In Anaheim, Sonny Milano struck for two goals in his debut with the Ducks, and the second was off the power play for the game-winner in extra time to defeat the Edmonton Oilers, 4-3, on Tuesday night.
John Gibson picked up the win for the Ducks in OT – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
“We had a set play that didn’t work out, but we went with our gut there,” Milano said of the game-winner. “[Adam] Henrique told me to switch out and he gave me a good pass. I just tapped it in.”
John Gibson made 29 saves in the win that featured five new players for the Ducks. If you didn’t have a game program you were lost in this one.
“Seemed like all of them got involved throughout the game, either on the scoresheet or physically, so it was nice to see,” Henrique said. “It’s certainly a weird day today. A lot of changes. A lot of guys coming in, but I thought they did a great job just coming in, settling in, and just going out and playing hockey today.”
Two of the newest Oilers made their contributions with Tyler Ennis and Andreas Athanasiou scoring in their debuts as well.
“I thought they were great, they made plays all night,” Connor McDavid said. “I really liked playing with them.”
Leon Draisaitl added a goal for the Oilers.
“It’s a pretty speedy couple of [linemates] I got,” Ennis said. “Connor and [Athanasiou] are so fast. I think I’m just trying to get it to those guys and work hard.”
Henrique and Nicolas Deslauriers also scored for the Ducks.
“I thought we stuck with our game plan,” Henrique said. “We kept battling, kept pushing, even after they tied it up.”
[WATCH: All Oilers vs. Ducks highlights]
Mike Smith made 17 saves in the loss.
“That’s a big point for us,” McDavid said. “We got a big two points [Wednesday] night that are up for grabs against a good Vegas team.”
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