Ducks vs. Oilers Recap: McDavid and Bouchard Assists Cash in 5-4 Game

The Anaheim Ducks beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-4 in regulation on Thursday night, then had to hang on. Anaheim scored first on the power play, fell behind 2-1 after a late first-period power-play goal and an early shorthanded goal from Connor McDavid, then ran off four straight goals to lead 5-2. Edmonton pulled within one with two goals in the last four minutes but ran out of clock. The Oilers outshot the Ducks 27-21, and both teams scored twice on the power play. Five DARIMARKET plays cashed on this game.

What cashed

Connor McDavid 1+ assists (-245 at DraftKings): CASHED - Our read: McDavid came in with 1+ assists in 5/5 last five, 10/10 last ten and 16/16 this season, averaging 1.8 assists a game over his last ten, and Anaheim was without Troy Terry (IR). - What happened: 1 goal, 3 assists, 3 shots on goal in 24:25 (5:36 on the power play). He set up Evan Bouchard's power-play goal at 19:41 of the 1st, which cleared the line before the first intermission, then added helpers on both late Edmonton goals. That is 2.5 over the line. - Worth watching: He was on the ice for all four Edmonton goals with a point on each, across power play, shorthanded and even strength. The assist angle stays live, but -245 is a steep price to keep paying.

Evan Bouchard 1+ points (-300 at DraftKings): CASHED - Our read: Bouchard had 1+ points in 4/5 last five, 9/10 last ten and 14/16 this season, at 1.4 points a game over his last ten, with Hyman on IR and Laurent Brossoit projected in the Anaheim net. - What happened: 1 goal, 1 assist, 3 shots on goal in 24:12 (6:01 on the power play). His power-play wrist shot at 19:41 of the 1st tied it 1-1 and cashed this one. He finished 1.5 over the line. - Worth watching: His 6:01 on the power play was the most of any Edmonton skater, and Brossoit did start. At -300 the price leaves little room, so the point needs to keep coming at a high rate to be worth it.

ALT: Evan Bouchard 1+ assists (-230 FanDuel / -195 DraftKings): CASHED - Our read: Bouchard cleared 1+ assists in 9 of his last 10 and 17 of his last 20. The best price was -195, about 66% implied, against roughly 83% from recent games. - What happened: 1 assist, the secondary helper on Leon Draisaitl's goal at 19:15 of the 3rd that cut it to 5-4. That landed with 45 seconds left and cleared the line by 0.5. - Worth watching: This one came down to the final minute. The case was the gap between the implied number and his recent assist rate, so shopping for the -195 price mattered.

Jackson LaCombe 1+ points (-145 at DraftKings): CASHED - Our read: LaCombe had 1+ points in 5/5 last five, 8/10 last ten and 13/15 this season, at 1.2 points a game over his last ten. - What happened: 0 goals, 1 assist, 0 shots on goal in 33:09 (10:25 on the power play), plus 2 blocks. His primary assist on Cutter Gauthier's power-play goal at 9:26 of the 1st opened the scoring and cashed this one, 0.5 over the line. - Worth watching: 33:09 is a huge workload, and more than ten minutes of it came on the power play. Anaheim drew 8 power-play chances here, and that kind of usage keeps his point floor high.

ALT: Jackson LaCombe 1+ assists (-115 FanDuel / -115 DraftKings): CASHED - Our read: LaCombe cleared 1+ assists in 8 of his last 10 and 14 of his last 20. The best price was -115, about 53% implied, against roughly 72% from recent games. - What happened: 1 assist, the same primary helper on Gauthier's power-play goal at 9:26 of the 1st. It cleared the line by 0.5. - Worth watching: With no shots on goal, his night was all about distribution. At -115, the assist line also paid a better price than his points line at -145.

How the game played out

The 2nd period swung it. McDavid batted in a shorthanded goal at 2:34 to put Edmonton up 2-1, but Pavel Mintyukov answered at 3:37 and again at 6:15, and Beckett Sennecke made it 4-2 at 19:22. Sennecke added a power-play goal at 1:42 of the 3rd for the winner. Brossoit stopped 23 of 27 shots, while Matt Tomkins made 16 saves on 21 shots in 57:14 for Edmonton.

Trends to watch

• Penalties shaped this one. Edmonton took 46 penalty minutes to Anaheim's 21, and the Ducks got 8 power-play chances to the Oilers' 6. Five of the nine goals came on special teams: four on the power play and one shorthanded.
• Edmonton won 65.4% of the faceoffs and outshot Anaheim 27-21, yet Anaheim scored on 5 of its 21 shots. Shot volume did not decide this one.
• LaCombe's 33:09 led every skater in the game by more than seven minutes. Defenseman ice time and power-play minutes are the first things we check on assist and point props.

Stats are from the ESPN box score. More on how we read these lines: player props, implied probability, and the full NHL recaps archive.