The Anaheim Ducks are playing the Edmonton Oilers for the last time on Sunday. We take a look back at one of the craziest moments in Ducks history.
It was Cinco de Mayo, May 5th, 2017. Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals. With the series tied at two games apiece, this was a pivotal game for both the Anaheim Ducks and Edmonton Oilers. Each team was determined to take that 3-2 series lead.
For the first 56 minutes, you could say that the Oilers were the more aggressive team. They jumped out to a 3-0 lead and held that lead for most of the third period. The rest will be remembered by Ducks fans for as long as they can remember.
Lightning Strikes
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The Ducks would get on the board, with 3:16 left, after a blast from Ryan Getzlaf that deflected off of Leon Draisaitl of the Oilers. The deflection fooled Edmonton goalie, Cam Talbot, who found himself digging the puck out of his net for the first time that night.
Less than a minute later Ducks Defenseman, Cam Fowler, unleashed a wrist shot from the top of the slot that beat Talbot once again. The Honda Center, starting to believe, was rocking after the goal that pulled them to within 1. The Ducks had 2:41 left to find the goal that would send the game to overtime and were desperate to find that tying goal. Goalie, John Gibson was on the bench and the extra attacker on.
With 20 seconds left, Cam Fowler just throws the puck towards the net. A mad scrum ensues, bodies flying everywhere with the puck disappearing under the pile of bodies. It then mysteriously came out of the pile right to the stick blade of Rickard Rakell. Ricky wasted no time. He backhanded the puck under the pads of Talbot and the Ducks had tied it at 3 with 15 seconds remaining. The building felt like it was about to be demolished. The Anaheim Ducks had scored 3 goals in 3:01 to erase a 3-0 lead.
OT Hero
None of us would be talking about this amazing comeback if not for what happened later in double overtime. The Ducks completed the comeback after Corey Perry got Talbot to bite on a nice shoulder deke.
Ryan Getzlaf started the play after forcing a turnover in the offensive zone. Getzlaf then found a streaking Perry, in all alone on the goalie. Perry slid the puck around Talbot and the Ducks had done it. They won the game 4-3 and now lead the series 3 games to 2. Anaheim would go on to win the series in 7 games.
So as we say goodbye to the Oilers this season. Ducks fans everywhere will always have the memory of that game on Cinco de Mayo. That Game 5 will go down as one of the greatest moments in Anaheim Ducks History. From an almost certain loss to the incredible comeback win. We will always remember the “Comeback on Katella”.