ANAHEIM—The Ducks left the Oilers short of an upset. Anaheim scored in each period while holding Edmonton to 24 shots ending in a 3-2 win and a fifth straight victory for the Ducks at the Honda Center Sunday.
The Oilers who continue to sit in last place for the third consecutive season came out strong in the first period with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scoring on a deflection from Taylor Hall’s drive which gave him his eighth of the season. Nick Bonino scored five minutes later on a shot from in front of the Oilers net; it was a flip of the puck behind goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov who was making his fifth start this season. The Oilers outshot the Ducks 14-8, in what would continue to be a see-saw match.
The Ducks owned the second while maintaining a strong penalty kill against their Pacific Division rivals. Corey Potter put his team in a spot after giving Bonino a rough check from behind that left the Anaheim center injured and not returning to the game. Potter earned a five minute major and game misconduct while awaiting a hearing from NHL department of player safety. The Ducks couldn’t respond on the lengthy man advantage, but found the lead late in the period. Teemu Selanne added his fourth with a slide of the puck underneath the legs of Bryzgalov with less than five minutes left. Anaheimlaid the hits on the Oilers in response to losing Bonino, but held the offense for the duration.
In a period that saw no penalties from either team, the time to gain the lead or lose it was upon each team. Edmonton came out midway into the third on Sam Gagner’s rush towards Jonas Hiller that helped deke out the goalie and give him his fourth goal to even the game at two. The Ducks four game winning streak was now on the line more than ever with the Oilers creeping closer to a possible downfall of recent success. Someone who knows the feeling in recent memory is Dustin Penner who shot from the faceoff circle with a high shot under the crossbar for his tenth. It’s the most the former Kings left winger has scored since before he joined Los Angeles via Edmontonin 2010.
With the game winner in Anaheim’s favor, the Ducks got one game closer to tying a season best six game streak. Hiller picked up his thirteenth victory making 23 saves and maintains a four game streak of his own. The Ducks will see action away from home beginning a four game route in the northeast starting with the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.
