Beckett Sennecke and Leo Carlsson scored goals 42 seconds apart early in the third period to spark the host Anaheim Ducks to a 7-4 comeback victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday and give them a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.
Mikael Granlund tallied once in a four-point performance, while Mason McTavish, Alex Killorn, Jeffrey Viel and Jackson Lacombe added a goal apiece for Anaheim. Carlsson and Lacombe each notched an assist, and goaltender Lukas Dostal made 20 saves.
“We’ve always had belief,” Killorn told Sportsnet. “We have a young group, and they’ve taken a big step this year. They’ve been leaders this year on this team in terms of producing. In these big games, they’ve shown up and we’re leaning on them a lot. They’ve been great.”
Connor McDavid collected one goal and one assist while Vasily Podkolzin, Kasperi Kapanen and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each scored once for the Oilers. Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard posted two assists apiece, and goalie Connor Ingram stopped 32 shots.
“Defensively, we can be better,” Kapanen said. “I felt like tonight and Game 2, we keep shooting ourselves in the foot. It’s disappointing, but it’s a race to four wins. We’re not going to panic, but we’ve got to learn from our mistakes and be better next game.”
Game 4 of the best-of-seven Western Conference series will be Sunday in Anaheim.
With the score tied 3-3, Sennecke scored his first goal of the playoffs at the perfect time. After an Edmonton turnover, Sennecke was sprung on an odd-man rush on which he elected to shoot and found the mark at 2:53 of the third period.
Carlsson gave the hosts a two-goal edge right after another Oilers turnover. Troy Terry made the pass on a 2-on-1 rush that Carlsson converted.
McDavid netted his first goal — and Edmonton’s first power-play marker — of the series at 8:36 to cut the deficit to 5-4, but Viel provided the insurance goal with 3:03 remaining and Lacombe’s empty-net goal rounded out the scoring.
Edmonton’s Mattias Ekholm said, “We’ve got to make sure we value the defensive side of the puck. It’s gonna be hard to win games giving up six or seven (goals).”
The matchup has produced a high-scoring, back-and-forth series, and that trend continued.
The Oilers were outshot 11-3 to start the game, but Podkolzin opened the scoring with a high shot at 13:12 of the first period. Edmonton has scored first in all three games.
McTavish replied three minutes later with a deflection tally, and Granlund put Anaheim ahead 87 seconds after that with his team’s fourth power-play goal of the series.
Kapanen tied the clash when he unloaded a quick shot from just inside the left circle on a feed from Draisaitl at 3:57 of the second period. Nugent-Hopkins put Edmonton ahead a second time less than two minutes later by burying a loose puck.
Killorn tied the clash 3-3 just past the midway mark of the second period by finishing a tap-in tally set up by Granlund.
–Field Level Media
