After feeling like they let a win slip from their grasp in the series opener, the Anaheim Ducks will try to regroup for Game 2 of their Western Conference first-round matchup against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night.
The Oilers took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series on Monday when they scored twice in the final nine minutes to rally back for a 4-3 win in Edmonton.
Edmonton had blown a 2-0 lead when it surrendered three goals in the second period.
“It’s unfortunate the result of that game, and it’s going to be tough to swallow, but we’ve got to put it behind us,” Ducks forward Troy Terry said. “We kind of got our feet under us, and we’re into this thing now.”
Terry had two goals and an assist in his first playoff game in his ninth year in the NHL. Leo Carlsson contributed a goal and an assist.
Terry, Carlsson and rookie Beckett Sennecke combined to take 21 of Anaheim’s 28 shots on goal in Game 1.
The Ducks could use better performances from their most veteran players, however.
Chris Kreider had a turnover in the neutral zone that led to the second goal by Edmonton; Radko Gudas fell while skating backwards defending a rush, leading to the third goal; and Jacob Trouba lost track of Kasperi Kapanen on the go-ahead goal with 1:54 left.
Alex Killorn also committed the only two penalties by Anaheim.
“I thought, as a group, we proved to ourselves, we’re right there,” Terry said. “These little mental mistakes can sway a series one way or the other.”
The Oilers benefited from secondary scoring in the Game 1 win.
Kapanen, who scored twice, is a second-line wing, and Jason Dickinson, who scored the other two goals, centered the third line.
“Just very important for this team,” Kapanen said of the secondary scoring. “And other guys stepping up and making big defensive plays that you don’t really see on the highlight reel, but that are just as important.”
The Oilers welcomed back forward Leon Draisaitl for Game 1 after he missed the final 14 games of the regular season with a lower-body injury, and he contributed two assists in the win.
Draisaitl had 97 points in 65 games during the regular season.
“I felt OK,” Draisaitl said. “Certainly going to take a couple games to really be myself and really trust myself again, but for a start, I thought it was OK.”
Just as Draisaitl was returning, however, Edmonton forward Adam Henrique left in the first period with a lower-body injury after colliding shin-on-shin with a teammate.
“We will find out (Tuesday) how long he will be out,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “We will miss him.”
The Oilers still have Connor McDavid, however, and he’ll be extra hungry after going without a point for just the 15th time in 83 games this season and the first time in a victory.
McDavid, who led the NHL with 138 points during the regular season, has only been held off the scoresheet in back-to-back games once this season.
“Connor is going to get his chances and get his looks, and we’re not worried about that,” Kapanen said.
–Field Level Media
