The Edmonton Oilers crushed the Anaheim Ducks 6-1 on Saturday (Mar. 30) at Rogers Place, continuing their dominance of their Pacific Division foes. Edmonton needs just one win to officially punch its ticket to the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Oilers captain Connor McDavid led the way with two goals and an assist, while Edmonton blueliner Mattias Ekholm scored once and added a pair of apples. Adam Henrique, Zach Hyman, and Warren Foegele also had a goal each for the Oilers.
Alex Killorn was the only Ducks player to beat Calvin Pickard, spoiling the Edmonton netminder’s shutout bid with a power-play goal late in the third period.
With the win, the Oilers now have 94 points, just four back of the Pacific Division-leading Vancouver Canucks. Edmonton has 10 games remaining in its regular season schedule, while the Canucks have nine games left to play.
Oilers Keep on Dominating Ducks
Edmonton has now beaten Anaheim seven straight times, winning those games by an average margin of 4.29 goals. Since January 2023, the Oilers have defeated the Ducks 6-0, 8-2, and 6-1 at Rogers Place and 6-2, 3-1, 7-2, and 5-3 in Anaheim.
Saturday’s outcome was never much in doubt, as Henrique scored just 3:47 into the first period to give the home team a 1-0 lead. McDavid and Ekholm added a goal before the end of the opening frame, sending Edmonton into the intermission with a three-goal advantage.
In the last three NHL seasons, including 2023-24, Edmonton is 10-1-0 against the Ducks, outscoring Anaheim 63-24 over those 11 games.
New Oilers Say Hello to Old Friends
This was the first time Henrique and fellow Oilers forward Sam Carrick had played against their former team since being acquired by Edmonton in a series of trades on Mar. 6. Henrique had been with the Ducks from 2017-18, while Carrick played parts of six seasons in Anaheim.
Related: Oilers’ Henrique: 4 Things to Know About New Edmonton Forward
In addition to Henrique’s opening goal, his fourth as an Oiler, Carrick assisted on Ekholm’s first-period tally.
Desharnais Shines for Oilers
Vincent Desharnais was named the game’s Third Star on Saturday, a fitting tribute for one of his best performances since debuting in the NHL last season.
The Oilers blueliner played 21:26, the most he’s ever played in an NHL game, and equaled his career high with a pair of assists. Desharnais now has two multi-point efforts in his 103 NHL regular season games, both of which have come against the Ducks.
Bouchard Reaches Milestone
Defenceman Evan Bouchard also had a pair of assists for the Oilers, bringing his 2023-24 total to 60, which equals current Oilers assistant coach Paul Coffey for the fifth most assists in a season in franchise history. Bouchard needs seven more assists to tie Coffey for the fourth most in a season by an Edmonton blueliner.
The 24-year-old Bouchard becomes just the 10th Oilers player with at least 60 apples in one season. Coffey is the only other Oilers blueliner to reach 60 assists in a season, doing it five straight times from 1981-82 to 1985-96.
Oilers Can Qualify for Postseason
The Oilers can now clinch a playoff spot with a regulation win when they take on the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Monday (Apr. 1). This would be Edmonton’s fifth straight season advancing to the playoffs, its longest postseason streak since 1997 through 2001.
Edmonton has split its previous two meetings with the Blues this season, losing 6-3 in St. Louis on Feb. 15 and winning 3-2 in overtime at home on Feb. 28. Monday’s game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Mountain Time.