Gibson makes 30 saves, Ducks defeat Oilers

ANAHEIM -- Hampus Lindholm had a goal and an assist for the Anaheim Ducks in a 3-2 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Honda Center on Friday.
Corey Perry and Ryan Kesler scored for Anaheim, and John Gibson made 30 saves after missing the past four games with a lower-body injury.

WATCH: [All Oilers vs. Ducks highlights]
"You're comfortable when [Gibson] is in there, and he's comfortable with us in front of him," Lindholm said. "It was nice to see him back in net."
Anton Slepyshev and Kris Russell scored, and Cam Talbot made 31 saves for the Oilers (23-26-4), who lost their second game in a row.
The Ducks (27-19-10, 64 points) are tied with the San Jose Sharks and Calgary Flames for third place in the Pacific Division, and tied with the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
"We just tried to focus on getting the job done," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. "I don't think we had a lot of jump, but we had enough jump. Just find a way to be the difference."
Edmonton trailed 2-0 for the fifth time in six games.
After the Oilers failed to score on their first two power plays earlier in the second period, Getzlaf knocked down a Russell pass with his glove at the Edmonton blue line. He passed ahead to Perry, who beat Talbot between his pads to make it 2-0 at 15:50.
"It's history repeating itself," Oilers coach Todd McLellan said of falling behind by two goals. "It's frustrating for the players and the group."

Slepyshev cut the Ducks lead to 2-1 at 16:58 of the second. After Anaheim defenseman Francois Beauchemin was unable to stop a pass back to him at the Edmonton blue line, Slepyshev got to it with speed and scored his second goal of the season on a breakaway.
"He was unbelievable tonight," Oilers captain Connor McDavid said. "He was creating chances all over the ice. I really liked his game."
Kesler made it 3-1 when he deflected Lindholm's shot past Talbot at 3:04 of the third.
Russell scored off a centering pass from McDavid to make it 3-2 at 14:55, but Gibson faced only one shot the rest of the way, none in the final 4:47.
"It's frustrating," Russell said. "There were times we played well enough to win. We've had chances to bear down and score, but we didn't."
The Oilers had an early 5-0 edge in shots on goal, but the Ducks took a 1-0 lead 2:28 into the game on Lindholm's goal.
Talbot made his first three saves in a five-second span before Anaheim forward Andrew Cogliano passed the puck out from the side of the net to Lindholm at the top of the right face-off circle. Lindholm's wrist shot may have missed the net, but the puck glanced off Edmonton defenseman Andrej Sekera's skates and past Talbot.
"The first goal is always big for a team," Ducks defenseman Josh Manson said. "You start to get your momentum and build from there. We knew we'd have to come out and have a hot start and try to assert some dominance here at home."
Sekera and Oilers forward Drake Caggiula each left the game after being hit in the face with the puck and is questionable to play at the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
Sekera was struck while playing the puck along the boards at his own blue line and left at 11:56 of the first period. Caggiula was hit by a centering pass in front of the Anaheim net during Edmonton's second power play and left at 12:28 of the second.

Goal of the game

Perry's goal at 15:50 of the second period.

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Save of the game

Gibson's left-pad save on Leon Draisaitl's power-play shot at 6:50 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Kesler's goal at 3:04 of the third period.

They said it

"It's nice to see the effort is there, but we didn't get points and it's frustrating." -- Oilers defenseman Brandon Davidson
"We just try to stick to what we do good out there. Play to our strength. That's when our group is successful." -- Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm

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Need to know

Lindholm's goal was his 37th with the Ducks, tying him with Fredrik Olausson for fifth among defensemen in their history. … Perry has seven points (three goals, four assists) in a four-game point streak. … Gibson is 7-2-1 with a 2.34 goals-against average and .922 save percentage his past 11 starts. … Kesler has scored five of his six goals this season in the third period. … The Ducks were 3-for-3 on the penalty kill after going 9-for-16 the previous four games. ... McDavid has 10 points (seven goals, three assists) his past four games.

What's next

Oilers: At the San Jose Sharks on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; SN, SN360, CITY, NBCSCA, NHL.TV)
Ducks: Host the San Jose Sharks on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; PRIME, NBCSCA, NHL.TV)