The Edmonton Oilers and superstar captain Connor McDavid are looking for a rebound as their Western Conference first-round playoff series shifts to Anaheim for Game 3 against the Ducks on Friday.
Not only did the Ducks even the best-of-seven series at one win apiece with Wednesday’s 6-4 victory, but they held McDavid — the regular-season scoring champ for the sixth time — off the sheet for a second consecutive outing.
McDavid, who has racked up 150 points in 98 career Stanley Cup playoff games, is not the type to admit whether his personal struggles are an issue, but it is a concern for the Oilers.
“He’s putting a lot of pressure on himself,” coach Kris Knoblauch said. “He wants the team to do well. He’s a leader and usually when we have success, he’s a big part of that. … I’m certain that he’s going to find his game.”
McDavid also left the game briefly after tangling feet with teammate Mattias Ekholm, but returned. He said it was “fine.”
The Oilers were the favorites going into the series against the up-and-coming Ducks, but have found themselves in a dogfight. Edmonton opened the scoring in both outings, but Anaheim led each of them going into the third period. It took a third-period comeback for the Oilers to claim the opener 4-3.
So far, the Ducks have cashed in thanks to the special-teams battle. While Edmonton has become known for its lethal power play, the Oilers have not scored with six man-advantages, while the Ducks have tallied three times on the power play, and also boast a short-handed tally.
Fortunately for the Oilers, they have plenty of playoff experience to lean upon.
“We’ve been in this situation a lot, 1-1 going on the road,” McDavid said. “We’re comfortable on the road, we like playing on the road. Obviously, we’d like a better outcome (Wednesday), but we’re comfortable going on the road.”
Anaheim returns full of confidence and not just because it claimed the franchise’s first playoff victory since facing the Nashville Predators in the 2017 Western Conference finals.
The Ducks, who snapped a seven-year playoff drought by reaching the second season, have shown they can go head-to-head against the two-time Western Conference playoff champs.
Plus, they showed their mettle by regrouping after seeing a 4-2 lead turn into a tie game past the midway point of the third period. The situation was eerily close to what transpired in the series opener, but this time Anaheim recovered.
“We have the confidence,” said Cutter Gauthier, whose second goal of the game broke the 4-4 tie with less than five minutes remaining in regulation. “All season long … we’ve been in some high-pressure moments. We knew they were going to come back with a great push and obviously scoring that goal and tying things up with eight minutes to go. Nothing was said on the bench… and I’m happy with how we reacted.”
That response has the Ducks looking forward to returning to Southern California with home-ice advantage, more experience and more belief in themselves.
“Game 1 we kind of sat back a little bit,” said forward Alex Killorn, who scored once in a three-point outing. “No one was sitting back (Wednesday), I think that’s why we ended up getting that goal with Cutter. We’re going to learn as we go on here and continue to get better.”
