Ducks pressure Oilers after Game 3
- The Anaheim Ducks beat the Edmonton Oilers 7-4 in Game 3 on Friday at Honda Center, scoring four times in the third period to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round series. - Beckett Sennecke and Leo Carlsson scored 42 seconds apart early in the third, and Anaheim finished with 39 shots while Edmonton blew leads of 1-0 and 3-2. - Anaheim has now won two straight after Edmonton took Game 1, flipping the series before Game 4 on Sunday. (nhl.com)
Anaheim turned a tied game into a rout Friday, beating Edmonton 7-4 in Game 3 and taking its first lead of the series. (nhl.com) The Ducks and Oilers were tied 3-3 after two periods before Beckett Sennecke scored at 2:53 of the third and Leo Carlsson followed 42 seconds later for a 5-3 Anaheim lead. (nhl.com) Mikael Granlund had a goal and three assists, Jackson LaCombe added a goal and an assist, and Lukas Dostal made 20 saves in Anaheim’s first home playoff game in eight years. (nhl.com) Edmonton had chances to keep control. Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist, Evan Bouchard and Leon Draisaitl each had two assists, and the Oilers led 1-0 and 3-2 before the third-period collapse. (nhl.com) The series has swung fast. Edmonton won Game 1, 4-3, on Kasperi Kapanen’s late goal with 1:54 left in regulation, then Anaheim answered with a 6-4 win in Game 2 behind two Cutter Gauthier goals. (nhl.com 1) (nhl.com 2) That puts the pressure on a veteran Oilers core that reached the Stanley Cup Final last season, but now trails a Ducks team back in the playoffs for the first time since 2018. (cbc.ca) (nhl.com) Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said the Oilers gave away goals with “lost coverage” and careless puck management, while forward Kasperi Kapanen said Anaheim’s speed punished turnovers and shallow forechecking. (nhl.com) Anaheim’s young core is driving the shift. Sennecke is 20, Carlsson is 21, and Quenneville said after Game 3 that both are showing the daily habits and ambition the Ducks want from cornerstone players. (nhl.com) Game 4 is Sunday night in Anaheim, with the Ducks one win from pushing Edmonton to the edge of a first-round exit. (nhl.com)
