EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Cutter Gauthier broke a tie off a rebound with 4:52 left and the Anaheim Ducks beat Edmonton 6-4 on Wednesday night in Game 2 to even the first-round series, with Oilers star Connor McDavid escaping a leg injury.
McDavid caught an edge with his skate blade early in the second period after getting tangled up with teammate Mattias Ekholm and the Ducks’ Ian Moore. McDavid briefly left the game before returning, playing just over 24 minutes.
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Anaheim Ducks' John Carlson (74) hits Edmonton Oilers' Jack Roslovic (28) during the second period of an NHL hockey playoff game in Edmonton, Alberta, on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (Codie McLachlan/The Canadian Press via AP)
Anaheim Ducks' Pavel Mintyukov (98) battles against Edmonton Oilers' Kasperi Kapanen (42) during second period NHL playoff action in Edmonton on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (Codie McLachlan/The Canadian Press via AP)
Anaheim Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal (1) makes a save against Edmonton Oilers' Vasily Podkolzin (92) during second period NHL playoff action in Edmonton on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (Codie McLachlan/The Canadian Press via AP)
Anaheim Ducks' Cutter Gauthier (61) and Leo Carlsson (91) celebrate a goal against Edmonton Oilers goaltender Connor Ingram (39) during the second period of an NHL hockey playoff game in Edmonton, Alberta, on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (Codie McLachlan/The Canadian Press via AP)
Anaheim Ducks' Ryan Poehling (25) celebrates a goal against Edmonton Oilers goaltender Connor Ingram (39) during second period NHL playoff action in Edmonton on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (Codie McLachlan/The Canadian Press via AP)
“It's fine,” McDavid said. "I just rolled up on it a little bit.”
Game 3 is Friday night in Anaheim. Edmonton opened the series Monday night with a 4-3 victory.
“We’ve been in this situation a lot, 1-1 going on the road,” McDavid said. “We’re comfortable on the road, we like playing on the road. Obviously, we’d like a better outcome tonight and a better product tonight, but we’re comfortable going on the road.”
Gauthier put the Ducks back in front after Josh Samanski — making his playoff debut — tied it at 4 with 6:09 to go. Ryan Poehling put it away with an empty-netter with 1:10 left, his second goal of the game. He scored short-handed in the second.
“We have the confidence,” Gauthier said. “All season long when games have been tied and we’ve been down goals, we’ve been in some high-pressure moments.”
Gauthier also scored on a first-period power play and set up Alex Killorn's second-period goal on a man advantage. Killorn added two assists.
“That’s kind of been the way we’ve been the entire year,” Killorn said. “It’s stressful playing that way. I think we’re getting used to it, but I think we’d like to be a little bit better with the lead and hold on to some of those leads. But the resiliency in this group is pretty phenomenal.”
Jacob Trouba added a goal, fellow defenseman Jackson LaCombe had three assists and Lukas Dostal stopped 33 shots.
Leon Draisaitl had a goal and an assist for Edmonton. He returned for Game 1 from a lower-body injury against Nashville on March 15.
Connor Murphy and Zach Hyman also scored for the Oilers, and Connor Ingram made 22 saves.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Anaheim Ducks' John Carlson (74) hits Edmonton Oilers' Jack Roslovic (28) during the second period of an NHL hockey playoff game in Edmonton, Alberta, on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (Codie McLachlan/The Canadian Press via AP)
Anaheim Ducks' Pavel Mintyukov (98) battles against Edmonton Oilers' Kasperi Kapanen (42) during second period NHL playoff action in Edmonton on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (Codie McLachlan/The Canadian Press via AP)
Anaheim Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal (1) makes a save against Edmonton Oilers' Vasily Podkolzin (92) during second period NHL playoff action in Edmonton on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (Codie McLachlan/The Canadian Press via AP)
Anaheim Ducks' Cutter Gauthier (61) and Leo Carlsson (91) celebrate a goal against Edmonton Oilers goaltender Connor Ingram (39) during the second period of an NHL hockey playoff game in Edmonton, Alberta, on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (Codie McLachlan/The Canadian Press via AP)
Anaheim Ducks' Ryan Poehling (25) celebrates a goal against Edmonton Oilers goaltender Connor Ingram (39) during second period NHL playoff action in Edmonton on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (Codie McLachlan/The Canadian Press via AP)
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Wyatt Johnston scored on a power-play deflection at 12:10 of the second overtime to give the Dallas Stars a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild early Thursday for a 2-1 lead in the first-round series.
Matt Duchene tied it for Dallas on a power play midway through the third period, seconds after his backcheck on Matt Boldy averted a short-handed goal that would’ve put Minnesota up by two.
After the Wild failed to convert two overtime power plays, finishing 1 for 7 with the man advantage, the Stars took advantage of theirs after Danila Yurov’s delay-of-game penalty. Nils Lundkvist's shot was knocked in by Johnston for his third goal in three games.
The game ended at 12:54 a.m.
Radek Faksa had a close-range chance in the second overtime he poked behind Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt, but the puck skidded straight across the crease.
Wallstedt polished off the first Stars' power play by snapping his glove around Mikko Rantanen’s shot and smothering Esa Lindell’s bad-angle attempt. Johnston then spoiled a brilliant 32-save performance by Wallstedt with his deflection.
Seconds after the audible thump from Stars goalie Jake Oettinger’s blocker save on Brock Faber’s slap shot, the Wild had another prime opportunity to win it in the first overtime when Hughes drew a tripping penalty on Sam Steel. But even with Faksa playing most of that penalty kill without a stick, the Wild failed to generate much pressure. Jamie Benn’s holding penalty on Nick Foligno gave them another try.
Oettinger finished with 28 saves.
The Wild killed four penalties between Rantanen’s power play tip-in just 1:25 into the game and Duchene’s crowd-quieting snap shot that slipped between defenseman Jared Spurgeon and the near post. That included 40 seconds of a 5-on-3 after Boldy’s delay-of-game penalty late in the second period.
As soon as he left the box, Spurgeon saw an opening to start a rush that Michael McCarron finished with his first goal in the NHL playoffs to give the Wild a 3-2 lead.
Jason Robertson scored after a slick stretch pass by Duchene to put the Stars up 2-0 in the first period.
Marcus Johansson scored on a power play to start the rally less than five minutes later, and Joel Eriksson Ek had the tying goal in the second after a brilliant setup by Boldy. The U.S. Olympian, who had a career-high 42 goals during the regular season, weaved through four Stars skaters and drew a crowd behind the net before zipping the puck back into the slot for Eriksson Ek to knock in.
Entering these playoffs, the winner of Game 3 after a split of the first two games in a best-of-seven went on to win the series nearly two-thirds of the time (245 of 369) in NHL history.
The Wild, who have not advanced in the postseason since 2015, fell on the flip side of that ratio in each of their last three appearances. They won Game 3 to go up 2-1 on Vegas last year, on Dallas in 2023 and on St. Louis in 2022, before being eliminated with three straight losses every time.
This was the third time in Wild history they reached double overtime, including a 3-2 win at Dallas in Game 1 of their first-round series with the Stars in 2023.
The Wild, who have a 4-14 series record in their underwhelming playoff history, have lost 17 of their last 23 postseason home games.
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Minnesota Wild center Michael McCarron (47), back, left, celebrates after scoring a goal during the second period of Game 3 in the first round of the NHL Stanley Cup hockey playoffs against the Dallas Stars Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Dallas Stars center Mavrik Bourque (22) shoots as Minnesota Wild defenseman Brock Faber (7) defends during overtime of Game 3 in the first round of the NHL Stanley Cup hockey playoffs early morning Thursday, April 23, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) celebrates after the double overtime win against the Minnesota Wild of Game 3 in the first round of the NHL Stanley Cup hockey playoffs early morning Thursday, April 23, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Dallas Stars players celebrate after the double overtime win against the Minnesota Wild of Game 3 in the first round of the NHL Stanley Cup hockey playoffs early morning Thursday, April 23, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Dallas Stars players celebrate after the double overtime win against the Minnesota Wild of Game 3 in the first round of the NHL Stanley Cup hockey playoffs early morning Thursday, April 23, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) waits for play to resume after a goal scored by Minnesota Wild left wing Marcus Johansson (90) during the first period of Game 3 in the first-round of the NHL Stanley Cup hockey playoffs Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Minnesota Wild left wing Marcus Johansson (90), left, celebrates with defenseman Brock Faber (7) after scoring a goal during the first period of Game 3 in the first-round of the NHL Stanley Cup hockey playoffs against the Dallas Stars Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Minnesota Wild right wing Vladimir Tarasenko (91) skates with the puck as Dallas Stars defenseman Lian Bichsel (6) defends during the first period of Game 3 in the first-round of the NHL Stanley Cup hockey playoffs Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Minnesota Wild center Joel Eriksson Ek (14) and Dallas Stars center Sam Steel (18) battle for the puck during the second period of Game 3 in the first round of the NHL Stanley Cup hockey playoffs Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Dallas Stars center Wyatt Johnston (53) and Minnesota Wild left wing Kirill Kaprizov (97) battle for the puck during the second period of Game 3 in the first round of the NHL Stanley Cup hockey playoffs Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
