’s where the Ducks completed the man-power trifecta.
McDavid made a spinning backhand pass attempt in his own zone that went nowhere near an Edmonton player, and Killorn jumped on it at the blue line. The 36-year-old fed a frame-perfect pass to Ryan Poehling in front, who deflected in the Ducks fourth goal, 4-2.
Edmonton responded once more with the fifth total goal of the period, as the Oilers worked the puck around and Zach Hyman tipped home a Mattias Ekholm point shot, 4-3.
Despite the late strike, Anaheim took a one-goal lead into the third period for the second time in two games this series.
Unlike in Game 1 where the Ducks sat back and attempted to simply defend the one-goal lead, the Ducks had a controlled push, still getting opportunities but not getting too far out of position.
Anaheim couldn’t capitalize, and eventually, it was a push too far that Edmonton sprung the other way.
The Ducks second line had a controlling shift with extra effort from Beckett Sennecke, and Pavel Mintyukov intercepted a clear from Edmonton at center ice. Mintyukov then tried to thread a breakout, but McDavid knocked it down and sent the Oilers the other way.
In the Ducks zone, Killorn couldn’t clear the ensuing play, and Matt Savoie won the battle. Josh Samanski, a rookie in his playoff debut, nailed the far corner to tie the game, 4-4, with 6:09 remaining.
However, Anaheim did not let up, as Gauthier hit the go-ahead goal and eventual game winner with less than five minutes remaining.