Oilers take Ducks’ best shots, roll into finals

ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Anaheim Mighty Ducks outshot the Edmonton Oilers in every game of the Western Conference finals. What the Oilers did with all those shots – blocking, screening and clogging the shooting lanes – proved the difference.

Raffi Torres scored the go-ahead goal on a tipped shot in the second period, helping Edmonton eliminate the Ducks 2-1 Saturday night and advance to the Stanley Cup finals.

The eighth-seeded Oilers won the conference finals 4-1 and will play for the Cup for the first time since winning it in 1990 for the fifth time in seven seasons.

“This team is similar to our 1990 team because this is so unexpected and we have good goal scoring,” said Oilers coach Craig MacTavish, who played on that squad. “Our goaltending was terrific the whole series. Our special teams were outstanding. This is the third series we have won that battle.”

Edmonton awaits either Carolina or Buffalo, whose Eastern Conference finals series is tied 2-2. The Oilers are the lowest-seeded team to reach the finals in the current playoff format.

“It’s awesome as a team,” goalie Dwayne Roloson said. “We came from the eighth spot, but it doesn’t mean anything now.”

The Ducks outshot the Oilers in all five games, including a 33-25 advantage in the final. But Anaheim returned to the offensive slump it was in the first two games, when the Ducks scored two goals, after combining to score 10 in Games 3 and 4.

“It was a strange series that way, where three of those games we just couldn’t find the back of the net,” defenseman Scott Niedermayer said.

Roloson stopped 32 shots and earned his NHL-leading 12th postseason victory for Edmonton, which won the first three games of the series before losing at home Thursday night.

Edmonton has won eight of nine since falling behind San Jose 2-0 in the previous series.

The Oilers killed off all but one of their 11 penalties.