ANAHEIM, Calif. — It’s becoming all too familiar for the Edmonton Oilers at this point.
Heading into these playoffs, the Oilers had trailed in three of the last four years in the first round. They once again find themselves down in the opening round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but this time it looks different.
Uncharacteristic mistakes and an overall underperformance of their star players have put the Oilers in a 2-1 hole in the first round after Friday night’s 7-4 loss to the Anaheim Ducks.
“We’ve got an experienced group in here,” Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. “We’ve been through this before. Two years ago, we were down. Last year, we were down again in the first round. It’s nothing new to us. We’ve just got to bring it.”
This is an Edmonton squad that is coming off back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals appearances and has the star power to pair with the extensive playoff experience in the likes of three-time MVP Connor McDavid, four-time 50-goal scorer Leon Draisaitl and Norris Trophy candidate Evan Bouchard.
But other than Draisaitl, the Oilers’ star power has been quiet through the first three games of the series. Most notably, McDavid.
Heading into Game 3, McDavid had yet to register a point in the series. He only went two games in a row without recording a point once this whole season.
McDavid finally broke through on Friday night, notching an assist and scoring on the power play with the help of a deflection off the stick of Ducks defenseman Pavel Mintyukov.
Even though the points finally came on the scoresheet, McDavid still hasn’t looked like the dynamic superstar that hockey fans have become accustomed to seeing. He made an ill-advised behind-the-back pass to nobody and then gave up on the play that resulted in a shorthanded goal in Game 2, then lacked discipline by taking a poorly timed cross-checking penalty while in the offensive zone on the power play while chasing a goal in the third period in Game 3.
On top of the questionable decisions, the Ducks have also done a commendable job at limiting McDavid in the offensive zone. His ever-dangerous offensive zone entries have been met with defensemen challenging him and slowing him down, and the Ducks have gotten sticks in the way of his passing lanes at opportune times.
“We know that you want to stay above him,” Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville said. “You want to deny him the puck. You don’t want to give him any room. I think we’ve been pretty good as a pack of five when he’s on the ice. That’s what we’re trying to eliminate.”
Although McDavid has the ability to supply a Herculean effort and drag the Oilers to victories when needed, the Oilers cannot operate like that to get over the hump.
“I think everyone needs to step up a little bit,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said.
It was evident that the Ducks had more of an edge in this one from the get-go. Playing in their first playoff game at the Honda Center since 2018, the Ducks matched their fans’ energy and dominated play out of the gate.
The Oilers tallying the first goal of the game seemed to be a blip more than anything, as the Ducks won the majority of the loose pucks, finished their checks, sustained elongated pressure in the offensive zone and generated numerous chances on the cycle. At the other end of the ice, the Oilers struggled to stay in the Ducks’ zone for any amount of time.
The Ducks outshot the Oilers 20-7 in the opening period and walked away with a 2-1 lead.
“Early on, they were much more intense,” Knoblauch said. “They definitely looked like they wanted it more in the first period.”
Edmonton finally gained its footing in the second period and tallied two goals before play began shifting back to Anaheim’s way in the later stages of the period. It wasn’t the perfect period by any means, but it tied the game and gave the Oilers a chance to steal the game with a 20-minute
effort.
But it fell apart in the final frame.
Within the first four minutes of the third period, 20-year-old Beckett Sennecke’s snap shot on a two-on-one took the lead and 21-year-old Leo Carlsson’s nifty move to the backhand to beat Oilers goaltender Connor Ingram 40 seconds later gave the Ducks a two-goal lead.
Both goals began from turnovers by the Oilers in the offensive zone.
“We can’t be turning pucks over because they counter pretty well,” Oilers forward Kasperi Kapanen said. “They got a lot of young talent and a lot of speed, so we just got to keep hitting it deep and I think our forechecks could be a bit better. Defensively, I think we just got to be a bit quicker and just skate more and kind of close our gaps a bit more.”
After McDavid’s power play goal put the Oilers back within one, Edmonton once again failed to win a loose puck back and Ducks forward poked a pass to Jeffrey Viel in front of the net, who backhanded it past Ingram to give the Ducks a two-goal lead with just over three minutes to play.
“Just doing little things, you look at the goals against and just some stuff that shouldn’t happen, especially this time of year,” Knoblauch said. “There’s lost coverage in front of the net or a couple times, a little careless with the puck, stuff like that.”
With the Oilers’ net empty for the extra attacker, Ducks defenseman Jackson LaCombe put the game on ice when he drained a chip shot from 200 feet out with 93 seconds left.
“We kind of keep shooting ourselves in the foot and I feel like we’re giving them these wins, so it’s disappointing,” Kapanen said. “But it’s a race to four wins, so we’re not going to panic, but we got to learn from our mistakes and just be better next game.”
The Ducks now take a 2-1 lead in the series, with an opportunity to grab a stranglehold on this series at home ice on Sunday night or game four. Something that not many expected.
“Just giving them freebies,” Knoblauch said. “Just not digging in front of the net. Giving up on odd-man rushes. Not that they were making a bunch of passes to pick through us. It was just a mis-responsibility or a mis-execution on the play.”
Heading into this playoff series, the Ducks were wild cards. They are a team with little playoff experience and tons of young talent, figuring out how playoff hockey is played.
Through three games, this young Anaheim squad doesn’t seem phased by their lack of experience, and Edmonton knows better to take any opponent lightly.
“We’re one point away from each other in the regular season,” Knoblauch said. “We had a good match in every game. We knew about them. We knew that they’re a good team. They’ve got a lot of depth and some young, exciting players.
“We have a lot of respect for them. We do. We just need to find our best game.”