Stanley Cup playoffs: Ducks eliminate Oilers in game seven

I’m done picking against Nashville as it has the clear edge in goal here and is 2-0 all-time vs. the Ducks in the playoffs.

Barely a year ago, the Predators forced the first Game Seven in franchise history in their Round One series with the Ducks and took the series-deciding game, 2-1, at Honda Center. Edmonton’s season is over after making a surprising playoff run. “He did many, many things that you guys don’t see”. Talbot said quietly, struggling for words. We’ve known that all year. Our team feels loose, I don’t think there’s a lot of player that are uptight at this point. I’m proud to be part of this group this year.

Drake Caggiula had put the Oilers out in front early with his third goal in the last four games, challenged defenceman Shea Theodore as he took the puck out from behind the Ducks’ net. The defensive trio has posted a combined 24 points through 10 games, helping Nashville cruise through the first two rounds. “If we don’t hold serve, then it’s not what we’re looking for”. “Obviously this one is going to sting for a while. “(McDavid) and Draisaitl are as good as you’re going to get. We have a team that can compete for the Stanley Cup and we proved that.

“The future is bright for this team”. We have something we can look forward to in Edmonton. However, Anaheim won’t go down without a good fight, as it proved against the Edmonton Oilers. When a player like Neal, one of the top goal scorers in the League, gets going, there’s sometimes nothing anyone can do to slow him down.

For the Capitals, that means more production from Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov, and strong goaltending from Braden Holtby when the puck drops against the Penguins (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN) for the chance to meet the Ottawa Senators in the East final. Nashville D Ryan Ellis is the first defensemen to record a seven-game point streak in the postseason since 1998.

Thrilled to have escaped elimination, they were very loose after their morning skate Wednesday.

The team’s fans are eager for tonight’s game too. Mike Trout and Garrett Richards crossed Katella Avenue from Angel Stadium to watch the game. If that’s not watching the game, you don’t watch the game. I think our team played that way and prepared that way and battled that way. They fell behind the Oilers just 3:31 into this seventh game, but the rest of the night largely belonged to Anaheim, which finally showed some veteran mettle in the playoffs’ biggest crucible. Ducks defenseman Kevin Bieksa (lower body) played only once against the Oilers but should be closing in on a return. But when he’s healthy – or when he’s playing, I should say – Crosby many times is the difference between his team winning and losing. The Ducks almost got the win in game one and played a pretty substandard game so any improvement should inch them closer to a win here and I think they get it done. “We are happy to win this one, but the job is far from done”. It was his first goal of postseason. Seems ready to get back into regular fourth line role. That goal occurred during a dominant Ducks stretch lasting nearly nine minutes in which they outshot the Oilers 10-0.

The Ducks eventually took over on the goal by Ritchie.

The Oilers rebounded from a game five disappointment on Friday in which they blew a 3-0 lead and lost 4-3 in double overtime.

“I think there’s other levels to our game”, Subban said. This should be an excellent, hard fought series. “It was fitting to end the way it did”.

Talbot made 28 saves for Edmonton before being pulled with 2:06 remaining. “From previous year, finishing near the bottom of the league … we grew as a group and we took that next step”. “It’s a great sign for a team”. Carlyle won his with the Ducks in 2007 and Laviolette got his with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006.