ANAHEIM — For the first 45 minutes of their second-round series opener, the Edmonton Oilers showed they can match the Anaheim Ducks in a tight-checking, low-scoring grind of a playoff hockey game.
When things got wild and frantic in the final minutes, the upstart Oilers showed they can hang with the best in the West in that sort of game, too.
Defenseman Adam Larsson scored his second goal of the third period with 4:40 to play, and the Oilers blew a two-goal lead before beating the Ducks 5-3 Wednesday night.
Mark Letestu scored two power-play goals and Cam Talbot made 33 saves as Edmonton seized home-ice advantage from the Ducks with a four-goal final period. Two of those goals came from Larsson, the stay-at-home blueliner who scored only four goals in the Oilers’ first 85 games this season.
“It’s really nice to see him get rewarded and get a couple of goals,” Letestu said of Larsson, acquired by Edmonton in the trade of former No. 1 draft pick Taylor Hall to New Jersey. “That’s not normally what he does for us.”
Leon Draisaitl had two third-period assists and 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 followed its ousting of the defending conference champion San Jose Sharks by sending the five-time division champion Ducks to their first loss of the playoffs.
“At times, our maturity has been underestimated,” Letestu said. “This group has been through a lot this year, and it’s starting to show.”
Game 2 is Friday night in Anaheim.
Predators 4, Blues 3
P.K. Subban had a goal and two assists and Vernon Fiddler scored with 5:05 left, sending Nashville to the road win in Game 1 of its second-round playoff series.
The Predators lost Kevin Fiala to an ugly leg injury in the second period and blew a 3-1 lead before Fiddler poked a loose puck by Jake Allen in the third. It was the fifth career playoff goal for the 36-year-old Fiddler, who did not play in Nashville’s first-round sweep of Chicago.
Colin Wilson and Filip Forsberg also scored for Nashville, and Pekka Rinne made 27 saves.
Colton Parayko, Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Sobotka scored for St. Louis. Allen finished with 28 stops.
Game 2 is Friday night. — Agencies
