Welcome back to the playoffs, Sami Vatanen.
After being draped with a blanket through most of the first seven periods of the Oilers’ second-round series against the Ducks, Connor McDavid was finally able to find a bit of space as both teams skated 4-on-4, and decided to get to work. Picking up the puck along the boards at the left hash mark, McDavid made his way to the top of the circle before pulling a ridiculous cutback move on Ducks defenceman Sami Vatanen and ripping one top corner past Jon Gibson on Sunday.
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The snipe, which had Vatanen debating whether he still had his ankles attached to his body or not, tied the game after Anaheim had jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period. The ridiculous solo effort wasn’t enough, though, as the Ducks responded with another three straight goals of their own to take Game 3 and cut the Oilers’ series lead in half.
Arguably the best goal of the playoffs so far was McDavid’s third of the spring and only his second even strength point through nine postseason games, as he attempts to battle through intense defensive coverage laid on him by veteran shutdown artists like Ryan Kesler while trying to adjust to the tighter, more physical defensive game the NHL playoffs bring.
Quite a way to get back into playoff form for Vatanen, who missed the final three games of the Ducks’ first-round win over Calgary and the first two contests of the Oilers series with an upper-body injury. One of the Ducks’ top defenceman, Vatanen played 18:08 while recording four hits and a game-high five blocked shots in his return to the lineup Sunday.
The Ducks also had big contributions from Jakob Silfverberg (two goals and an assist) and captain Ryan Getzlaf (one goal, one assist), as the road team has won the first three games of the series.
