Anaheim Ducks' Ryan Getzlaf (15) and Kyle Palmieri (21) celebrate a goal against the Edmonton Oilers during third period NHL hockey action in Edmonton, Alta., on Saturday February 21, 2015.JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Press
The Anaheim Ducks hope they have found their way out of a recent funk.
Ryan Getzlaf scored the winner as Anaheim won its second game in as many nights in Alberta, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 on Saturday.
"Any points right now are big," Getzlaf said. "Nobody is going to roll over and give you anything down the stretch, you have to earn it."
Francois Beauchemin also scored for the Ducks (37-16-7), who have been running away with the NHL's Pacific Division, despite losses in five of their six games before their recent two-game run.
"During that two-week stretch we did far too many hope passes into the front of the net," said Ducks defenceman Ben Lovejoy. "Our forwards have done a great job the last two nights and it has really changed the complexion of our team right now. I don't think we can be complacent. I think that is sort of what got us into that two-week stretch. We need to continue to get better."
Teddy Purcell replied for the Oilers (17-34-10), who have lost four of their last five. Edmonton was playing its ninth game in the last 15 days.
"I've been in this league for a little bit now and I don't remember ever feeling this tired," Purcell said." I don't know if I'm not used to the West travel, but nine games in 15 days in seven different cities is pretty crazy.
"It's unfortunate we didn't get the win, but to go into a couple of days off knowing that we put in a solid effort is better than losing like we did last night," added the Oilers forward, referring to a 4-0 loss to Minnesota on Friday.
"It feels like we've played 30 games the last couple of weeks," said Edmonton's Jordan Eberle. "Guys were definitely tired. Even though we were at home here for the three, it was a quick three-in-four."
It didn't take Anaheim long to get on the scoreboard, as Beauchemin beat Oilers starter Ben Scrivens with a power-play blast from the point just 45 seconds into the game.
It was Edmonton's turn for an early goal just 28 seconds into the second period as Nail Yakupov sent a backhand pass in front to Purcell as he beat Anaheim goalie John Gibson.
Edmonton outshot Anaheim 16-15 through 40 minutes.
Getzlaf broke the tie with seven minutes left to play when he poked a puck loose from a scrum in front of the Oilers net and it caromed in off of the skate of defender Justin Schultz. It was Getzlaf's 19th goal of the season.
"We've been trying to get to the net more aggressively," he said. "We got a lucky bounce there at the end."
The Oilers had a late two-on-one chance, but the play was broken up by Lovejoy.
It was Anaheim's 25th victory in a one-goal game this season.
The Ducks return home to play Detroit on Monday. The Oilers are off until Tuesday, when they travel to Minnesota.
Notes: Anaheim came into the game with a 19-3-1 record in its previous 23 games against Edmonton. A pair of Ducks were celebrating milestones as Corey Perry played his 700th NHL game and Andrew Cogliano played his 600th. Cogliano, a former Oiler, is the league's iron man, having never missed a game due to injury in his career Out with injuries for Edmonton were Tyler Pitlick (lacerated spleen), Taylor Hall (leg), Nikita Nikitin (shoulder), Viktor Fasth (knee), Anton Lander (shoulder) and Jeff Petry (ribs), while the Ducks were without Sami Vatanen (leg), Matt Beleskey (shoulder) and Frederik Andersen (neck).