Published April 27, 2017
Adam Larsson scored his second goal of the third period with 4:40 to play, and the Edmonton Oilers blew a two-goal lead in a wild third period before beating the Anaheim Ducks 5-3 on Wednesday night in their second-round playoff series opener.
Mark Letestu scored two power-play goals and Cam Talbot made 33 saves for the upstart Oilers, who seized home-ice advantage from the Ducks with a four-goal final period.
Jakob Silfverberg scored the tying goal with 9:13 to play in regulation for the Ducks, who lost in regulation for the first time in 19 games since March 10.
Larsson scored just four goals in his first 85 games this season, but the Swedish defenseman improbably got two goals in 7 1/2 minutes.
Game 2 is Friday night in Anaheim.
Larsson got the winner when he skated behind the net and threw it in front. The puck banked off Anaheim defenseman Josh Manson's skate and pinballed underneath John Gibson, who stopped 27 shots.
Leon Draisaitl added an empty-net goal for the Oilers, who don't appear to be feeling an ounce of intimidation in their first playoff appearance since 2006. Connor McDavid's club has followed its ousting of the defending conference champion San Jose Sharks by taking the opener from the five-time division champion Ducks.
Patrick Eaves and Ryan Getzlaf also scored for Anaheim, which had won eight straight games in regulation. The Ducks didn't give up a third-period goal during their entire first-round sweep of Calgary.
Everything changed quickly at a sold-out Honda Center. After more than two periods of tight-checking hockey and special-teams play made it 1-1, the teams scored two goals apiece in a 4:24 stretch of the third.
Letestu scored his second power-play goal with 13:37 to play before Larsson put the Oilers up 3-1. The Ducks promptly sprung to life and attacked the net, with Eaves flipping home a rebound 85 seconds before Silfverberg tied it with his own rebound goal.
The Ducks had the past week off after sweeping the Flames, but both teams came out with a mid-series physical approach in the scoreless first period. All-Star center Ryan Kesler immediately gave McDavid a taste of what's ahead when he skated alongside the Edmonton captain in the neutral zone, randomly whacking McDavid with his stick while the puck was nowhere close.
All-Star defenseman Cam Fowler returned to the Ducks' lineup after missing six games over the previous three weeks due to an unpenalized knee-on-knee hit by Calgary captain Mark Giordano.
NOTES: Lindholm returned after leaving the Ducks' last game early with an injury, but D Sami Vatanen sat out his fourth straight game with an upper-body injury, depriving Anaheim of its Finnish puck-moving specialist. ... D Oscar Klefbom was in Edmonton's lineup after missing the third period of the final game in the first round. ... Anaheim D Kevin Bieksa got hurt early in the game and was on and off the ice from there. ... The teams are in their first postseason matchup since 2006, when Chris Pronger and the eighth-seeded Oilers ousted the still-Mighty Ducks, who would win the Stanley Cup one year later.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/larsson-leads-oilers-past-ducks-5-3-in-wild-series-opener