On a night demons facing two home teams, only the Anaheim Ducks were able to exorcise their Game 7 nemesis, themselves.
On Wednesday night, the Ducks yielded an early goal on a messy play in front of their own net and then rallied to beat the Edmonton Oilers, 2-1, in their first Game 7 win in 
six tries.
Drake Caggiula tapped the puck off Shea Theodore‘s stick in front of the Anaheim net and the puck found a path to the net for the 1-0 Oilers lead.
Nick Ritchie put the Ducks ahead early in the third period on a goal off a persistent effort in the right corner.
“I just kind of looked up and shot it,” Ritchie said. “I [saw Ryan Getzlaf] put his hands up. He had a good view of it.”
John Gibson made 23 saves one game after being pulled for yielding three goals on six shots in Edmonton.
“We’re playing with a lot of confidence and we believe in each other,” Gibson said.
It was a tight, well-played game throughout and the Oilers were solid across the ice even without experience in Game 7 tension.
“The overall feeling right now is disappointment,” Edmonton coach Todd McLellan said. “But we basically got a college degree in a month.”
It is difficult to see positives in any loss but the Oilers organization and team have not seen a Game 7 in years and their poise through this one was exceptional.
“It’s going to take some time to get over it, but there are a lot of positives,” the Oilers’ Connor McDavid said. “We battled hard up and down the lineup.”
[WATCH: All Ducks vs. Oilers highlights | RELATED: Complete Anaheim vs. Edmonton series coverage]
Cam Talbot was spectacular in the Oilers net and kept them in the game as the Ducks pressed after the early gaff; he made 28 saves in the loss.
“The guys should not hang their heads. What we did this year was truly amazing. The future is bright for this team. We’re a really good hockey team that can do some damage in the near future,” the Oilers’ Patrick Maroon said.
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