Ducks score 4 goals in 1st, ease past Oilers

EDMONTON -- Mason McTavish scored twice for the Anaheim Ducks, who scored four first-period goals in a span of 6:41 en route to a 6-2 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Tuesday.

Jackson LaCombe and Cutter Gauthier each had three assists, and Sam Colangelo and Leo Carlsson each had a goal and an assist for the Ducks (27-26-7), who have won two of three. Lukas Dostal made 32 saves.

“It was a huge win, we had a tough one against Chicago (a 6-3 loss on Saturday), so it was a good bounce-back win for our group,” McTavish said. “I think I’ve been getting a lot of chances recently, which is always a good sign.

“The biggest thing is making sure you’re skating and competing, and I’ve been getting some bounces recently.”

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl each had a power-play goal and an assist for the Oilers (35-22-4), who have lost six of seven and are 3-7-1 in their past 11. Calvin Pickard allowed four goals on 11 shots before being replaced by Stuart Skinner (14 saves) after the first period.

Draisaitl put Edmonton ahead 1-0 on the power play at 10:05 of the first period, snapping in a one-timer off a pass from McDavid past Dostal’s glove at the bottom of the right circle for his NHL-leading 45th goal of the season.

Draisaitl has 18 points (10 goals, eight assists) on a 12-game point streak.

“I thought our start was outstanding. I thought we were skating well, moving the puck, spent a lot of time in the offensive zone,” said Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch. “We just scored the power-play goal, spent a couple of shifts after that, and then the goal against, a couple guys stopped playing, thought the puck went over the glass.

“It didn’t and we got caught on a goal against and after that, we’re a fragile team and when things aren’t going well, we lose our game. I thought our start was exactly how we needed to play and guys were ready, and then a little bit of adversity and we’re a shell of ourselves.”

Carlsson tied it 1-1 at 11:57, intercepting a pass from behind Edmonton’s net by Draisaitl and scoring far side past Pickard’s stick from the slot.

McTavish gave Anaheim a 2-1 lead at 13:37, carrying the puck along the left-hand boards and sending a wrist shot from the hash marks through Pickard’s legs.

“I thought we rebounded well, the last game we didn’t play the way we wanted to. We all want to win, we’re obviously in the hunt and I thought we did a great job,” said LaCombe, who finished plus-5. “That is a first. I just happened to be out there when guys are making plays and that’s how it goes.”

Colangelo made it 3-1 at 18:26 by deflecting a point shot from LaCombe that ended up bouncing in off of Oilers defenseman Brett Kulak.

Just 12 seconds later, McTavish extended the lead to 4-1 at 18:38. He picked up a loose puck in the crease and lifted it high past Pickard’s glove for his second of the game.

It was the fastest two goals scored by Anaheim this season.

“The first 10 minutes we controlled the game and came out with a lot of energy,” said Oilers forward Corey Perry. “Then one mistake was in the back of our net, and we can’t seem to get over that.

“Then things just unraveled. It’s frustrating because we had a good start. We need to figure it out.”

Ryan Strome made it 5-1 at 13:22 of the second period, getting in behind Draisaitl and taking a centering pass on an odd-man rush from LaCombe before tapping it into the open net behind Skinner.

Alex Killorn pushed it 6-1 at 3:56 of the third period.

McDavid, who was playing in his 700th NHL game, scored on the power play 47 seconds later to make it 6-2. He skated around Ducks defenseman Brian Dumoulin and buried the puck past a prone Dostal.

“We were actually upset with ourselves for the performance we had against Chicago, we had a sloppy game,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “I thought the first eight minutes before Leo scored we were on our heels, but I loved the way we responded after the first goal.

“We kind of got into a rhythm and played the right way and we were fortunate to come out with a win here.”

NOTES: Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm left the game with 13:12 left in the third period to be examined by medical staff. … The Ducks scored four goals in the first period for the first time since Dec. 27, 2023. ... Gauthier had three assists in the first period, becoming the third rookie in Ducks history to do so in a single period, along with Pavel Mintyukov (Feb. 21, 2024) and Josh Mahura (Oct. 29, 2019). ... LaCombe extended his point streak to six games (two goals, seven assists). ... McDavid extended his point streak to five games (one goal, five assists). ... Draisaitl scored his 392nd career goal and tied Mark Messier for the fourth in Oilers history, behind Gretzky (583), Jari Kurri (474) and Glenn Anderson (417).