Edmonton Oilers Take Game 1 Against Ducks, Send Message

The Edmonton Oilers may be considered the underdog in this series, but they didn’t play like it Wednesday. In fact, they put up a fight until the final horn and took Game 1 with an impressive 5-3 victory over the Ducks.

Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton handed Anaheim its first regulation loss since March, and also handed them their first loss in the 2017 Cup playoffs.

The key players for Edmonton came from unexpected names. Mark Letestu struck twice on the power-play, capitalizing on two rebound chances. Adam Larsson made two fantastic plays taht resulted in a multi-goal game for him. His first goal was off an absolute dart from the slot. His second goal was a beauty; he came into the zone with speed and from behind the net, banked the puck in off John Gibson’s back.

Another impressive player for the Oilers came in the form of Leon Draisaitl. The German forward not only put the nail in the coffin with an empty netter but had three assists and was an x-factor on the ice. He made great plays and played a solid game at both ends on the rink while bringing a lot to special teams.

Milan Lucic moved his feet well, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had plenty of good looks and opportunities. Jordan Eberle could have picked up the pace a bit and gotten more involved, but overall, the second line did well.

Cam Talbot looked sharp but had a bit of a heart-stopping minute when the Ducks scored two goals to wash away Edmonton’s impressive 3-1 lead. Still, he appeared quick and agile, stopping 33 of 36 shots on goal. He made great saves with the glove and also appeared confident.

Overall, Edmonton looked good. They brought an intense amount of pressure and capitalized on their opportunities. While the Oilers could have gotten more pucks on goal, they also finished strong, and can dominate with this same mentality each night. They will face the Ducks again Friday.