QUICK RECAP: Oilers 5, Ducks 2

ANAHEIM, CA – Well, that's certain to ruffle some feathers in Orange County.

The Edmonton Oilers rallied from a two-goal deficit against the Anaheim Ducks with five unanswered goals in the second period on Wednesday, opening their three-game California road trip with a 5-2 comeback victory over their Pacific Division rivals.

Led by four assists from Leon Draisaitl, three points apiece from Evan Bouchard (2G, 1A) and Connor McDavid (1G, 2A) and another strong effort from Devon Levi with 29 saves, the Oilers were able to improve to 3-0-1 thanks to a dominant second period that started on the stick of Bouchard only 11 seconds into the frame.

Beckett Sennecke scored twice on the power play to put the Oilers behind 2-0 after a one-way opening 20 minutes from the Ducks, but the Blue & Orange didn't crack under the pressure, scoring five goals on 10 shots and putting an end to goalie Lukas Dostal's night after allowing five goals on 17 shots through two periods in Anaheim.

Draisaitl factored in on all but one of Edmonton's five second-period goals – forward Kasperi Kapanen's 100th career NHL goal that tied the game at 2-2 on the power play – as the stars of the Oilers combined to produce 10 points in the frame to put their team ahead for good against the Ducks.

Vasily Podkolzin matched his career-best point streak of four games (1G, 3A) with his fourth goal of the campaign, which came off a sublime feed from the defensive zone by Draisaitl to spring his Russian teammate on a breakaway that he tucked under the bar.

Edmonton killed off its last five penalties after Sennecke's pair of power-play goals in the first, including a heroic six-on-three in the last minute with Anaheim's net empty.

Mattias Ekholm also picked up an assist in the win, Edmonton's third straight victory after falling to the Vancouver Canucks in overtime on Opening Night.

The Oilers will continue their road trip in San Jose on Saturday afternoon when they face Darnell Nurse & the Sharks at SAP Center.

GOALS & HIGHLIGHTS

FIRST PERIOD

15:49: ANA GOAL | Beckett Sennecke (PPG) - Mikael Granlund, Leo Carlsson

The Ducks break through on the power play with a fortunate rebound in front for Beckett Sennecke, who puts it five-hole after it bounces off the skate of Ryan Shea and falls right onto his stick before finding the gap between the legs on Devon Levi.

Anaheim went 3-for-4 on the power play in their 3-2 overtime win on Sunday and used the man advantage to their benefit in last year's first-round series victory over the Oilers. ANA 1, EDM 0

4:32: ANA GOAL | Beckett Sennecke (2) (PPG) - Leo Carlsson, Jackson LaCombe

Sennecke finds his second on the power play from the same spot by delivering Leo Carlsson's feed five-hole on Levi to double Anaheim's lead. ANA 2, EDM 0

END OF 1 | The Ducks lead by two at the break off the power of two power-play goals from Beckett Sennecke. ANA 2, EDM 0

SHOTS: ANA 16, EDM 6

SECOND PERIOD

19:49: EDM GOAL | Evan Bouchard - Leon Draisaitl

BOUCH QUICKLY OFF THE RESTART! The D man gets credit for his fifth goal of the season, tying Utah's Nick Schmaltz for the NHL's early goal-scoring lead, after his long wrist shot takes a double deflection off AJ Greer's stick and the back of Leo Carlsson on the way through 11 seconds into the period. ANA 2, EDM 1

QUICK STAT: Bouchard’s goal 11 seconds into the period ties the 17th fastest goal in team history to begin a period and ties the third fastest by a defenceman with Steve Smith (0:11 – 12/28/90 at VAN), trailing only Risto Siltanen (0:07 – 12/27/80 vs. DET) and Darnell Nurse (0:10 – 1/13/21 vs. VAN).

13:30: EDM GOAL | Kasperi Kapanen (PPG) - Connor McDavid, Evan Bouchard

KASPERI INTO THE 100-GOAL CLUB! The Swedish forward cashes in on the power play to reach the century mark for career goals, burying the feed from Connor McDavid in the left circle and putting it under the arm of Lukas Dostal for his first power-play goal since the 2022-23 season. EDM 2, ANA 2

5:48: EDM GOAL | Evan Bouchard (2) - Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl

YOU JUST KNEW IT WAS COMING! With the Ducks gassed after a long offensive shift by the Oilers' top line and D pairing, Bouchard tees up his second goal of the game and sixth of the season from between the circles off the lay-off feed from Draisaitl, who picks up his second assist along with McDavid.

After the Ducks dominated the opening period, Edmonton has taken over the middle frame, outshooting Anaheim 8-4 and tilting the ice into their zone to flip the script. EDM 3, ANA 2

3:10: EDM GOAL | Vasily Podkolzin - Leon Draisaitl

FOUR UNANSWERED ON NINE SHOTS! The Oilers can't be held back right now. Draisaitl makes a sublime saucer pass through the neutral zone to catch Podkolzin on a breakaway before the Russian roofs it on Dostal to extend Edmonton's lead and dominance in the middle frame.

Bouchard gets the secondary helper and has two goals & an assist, while Draisaitl now has three assists. EDM 4, ANA 2

QUICK STAT: Podkolzin is now riding a four-game point streak (4G, 2A) thanks to his second-period goal, tying his career-long point streak of four games that he set last season from Feb. 3, 2026 to Feb. 26, 2026 (1G, 3A).

52.0: EDM GOAL | Connor McDavid - Leon Draisaitl, Mattias Ekholm

McDAVID SQUEEZES ONE THROUGH FOR ANOTHER! MAKE IT FIVE UNANSWERED!

Playing four-on-four, McDavid makes it a three-goal lead for the Oilers after his wrist shot off the rush squeaks through Dostal. That's five goals on 10 second-period shots for Edmonton, who've simply owned Anaheim this period and have likely ended Dostal's night.

Draisaitl picks up another helper to make it four assists, and Ekholm gets the other. EDM 5, ANA 2

END OF 2: EDM 5, ANA 2

Shots: EDM 11, ANA 5

THIRD PERIOD

1:47: The Oilers are defending their 5-2 lead down six-on-three with Connor Murphy and Isaac Howard in the box, and Ville Husso is pulled for the extra attacker.

FINAL SCORE | EDM 5, ANA 2

OILERS LINEUP

Podkolzin - McDavid - Draisaitl
Frederic - Dickinson - Kapanen
Formenton - Michaels - Joseph
Howard - Samanski - Jones

Ekholm - Bouchard
Shea - Murphy
Walman - Emberson

Levi
Jarry

POST-GAME INTERVIEWS

Draisaitl on the team's slow start and how they responded:

"I think it's just their competitiveness. They were a little quicker to pucks in the first period. It felt like they had their legs going right away, and were kind of searching for them early on. That way, we couldn't really get into battles like those little one-on-ones around the wall. We kept losing those. We collected ourselves, and from then on, I thought we played really well."

"[In the third period], I thought Dev had a couple great stops when we needed them. Great timing on those. But all in all, I felt like we didn't give up too much, kept playing simple and kept playing the right way for the most part. We gotta maybe try to stay out of the box a little more. But all in all, a good win."