Ducks fly past Oilers in Game 3 for resounding 7-4 win

ANAHEIM — The first playoff game at Honda Center in eight years was well worth the wait as the Ducks took a 2-1 series lead in their thrilling first-round matchup with the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night.

The Ducks put up a touchdown, prevailing 7-4, and have their first advantage in a best-of-seven showdown since eliminating the Oilers in the second round in 2017.

“It sounded like an army out there,” rookie Beckett Sennecke said of the fans. “They’ve been waiting eight years for this, nine years for a win, so it was pretty special.”

The Ducks bookended the game with a rousing opening salvo and a four-goal third period.

“That was the thing that got us going in the first period and the third period, we felt (the crowd’s) energy and they were shifting momentum for us,” Sennecke said.

Mikael Granlund’s goal and two assists gave him a game-high three points. Leo Carlsson and Jackson LaCombe each contributed a goal and an assist. Alex Killorn, Jeffrey Viel, Mason McTavish and Sennecke all found the back of the net. Lukáš Dostál came up with 20 saves.

Edmonton star Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist, and Kasperi Kapanen, Vasily Podkolzin and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins notched a goal. Evan Bouchard and Leon Draisaitl chipped in two assists apiece. Connor Ingram stopped 32 of 38 shots.

With 3:03 displayed on the game clock, the Ducks cemented the win when Viel knifed a backhand past Ingram from close range, padding their edge to 6-4. That got even cushier with 93 seconds remaining, when LaCombe, who factored significantly into Viel’s goal, lobbed the puck into an empty net. Viel also finished the game by fighting Podkolzin.

Viel got the Gordon Bombay jacket from his teammates, but LaCombe received the plaudits from his coach.

“Oh my God, was he good tonight? He was special tonight, just the play and the poise and the patience he had,” Joel Quenneville said. “His speed going through the middle and into the zone was high-end.”

Edmonton had set up a suspenseful finish with scoring champion McDavid’s first goal and their first power-play goal of the postseason, 8:36 into the closing stanza. His sharp-angle bid struck the stick of Ducks defenseman Pavel Mintyukov and beat Dostál high to make it 5-4.

In typical fashion, the Ducks trailed twice in the match, but blew it open with two tallies during a 42-second spurt of the third period, between 2:53 and 3:35.

Sennecke’s first career playoff goal was a big one, breaking a 3-3 tie. After McDavid appeared to get away with a penalty against Killorn, a shot-pass intended for the Oilers captain was broken up by Granlund. His silky lead pass sent Sennecke ahead with speed to finish with aplomb to the far side.

Carlsson concluded an odd-man rush by burying a beautiful backhand. Bouchard’s pass for Draisaitl became a turnover at the offensive blue line, opening the door for Carlsson’s second goal of the first round.

Those goals came from the Ducks’ lottery draft picks in 2024 and 2023, respectively.

“They’ve shown they have all the ingredients, it’s what they do. They want to be the best they can be on a daily basis,” Quenneville said. “That’s the path they’ve been on for their whole career, so we’re fortunate to have them.”

The middle frame saw the Oilers find their legs and take their second lead of the night with two quick goals between the 3:57 and 5:39 marks, but ended gridlocked at 3-3.

Draisaitl’s line scored its fifth goal of the series when Connor Murphy’s rim-around eluded Jacob Trouba, coming to Draisaitl for a drop pass to an unmarked Kapanen in the left circle. He snapped in his third goal in three games.

Then Nugent-Hopkins dug out Bouchard’s rebound to make it 3-2. McDavid had led a 3-on-1 rush that fizzled out and soon after received Bouchard’s outlet pass, returning the puck to him and earning a secondary assist for the Art Ross Trophy winner’s first point of these playoffs.

Yet the Ducks headed to the dressing room even after Killorn’s second goal and fourth point in his last two games, at 12:37. John Carlson recovered one shot and attempted another, jamming the puck low for Granlund. He deftly went skate to stick for a cross-crease pass and Killorn’s tap-in tally. Granlund nearly scored again, but his goal was wiped away for playing the puck with a high stick.

The Ducks came out flying, more than matching the enthusiasm of the boisterous crowd. They dominated territorially and outskated the speedy Oilers handily, building an 11-3 edge in shots on goal.

But Edmonton’s fourth strike on net opened the scoring at 13:12. Draisaitl’s line had been Edmonton’s most effective in Games 1 and 2, and on this shift he and Podkolzin were joined by Zach Hyman instead of Kapanen. Viel made a weak pass that led to the goal but had a strong hit on McDavid in the opening 20 minutes as well.

But 4:06 later, McTavish leveled the contest when he deflected Drew Helleson’s shot, sending it knuckling over Ingram’s glove. It was the first career playoff point for McTavish as well as Helleson and his defense partner Tyson Hinds.

Then, with 2:15 left, the Ducks continued their excellence on the power play, converting for the fourth time in seven opportunities in the series. They also had five man-advantage markers in the last four games of the regular season. Carlsson slammed a shot off Ingram’s right pad that Granlund popped home for his first goal of the spring.

In all, the Ducks outshot the Oilers 20-7, also out-chancing, out-hitting and outscoring them in the process.

Game 4 is Sunday night at Honda Center, when the Ducks can take a stranglehold on the two-time defending Western Conference champs.

“The whole team played really good tonight,” Granlund said. “But at the same time we’re in a Game 3. We’ve got just to move forward and get ready for Sunday.”