Jakob Silfverberg boosts Ducks past Oilers in Game 3

EDMONTON -- It turns out there was some basis for the Anaheim Ducks to have confidence despite losing the first two games of their Western Conference Second Round series against the Edmonton Oilers.
Jakob Silfverberg scored two goals and had an assist to help the Ducks rebound from consecutive home losses with a 6-3 victory at Rogers Place on Sunday.

Edmonton leads the best-of-7 series 2-1 with Game 4 here Wednesday.
\[WATCH: All Oilers vs. Ducks highlights | RELATED: Complete Anaheim vs. Edmonton series coverage\]
"We've been in this position before, we're not proud of it, but it's a position that we've been in before, and we have the belief in each other that we can come in here and win some games," Anaheim goalie John Gibson said.
The Oilers rallied from down 3-0 to tie it 3-3 on a highlight-reel goal by Connor McDavid at 8:40 of the second period.
"We knew they were going to come," said Gibson, who made 12 of his 24 saves in the second, several of the spectacular variety. "They came hard. They're a good team, they're going to get their chances."

The Ducks went ahead 4-3 on Chris Wagner's first career Stanley Cup Playoff goal at 9:28 of the second, then Gibson made tough saves against Leon Draisaitl, Pat Maroon, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Milan Lucic and Andrej Sekera before the period was over to preserve the one-goal lead.
"It got us through the toughest period of the hockey game for us," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said of Gibson's performance. "We were able to get into the intermission and regroup, then play more of the type of game that's required."
The Ducks started quickly, getting a breakaway goal from Rickard Rakell 25 seconds into the game for the fastest opening goal in Anaheim playoff history.
Silfverberg scored his first of the game at 5:33 to make it 2-0, and Ryan Getzlaf put the Ducks ahead 3-0 at 11:51.
Maroon cut the Anaheim lead to 3-1 when he scored with 39.5 seconds remaining in the first, and Anton Slepyshev got Edmonton within 3-2 when he scored at 1:28.
Forty-eight seconds after McDavid tied the game, Wagner put the Ducks in front to stay when he scored with a shot from near the right boards, a changeup that went in off the blocker of goalie Cam Talbot, who allowed six goals on 28 shots.
Silfverberg scored his second of the game at 4:56 of the third period to make it 5-3. The goal was upheld by video review after Edmonton coach Todd McLellan challenged it, claiming Silfverberg was offside on the play.
Kesler scored at 10:38 to make it 6-3.

Goal of the game

Getzlaf found an open seam for a long pass from the right corner in the Anaheim zone to the Edmonton blue line that sent Rakell in on a breakaway. Rakell picked the right corner past Talbot's glove.

Save of the game

Gibson came up with a number of excellent saves in the second period, none better than his stop on Maroon's shot from the slot on a 3-on-1 rush at 11:02.

Unsung performance of the game

Unable to change because they were pinned in their own zone for a long stretch late in the second period, the Ducks eventually took a penalty. But while Patrick Eaves was off for hooking, Anaheim killed the Edmonton power play and
maintained its 4-3 lead heading for the third period
.

Highlight of the game

McDavid stole the puck from Ducks defensemen Sami Vatanen and Shea Theodore, gave Vatanen the slip in the left faceoff circle, and shot over Gibson's glove for his third goal of the playoffs.

They said it

"If you look at the stats sheet tonight, he was all over it. He's the type of guy that's kind of [an] unsung, unassuming individual. But he really is a tremendous hockey player. He can do a lot of things." -- Ducks coach Randy Carlyle on Jakob Silfverberg
"Just chalk it up to a bad game. We were bad all over the ice and got beat all over the ice. It's almost like that San Jose [Sharks] game (a 7-0 loss in Game 4 of the first round). You try and learn from it, take the positives, and wash it away."-- Oilers captain Connor McDavid
"Let's not kid ourselves, that's not the backbreaker. The backbreaker came 25 seconds in (when Rickard Rakell scored for the Ducks)." -- Oilers coach Todd McLellan on his unsuccessful challenge for offside on Silfverberg's second goal of the night

Need to know

It was the first multigoal playoff game of Silfverberg's NHL career. He has six goals this postseason, second in the League behind Jake Guentzel of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who has seven. … Vatanen returned to the lineup after missing five games with an upper-body injury. Defenseman Korbinian Holzer came out of the lineup. … Oilers forward Drake Caggiula played Game 3 after missing most of the second period and all of the third in Game 2 after crashing into the boards. … For the third straight game in this series, the Ducks had the edge in faceoffs, winning 37 of 64 (58 percent). Kesler led the way, winning 16 of 21 (76 percent). … Edmonton is 2-2 at home during the postseason. Anaheim is 3-0 on the road. … It was the first game in the playoffs that the Ducks didn't allow a power-play goal.

What's next

Game 4 of Western Conference Second Round at Rogers Place on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVA Sports)