Draisaitl and McDavid lead way as Oilers move into first in Pacific Division

“A great win. We battled back, battled with them all night, and found a way to win a hockey game,” McDavid said. “It’s taken us a long time to figure out how to play against this team.”

McDavid also scored and finished with two assists and Milan Lucic had the other goal for the Oilers (44-25-9), who have won five games in a row and nine of their last 10. Edmonton’s 44 wins are the most the team has had in a season since the Oilers won the Stanley Cup in 1987-1988.

“It’s a good spot for us to be in with four games left,” Lucic said. “Ever since the calendar turned over to March, it has just seemed like everything is rolling in the right direction for us, from the goaltending to the defensive play and guys stepping up offensively. The crowd, too. The energy has been ramping up as we get closer to playoffs and that is important to us.”

Ryan Getzlaf and Patrick Eaves replied for the Ducks (42-23-13), who have lost two in a row on the heels of a five-game winning streak.

“We didn’t play 60 minutes of hockey tonight,” Getzlaf said. “I thought that first period, we sat back a lot. But, we played a good hockey team. They’re fighting for their lives, too. We’ve got to be able to finish games like that.”

Anaheim had the best early chance six minutes in, but Oilers goalie Cam Talbot made a huge glove save on a point-blank shot by Corey Perry.

Edmonton finally broke the deadlock with 49 seconds left in the opening frame as Patrick Maroon’s nice individual effort set up McDavid’s 29th goal of the season, sending it past Ducks starter John Gibson. His league-leading 92nd point extended his current point streak to 10 games.

The Ducks pulled even on the power play early in the second when Getzlaf beat a screened Talbot with a blast from the point for his 15th goal.

Anaheim defenceman Sami Vatanen left the game in the second with an upper-body injury and did not return.

Ducks forward Ryan Kesler had a wide-open net to shoot for four minutes into the third, but rang it off the crossbar.

Anaheim took a 2-1 lead nine minutes into the third on the power play, as the Oilers got caught running around and Antoine Vermette was left alone in front to dish it to Eaves at the side of the net for his 29th goal.

Edmonton tied it back up with a power-play goal of its own with 1:58 remaining when Lucic scored from in tight on the rebound of a Draisaitl shot, whose assist also gave him a 10-game point streak.

With his 40th win of the campaign, Talbot tied Grant Fuhr for the most wins by an Oilers goalie in a season.

“Any time your name is anywhere near Grant Fuhr’s name, that’s pretty special,” he said.

The Ducks are back at it on Sunday night as they travel to Calgary to face the Flames. Edmonton starts a three-game road trip in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Notes: Gibson, who has been sidelined with a lower-body injury, made his first start since March 10… It was Todd McLellan’s 700th game as an NHL head coach.

Shane Jones, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Draisaitl and McDavid lead way as Oilers move into first in Pacific Division

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