Oilers On The Brink of Elimination

The Edmonton Oilers are on the brink of elimination. Sunday night’s Game 4 finished dramatically. Overtime can be full of drama in any playoff game, but the winning goal by the Anaheim Ducks is full of controversy. With the win, the Ducks have a 3-1 stranglehold on the series.

Sunday night’s game was a must-win for Edmonton. However, things did not go their way. Penalties and poor goaltending are to blame. The Oilers started the game strong and took an early lead, but the Ducks capitalized on some power plays in the second period.

If the Oilers can’t fix their problems and win Game 5 on Tuesday, then the disappointment of Game 4 will be the last game in Edmonton this season. Connor McDavid and company will enter Game 5 with their backs against the wall. How will the Oilers respond in the do-or-die situation?

Oilers vs Ducks: Game 4 Recap

First Period:

Kasperi Kapanen scored the first Edmonton goal 38 seconds into the first period. The goal came off a rebound from a Jake Walman shot from the point.

At 06:32 of the first, the Oilers took a 2-0 lead on a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins goal. Nugent-Hopkins attempted to pass the puck to Zach Hyman, but Ducks goaltender Lukas stopped the puck, and it ricocheted off a Ducks defender and into the net.

Second Period:

The second period is where things began to unravel for the Oilers. Seven minutes into the second period, Josh Samanski took a bad penalty. Cutter Gauthier found the back of the net on the Ducks’ power-play at 07:36 to cut Edmonton’s lead in half.

Then, with about three minutes left in the second period, Zach Hyman took a penalty. Mikael Granlund would score for the Ducks on the power play and tie the game.

Third Period:

At 03:27 of the third period, the Oilers finally got their own power play goal to take the lead. Evan Bouchard sniped one past Dostal after a pass from McDavid.

After some lengthy offensive zone pressure from the Ducks, Leon Draisaitl had an opportunity to clear the puck, but failed. John Carlson took a shot on net, and Jeffrey Viel got to the rebound first and scored through the five-hole on Edmonton goaltender Tristan Jarry.

Overtime Chaos

With the game tied 3-3, this pivotal game would need overtime. Just over two minutes into overtime, the Ducks would win an offensive zone faceoff. Ryan Poehling sent the puck towards the front of the net, and it deflected off the skate of Oilers’ defenseman Darnell Nurse and through the pads of Jarry.

The puck did not cross the goal line clearly, so a video review was needed. It ended up needing two reviews, but in the end, it was determined to be a good goal. The Ducks won 4-3 and now have a 3-1 series lead.