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Leon Draisaitl scored a pair of goals and Evan Bouchard chipped in with three assists as the Edmonton Oilers dug deep to stave off elimination, defeating the Anaheim Ducks 4-1 on Tuesday to force Game 6 in California.
Vasily Podkolzin and Zach Hyman also scored for the Oilers who had previously allowed six separate leads to slip away in the first four games of the best-of-seven playoff series.
Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each had a pair of assists. Edmonton now owns an all-time record of 18-3 when scoring first in a game when facing elimination.
Alex Killorn replied for the Ducks who take a 3-2 lead back home in their first playoff series since 2018.
“We’re still in a tough, tough spot, a really tough spot,” said McDavid, who had two assists and played 24 minutes after coach Kris Knoblauch had said the captain’s participation was a game-time decision.
“We’ve got to find a way to win in a tough building.”
McDavid, who rolled his ankle in the second game of the series and didn’t participate in the morning skate, said there wasn’t any suspense that he would play in an elimination game.
“No, there was never a doubt,” the captain said.
Despite a suspect ankle, the NHL’s points leader in the regular season was more mobile than in Game 4 when he was seen wincing.
“He looked like he was skating better tonight,” Knoblauch said. “I really think he’s played his best in the last four periods. The third period in Game 4, I thought he played better — that he had some really good scoring chances, drove the net two or three times late in the game.
“He just continuing to get better, so that’s a good sign for us.”
Connor Ingram made 29 stops to record the win in Edmonton’s net, while Ville Husso recorded 10 saves for Anaheim after coming in to relieve Lukas Dostal, who allowed three goals on nine shots.
For the fifth straight game the Oilers struck first, scoring on the game’s first shot just 2:22 into the contest as Podkolzin beat Dostal up high for his second of the post-season.
Edmonton took a 2-0 lead 8:33 into the opening period as a point shot was deflected twice, the second time through Dostal’s legs by Hyman, who recorded his second of the playoffs.
The Oilers took a three-goal lead just 1:14 later as Draisaitl tipped a Bouchard point shot in for his second of the playoffs. That spelled an early end of the night for Dostal. It was the fifth fastest three goals to start a playoff game in Edmonton franchise history.
Anaheim got on the board with their lethal power play 8:26 into the second frame as Mason McTavish dropped it back to Killorn, who extended his points streak to four games with his third goal of the playoffs.
Edmonton responded with a power-play goal of its own a couple minutes later on a wicked one-timer by Draisaitl for his second of the game. Draisaitl tied Wayne Gretzky for the most post-season power-play goals in franchise history at 23.
There was no scoring in the third.
The Ducks outshot Edmonton 24-8 over the final 40 minutes.
Edmonton has played the most playoff games of any NHL team since 2022 with 80, two more than the Florida Panthers, who beat the Oilers in the last two Stanley Cup finals before failing to qualify for the playoffs this season.
Playing in his 80th career playoff game, Bouchard collected his 88th point, moving into a tie for third place all-time for players through 80 games with Brian Leetch, behind only Bobby Orr (92) and Paul Coffey (92).
McDavid (63 points) passed Adam Oates for the second-most points in NHL history when trailing in a playoff series. Only Gretzky (80) has more.
Game 6 takes place Thursday night at the Honda Center in Anaheim.
The Edmonton Oilers took down the Anaheim Ducks in a must-win playoff game to force a Game 6 in the series. Travis McEwan breaks down one of the Oilers’ best efforts so far.
