Oilers held off by Ducks, fail to gain in Pacific Division race

ANAHEIM -- The Edmonton Oilers failed to gain ground on second place in the Pacific Division with a 3-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Monday.

Edmonton remained four points behind the Los Angeles Kings, who lost 2-1 to the Seattle Kraken on Monday. The Oilers and Kings each have five games remaining.

Cutter Gauthier scored twice in the second period, and Lukas Dostal made 45 saves for the Ducks (34-35-8), who had lost two in a row. Mason McTavish also scored.

"I was under pressure a little bit today," Dostal said. "But, as I always say, it's my job and just glad we could take the win."

Adam Henrique had a goal and an assist, and Jeff Skinner also scored for the Oilers (44-28-5), who dropped the final two games of their four-game road trip (2-2-0). Olivier Rodrigue made 18 saves in his first NHL start.

"If we're 3-1 after a road trip like that, we're very happy. 2-2 after starting 2-0, we're disappointed," Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. "Tonight's game, I feel like it was one that we probably should have won."

The Oilers, who were without their point leaders in Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid because of lower-body injuries, played 11 forwards and six defensemen because of salary-cap space.

"Sometimes. it's easier for the players, short-handed, to play more and they're in the game a lot more," Knoblauch said. "There's certain situations where we could have had an extra guy on the bench, whether it was a face-off or the penalty kill."

Henrique gave Edmonton a 1-0 lead at 17:51 of the first period after Anaheim defenseman Radko Gudas turned the puck over in front of his net, forcing Dostal off his skates during the ensuing scramble. Before he could reset, Henrique tipped in a one-timer from the left point by Jake Walman.

Gauthier tied it 1-1 at 2:20 of the second period after Leo Carlsson fed him for a one-timer from the inside edge of the right circle.

Gauthier scored his second goal just 4:50 later put the Ducks ahead 2-1 at 7:10. He sped around Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard and roofed a backhand from in close.

"I built some speed up there and I told [Drew Helleson] to give me the puck," Gauthier said. "I just looked in front of me and there was a lot of open space, so I just wanted to use my speed and beat him and, fortunately, I did and just tried to make a quick move on the goalie."

Edmonton had 3:57 remaining on a four-minute power play to start the third period but couldn't capitalize. The Oilers went 0-for-6 with the man-advantage.

"We are playing a little bit more tighter," Dostal said of Anaheim’s penalty kill. "There's a lot of broken plays and I can track the puck better, and obviously they block the shots a lot, so just props to them. They're there to help me and they've been doing a great job lately."

McTavish scored on a breakaway to extend it to 3-1 at 5:33 shortly after the Ducks killed their fifth penalty.

Skinner then cut it to 3-2 at 16:29 when he scored on a deflection off a point shot from Bouchard with Rodrigue pulled for the extra skater.

"We had lots of opportunities to put the puck in the back of the net," Edmonton defenseman Darnell Nurse said. "That's part of the game we've got to find a way to capitalize on the chances we have, and we didn't do that enough tonight."

NOTES: The Ducks won the season series against the Oilers (3-1-0) for the first time since 2015-16 (4-0-1). ... Gauthier had three goals and four assists in four games against Edmonton this season. ... McTavish has seven points (three goals, four assists) in the past seven games. … Anaheim forward Trevor Zegras had an assist on McTavish's goal to give him six points (two goals, four assists) in the past six games. … The Oilers, who went 2-for-2 against the Ducks’ power play, have killed 13 straight penalties overall.