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Ducks go into Game 2 at Edmonton with more to prove

April 21, 2026

The Ducks and Oilers have traded punches like Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard this year, and there’s no reason to expect anything different in Wednesday’s Game 2.

In two of three meetings during the regular season, there were three or more lead changes, and there were three more in a Game 1 wherein Edmonton led 2-0, trailed 3-2 and ultimately prevailed 4-3 to defend home ice.

A baker’s dozen of Ducks were skating in their first postseason action, including Troy Terry and Leo Carlsson, who accounted for all three goals and five combined points in defeat. A third neophyte, first-year center Tim Washe, had an early marker disallowed that would have opened the scoring.

“We’ve all watched playoff hockey. We have some guys that have won the Cup or played far into the playoffs. But we have a pretty big number of guys that it’s their first time,” Terry told reporters. “It seems daunting, the excitement and everything. It’s unfortunate the result of that game, and it’s gonna be tough to swallow, but we’ve got to put it behind us. We got our feet under us, and we’re into this thing now.”

The Ducks went toe-to-toe with the two-time defending Western Conference champions. Despite a missed opportunity to steal home-ice advantage in the series, it gave their young core confidence moving forward.

“We knew this was going to be hard, but we’re a great team also. We knew it was going to be a tight series, for sure,” Carlsson told reporters.

Carlsson carried over some late-season swagger, hitting the net 10 times and even drawing a tempered comparison to opposing captain and scoring champion Connor McDavid from Ducks coach Joel Quenneville.

“Leo had a great start to the season and a great finish to the year. When he has that speed coming through the middle of the ice, he reminds me of somebody on the other side,” Quenneville told reporters. “He’s got a lot to prove, but certainly he had some nice plays, some nice moves and a strong game.”

Though rookie Tyson Hinds got beat for Edmonton’s’ first goal, there was much more to nitpick from the Ducks’ veterans.

Mikael Granlund somehow managed to miss an open net and shoot the puck squarely into an out-of-position goalie, Connor Ingram, in the dying gasp of the match. Two-time Stanley Cup winner Alex Killorn picked up a stick infraction for each of his championships. Chris Kreider’s blasé backhand pass led to Kasperi Kapanen’s first goal and his chum Jacob Trouba’s disaffected defense facilitated Kapanen’s second tally. In between, Radko Gudas fell down untouched, leading directly to a Jason Dickinson equalizer and prompting Quenneville to bench his captain for the final 8:30.

For the Oilers’ part, they got four 5-on-5 goals from their middle six, including two from the line of the available if not fully healthy Leon Draisaitl. Yet McDavid, who poured in 138 points to win the Art Ross Trophy comfortably, was held scoreless on a night where he seldom looked all that dangerous.

The Oilers will be without another centerman, former Duck Adam Henrique, for at least Game 2, coach Kris Knoblauch confirmed to reporters Tuesday. Henrique became entangled with Kapanen early in the contest and fell awkwardly, sustaining an apparent ankle or lower-leg injury.

Knoblauch said he was “expecting both teams” to step up their efforts from what he felt was a fairly even Game 1.

“They might be the best team in the NHL coming from behind or pushing in the third period late,” Knoblauch told reporters. “We were very fortunate to get the win, and by no means did I think we were [clearly] the better team.”

NHL PLAYOFFS FIRST ROUND GAME 2

Who: Ducks (down 1-0) at Edmonton

When: 7 p.m. PT Wednesday

Where: Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta

TV: TBS, HBO Max, Victory+, KCOP (Ch. 13)

Orange County Register

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Ducks go into Game 2 at Edmonton with more to prove

NHL PLAYOFFS FIRST ROUND GAME 2

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