Beckett Sennecke and Pavel Mintyukov each score twice as Anaheim survives a late Edmonton push for a 5-4 victory
Connor McDavid had a goal and three assists, extending his season-opening point streak to 17 games and raising his league-leading total to 44 points. Edmonton still lost a second straight game after penalties, defensive mistakes and a depleted crease helped Anaheim build a 5-2 lead.
The Oilers were charged with 36 penalty minutes. Vasily Podkolzin received an instigator penalty, a fighting major and a game misconduct after responding to Drew Helleson’s cross-check that sent McDavid into the Anaheim crease. The Ducks finished 2-for-7 on the power play.
Cutter Gauthier scored his ninth goal in four games, and Anaheim produced four unanswered goals across the second period and the opening 1:40 of the third. Sennecke’s second goal gave the Ducks the three-goal cushion they needed.
Edmonton pushed back late. Kasperi Kapanen scored on the power play with 3:36 remaining, then Leon Draisaitl converted a McDavid cross-crease pass with 45 seconds left. The Oilers controlled the puck after the next faceoff but could not force overtime.
Matt Tomkins stopped 16 of 21 shots for Edmonton. He started because Tristan Jarry was unavailable with an illness, while Devon Levi and Frederik Andersen were already injured. Brett Epp, activated as an emergency backup, dressed behind Tomkins. Laurent Brossoit made 23 saves for Anaheim.
The Ducks improved to 8-7-1 with their third straight win. Edmonton fell to 11-3-3 and now turns to Saturday’s home game against Vancouver. McDavid’s production remains historic, but Thursday showed the limit of star power when discipline and team defence leave too much ground to recover.
