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 The Anaheim Ducks clinched the Pacific Division championship
Wednesday as they trounced the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 at Honda Center,
extending their surge to four games. The Ducks have their sixth
streak of four wins or more this season.
Anaheim (50-22-7) captured its third straight division crown with
its second consecutive 50-win campaign. Coach Bruce Boudreau had
said there would be no champagne, and indeed his locker room was
bone dry.
"It's actually fairly subdued in there," Boudreau said. "We've had a
fairly good lead for a while now. It would be more surprising if we
didn't get the division, so it's business as usual."
The Oilers (23-41-13) had won three straight for the second time all
season, but they fell short of matching their season-best, four-game
run, achieved in October.
Center Nate Thompson, right winger Corey Perry, left winger Andrew
Cogliano and defensemen Francois Beauchemin and Simon Despres all
lit the lamp for Anaheim. Right winger Jakob Silfverberg turned in a
career-best three assists along with some outstanding checking.
"He was great," said Cogliano, Silfverberg's linemate. "He's a guy
that you want to play with because he's hard on pucks, he makes
plays and he's really good defensively."
Center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored for Edmonton.
Anaheim goalie Frederik Andersen turned away 22 of 23 shots. Oilers
goaltender Ben Scrivens made 22 saves. While the shot totals were
similar, the quality of scoring opportunities were not.
"It's tough to kind of (dump) on your goalie like that, to give that
many grade-A (chances) up, that many odd-man rushes, penalty shots
and stuff," Edmonton forward Rob Klinkhammer said. "It's not one or
two guys, it's whole lineup."
The Ducks opened the scoring 3:43 into the contest. Defenseman
Hampus Lindholm and Silfverberg came up with a neutral-zone takeaway
that sent Silfverberg ahead with speed. He dropped the puck for
Beauchemin, who skated into a wrist shot from the top of the right
faceoff circle that netted him his career-high 11th goal of the
season.
At 9:59, Anaheim extended its advantage. Oilers defenseman Justin
Schultz handled the puck carelessly behind his own net, creating a
costly, unforced turnover. The puck went straight to Silfverberg,
who dished it swiftly to a wide-open Thompson for a tap-in goal, his
fifth of 2014-15.
"They can kill you if you're not paying attention for one or two
seconds," Nugent-Hopkins said.
Schultz, a former draft pick of Anaheim, spurned the Ducks to sign
with the Oilers when he turned pro. He was booed each time he
touched the puck Wednesday.
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The Ducks gained momentum from a second-period penalty kill of a
minor assessed to defenseman James Wisniewski. They possessed the
puck for most of the two-minute disadvantage and sprung Wisniewski
for an unsuccessful breakaway as he exited the penalty box.
Another Edmonton turnover led to another Anaheim goal 8:33 into the
second stanza. Perry ended up with the puck at the red line, and
after his centering attempt hit the head of diving defenseman Keith
Aulie, Perry lifted a bouncing puck over Scrivens' stick. For Perry,
it was goal No. 33 of the season and the 600th point of his career.
The Ducks cushioned their lead further at 12:06. Cogliano dented the
crossbar with a shot and then the rebound came to Despres, who fired
in his third goal of the season for a 4-0 lead.
Edmonton broke up the shutout with 2:55 left in the middle frame.
Nugent-Hopkins tipped the puck loose to winger Jordan Eberle, who
skated in and returned the puck to Nugent-Hopkins for an easy
one-timer that became his 24th goal of the campaign.
Anaheim distanced itself further when Cogliano cashed in on a
penalty shot 5:14 into the third period. His 15th goal of the season
put the Ducks up 5-1.
NOTES: Ducks C Ryan Kesler (elbow) was healthy enough to play but
was held out for rest and precautionary reasons. RW Emerson Etem
dressed in his stead. ... LW Matt Beleskey (lower body), D Clayton
Stoner (lower body) and RW Tim Jackman were all out of action for
Anaheim. Stoner is day-to-day, and Jackman may be nearing a return
after skating with the team for the first time in nearly a month.
... Ducks LW Patrick Maroon left the game with flu-like symptoms and
did not return. ... The Oilers signed D Joey LaLeggia to a two-year,
entry-level contract Tuesday. He played for the University of Denver
this season and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award. ...
Edmonton was without its captain, D Andrew Ference (concussion), and
numerous injured role players. ... Oilers G Richard Bachman left the
team to attend to a death in his family, and the team recalled G
Tyler Bunz to dress as their backup Wednesday.
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