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Ducks stumble in Game 5 loss to Oilers that cuts series lead to 3-2

April 29, 2026

EDMONTON, Alberta — The Edmonton Oilers aren’t dead yet.

The Ducks, trying to win a playoff series for the first time in nine years, knew the Oilers would be desperate with their season on the line, and the visitors took quite a punch in the mouth.

The veterans who have helped lead the Oilers to the past two Western Conference titles helped build a three-goal lead in the first period on their way to handing the Ducks a 4-1 defeat on Tuesday night in Game 5 of their best-of-seven first-round series at Rogers Place.

Leon Draisaitl scored two goals, and Zach Hyman and Vasily Podkolzin each scored once for Edmonton. Evan Bouchard had three assists, Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins added two assists each, and Connor Ingram made 29 saves as the Oilers cut the Ducks’ series lead to 3-2. Game 6 is Thursday night at Honda Center.

Alex Killorn scored the Ducks’ only goal, while Lukas Dostal gave up three goals on nine shots and was pulled midway through the first period in favor of Ville Husso (10 saves).

“We got down 2-0 out of the gate, and it plays right into their hands and their game plan of what they’re trying to do,” Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville said.

“We had a tough beginning again, and we were fortunate to get back in it the last time, but we just got to be ready at puck drop and take care of business and that’s by playing the right way for 60 minutes.”

On a night when the Ducks could have won their first playoff series since they knocked off the Oilers in seven games in the second round of the 2017 playoffs – they had a rough go of it.

The Ducks fell behind 1-0 just 2:22 into the game when Podkolzin drove hard to the net and ripped a cross-ice feed from Bouchard.

Then just 6:11 later, Hyman redirected a shot from Nugent-Hopkins in traffic to give Edmonton a 2-0 lead.

Just 1:40 after that, Draisaitl scored his first goal of the night, redirecting a point shot after the Ducks failed to clear the puck out of their zone.

That ended Dostal’s night, and the Ducks were facing a significant uphill climb in a hostile environment.

“They went to two Cup Finals for a reason. They’re a good hockey team,” said Ducks forward Troy Terry, who finished with two shots on goal in the loss. “We believe in this room, but we knew they were going to push. Just some mental mistakes, I didn’t think we weren’t ready. I just felt, I don’t know, we weren’t necessarily as physical and maybe just executing early, and they played hard.”

“Just one of those games we got down early. I thought we pressed the whole game. That’s how it goes, it’s playoff hockey.”

Second periods have been key for the Ducks in this series, when they have outscored the Oilers 9-4.

Despite finding themselves in an early hole, the Ducks showed some life in the middle frame.

After being outshot 12-6 in the opening 20 minutes, they started to swing the momentum their way, getting more chances on Ingram, who last played in Game 3.

The Ducks’ red-hot power play got them within striking distance, after Killorn knocked in a rebound to make it 3-1 at the 8:26 mark of the second.

But any momentum gained from Killorn’s goal began to vanish just 16 seconds later when Jacob Trouba took a penalty.

After being robbed by Husso early in the power play, the Oilers did convert, as Draisaitl had the last laugh.

Edmonton managed to keep the puck in the zone on a Ducks’ failed clearing attempt, and a quick pass from McDavid in the slot over to Draisaitl was buried to restore the Oilers’ three-goal cushion.

“Hey, it’s not going to be easy,” Quenneville said.

“Nobody is going to give us anything. We’ve got to get angry at ourselves knowing that we have to be excited about going home and playing in front of our crowd.”

The Ducks led the league during the regular season in comeback wins, and they’ve shown they can pull it off in this series, consistently erasing Edmonton leads, that helped them take control of the series – but the Oilers’ playoff lives were at stake, and the Ducks weren’t able to muster a rally this time.

Edmonton has scored first in every game of the series so far, and the Ducks will no doubt want to end that trend and not be chasing in every game.

“Yeah, that’s kind of been something all year for us, we’ve been trying to figure that out,” Killorn said. “I love the resiliency of our group. We always find a way to come back. Tonight we didn’t, but we have a great opportunity to go home and win a game.”

“They just kind of came pretty desperate and they ended up scoring three pretty quickly. And then it’s just tough to get back into those games. I think we’re a team that prides ourselves in always being in games and being resilient. It’s just tough in the playoffs when they’re going to play a different game once they get up 3-0.”

The Ducks outshot the Oilers 24-8 over the final 40 minutes, but they know they need to do a better job of getting traffic in front of Ingram.

“I thought we had the puck in the offensive zone, but we were on the outside,” Quenneville said. “We had some decent looks off the rush, but the quality has to be generated from traffic and getting second and third looks, and taking his eyes.”

This was the Ducks first opportunity to clinch the series, something new for many of the players on the team. Were there some nerves?

Most likely. But Quenneville doesn’t feel his team will lose confidence – despite the tough loss in Game 5.

“There could’ve been a learning message in there. I always find that every game in every series where you can say you weren’t at our best, and tonight was it,” Quenneville said. “… but I liked the way we competed and we’ll move forward.”

“We know the importance of what’s at stake, and let’s play hockey and do what we have to do knowing our opponent is going to be as competitive as they’ve ever been, and we have to make sure we’re as competitive as we’re ever going to be.”

DUCKS’ POWER PLAY STILL CLICKING

Despite the loss, the Ducks continued to produce with the man advantage.

Killorn’s power-play goal was the Ducks’ seventh man-advantage goal of the series. Their power play is running at 50% (7 for 14) through five games. The Ducks finished 1 for 2 on the power play in Wednesday’s loss.

Orange County Register

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Ducks stumble in Game 5 loss to Oilers that cuts series lead to 3-2

DUCKS’ POWER PLAY STILL CLICKING

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