Ducks fall victim to Oilers rally, Kane's hat trick
The Ducks swapped goals with hockey's hottest club, but eventually succumbed to the Edmonton Oilers, falling 5-3 at the Honda Center.
A hat trick by Oilers' forward Evander Kane and a trio of assists by Connor McDavid, including on a third-period game-winner to Leon Draisaitl, denied the Ducks a third straight win at home. The Ducks have no points in four of their last five.
Following an eight-day break due to the NHL All-Star Game, the Ducks used an energetic opening period to gain a rare advantage against the visitors.
After suffering 7-2 and 8-2 defeats against the Oilers this season, for the first time in seven periods the Ducks outscored the resurgent
ANAHEIM >>
Canadian team.
While McDavid, the Oilers' star captain and points leader, served a two-minute minor for interference, Cam Fowler's power-play goal at 18:40 — the defenseman's first since the middle of November
— gave him three on the season.
Assisted by Adam Henrique and Frank Vatrano, who was fresh off a pair of goals during All-Star festivities in Toronto, Fowler took the puck off a faceoff in the Edmonton zone. He moved inside the blueline toward the middle of the ice before firing a wrist shot through traffic that redirected off an Oilers' stick, besting goaltender Calvin Pickard on his glove side.
The fortune was short-lived as Edmonton ramped up its attack and play on both sides of the ice loosened up, prompting a trio of alternating goals over a span of three minutes and 40 seconds.
Kane's goals, at 9:11 and 12:51, leveled the score twice for Edmonton, which outshot the Ducks 13-2 in the middle period.
Putting the Oilers on the board with an assist from 38-yearold former Duck Corey Perry, Kane finished from a tight angle through a small patch of uncovered space as the puck bounced off Gibson's face mask.
The Ducks briefly retook the lead on Ryan Strome's seventh at 9:40.
Dumping the puck into the Oilers' zone, Ducks center Leo Carlsson intercepted a clearance and tapped it to Strome in one motion. The unguarded winger circled around Pickard to net a simple finish.
Edmonton tied it again when Kane, trailing the play, patiently finished from the high slot off a short shovel pass, beating Gibson between the legs.
A lower-body injury to Gibson, who stopped 19 of the 21 shots he faced, prompted Ducks head coach Greg Cronin to replace him with Lukas Dostal at the start of the third.
THE SCORE
OILERS 5, DUCKS 3
Up next: Ducks at Canadiens, Tuesday, 4p.m., BSSC
SUMMARY
Edmonton Ducks
First Period:
1, Ducks, Fowler 3 (Henrique, Vatrano), 18:40 (pp). Penalties: LaCombe, ANA (Slashing), 7:17. McDavid, EDM (Interference), 16:58.
Second Period:
2, Edmonton, Kane 16 (Perry), 9:11. 3, Ducks, Strome 7 (Carlsson, Henrique), 9:40. 4, Edmonton, Kane 17 (Kulak, Draisaitl), 12:51. Penalties: None.
5, Ducks, Strome 8 (Fowler, Vatrano), 3:20 (pp). 6, Edmonton, Hyman 31 (McDavid), 8:41. 7, Edmonton, Draisaitl 24 (Bouchard, McDavid), 10:09 (pp). 8, Edmonton, Kane 18 (Ryan, McDavid), 18:50 (en). Penalties: Bouchard, EDM (High Sticking), 2:40. Carlsson, ANA (Tripping), 9:03.
Edmonton 9-12-11: 32. Ducks
Third Period:
Shots on goal:
13-2-12: 27.
Power-play opportunities:
Ducks 2 of 2.
Edmonton, Pickard 6-2-0 (27 shots-24 saves). Ducks, Gibson 10-19-1 (21-19), Ducks, Dostal 8-12-1 (10-8).
17,489 (17,174). T: 2:25.
Goalies:
A: 0 1 2 1 3 — 5 1 — 3
Edmonton 1 of 2.