Ducks at Oilers
The Anaheim Ducks find themselves in unfamiliar territory, as the five-time reigning Pacific Division champions have answered an 18-game point streak (15-0-3) with back-to-back regulation losses for the first time since the first two contests of the season (Oct. 13-15). Coach Randy Carlyle's charges face the mountainous task of solving Cam Talbot and the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday when the Western Conference series shifts to Alberta for Game 3.
"The situation is tough. They came in and stole two, but by no means is it impossible. There's a lot of fight in this group," said Ducks All-Star defenseman Cam Fowler, who had an assist in Friday's 2-1 setback but otherwise watched his Anaheim teammates stymied by a scintillating 39-save performance from Talbot. The 29-year-old Talbot has turned aside 126 of 134 shots en route to winning four in a row and has yielded one goal or fewer in four of the last seven games. "Goaltending is a must in this league," Edmonton coach Todd McLellan told reporters. "For me it's like pitching in baseball. If you don't have it, good luck." The Oilers have enjoyed good luck by emerging victorious in each of the previous four playoff series in which they have won the first two games on the road, including the 2006 conference final against Anaheim.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, Sportsnet, TVAS
ABOUT THE DUCKS: The "other" goaltender in this series is John Gibson, who rebounded from a four-goal performance in the series opener by stopping 21 shots on Friday - although he yielded his ninth power-play tally of the playoffs. "If you're going to play a long time, you're going to have adversity," the 23-year-old Gibson told the Orange County Register. "We have it now. If you want to have success, we have a job to get done." Jakob Silfverberg scored for the second time in as many games Friday to match captain Ryan Getzlaf with a team-leading four goals, while the 26-year-old Swede's point total resides at 28 in 29 playoff appearances since 2015.
ABOUT THE OILERS: While likely Hart Trophy candidate and generational talent Connor McDavid traditionally commands the undivided attention of the opponent, several unsung Edmonton players temporarily have grabbed the spotlight in his stead. Andrej Sekera has joined fellow defenseman Adam Larsson and forwards Zack Kassian, David Desharnais and Anton Slepyshev in providing offense in the playoffs for the Oilers. Former Duck Patrick Maroon, who scored the game-winning tally on the power play Friday, has no trouble in that regard after setting career highs in both goals (27) and points (42) to go along with personal bests in rating (plus-13) and games played (81).
OVERTIME
1. Edmonton ranked last in the league in the faceoff circle during the regular season by winning just 47.0 percent of its draws, a number that dwarfed its success rate in Game 2 (36.2 percent).
2. Anaheim has lost all seven playoff series in which it lost the first two games.
3. Oilers C Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has notched an assist in back-to-back contests after being held off the scoresheet in all six games of the first-round series versus San Jose.