GAME RECAP: Ducks 3, Oilers 2

ANAHEIM, CA – Goaltender Lukas Dostal made 45 saves for the Anaheim Ducks on Monday night in a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.

Forwards Adam Henrique and Jeff Skinner scored for the Oilers on redirections, but Dostal was solid all night, stopping 45 of the 47 shots he faced while Anaheim received their offence from Cutter Gauthier (two goals) and the game-winner from Mason McTavish at 14:27 of the third period.

Skinner made it 3-2 with less than four minutes left in regulation before Evan Bouchard struck the post with only seconds remaining, leaving the Oilers to languish their second straight defeat while missing the chance to gain ground on the Los Angeles Kings in the Pacifc Division playoff race.

Oilers goaltender Olivier Rodrigue made his first NHL start on Monday and stopped 18 of the 21 shots he faced in the defeat.

The Oilers now look ahead to hosting the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday and the San Jose Sharks on Friday at Rogers Place.

FIRST PERIOD

Six years in the making for goaltender Olivier Rodrigue.

The 24-year-old netminder made six saves in the opening period of his first NHL start to settle himself and his teammates in with a handful of important stops in the first 10 minutes of a defensively porous period at the Honda Center.

Rodrigue made a confident save against forward Troy Terry on a Ducks three-on-one opportunity in the game's early going before Edmonton was able to provide its netminder run support later in the frame to make it 1-0 after recording the final seven shots of the period.

"He was good, especially in the first period," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "He didn't have many quality chances in the second or third, but definitely in the first there were some chances that we needed him on and he stepped up. We're very happy with his game tonight."

The Oilers were fortunate to have traffic around the Ducks crease after Connor Brown missed on an open set-up in front by Corey Perry, leading to Jake Walman unleashing a blast from the top of the zone that found its way into the back of the net off the toe of Adam Henrique in the slot at 17:51 of the frame.

Henrique's 11th goal of the season was his second against his former club and his first at the Honda Center since being traded to the Oilers at last year's Trade Deadline. Corey Perry recorded an assist for his his fifth career point (1G, 4A) in this his 11th career game against his former team of 988 career games.

An assist for Walman gives him 40 points in what's been a career year for him, including a goal and seven assists over 15 games in an Oilers uniform.

SECOND PERIOD

Ducks forward Cutter Gauthier potted two goals in a 4:50 span of the second period to put Anaheim in front 2-1 with over half the frame still to play, but the concerns of the Oilers – like the have been for the past few weeks – fell on both Corey Perry and Vasily Podkolzin after they had scares in the period.

Perry was caught up high by an unsuspecting elbow from defenceman Radko Gudas below the goalline that resulted in the veteran forward heading down the tunnel before he was able to return later in the period. Then, Podkolzin then had to be helped off the ice when he blocked a shot in in front of the Anaheim crease after getting wrapped up with Gudas, who was always on the other side of each conflict on Monday.

Luckily, Perry and Podkolzin would be on the bench to begin the final frame, where the Oilers had an extended five-on-four power play after Ryan Strome was charged with two infractions in the final seconds of the period.

"I thought guys dug in and tried to get physical," Nurse said. "Sometimes things happen out there. People can choose to answer or not, and I thought our response was pretty good."

The Oilers played parts of the second period with 10 forwards because of their extensive injury list that includes Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Mattias Ekholm, John Klingberg, Trent Frederic and Stuart Skinner.

THIRD PERIOD

The Oilers were an inch away from earning a point, but there were plenty of opportunities they missed earlier in the period that were just as easily could've been the difference like Dostal was for the Ducks on Monday night.

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

With the game 3-1 off Mason McTavish's goal 5:33 into the period, Jeff Skinner deflected a puck past Dostal in the final four minutes of regulation with the net empty to pull the game back to 3-3, and they would come inches away from leveling the score in the final seconds of regulation.

Bouchard unleashed a blast on one last chance for the Oilers that struck the left post with plenty of traffic in front before Connor Brown couldn't put the rebound on goal, leading to the Ducks getting out of a jam late to escape with the two points at the expense of Edmonton's late comeback.