GAME RECAP: Ducks 6, Oilers 2

EDMONTON, AB – Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid each registered a goal and an assist, but the Edmonton Oilers were beaten by six goals from the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night in a 6-2 defeat to open their three-game homestand at Rogers Place this week.

Leon Draisaitl opened the scoring on the power play in the first period with his 45th goal of the season before Anaheim added four goals in the final 8:03 of the frame to take a 4-1 lead, chasing netminder Calvin Pickard with four goals on 11 shots in the opening 20 minutes.

The Ducks were leading 6-1 in the third period when Connor McDavid notched his 23rd goal of the campaign on the man advantage, adding consolation for the Oilers, who fell to their fifth defeat over their last six games (1-5-0) since returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off break.

"Maybe we're gripping the stick a little too tight," Perry said. "You lose some games in a row and you can't string wins together. Those things happen, so through it now, get out of it and be better for it."

Edmonton will look to answer back on Thursday night on home ice when the visiting Montreal Canadians roll into Oil Country.

"We know what we're capable of, what we have in this room, and we know we can get back to it," Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. "But this is crunch time and you can't just flip a switch. It's not just going to happen because we say it's going to happen. We got to show up tomorrow and work and push each other to get better."

FIRST PERIOD

For how good of a start the Oilers had in the first half of the opening period, all that went flying out the window before the intermission arrived after the Ducks delivered four goals into the back of their net over the final 8:03 of the frame to build a 4-1 advantage.

"The first 10 minutes, we controlled the game, came out with a lot of energy, and then it's one mistake and in the back of our net," Corey Perry said. "We can't seem to get over that, and then things just unraveled. It's frustrating because we had a good start."

The first shot Calvin Pickard had to face required 32-year-old netminder to come up with a break-away glove stop on Troy Terry, making up for Leon Draisaitl having his pass that was aimed for Darnell Nurse near the top of the Anaheim zone going off course to send Terry in alone during the opening minutes.

Thanks to that save, the Oilers were able to take the 1-0 lead midway through the period on a power play that was put away by Leon Draisaitl, finishing off a terrific toe drag into the slot and dish from Connor McDavid for his 45th goal of the campaign.

Draisaitl had his seven-game goal streak come to an end in Saturday's victory over the Hurricanes, but after recording two helpers in the win to extend his point streak to 11, the German now has points in 12 straight contests to tie his countryman Tim Stützle in Ottawa for the NHL's longest-active point streak.

That was the limit to Edmonton's success and that of Pickard in goal during the first period, as the Ducks would strike fast and frequent to end the netminder's night in favour of Stuart Skinner after allowing four goals on 11 shots.

"It certainly wasn't the performance that Calvin had in Carolina," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "Four goals in the first period and there were some breakaways and opportunities where they're left all alone like the their first goal against. You'd like a save or two, but I'd also like us to defend the dangerous areas of the ice a lot better than we did."

Leo Carlsson capitalized on a Draisaitl giveaway below the goal line for an unassisted equalizer, then Mason McTavish would sneak a snap shot past Pickard from inside the left circle 1:40 later to put the Ducks ahead with over six minutes remaining in the opening period.

"We just kind of started to sit back a little bit too much," Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. "We got deflated and it's not the response that we needed after they got their second and third ones."

In the final two minutes of the period, Sam Colangelo got lucky having his deflection go off the skate of Brett Kulak and in following an offensive-zone draw before McTavish added his second goal only 12 seconds later with an in-tight finish with no Oilers defencemen covering the net.

"We just gotta start from our net out," Perry said. "You see what happens when we only give up one or two goals in a game? We have a chance to win every night, and we gotta get back to that philosophy and that mentality of starting from our net and working our way out."

SECOND PERIOD

With Stuart Skinner between the pipes coming out of the intermission for the Oilers, the swap in goal wasn't able to change their fortunes when Anaheim tacked on another goal in the middle stanza to make it 5-1 for the visitors.

The Ducks scored their fifth of the night on the rush near the 13-minute mark of the frame after defenceman Jackson LaCombe put a pass into the middle from the left circle for former Oilers forward Ryan Strome to streak in against Leon Draisaitl and one touch his 10th goal of the campaign past Skinner.

Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal was still having a strong performance in the opposite crease, having won six of his last eight starts for Anaheim and doing what was required on Tuesday night to stamp out the Oilers' opportunities when they approached the blue paint.

Dostal made a well-timed pad save before the second intermission against Zach Hyman after McDavid filtered it through the net front to open up a chance for his winger at the other side, keeping the Ducks ahead 5-1 entering the third period.

THIRD PERIOD

As nice of a goal it would be from Connor McDavid, it was a hill too high to climb for the Blue & Orange.

Anaheim made it 6-1 on forward Alex Killorn's break-away wrist shot that beat Stuart Skinner blocker side less than four minutes into the final frame. It was another goal off the rush for the Ducks, who moved it quickly out of their own zone and through Edmonton's defence to register six goals against the Oilers for the first time since Game 3 of the 2017 Conference Semi-Final.

It was also the second time the Ducks have shipped five past the Oilers this season after doing so back on Dec. 29 in a 5-3 win at the Honda Center, with the scoreline on Tuesday having Anaheim tracking to take the lead in the season series with two out of three victories.

Less than a minute later, the Oilers were back on the power play for the second time when Connor McDavid took a lay-off pass from Leon Draisaitl in the neutral zone and skated around the Ducks defence to score a terrific goal for his 23rd of the season. The captain burned around Brian Dumoulin and slid it around the right pad of Dostal to make it 6-2, but that's as close as the Oilers would get to the Ducks with over 15 minutes still remaining in the third period.

Despite registering two power-play tallies, McDavid is still without an even-strength point over a 201:02 stretch going back the last 11 games.

The Oilers would outshoot the Ducks 35-26 in a 6-2 defeat that would go down as their fifth loss in their last six games.

They'll look to respond in the second game of their three-game homestand at Rogers Place on Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens.

"It's just work," Perry said. "Nobody else is going to come in here and do it for you. You gotta do it yourself, and you put this behind you, come to work tomorrow and get ready for the next one."