Whether their B game continues to be enough to beat the Anaheim Ducks in the first round of the NHL playoffs, the Edmonton Oilers weren’t worried.
The Oilers shrugged off their mediocre history in playoff series openers with a 4-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks, but it came with a, “They won, but ….”
Monday’s game was the first this season that Edmonton won without a goal or assist from Connor McDavid.
The captain’s top line was held off the scoresheet, and the Ducks held the NHL’s top power-play scoreless on two chances. Big-producing defenceman Evan Bouchard had a quiet minus-one game.
Edmonton squandered a two-goal lead after the first period. The Ducks scored twice in the first five minutes of the second and led 3-2 in the third.
“We found a way to win a game, which is what matters at this point,” said veteran Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on Tuesday. “You’ve got to find ways to win games at this time of year. We did that, but for sure some things to keep improving, but some good take-aways too.”
The Oilers host the Ducks in Wednesday’s Game 2 at Rogers Place before the series flips to Anaheim’s Honda Centre for the third game Friday and the fourth Sunday.
Edmonton improved to 5-10 in the first game of its last 15 playoff series dating back to 2021. The Oilers reached the Stanley Cup final each of the last two years. They lost in Game 6 to the Florida Panthers last year and in Game 7 to the Panthers in 2024.
The Oilers hold a wide edge in playoff experience over Anaheim, which is back in the post-season after a seven-year absence. After a rough first period Monday, however, the Ducks pushed back with speed and tenacity.
“We were very fortunate to get the win. By no means did I think we were the better team,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch.
It was Edmonton foot soldiers Jason Dickinson and Kasperi Kapanen providing the heroics with two goals apiece Monday.
Leon Draisaitl was able to be a difference-maker with two assists — lugging the puck into the offensive zone on Kapanen’s game-winner — despite missing the last 14 games of the regular season with a knee injury.
“You always need other guys stepping up,” Knoblauch said. “It’s not always going to be the same guys. There’s always going to be times when somebody else is the hero. Draisaitl, McDavid, they’re going to be our heroes many times, but they can’t be the heroes every single time.”
Added Nugent-Hopkins: “We have so much experience within our depth that guys understand that sometimes it’s their turn to show up and find ways to score big goals.”
Edmonton will continue to mine that depth as fourth-line centre Adam Henrique has been ruled out of Game 2 with injury. He collided with teammate Kapanen in front of Edmonton’s net in the first period.
The 36-year-old penalty-kill specialist skated off the ice without assistance, but didn’t return.
Knoblauch didn’t know Tuesday how long Henrique would be sidelined. Replacement options are rookie Josh Samanski or Curtis Lazar, who has 30 previous playoff games on his resume.
“Samanski, a little bit more speed to our lineup,” Knoblauch said. “Lazar gives you maybe a little more aggressiveness, a bit more physicality, and that’s important in the playoffs.
“You knew that there’s going to be some lineup changes. It came a little bit sooner than we would like with an injury, but we’ve got some guys who are very capable to get back in that lineup and contribute.”
According to NHL stats, a team that wins the first game of a series at home has a .748 winning percentage historically. It’s .882 for the home team that wins the first two games of a series.
“Every game is different,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “They’re down one right now. There’s going to be a push from them, but the same mindset we had to start the game of being physical and putting pucks deep and establishing that forecheck and just making it a long night of having their [defence] turn. Then we always have numbers above them.
“That’s going to be key to try to take the life out of them early and build our game from that.”
Fans at Rogers Place razzed Ducks defenceman Radko Gudas at various points of Game 1, instead of the traditional target of the opposing goaltender, Lukas Dostal.
The Czech blueliner served a late-season, five-game suspension for kneeing Toronto star Auston Matthews, three weeks after knocking Team Canada captain Sidney Crosby out of the Olympics with a quarterfinal hit.
Edmonton scored the third-period equalizer when Gudas fell and gave Mattias Ekholm an open shot on net, which Dickinson converted on the rebound.
