Draisaitl scores twice in Oilers' 4-0 victory over Ducks
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Leon Draisaitl scored two goals to lead the Edmonton Oilers to a 4-0 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night in front of a sellout crowd of 17,174 at Honda Center.
Connor McDavid recorded his league-leading 57th point on his 40th assist for the Oilers (27-15-8), who used their sixth win in seven games to move within one point of the second-place Ducks (27-15-9) and within two of the first-place San Jose Sharks in the Pacific Division. Edmonton will play its final game before the All-Star break on Thursday night in San Jose.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zack Kassian also scored for the Oilers. Goalie Cam Talbot stopped 26 shots for his fourth shutout.
Goalie John Gibson made his first appearance in two games and finished with 19 saves for the Ducks. Gibson left the first period of Saturday night's road game against the Minnesota Wild because of an upper-body injury.
Draisaitl's 18th goal gave Edmonton a 1-0 lead 5:33 into the second period. A pass from Anaheim defender Kevin Bieksa hit Draisaitl's skates in the Ducks' zone. The German winger then passed to McDavid at the top of the slot to start a give-and-go.
McDavid returned the puck to Draisaitl, who stationed himself near the right post. Bieksa fell on the ice to block Draisaitl's first shot, but Draisaitl converted the rebound under Bieksa's chest and past Gibson.
The Oilers then exploited two more turnovers late in the period to score twice within 1:49 and build a 3-0 lead.
Anton Slepyshev deflected Bieksa's pass in the Anaheim zone to Milan Lucic, who executed a drop pass that Nugent-Hopkins turned into his 11th goal, a wrist shot from the top of the slot under Gibson's right leg with 2:05 remaining in the second period.
Then, with 16 seconds left, Kassian scored his fourth of the season. Mark Letestu began the scoring play by sweeping the puck away from the Ducks' Cam Fowler and banking it off the right-wing boards in Edmonton's zone. Kassian beat Anaheim's Nick Ritchie and Antoine Vermette to the puck, then converted a backhand inside the right post.
Draisaitl ended the scoring 1:34 into the third period by firing a shot from the left circle off Gibson's left skate for his 19th goal and his 10th point in nine games.
Talbot kept the Ducks from scoring first 9:09 into the game, when he used his blocker to stop Ritchie's wrist shot during a 2-on-1 breakaway.
NOTES: Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky was among those in attendance. ... Edmonton scratched D Eric Gryba, LW Jujhar Khaira and C Anton Lander. ... Anaheim scratched D Shea Theodore and RW Jakob Silfverberg (head). ... Ducks C Nate Thompson began a long-term rehabilitation assignment with AHL San Diego. Thompson has been on injured reserve since tearing his Achilles tendon in July. ... Ducks C Kalle Kossila made his NHL debut after being recalled from San Diego. ... Anaheim lost RW Stefan Noesen off waivers to the New Jersey Devils.