After back-to-back underwhelming performances that saw them fall into a two-zip whole, the Ducks finally played like the more experienced team in Game 3. The huge, 6-3 win, which was their highest point total in a playoff game in two years, placed them right back in the series.
The Ducks used an aggressive attack right from the get go, as Ryan Getzlaf quickly fed Rickard Rakell a smooth cross-ice pass for a breakaway goal just 25 seconds into the contest. It was the fastest opening score in the team’s postseason history.
The next nine minutes of the period featured the Ducks finding the back of the net two more times, which eventually ended the opening frame with them owning a commanding 3-0 lead.
Four other players scored along with Rakell, including Getzlaf, who had a goal and an assist, and Jacob Silfverberg, who tallied a pair of goals to go along one assist – Getzlaf (5 G, 4 A) and Silfverberg (6 G, 2 A) are currently pacing Anaheim in points, with nine and eight, respectively.
John Gibson, meanwhile, recorded 24 saves. He’s just 72-for-81 in the matchup (.889 save percentage), but we’ll see if he can be more confident in his defense now that there’s less anxiety on the team’s shoulders.
For Game 4, we can expect the Ducks to have the same type of aggressiveness once again. They have punched right back and will look for an even stronger follow-up, especially since Game 5 will shift back to their home ice.
Game 3 was just craziness and frustration for the Oilers. Instead of being up 3-0 in the series, there’s a good possibility that it’s going to being tied by Wednesday’s end.
It actually appeared to be a rout just nine minutes in, and then it wasn’t, and then it was again – from being down 0-3 early, to tying it to three apiece, to eventually losing 6-3.
Cam Talbot, who stopped 39 of 40 shots in Game 2 and entered with a .947 save percentage, was blasted this past Sunday. He allowed six goals in the 28 shots he faced.
On offense, Connor McDavid, Patrick Maroon, and Anton Slepyshev all scored of Edmonton, with McDavid, the NHL’s leading scorer in the regular season (100 points), scoring for the first time in the series.
Still, McDavid (3 G, 3 A) joins co-centres Leon Draisaitl (2 G, 6 A) and Mark Letestu (3 G, 2 A), as well as Maroon (3 G, 2 A) in headlining Edmonton’s scoring this postseason.
Concerns are definitely rising for the upstart Oilers, as they are now showing signs of inferiority against a more battle-tested squad. However, do remember that they were in a similar situation in the series prior and were able to respond well. In there, they suddenly finished off the San Jose Sharks with two-straight wins following a 7-0 shutout loss.
Writer’s Prediction
The Ducks (EVEN) win, tying the series to two apiece.
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