ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) 鈥� Leo Carlsson, Troy Terry and Chris Kreider had a goal and two assists apiece, and the Anaheim Ducks eliminated Connor McDavid and the two-time defending Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers with a 5-2 victory in Game 6 of their first-round playoff series Thursday night.
Cutter Gauthier had a goal and an assist, Ryan Poehling scored the opening goal and Lukas Dostal made 25 saves in a standout performance for , who stormed to their first playoff series victory since 2017 in front of a frenzied sellout crowd.
鈥淚t was obviously just an awesome feeling to make the playoffs for all of us,鈥� Terry said. 鈥淲e knew that this series was there for us if we played the right way. Obviously, they made a push, but I’m just proud of the guys. I thought we played maturely, played hard.鈥�
After ending a seven-year postseason absence by knocking out the powerhouse Oilers, Anaheim will face the winner of the Vegas Golden Knights鈥� series with the Utah Mammoth. heading to Salt Lake City on Friday night.
Connor Murphy and Vasily Podkolzin scored as Edmonton followed up its worst regular season since 2021 by going out in the first round for the first time since that season.
鈥淲e were an average team all year, you know?鈥� said NHL scoring champion McDavid, who was held pointless in three of the series’ six games. 鈥淎n average team with high expectations, you鈥檙e going to be disappointed. … They played very fast, and we weren鈥檛 very fast. We鈥檝e been searching for consistency all year, and obviously we didn鈥檛 find it here in the playoffs.鈥�
After winning nine playoff series, playing 81 postseason games and reaching two Stanley Cup Finals in the past four years, McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the Oilers finally appeared to run out of energy and health. They had a disastrous defensive performance against the Ducks, who scored three goals in the first period of Game 6.
鈥淭hey know how to play the right way, and at the end of the day, I think they were just better than us,鈥� Draisaitl said. 鈥淲e never really found what you need to find at this time of year, especially to go all the way. In my opinion, just not good enough.鈥�
Even with 14 players making their postseason debuts, the Ducks admirably handled the pressure while winning four of the last five games against the seasoned Oilers. Carlsson had an outstanding Game 6 to cap the 21-year-old center鈥檚 strong debut playoff series, while emerging star defenseman Jackson LaCombe scored nine points and led the Ducks鈥� defensive efforts against McDavid and Draisaitl.
鈥淔or sure it was our best game of the series,鈥� Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said. 鈥淐ould have been our best game of the year. A lot of things went well tonight.鈥�
In Game 6, Anaheim also got its best effort of the series from Dostal, who had the NHL鈥檚 second-worst save percentage in the postseason after getting pulled from Game 5. The Czech Olympian was sharp all night, highlighted by a breakaway stop on Zach Hyman.
Backed by a raucous crowd that included Angels slugger Mike Trout, the Ducks scored first in Game 6 for the first time in the entire series when John Carlson鈥檚 shot hit Poehling and trickled in for his fourth goal of the series.
Carlsson then set up Kreider off the rush, ending the longtime Rangers star鈥檚 17-game goal drought with his first playoff goal for the Ducks 鈥� on his 35th birthday, no less.
Murphy answered for Edmonton 1:31 later, but Gauthier got his fourth playoff goal on a power play when his one-timer arced in off Darnell Nurse鈥檚 stick.
Late in a tense second period, Carlsson took the puck from Evan Bouchard and fed Terry for a 4-1 lead.
Edmonton scored early in the third when Kasperi Kapanen鈥檚 wide shot deflected in off Podkolzin鈥檚 leg, but McDavid and Draisaitl couldn鈥檛 get it any closer. The Oilers pulled Ingram with 3:57 left, but Carlsson scored into an empty net.
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