The Edmonton Oilers continued their dominance of the Anaheim Ducks with a 6-1 victory Saturday afternoon at Rogers Place.
The Oilers have won 10 of their last 11 meetings with the Ducks, outscoring them 63-24.
“These games can be tricky, especially if you give them life early in the game, and I thought we did a good job of eliminating that,” Connor McDavid said post-game.
“I thought we did a good job of managing the first (period) and put them away early and we just played from there,” Mattias Ekholm added.
Former Duck Adam Henrique opened the scoring 3:47 into the afternoon when he slid in his own rebound after taking a pass from Leon Draisaitl.
“It’s nice to get one early in the game and settle in and see those guys,” Henrique admitted. “That’s a big two points for us down the stretch–you’ve got to have it–and I thought we did a good job trying to jump on it early and take control of the game.”
McDavid scored an electrifying goal, blazing away from the Ducks final line of defence and roofing a forehand past John Gibson.
“I knew that was a forward and it might be a bit of an uncomfortable situation for him so I tried to take him on,” McDavid said looking back on the play in which he sped past a helpless Ducks centreman B.O. Groulx.
A couple of minutes later, Ekholm sizzled home a point shot to make it 3-0 Oilers.
“I’m happy to contribute, but I still think my game isn’t just focused on the offensive side–it’s a two-way game–so I’m trying to help as much as I can,” Ekholm said.
“He’s an incredibly smart hockey player,” Oilers Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said of Ekholm. “He’s got a heavy shot and it’s not an outlier–sometimes players have an unbelievably productive year offensively just because everything lines up and every break goes their way. For me, I think he’s making those plays. It’s not luck.”
McDavid converted a pass from Draisaitl for a power play midway through the second. Warren Foegele beat Gibson between the legs on a breakaway to put the Oilers up 5-0.
Zach Hyman notched his 52nd in the third by one-timing a pass from McDavid. Alex Killorn scored a late power play goal for Anaheim.
Calvin Pickard earned the win in net with 22 saves.
Ekholm had a goal and two assists and was +5.
The Oilers played most of the game with five defencemen as Brett Kulak left the game with an injury after playing only one shift. Cody Ceci missed the game with an illness and was replaced by Troy Stecher.
The Oilers, 45-23-4, will visit the St. Louis Blues on Monday (630 CHED, Face-off Show at 5:30 p.m., game at 7 p.m.).