Oilers take command of series with another win in Anaheim
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Patrick Maroon scored the decisive goal and Cam Talbot stopped 39 of 40 shots as the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 on Friday at the Honda Center.
The Oilers now head home to Edmonton for the next two games with a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinal series is Sunday.
Anaheim outshot Edmonton 40-23, including 16 shots in the third period, but Talbot was the difference.
Anaheim's lone goal came off the stick of Jakob Silfverberg. John Gibson made 21 saves for the Ducks.
The Oilers took a 1-0 lead on defenseman Andrej Sekera's unassisted goal, his first of the playoffs, at 1:05 of the first period. Sekera's goal came on the first shot of the game when his wrister beat Gibson on the short side at the right post.
Edmonton extended its lead to 2-0 on Maroon's power-play goal, his second of the playoffs, at 6:41 of the second period. Jordan Eberle's wrist shot deflected off of Maroon's right skate and past Gibson with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins drawing the secondary assist.
Anaheim drew to within 2-1 on Silfverberg's power-play goal, his fourth goal of the playoffs, at 15:34 of the second period. Silfverberg took a feed from Cam Fowler and beat Talbot cleanly with a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle with Ryan Kesler drawing the additional assist.
NOTES: The teams will get an extra day of rest after Sunday's Game 3, with Game 4 scheduled in Edmonton for Wednesday at 8 p.m. local time. ... Edmonton scratched D Mark Fayne, D Griffin Reinhart, C Matt Hendricks, RW Iiro Pakarinen, C Anton Lander, LW Jujhar Khaira, D Eric Gryba, D Jordan Oesterle, D Joey Laleggia and G Nick Ellis. ... The last Edmonton player to record a playoff hat trick was Bill Guerin, currently the assistant general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Guerin potted three goals on April 6, 2000, vs. Dallas. ... Anaheim did not dress D Kevin Bieksa, LW Nick Ritchie and D Sami Vatanen. Bieksa suffered a lower-body injury in Game 1 and may not return until later in the series. Ritchie was a last-minute scratch due to flu-like symptoms. Vatanen has yet to appear in this round due to an upper-body injury.