Ducks win possible playoff preview
Talbot has rare bad night and the Oilers can’t finish off strong start in Anaheim
ANAHEIM The coaches usually say it’s all about the process, one game at a time, one shift, then the next. Clichés heaped upon clichés. But this was not just game No. 1,088 on the NHL schedule Wednesday night. While the playoffs officially begin April 12, we got a big, bold, loud preview of what we might see three weeks from now when the Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks engaged in a track meet.
Coaches don’t like high-octane stuff; they’d rather see an arm wrestle, but that’s not what we got from two teams with 87 points coming into the night, scuffling for second place, just four points back of the Pacific Division-leading San Jose Sharks, who have lost four straight.
The Oilers came out of the blocks flying, outshooting the Ducks 15-3 at one point with Connor McDavid, who was dancing all night even with Ryan Kesler in his ear, and Leon Draisaitl, who has 11 points in the last five games, scoring in the game’s first nine minutes.
But in the second frame, the Ducks drove Cam Talbot to the bench for little-used backup Laurent Brossoit in a 20-gun salute, and they finished with a 4-3 victory in the 100th regular-season game between the teams.
So in what could be a two-vs-three first-round matchup, the Ducks were simply better — even though the Oilers made it interesting in the last 75 seconds with a six-on-three advantage with two Ducks in the box and their goalie pulled. Mark Letestu scored off McDavid’s third point of the night on a play that survived a coach’s challenge for offside.
Talbot, who stopped all 68 shots over the previous two shutouts against Vancouver and Los Angeles, gave up three on the first eight (Patrick Eaves, Hampus Lindholm and Josh Manson) shots Wednesday and a fourth to Rickard Rakell on his 18th shot.
He was hooked for the first time since Feb. 11 against Chicago.
“Are we making too much of this one game, is it like a playoff game?” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle was asked after the morning skate, and as usual, Carlyle fired back. “Hey, If a player fails to recognize the importance of this game ...
“It’s the biggest game of the year for both teams, simple as that.”
Too bad the fans didn’t agree. There were only 15,310 in the seats, almost 2,000 under a full house.
There was no shortage of bodies and angry words flying, also lots of stickwork, along with the 66 shots on net. It was great, mean theatre: the problem for the Oilers was they only had one line going — McDavid, Draisaitl and Patrick Maroon — and the Ducks had three after the first 20 minutes.
One plus for the Oilers: Brossoit didn’t show any rust in his first game in a month and stopped all 16 shots he faced in 35 minutes. Talbot will probably still start in Denver against the Colorado Avalanche Thursday.
Maroon, who used to wear a Ducks jersey, coloured it the same way as Carlyle coming into the 74th game for both teams.
“This is the team we could maybe meet in the playoffs, you’ll see with the matchups (ice), juggling of lines. Uptempo pace, hard-nosed. We’re excited for the challenge,” he said.
And that’s exactly what we got Wednesday as the Ducks evened the season series 2-2.
After a 2-2 first period when they held Anaheim without a shot for 10 minutes, the Oilers were lucky they were only down 4-2 after 40. Manson’s 15-footer eluded Talbot, then after he made a series of strong stops, Rakell, the Ducks’ best player this season, got his 32nd goal with some McDavid-type flash, going inside and out on Kris Russell — with Jordan Eberle waving his stick at Rakell on the backcheck — and roofing one on Talbot.
The Oilers thoroughly dominated the first 20 minutes, outshooting the Ducks 15-6, holding Anaheim 10 minutes without a shot but it was still tied 2-2. Draisaitl banged his 25th of the year past Bernier with help from McDavid and Maroon, then McDavid wheeled around Cam Fowler after a Draisaitl feed and tucked one around Bernier.
The Ducks capitalized on a rare error by Talbot when Eaves sent a 25-footer under his arm with no traffic in front, ending his shutout string at 167:46. In the last 30 seconds of the first, Lindholm beat everybody up ice and whipped Rakell’s feed past Talbot.
Even with the Ducks’ win, ex-Oiler Andrew Cogliano said they had their hands full.
“They’re not sneaking up on us anymore. They’re good. I know people in Edmonton don’t want to get ahead of themselves but I personally think they’re one of the better teams in the league,” he said. ON THE BENCH: Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf went to the dressing room after taking a slapper by Oscar Klefbom off his left foot in the second but was back a few minutes later ... Jared Boll wanted to fight Maroon in the second after Maroon smacked Chris Wagner into the glass but Maroon smartly said no thanks to Boll, a professional heavyweight who played 2:53 in the first 30 minutes ... The Oilers sat rookie Matt Benning and Matt Hendricks. With Gryba taking Benning’s spot, it might be a harbinger of what might come in the playoffs where they like Gryba’s penalty-killing work and bigger body.