Rickard Rakell scored the go-ahead goal, Hampus Lindholm had a goal and two assists, and the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 on Wednesday night.
Jonathan Bernier made 29 saves, and Josh Manson and Patrick Eaves also scored as Anaheim passed Edmonton for second place in the Pacific Division with nine games remaining for both teams.
Cam Talbot gave up four goals on 18 shots before being pulled midway through the second period as the Oilers’ four-game winning streak ended. Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist, giving him 84 points to extend his league lead, and Leon Draisaitl also scored for the Oilers.
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Mark Letestu added a 6-on-3 power-play goal with 6.7 seconds remaining.
Talbot, starting for the 13th game in a row and coming off consecutive shutouts, seemed a step slow from the start, and Anaheim made him pay. After failing to react in time to Manson’s score over his right shoulder, Talbot was beaten over his left glove side by Rakell during 4-on-4 play and prompting Oilers coach Todd McLellan to finally give Laurent Brossoit just his fifth appearance in net this season.
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Brossoit made 16 saves in relief, playing for the first time since a loss at Tampa Bay on Feb. 21.
The Ducks took the lead 1:33 into the second after being rather fortunate to head into the locker room tied at 2 when Lindholm scored with 30.2 seconds left. Edmonton succeeded early on in drawing Anaheim into a wide-open game, turning speed and skill into a 15-6 advantage in shots.
McDavid used a slick backhand to score his 26th, reaching around Cam Fowler and cutting back to his right to beat Bernier 1:03 after Eaves tied the game at 1.
Talbot gave up a howler on Eaves’ long shot, offering an early hint of the struggles to come.
The sequence that ended with the Oilers taking a 1-0 lead could have had a very different result if not for two fortunate redirections. Ryan Kesler’s shot was sent into the post by Talbot’s right skate and tantalizingly trickled parallel to the open goal, allowing Edmonton to recover and break the other way where Draisaitl buried his 25th goal 5:58 into the first.
NOTES: Ducks forward Andrew Cogliano appeared in his 777th consecutive game, passing Craig Ramsay for fourth-most in NHL history. … Draisaitl had multiple points for the fifth straight game, notching two goals and nine assists in that span. … Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf had three assists, giving him 16 points (three goals, 13 assists) in 10 games since the bye week. … Rakell had a point for the fifth consecutive game.
UP NEXT:
Oilers: Visit the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.
Ducks: Host the Winnipeg Jets on Friday.
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