Warren Foegele notched his first career five-point game Sunday night as the Edmonton Oilers beat the Anaheim Ducks 7-2.
“I just think it’s just the fundamentals — moving your feet, winning your 50-50s (battles) and getting to the net,” Foegele said after the game. “I think as a line we’re doing more of that. It’s just getting to the front of the paint, and tonight was just a great effort by the whole team.
“We didn’t come out that great in the first and Picks (Oilers goaltender Calvin Pickard) made some unbelievable saves, so that calmness back there was huge and a great way to end the year.”
It’s the fifth-straight win for the Oilers, all of them on the road.
The Oilers took an early lead when Foegele set up linemate Ryan McLeod for his seventh.
Max Jones replied for the Ducks, sweeping a loose puck past Pickard.
Evander Kane, back in action after missing Saturday’s game against Los Angeles, took advantage of a break to put the Oilers up 2-1 late in the first. The puck hit the referee behind the net, allowing Kane to pounce on it and stuff it behind Ducks netminder John Gibson.
The Oilers poured it on in the second. Edmonton defenceman Darnell Nurse snapped a cross-ice pass to Leon Draisaitl, who fired home a one-timer from a sharp angle.
Nurse played set-up man again less than three minutes later with a slap pass to Foegele, who tapped in his sixth. Foegele struck again later in the second to make it 5-1.
Frank Vatrano notched one for the Ducks in the third.
Oilers winger Zach Hyman replied with his 21st, scoring after being sent in on net by Connor McDavid.
Oilers blueliner Brett Kulak added one more on a long slapper set up by Foegele.
Pickard earned the win with 28 saves.
“I thought Anaheim came out with a hot start,” Pickard said. “They threw some pucks on the net — kind of fed off the energy in the building. And then I think we scored five minutes in and they had a little bit of a pushback with a goal, and, you know, we never wavered.
“Even that second goal in the third period, we followed it up with a few great shifts and ended up scoring a couple more. So, a credit to the guys, we definitely deserved to win tonight and it was a really good road trip.”
The Oilers (18-15-1) will host the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday. You can listen to the game live on 630 CHED, beginning with The Faceoff Show at 5:30 p.m. The actual game starts at 7 p.m.