The young Oilers made their presence felt in Game 1. Being the upstart, less-experienced team didn’t get in the way as they basically punched the Ducks in the mouth with that 5-3 win. They stole home ice advantage in the process.
The highlight, of course, was the timely explosion in the third period, where they blasted out two goals in a span of two minutes and four in total, two of which came from Adam Larsson (one was highlight reel-worthy). It was a night of breakthroughs for the fifth-year veteran, who had his first goal in 23 games and first postseason game where he had a goal and an assist.
Two other guys became big keys in the huge victory – Mark Letestu registered a pair of power-plays goals, while Leon Draisaitl’s empty net goal with under two minutes left sealed the deal.
Cam Talbot made 33 saves. He has now stopped 186 of the 201 shots he faced in the postseason (.925 save percentage).
Welp, it feels like we jinxed the Ducks. We just brought up their 18-game streak of being unbeaten at the end of regulation in the Game 1 preview (15-0-3), and poof, it has now evaporated.
They didn’t come out without a fight, though. After the two quick scores from the Oilers early in the third period, they answered back with their own ultra-fast offense, as Patrick Eaves and Jakob Silfverberg both found the back of net inside 85 seconds.
In the contest, Eaves had his second goal in as many games, while Ducks top scorer, Ryan Getzlaf, also had one, marking it as the fourth time in his last five outings where has at least one goal.
John Gibson, who had three games with 30 or more saves and .938 or better save percentages in the previous round, gave up four goals in the 31 shots he faced (.871).
Writer’s Prediction
With the great momentum, the Oilers might be too excited and aggressive, which should help the well-experienced Ducks regain composure and tie the series up.
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