Takeaways from the Ducks 6-4 win over the Oilers in Game 2, Series Tied 1-1
Ducks fight back from a deficit, score timely goals, and secure a crucial win. Gauthier ignites the offense in a back-and-forth thriller.
Video Transcript
All right, Patrick Present and Derek Lee re-reporting live here from, Rogers Place in Edmonton after a huge game two win, from the Anaheim Ducks.
Six to four was your final score.
You had three different Ducks with, three points a piece.
the big story coming out of this, in my opinion, was, a little surprise switch to the lineups after m- after morning skate and after warm-ups where it seemed like, you know, the forward lines were, were status quo.
Cutter Gauthier ends up on the first line.
What was your reaction to seeing him in the starting lineup and then stay in that spot on the top line?
Yeah.
I thought it was interesting because morning skate saw the same lines as, game one, and then warm-ups same lines as game one, and then when they announced the starting lineups, it was Cutter Gauthier with Troy Terry and Leo Carlsson.
That ended up being kind of the story of, of the game because, Cutter ended up getting the first goal, and then he ended up getting the go-ahead goal in the third period.
Yeah.
I thought putting him in that spot kinda manufactured some puck touches for him, really got him going.
He got-- He gets to kinda find the soft ice and not have so much responsibility transporting pucks and things like that, so I think that was a, a really cheeky move from Quenneville to kind of, like, pull that out of his back pocket and kind of maybe even, catch the Oilers off guard, who didn't have Sam Dickinson, didn't h- or Sam Dickinson.
Didn't have Jason Dickinson and didn't have, Adam Henrique.
but again, they held Connor McDavid off the score sheet.
I don't know, what'd you think about the defensive performance to, to kind of I, I don't wanna s- you never shut down Connor McDavid, but limit ninety-seven.
Yeah.
It was kind of a hands-on, all hands on deck, effort, and I th- we saw a lot of Tim Waage and Ian Moore and Jeff Joel, the fourth line, kind of going out there, creating a lot of energy, making sure that McDavid didn't have the-- get to the space that he wanted to get to.
And I think we saw that kind of from the top, bottom down or, yeah, from the top down, just trying to make sure that even when he did have the puck, he didn't, wasn't able to get to the spaces that he wanted to get.
a lot of good poke checks too.
We noticed that in game one on the power play especially.
I think the defensemen did a really good job of managing their gaps, against McDavid just because he's so fast.
So a lot of, a lot of, stick checks, and then also just kind of making sure there was always pressure.
He didn't have a lot of time to kinda make those plays, in the open ice like he usually does.
Yeah.
A lot of that comes on the back check and, you know, really, you know, you're gon- you can't gap up with him perfectly, but to make him feel pressure on his back I think is huge.
And then, like you mentioned, the, the penalty kill was four for four again.
I mean, really tying up Hyman in front and then kind of weathering the storm on the, on the fringes, on the perimeter.
I thought Lukas Dostl did a really good job, especially against a lot of those tips when they did get guys in front, when, you know, his, his defensemen weren't able to box out in front.
one of those defensemen, Jackson LaCombe, ends up, ends up with three assists.
what'd you make of the, the blue line as a whole?
Who stood out to you?
it's tough to say because I think they all had, kind of the little things that they did.
Drew Helleson I think actually did a really good job coming in for Radko Gudas, especially maybe on such short notice because we didn't know that Gudas was gonna be out until this morning.
So maybe that was something that he wasn't really aware of before, and he, A little unlucky for him on the first goal, the first Oilers goal where the puck goes in off his skate.
He was trying to clear out, Vasili Podkolzin from the net front.
but he, he made some really nice outlet passes and especially, taking hits to make a play.
I think he did a really good job in that aspect.
I think Tyson Hynes, on, on the rest of that, their defensive pair, they had some really nice plays, especially when Quenneville kind of started to rotate the first and second pairs a little bit more.
it's, it's kinda tough to just sit on the bench for a little bit and just be quickly engaged, and suddenly you're facing McDavid and Draisaitl for a shift.
So I think those guys did a, a good job.
I think, the top pair, like you mentioned, did a really good job.
Again, Jacob Trouba gets the goal, for actually hitting the net.
I, I'd kinda noted that, he's missing a lot of shots and not getting them on target, and then the one he did get on target ended up in the net.
So that's, you know, get pucks on net.
That's a great motto for everybody.
But, there, there's, yeah, just the whole, all six blue liners, they had-- they did a, a really good collective effort.
Yeah.
So the Ducks will take a one-one series back t- home to Anaheim.
They took home ice away from Edmonton now with, three games remaining at Honda Center potentially.
and, you know, they'll, they'll hope to continue kind of The way they started I thought was a lot better in this game.
I mean, they seemed a little wide-eyed to start last game, a little deer in headlights maybe.
And in this one, they kind of were pressure from beginning to end.
They had some lulls.
Obviously, that's gonna happen during a hockey game, but I like the response.
you can't, like, hold a team like the Oilers down for too long, so But the ability to respond, and Cutter Gauthier gets that huge goal, to go up five-four, and then Poehling seals it.
I thought that Poehling, Granlund, and Cogliano at the end of the game did a good job of handling that, Connor McDavid and, Leon Draisaitl tandem.
so I think, I think Quenneville found some things that he liked in this game and some things that he'll stick to.
And, I'd still like a little more depth scoring.
you know, I That, that new look third line with Kryder and McTavish alongside Poehling, might need a little boost and might need to come up with some offense at five-on-five.
But, those are little adjustments.
I think on big pictures, they, they kind of did what they wanted to do, as Quenneville said after the game.
Like, they, they are leaving Edmonton with a, with a big win.
So, how do you feel?
Like, the Ducks got their first playoff win in nine years.
What does that mean to you as a fan, reporter, and, and this fan base and franchise as a whole?
I mean, it's fantastic.
You know, when we were talking to Dostl, I was trying not to get, like, too, too emotional because this is, this is a really big moment for a lot of these guys and especially, kinda growing up watching some of these guys and seeing them come up through development camp and all that, so to be able to see them kinda shine on the big stage is really awesome to see.
Yeah.
All right.
So we will be reporting, from Anaheim for games three and four on Friday and Sunday respectively, and then Derek will be back here for game five on Tuesday
