Cutter Gauthier scores 2 goals to lead Ducks past short-handed Oilers 3-2 – Edmonton

Cutter Gauthier scored two goals in the second period and Lukas Dostal made a season-high 47 saves in the Anaheim Ducks’ 3-2 victory over the short-handed Edmonton Oilers on Monday night.

“Tonight’s game I feel like was one we probably should have won,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch. “There is games obviously that we win that we should have lost. Tonight the effort was there and I thought we deserved a better fate.”

Mason McTavish also scored for the Ducks, who took three of four from Edmonton this season.

The Oilers played without stars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl due to injury.

Adam Henrique and Jeff Skinner scored, but the Oilers lost back-to-back games in Southern California with a playoff berth in sight. Olivier Rodrigue made 18 saves in his first NHL start.

“He was great, he made some huge saves especially down the stretch there to keep us in that game,” Oilers Defenseman Darnell Nurse said after the game about Rodrigue. “He was real solid for us back there.”

The Oilers didn’t have the chance to clinch a postseason berth Monday because Calgary beat San Jose, but the defending Western Conference champion Oilers still appear headed for a fourth consecutive first-round meeting with Los Angeles. The Kings lost to Seattle, but remained four points ahead of Edmonton, which lost 3-0 to Los Angeles last Saturday.

Gauthier tied it early in the second with a one-timer off a pass from Leo Carlsson. The rookie scored again five minutes later, driving the net and roofing a backhand for his third multi-goal game.

Skinner scored with 3:31 to play, but Anaheim hung on after Evan Bouchard hit Dostal’s post with a slap shot inside the final 10 seconds.

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Takeaways

Oilers: McDavid missed his eighth consecutive game and Draisaitl missed his second straight due to lower-body injuries. These losses put LA in control for home-ice advantage in the first round, but don’t affect much else.

Ducks: Encouraging signs in another depressing season: They’re 14-6-1 in their last 21 at home, and they’ve got six players with at least 17 goals for the first time since their Stanley Cup championship season in 2007.

Key moment

Seconds after another short-handed situation ended for Anaheim early in the third, McTavish broke away and scored his 21st goal.

Key stat

Henrique’s goal was his second against the Ducks and his first at Honda Center since Anaheim traded him to Edmonton at last season’s deadline.

Up next

The Ducks host the Flames on Wednesday, and the Oilers host the Blues.

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