Ducks sneak past Oilers in Game 7
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Nick Ritchie scored the decisive third-period goal, and John Gibson made 23 saves as the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in Game 7 of their Western Conference semifinal series on Wednesday.
The Ducks advance to the Western Conference finals to meet the Nashville Predators. The series is scheduled to start Friday in Anaheim.
Anaheim won a Game 7 for the first time in five playoff seasons. They had been eliminated from the postseason at home each of the previous four seasons.
Drake Caggiula scored the Edmonton goal in the first period, and Andrew Cogliano responded for the Ducks in the second period. Oilers goalie Cam Talbot made 28 saves.
Anaheim took the lead on Ritchie's second goal of the playoffs at 3:21 of the third period. Sami Vatanen gained possession in the right corner of the Anaheim offensive zone and found an unguarded Ritchie in the right faceoff circle. Ritchie drilled a wrist shot past Talbot's stick side with Corey Perry earning the secondary assist.
Cogliano scored his first goal of the postseason at 8:55 of the middle period. He backhanded a rebound of an initial Ryan Kesler shot during a goalmouth scramble with Brandon Montour earning the secondary assist.
Edmonton jumped on top thanks to Caggiula's unassisted goal, his third of the postseason at 3:31 of the first period. Caggiula got credit for the goal when he forechecked Ducks defenseman Shea Theodore directly in front of the Anaheim net and the puck trickled through Gibson.
NOTES: Edmonton scratched D Andrej Sekera, D Mark Fayne, D Griffin Reinhart, LW Matt Hendricks, RW Iiro Pakarinen, C Anton Lander, LW Jujhar Khaira, D Jordan Oesterle and D Joey LaLeggia. ... The Oilers fell to 6-4 in Game 7s, including 3-3 on the road. ... Anaheim did not dress RW Patrick Eaves, D Kevin Bieksa and C Logan Shaw. Eaves, who had been playing on the Ducks' top line with C Ryan Getzlaf and LW Rickard Rakell, has been sidelined with a foot injury since Game 3 of the series. ... The Ducks reassigned LW Nicolas Kerdiles and C Sam Carrick to their AHL San Diego affiliate. ... The attendance was 17,407, a Honda Center sellout.