EDMONTON — Sami Vatanen and Ryan Getzlaf each had a goal and an assist as the league-leading Anaheim Ducks ran their winning streak to six straight games with a 4-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday.
Kyle Palmieri and Nate Thompson also scored for the Ducks (20-6-5) who have won nine of their last 11 games.
Tyler Pitlick and Jeff Petry replied for the Oilers (7-18-5) who have lost three in a row and 14 of their last 15 games.
The Oilers are 1-15-4 against Western Conference opponents this season.
Anaheim started the scoring five minutes into the first period as Vatanen walked in from the point on the power play and sent a wrist shot cleanly past Oilers starting goalie Viktor Fasth for his eight goal of the season.
The Ducks came close to taking a two-goal lead 10 minutes later as Andrew Cogliano had Fasth beat, but his shot rang off the post.
Anaheim had 10 first-period shots, while the Oilers could only muster three on Ducks starter Frederik Andersen.
The Ducks very quickly went ahead 3-0 with goals just 44 seconds apart to start the second period.
Off the opening face-off of the middle frame, Vatanen sent Palmieri in alone through a confused-looking Oilers defence and he made the most of the breakaway with his fifth of the year just seven seconds in.
Then, 51 seconds into the second period, Rene Bourque dropped a pass to an uncovered Getzlaf, who cleanly beat Fasth with a quick shot for his ninth goal and 31st point.
Ben Scrivens came in to replace a visibly upset Fasth, who allowed three goals on 12 shots. Fasth threw his mask and then appeared to be calling out his teammates when he got to the bench.
The Oilers finally got on the board with just under five minutes to play in the second as Pitlick gained the zone and beat Andersen with a stick-side shot from near the face-off dot for his first goal of the season.
Getzlaf looked to have scored his second of the night five minutes into the third, but the puck stayed on the goal-line before Scrivens was able to swat it to safety.
Edmonton made it 3-2 with a rare power-play goal with 7:20 remaining in the third period as a Petry point shot deflected off the stick of defender Devante Smith-Pelly and past Andersen.
The Ducks, however, were able to salt away the victory with a late empty-net goal from Thompson.
Anaheim plays the second game of a five-game road trip on Saturday against the Jets in Winnipeg. The Oilers remain home to face the New York Rangers on Sunday.
Notes: It was the second of four games between the two teams this season, coming off the heels of the Ducks’ 2-1 victory over Edmonton on Wednesday in Anaheim. The Oilers won both of their home games against the Ducks last season. … In their first 29 games, the Oilers scored a Western Conference-low 63 goals. Only the Carolina Hurricanes (60), Florida Panthers (58) and Buffalo Sabres (52) had scored fewer. … Ducks defenceman Ben Lovejoy made his return to the lineup after missing 21 games with a broken finger that occurred on Oct. 26 against San Jose. … Earlier in the day, the Oilers transferred winger Jesse Joensuu to SC Bern of the Swiss Elite League. … Out injured for Anaheim were Corey Perry (knee), Francois Beauchemin (finger), Eric Brewer (foot), John Gibson (groin) and Dany Heatley (groin). … Missing from the Oilers lineup were Benoit Pouliot (foot), Boyd Gordon (back) and Nikita Nikitin (back).
