At long last, the Anaheim Ducks participated in an NHL Stanley Cup Playoff game. They traveled to the northern-most destination possible to take on the Edmonton Oilers for game 1 of their first-round matchup on Monday.
This was the Ducks’ first playoff game in 2924 days, since game 4 of their first round matchup against the San Jose Sharks in 2018, where they were unceremoniously swept by San Jose.
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This was the second time these two franchises met in the playoffs; the first was in the 2006 Western Conference Final, where the Chris Pronger’s Oilers won in a 4-1 “gentleman’s sweep,” and the second was in 2017, a seven-game second-round series that the Ducks pulled out in the very first playoff series loss for this same Oilers core, consisting of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Darnell Nurse, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Round 1, Game 1 – Ducks vs. Oilers Gameday Preview (04/20/26)
Three Key Matchups for the Ducks Heading into First Round Against the Oilers
This iteration of the Oilers has won back-to-back Western Conference titles, hungry to get over the hump and hoist the Stanley Cup. The Ducks roster featured a litany of players making their postseason debuts in this game, including the entirety of THEIR young core: Leo Carlsson, Jackson LaCombe, Cutter Gauthier, Beckett Sennecke, etc.
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The Oilers would see the returns of Leon Draisaitl, who missed Edmonton’s last 14 games of the regular season with a lower-body injury, and Jason Dickinson, who missed the last three with a lower-body injury as well.
The Ducks were as healthy as they’d been all season, with every roster player participating in morning skate except for Troy Terry, who took a maintenance morning, but was confirmed to play after skate.
Here’s how the Ducks lined up in this game:
Kreider-Carlsson-Terry
Killorn-Granlund-Sennecke
McTavish-Poehling-Gauthier
Viel-Washe-Moore
LaCombe-Trouba
Mintyukov-Carlson
Hinds-Gudas
Lukas Dostal got the start for the Ducks, his first career playoff game, and saved 30 of 34 shots. Edmonton went with Connor Ingram as their starter in game 1, and he stopped 25 of 28.
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Through most of the first period, the Ducks were intent on playing as mistake-free as possible. They made simple plays with the puck, kept a third forward back in every zone, and tried to keep Edmonton to the outside as much as possible.
Despite playing more responsibly, the Ducks still allowed the first two goals to Edmonton, putting themselves in a hole at first intermission. The Ducks answered, dictating game flow and possessing more pucks, which led to three straight goals in the second period.
The third period was tighter on both sides, as the middle of the ice was protected at both ends. Edmonton potted one halfway through the period and took a late lead to complete the comeback and seal the game.
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“I think we lost a little bit of our momentum there when we gave up the third one,” Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville said. “I thought we were playing a perfect third period, and just the way we wanted to play. We had a good start to the game, (but) we gave up a couple in the first. Not happy at all about those plays. They were preventable, and they’re dangerous.
“They can make some plays off the rush, with their speed, alone. You think you’re in a good spot, but they still got to make sure you exaggerate a little bit to help.
“That was a tough loss. We did a lot of good things right, and we’re happy about certain things. Disappointed, but it creates a more desperate appetite going forward.”
Jackson LaCombe-Edmonton seemed to make it a point to finish every check on LaCombe, and finish hard, after every puck advancement he made. In the first, that may have led him to be a step slower than usual up ice, potentially preventing him from involving himself on rush attacks.
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He quickly adjusted and used a crashing F1 to his advantage in the second and third, as he realized he could draw forecheckers out of position and beat them up ice, as displayed on the Ducks’ first goal.
Sennecke/Poehling/Viel-Troy Terry and Leo Carlsson were driving the Ducks’ offensive production in this game and were dangerous whenever they touched the puck. Moving forward, the Ducks will need to rely on their forward depth a touch more if they want to pull out some wins.
That starts with maintaining possession, but only after gaining it. Beckett Sennecke, Ryan Poehling, and Jeffrey Viel gave impressive efforts to disrupt attacks in the neutral and defensive zones, negating a significant aspect of how Edmonton generates their looks. Poehling was a puck hound on backchecks, angling rushes off at the defensive blueline. Sennecke utilized outstanding anticipation skills to knock down outlets and get sticks on passing attempts. Viel was impactful on the forecheck and forced point men into bad decisions at the Ducks’ blueline.
Penalty Kill-Anaheim allowed just two shots and six shot attempts on two attempts to the best power play in the NHL. Though Edmonton appeared dangerous when they got set up, the Ducks did as well as they could have to disrupt entries and deny at their blueline with clever poke checks and angles on the walls.
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When entries were denied and dump-ins were forced, Dostal did well to knock them down, acting like a fifth penalty killer, and moved them to safety. Puck-retrieving defensemen were smart with their routes to loose pucks and efficient with their clears.
The Ducks will look to even the series on Wednesday, again in Edmonton at 7 PM PST for game 2.
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