Edmonton Oilers seek to shore up porous defence ahead of Game 4 against Anaheim Ducks

Edmonton Oilers centre Connor McDavid, centre, is congratulated by teammates after scoring during the third period of Game 3 in the first round of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs series against the Anaheim Ducks, Friday, April 24, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

ANAHEIM — NHL star Connor McDavid and top forward Leon Draisaitl were given a breather Saturday while the Edmonton Oilers plotted ways to plug a leaky defence.

The Oilers, who reached the Stanley Cup final each of the last two years, trailed the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 in their best-of-seven, first-round series.

Edmonton fell 7-4 to the Ducks in Game 3 at the Honda Center. Seven goals in one playoff game was a Ducks record.

Game 4 is Sunday in Anaheim followed by Game 5 in Edmonton on Tuesday.

Speedy young Ducks

Edmonton has have given up 16 goals to the speedy, young Ducks over the first three games of the series.

“The simplicity, the hardness, the attention to defensive hockey hasn’t been very good, and we need to get back to that simplicity and hardness to our game,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said Saturday at the Honda Center.

The Oilers were particularly porous in the latter stages of Game 3. They couldn’t stay above the puck enough to protect a 3-2 lead in the second period.

“Yeah, we’ve got to just manage the puck better,” said Edmonton defenceman Evan Bouchard. “They’re putting up a lot of goals. We know we can score. We know they can score, so it’s a matter of keeping the puck out of our end and our net.”

McDavid and Draisaitl took Saturday off for maintenance, Knoblauch said.

Draisaitl, who missed the last 14 games of the regular season with a knee injury, led the Oilers in post-season points with a goal and five assists.

The line of Draisaitl, Kasperi Kapanen and Vasily Podkolzin has been Edmonton’s top performer in the series, but there’s a drop-off after that.

Whether McDavid is dealing with an issue beyond his ankle roll in Game 2 or not, the Ducks smell blood in the water around Edmonton’s captain,

Anaheim has largely contained a player who led the NHL playoffs in points three of the last three years, but hasn’t been on his usual cracking playoff pace to start this year’s post-season.

McDavid’s first goal of the series Friday was also Edmonton’s first power-play goal. He assisted on another goal for his first multi-point game this post-season.

But McDavid was also minus-4 in the game and minus-6 in the series alongside Bouchard also at minus-6.

“Trying to make too many fancy plays, myself especially,” Bouchard said.

Top-line winger Zach Hyman was minus-5 and shutdown defenceman Mattias Ekholm minus-2 after three games.

“We need our best guys to be our best guys and they’ve carried the load so much and that’s forwards and defence,” Knoblauch said. “Overall, collectively we need to be better.”

Goaltender Connor Ingram’s numbers weren’t flattering, but there was little he could do in the face of Anaheim’s multiple odd-man rushes in Game 3.

When asked if Ingram would start again Sunday, Knoblauch replied “we haven’t decided.” Tristan Jarry was Ingram’s backup the home stretch of the regular season.

Third-line centre Jason Dickinson skated Saturday. After scoring two goals in a 4-3 victory in Game 1, he was scratched the next two with a lower-body injury.

“It’s just been killing me to watch,” Dickinson said. “Today went really well, but this has kind of been a day-to-day thing that I’m really trying to manage as best I can.

“If I wake up tomorrow and feel good, I’m definitely playing.”

The Oilers trailed the Kings 2-1 in the first round last year and won the series in six games. Edmonton was down 2-1 to the Canucks in a second-round series in 2024 and took it in six.

Edmonton dropped the first three games of the 2024 Stanley Cup final to the Florida Panthers, but forced a Game 7.

So there’s enough players in Edmonton’s lineup who know what it takes to recover when trailing in a series. It’s a matter of applying it now.

“We are in a fight right now,” Bouchard said. “We know we’ve got better to play, but … we’ve been in worse spots before. It’s time to take a step forward as a group.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 25, 2026.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press