“It wasn’t as competitive a game as you would like to have,” said Oilers head coach Pat Quinn. “They played pretty hard, so why didn’t we? Those are questions that we continue to ask.
“The score indicated the game. We gave up another 50 shots again tonight and that can’t be acceptable by anybody in this organization.”
The Oilers were never really in the contest.
Ryan Carter opened the scoring for the Ducks just two minutes into the game, taking a feed in the slot and firing a shot past goaltender Jeff Deslauriers.
Just 32 seconds later, the Ducks increased their lead as Deslauriers whiffed on a Steve Eminger point shot.
Mike Comrie pulled one back, but Matt Beleskey restored the two-goal lead, depositing a rebound past Deslauriers.
In the second, Teemu Selanne scored what could possibly be the last goal of his illustrious career, beating Deslauriers on the short side.
Selanne has not made a decision on his future yet, but if he decides to call it quits, he will retire as the highest-scoring Finish player in the history of the game with 606 goals.
“It looked like some guys checked out a little early, after the second, that’s what Pat said,” said Oilers defenceman Ryan Whitney. “You’d like to be professional about it and play as hard as you can, but it didn’t happen. It’s pretty typical of how this year has gone. I don’t think that’s a surprise to anyone watching, I don’t think it’s a surprise that we lost a game pretty bad at the end of the year.”
Whitney, making his first return to Anaheim since being traded to Edmonton, scored in the third period to pull the Oilers within a pair of goals. But any thoughts of a comeback were quickly snuffed out as Carter and George Parros scored for the Ducks. Kyle Chipchura added a seventh to kick even more sand in the Oilers’ faces.
“It definitely wasn’t our best game,” said Oilers defenceman Tom Gilbert. “We didn’t do a lot of things out there together. It’s obviously a disappointing season that we put together, but we did have some games that were positive and we have to try to use those into this long summer we have ahead of us.”
The Oilers are one of 14 teams that will not advance to the Stanley Cup playoffs, but only one of four that have a chance to select the first overall pick in June’s NHL Entry Draft.
“This has been a tough season for us both physically and mentally,” said Oilers centre Shawn Horcoff. “But I am proud of the fact that the guys did stick together, there were never any fights in the room. Now that the season is over, it’s time to move on and look forward to next year.”
Notes: Sunday may have been the last Oilers radio broadcast for Rod Phillips. There has been no official word if the voice of the Oilers will be back next season ... Oilers defenceman Jason Strudwick is the team’s candidate for the Masterton Trophy, voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association for exemplifying qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to the game.
derek.vandiest@sunmedia.ca
