THIRD PERIOD
The gas was running out for the Oilers after two deep runs to the Stanley Cup Final and a long 82-game season, culminating in this year’s first-round exit when the fatigue and injuries caught up to them.
Still, the Oilers hoped for a lot better.
“I think we felt good, but it’s not an excuse,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “We just didn’t get the job done at the end of the day, but I can’t speak for everybody else. Obviously, guys are banged up. They’re fighting through a lot of stuff, but energy-wise, I don’t think it’s an excuse.
“Everybody’s tired out there, everybody’s just grinding, but at the end of the day, we just didn’t get it done. They completely took advantage of any power play they had, started that early in the series, and then just continued it.”
If the Oilers were going to get back in it, they were going to need to filter everything towards Dostal and the Ducks’ crease in hopes of getting some bounces, and luckily, one arrived early for Vasily Podkolzin only 1:13 into the final frame to give them a chance.
After a strong breakout and zone entry, Leon Draisaitl threw a puck on goal that was pushed out by Dostal, leading to Kasperi Kapanen finding himself with the puck in space to fire it back into the blue paint and off the body of Vasily Podkolzin to make it 4-2.
The Russian continued his terrific showing with his third goal and sixth point of the series, keeping himself on pace to finish with a point per game in these playoffs with a goal his side desperately needed early in the period.