- Cutter Gauthier scored his first two playoff goals, including the go-ahead at 15:08 of the third
- Alex Killorn and Jackson LaCombe each had three points as Anaheim evened the series 1-1
- Read below for full details on how the Ducks flipped the script on Edmonton in Game 2
Cutter Gauthier picked a pretty good time to score his first two Stanley Cup Playoff goals.
The 22-year-old forward buried a rebound from the bottom of the left circle at 15:08 of the third period to break a 4-4 tie, sending the Anaheim Ducks to a 6-4 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday at Rogers Place. The victory evens the Western Conference First Round series at 1-1, with Game 3 set for Friday night at Honda Center.
“We have the confidence,” Gauthier said. “All season long when games have been tied and we’ve been down goals, we’ve been in some high-pressure moments, we knew they were going to come back with a great push and obviously scoring that goal and tying things up with eight minutes to go. Nothing was said on the bench, we knew what to expect going into the third and I’m happy with how we reacted.”
Gauthier tied the game 1-1 on the power play in the first period, then pounced on a loose puck in the slot to grab the lead back with just under five minutes to play. Ryan Poehling added an empty-netter at 18:50 to ice it.
At 22 years, 93 days old, Gauthier became the youngest player in franchise playoff history to record a three-point game. He passed Paul Kariya, who held the mark since Game 1 of the 1997 Conference Quarterfinals.
Alex Killorn finished with a goal and two assists, Ryan Poehling scored twice including a shorty, and Jackson LaCombe piled up three helpers to tie a Ducks franchise playoff record for defensemen. Lukas Dostal stopped 33 shots for his first career playoff victory.
“I think Game 1 we kind of sat back a little bit,” Killorn said. “No one was sitting back today, I think that’s why we ended up getting that goal with Cutter. It was a better third period for us, compared to Game 1.”
Here’s the full highlight package:
Special teams told the story for Edmonton. The Oilers went 0-for-4 on the power play and gave up a short-handed goal, while Anaheim cashed in twice on the man advantage.
“Special teams, they outscored us three there,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “As good as you are 5-on-5 or as much as you can score, it’s pretty tough to overcome three goals there. I believe that was the story of the game tonight.”
Leon Draisaitl had a goal and an assist for Edmonton. Connor Murphy and Zach Hyman also scored. Connor McDavid, who briefly left the game after tangling with Mattias Ekholm, is still looking for his first point of the series.
“We’ve been in this situation a lot, 1-1 going on the road,” McDavid said. “We’re comfortable on the road, we like playing on the road. Obviously, we’d like a better outcome tonight and a better product tonight, but we’re comfortable going on the road.”
The Ducks hadn’t won a playoff game in nine years before Wednesday. Per NHL.com, Game 3 drops Friday at 10 p.m. ET from Anaheim.
