GAME RECAP: Oilers 6, Ducks 0

EDMONTON, AB - 'X - Edmonton' has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?
What has seemed like an inevitability for the Edmonton Oilers since the beginning of March finally became a reality after the Blue & Orange officially punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fourth straight season on Saturday night with a 6-0 shutout victory over the Anaheim Ducks at Rogers Place.
"The regular season is all about giving yourself a chance to play in the playoffs, and we checked that box here tonight," Connor McDavid said.
Leon Draisaitl put in a hat-trick performance to reach the 50-goal mark for the third time in his NHL career, while netminder Jack Campbell stopped all 36 shots to make it back-to-back shutouts for the Oilers after Stuart Skinner blanked the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday with 43 stops.
"I thank Stu for showing me the ropes last game," Campbell said. "He was sensational and that was a huge game with the standings and the opponent, so he did a great job last game and just wanted to do my job tonight."
Zach Hyman had a goal and assist to reach 80 points, making the Oilers the only team this season in the NHL with four 80-point scorers (Draisaitl, McDavid, Nugent-Hopkins and Hyman). McDavid also contributed a goal and assist, and Mattias Ekholm chipped in from the back end with two helpers.
The Oilers hit the road for a four-game road trip beginning Tuesday night against Pacific Division rivals the Los Angeles Kings with the first game of a back-to-back.
"I think we're at the point now where we're about putting points on the board," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said. "We know what's at stake. Every night it seems like everyone wins in the Pacific Division. It happened again today. So for us, it's about getting the two points and I know that's what Leon is about, but it's nice to hit some milestones along the way as well."

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SAVE OF THE GAME

Campbell had to come up with not one, not two, not three, not four, but five saves in succession on Ducks forward Frank Vatrano to keep the Ducks from opening the scoring 8:17 into the first period.
Trevor Zegras sauced a pass towards Campbell from the left halfboards that the netminder had to kick away with a left pad stop, but the puck fell right to Vatrano, who took four whacks in quick succession at the loose puck but couldn't beat a sharp Campbell from the danger zone in front of Edmonton's crease.
"He was amazing tonight," Draisaitl said of his goaltender. "I thought in the first period he kept us in the game. We weren't sharp in the first, so he was really standing in there and making big-time saves. He gave us a chance to find our legs and he was great."
It was a healthy serving of Soup's 16 saves in the opening frame that included plenty of reactionary stops like the sequence we saw near the midway mark of the period.
"It was nice to get some rubber in the first and get into the game," Campbell said. "I felt our guys did a great job of just sticking with it and finishing strong. We had a real solid 60 minutes."

FIRST BLOOD

Zach Hyman's twig and body were the targets of redirections and bank shots all night from his Oilers teammates, and the tactic paid off for the 30-year-old on a deflection near the two-minute mark of the first period that opened the scoring for Edmonton.
Hyman caught a piece of Mattias Ekholm's effort before the intermission with a deflection that clipped Ducks netminder John Gibson on the way through his equipment before it struck the post and trickled over the blueline for Hyman's 34th of the season at the end of an opening period where Anaheim outshot Edmonton by a 17-10 margin.
"I thought Hyms did a great job getting us on the board there to kind of calm things down, and we took over the game from there," Campbell said. "So just a good win and nice to clinch the spot."

APPLYING THE PRESSURE

The second period was when the shots started to pick up drastically for the Oilers, and where their slim lead became a sizeable advantage.
"I thought Jack was very good specifically in that first period," Woodcroft said. "He made a few really big saves for us, allowed us to get our sea legs so to speak, and we were able to find some goals and give him some run support."
Draisaitl cut inside and weaved his way towards Ahaheim's goal from the left circle and backhanded his 48th of the campaign past Gibson just two minutes into the middle frame, extending his point streak to 12 games while Evander Kane picked up the solitary helper after providing the pass from the opposite dot.

Edmonton's second line of Kane, Draisaitl and Kailer Yamamoto was buzzing, and while they might've failed to record a point on the Oilers third goal just three minutes after the German's tally, it was their dominant offensive-zone shift that created it.
A full minute from the line in the Ducks' zone ended with a 3-0 lead for the Oilers when the puck was pushed by an Anaheim stick up to the point, where Darnell Nurse wristed his 11th goal of the campaign through traffic and Gibson's five-hole. The marker went down as unassisted, but was very much a product of Edmonton's collective effort.

Before the second intermission, McDavid attempted a bank shot from the right circle on the power play off Hyman at the back post that ended up on the 'Burger Flipper' of Draisaitl, who calmly slid his 49th goal of the season and second of the night over the line to wrap up the second period's scoring at 11:44 of the frame.
Draisaitl now has 14 goals in his career against John Gibson, the most the American netminder has allowed to any player in the NHL, while his 30th power-play goal saw him become the fourth player in NHL history to score that many goals with the man advantage in a single season.

PLAY OF THE GAME

On the cusp of his third-career 50-goal season and eighth-career hat trick, you knew Draisaitl wasn't going to be denied.
With the Oilers well ahead on the scoreboard and shorthanded inside the final five minutes, the German had the opportunity to tuck away his hat-trick goal and the 50th of his season on the penalty kill.
"I was probably being a little too selfish there in the third," Draisaitl said. "I was shooting it from everywhere, but I think that's alright. Usually I tend to overpass it, so for once in my life, it's okay."
"I didn't think that it was going to happen on the kill obviously, but like you said, I'll take it."

Draisaitl took off up the ice along the open right side and fired a shot far post on Lukas Dostal to record his hat trick and hit the half-century mark for goals in a season for the second-straight year and third time in his eight NHL seasons. "Sometimes, you've got to trust the instincts of your players and he felt something in that moment," Woodcroft said. "They were able to get a semi-break and he took what was given to him and put a lot of heat on that shot, so I was happy for him."
The 27-year-old is up to 50 goals, 70 assists and 120 points in 75 games as he continues to push his own personal boundaries and the potential for German and European hockey players in the League.
"You don't see it every day that someone scores 50 and gets 100 points pretty much every year they've been in the League, so really impressive," McDavid said. "Can't say enough good things about him. He's been on a real tear and tonight was no different."

PARTING WORDS

Draisaitl on being able to enjoy his 50-goal season:
"Yeah, they're all great. I mean, the first time was very special to me, but it's always a huge honor and I think this one is very exciting for me because it was at home. The other two were on the road, so it was great to do it in front of our home fans."
Draisaitl on the relief of accomplishing the 50-goal feat with five games left in the regular season:
"Kind of, yeah. Sometimes that can just play with your mind a little bit and you tend to get off your game a little bit, which obviously I'm not trying to do, but it's just human nature. I'm happy that it's over with, so yeah, just keep going."

Draisaitl on Campbell earning a big win for his confidence heading towards playoffs:
"Yeah, it's up and down. He's such a great guy. All year, whether it's gone his way or not, he's been one of the best teammates I've ever been around. He always works on himself and hopefully, this will turn a corner for him. Sometimes it takes a little longer getting to a new team, so we trust him, we believe in him full on, so he'll be good for us."
McDavid on the importance of tonight's shutout for the Oilers & Campbell:
"I thought that Soup made some really big saves, especially early in the first. We were a little bit sloppy at the beginning of the game, but he was solid and gave us a chance to get our feet under us and we're really happy for him. Obviously it's been an up-and-down year for him, and he's battled so hard, and to see him get rewarded, the boys love that."