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Connor McDavid opened his playoff scoring account and had his first multi-point game of the postseason, while the Edmonton Oilers notched their first power-play goal. However, a struggling Oilers defense allowed the Anaheim Ducks to capitalize on their speed and opportunism, resulting in a 7-4 loss Friday night in Anaheim.
The Ducks celebrated their first home playoff victory in eight years at the Honda Center, taking a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven first-round series.
“Any time you let in seven, and it’s not a goalie problem, it’s just defending better,” Oilers forward Zach Hyman said. “We didn’t give ourselves a chance with the amount of goals we gave up.”
Game 4 is set for Sunday in Anaheim, with the series shifting back to Edmonton for Game 5 on Tuesday.
Across the first three games, Edmonton has conceded 14 goals to Anaheim, excluding two empty-netters. Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch noted the difference from Game 2: “We didn’t give up very much in the second game. I thought we defended well. Tonight, not so much. Just give them freebies, just not digging in front of the net, giving up odd-man rushes.”
The Oilers, who reached the Stanley Cup Final in each of the past two seasons, showed particular defensive vulnerability late in Game 3, allowing 39 shots on goalie Connor Ingram.
Edmonton held a 3-2 lead for seven minutes in the second period before Anaheim’s Mikael Granlund, playing alongside their top defensive duo Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard, flipped a rebound to Alex Killorn to tie the game.
Anaheim then scored twice within 33 seconds early in the third period. Leo Carlsson extended their lead to 5-3 off an odd-man rush created by an offensive-zone turnover from the Oilers.
McDavid, who led the NHL in playoff points in three of the past four postseasons, had been scoreless through the first two games during Edmonton’s 0-for-6 power play. He assisted on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ go-ahead second-period goal and scored on the power play in the third to bring the Oilers within one.
Yet the Ducks’ speed and quick transitions proved too much, with Jeff Viel restoring Anaheim’s two-goal cushion with just over three minutes remaining.
“I feel like we’re giving them these wins,” said Oilers forward Kasperi Kapanen. “It’s disappointing, but it’s a race to four wins. We’re not going to panic, but we have to learn from our mistakes and just be better next game.
“We have to get pucks deep and not be turning pucks over because they counter pretty well. They have a lot of young talent and a lot of speed. We have to keep getting it deep, and our forechecks can be a lot better. Defensively, we have to be quicker, skate more and close our gaps more.”
Bouchard, Ekholm, McDavid, and Hyman combined for a minus-12 rating in the game.
“They certainly carried us the previous two years,” Knoblauch reflected. “They absolutely did, and right now to say that it’s all on their shoulders is completely unfair. Everyone needs to step up a little bit.”
Historically, the winner of a Game 3 when a series is tied 1-1 holds a strong advantage, with an all-time record of 245-124 (.664). At home, that record stands at 111-67 (.624).
The Oilers trailed the Los Angeles Kings 0-2 in last year’s first round before winning four straight to take the series.
“There’s a lot of hockey left to be played,” Ekholm said. “The momentum shifts, the swings, we’ve all been through it in here, so lean on that, take a deep breath knowing that the sun’s going to come up tomorrow and we’ve got a big game coming up in Game 4.
“We know what we’ve got to do. We’ve got to execute at a higher level, and we haven’t brought close to our best yet.”
