Pavel Mintyukov and Beckett Sennecke each finished with two goals and an assist, and the Anaheim Ducks survived a late push to edge the Edmonton Oilers 5-4 on Thursday.
Cutter Gauthier added the other Anaheim goal as the Ducks improved to 8-7-1 and stretched their winning streak to three games. Laurent Brossoit stopped 23 shots to pick up the victory.
Edmonton got goals from Evan Bouchard, Connor McDavid, Kasperi Kapanen and Leon Draisaitl, but the Oilers fell to 11-3-3 and dropped a second straight. Matt Tomkins made 16 saves in net for Edmonton, which was forced into a thin goaltending situation with Tristan Jarry out because of illness and Devon Levi and Frederik Andersen both injured. The Oilers became the first team in the NHL to dress a full-time emergency backup goalie, with Brett Epp sitting on the bench.
Gauthier kept his scoring surge rolling, extending his goal streak to four games after entering the night on the back of consecutive hat tricks. He now has nine goals in that span, including seven on the power play.
McDavid absorbed an early hard hit from Ducks defenseman Drew Helleson that sent him into the post, but he returned to pile up a goal and three assists. That pushed his points and assist streaks to 17 games this season and gave him an NHL-best 44 points. It also tied him for the fourth-longest points streak to open a season in league history.
Anaheim grabbed the lead back 6:15 into the second period during four-on-four play when Mintyukov jumped on a rebound for his second goal of the night and second of the season.
The Ducks’ power play, which had surged from 23.8 per cent in October to first in the NHL at 38 per cent entering the game, kept producing chances. Anaheim had scored on 10 of its previous 12 opportunities over its last three games, but went 2-for-7 against Edmonton.
The Ducks visit the Flames in Calgary on Friday. The Oilers remain at home to face the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.