Oilers D Evan Bouchard hopes for continued success vs. Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks will definitely know when Evan Bouchard is on the ice when they face the Edmonton Oilers on Monday night. The defenseman had a six-point performance in a 6-5 overtime win against Washington Capitals two nights earlier.
Playing in his 400th NHL game, Bouchard recorded his first NHL hat trick while also contributing three assists. He's the first defenseman for Edmonton to score three goals in a game since Marc-Andre Bergeron on Jan. 14, 2006.
"As good a game as I've seen from a D-man, special," said Edmonton superstar center Connor McDavid, who contributed five points of his own. "You know, that's his level. His best is among the best in the world. Not just D-men. Players."
Bouchard, in his seventh season, has enjoyed success against the Ducks in his career as well, owning 17 points (two goals, 15 assists) in 15 games.
Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch could have a delicate decision on who to start in goal. He pulled Connor Ingram after he allowed three goals on 12 shots against Washington, but later admitted he took a closer look at the third goal and saw it was deflected through Ingram.
"I probably didn't see it properly, the third goal," Knoblauch said. "It went off one of our defensemen and redirected it. So, I thought it came right straight in, but also, sometimes your team needs a little bit of a change of momentum. And maybe that's not fair for Ingram, because it was an unfortunate bounce, but a lot of it had to do with momentum."
Tristan Jarry replaced Ingram at 14:29 of the second period and stopped 13 of 15, but Jarry has now played in three straight games after returning from a four-week absence because of a lower-body injury.
The Ducks have won seven in a row following their 4-3 overtime victory at the Calgary Flames on Sunday. Their winning streak comes on the heels of a nine-game winless skid (0-8-1) and moved them back into third place in the Pacific Division.
Beckett Sennecke, a rookie forward, cut the deficit to 2-1 when he scored off a one-timer from Alex Killorn at 3:22 of the second period, and he finished off another rush to tie it 2-2 at 12:41.
Sennecke completed the first hat trick of his NHL career with the overtime winner at 2:54.
"It's awesome," Sennecke said before getting swamped by his teammates.