The encouraging thing early was that even when the Oilers were under pressure, they made a play. Three reasons for this:<\/p>\n
Five coming back into the picturePossessing the skill to make plays under pressureRecognizing when the ugly lights come on and it\u2019s time to bail out and take the fight to the neutral zone<\/p>\n
There were a lot of controlled breakouts for the Oilers early, which means Anaheim was giving the D time to set up behind the net without chasing. Let\u2019s leave those out because they\u2019re boring and check out the breakouts under pressure early. There are a couple key sequences from which the squad could build some confidence.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Now, and this is easy to forget, but the other team is trying too. Anaheim is young and fast. At the end of the clip above you\u2019ll see a human who isn\u2019t either of those things make a great play to threaten the net before dishing to the dot line for a one-timer. And who\u2019s there to meet the puck before it arrives? Connor Ingram<\/a>. That save showed he\u2019s tracking the puck and reading the play well, something I was looking for. Big moment.Oilersnation wants to hear from you, the reader, in our new weekly \u201cLetters to the Editor\u201d segment. Letters can be emailed to Oilersnation\u2019s managing editor Zach Laing (zach.laing@bettercollective.com<\/a>), titled \u201cLetters to the Editor.\u201d Please include a letter up to 200 words, including your name, place of residence (city, town, province, or state). Your letters may be edited for length and\/or clarity. Letters must be submitted by 6 PM MT Saturday night to be considered for feature on Sunday mornings.A Patient Game<\/p>\n Offence rewards defence. The Oilers attacked early, but they were patient. They moved the puck north and started their o-zone play, and one shift stood out for me. Watch how many times Darnell Nurse touches this puck and how often something positive happens.<\/p>\n There were a couple chances to move it to Connor Murphy<\/a>, but I like the fact that he was thinking shot early. That\u2019s a patient game. This is why coaches harp on getting the puck to the net, it\u2019s difficult to defend because you don\u2019t know where the puck is going. Any shot from the point is a guaranteed scoring chance, and EDM25 set the tone. Overall, Nurse had a strong game in my eyes.<\/p>\n In fact, all the unheralded defencemen had a good game. Jake Walman had two assists because of his vision, his skill, and, like Nurse, his patience. He can pull it off when he\u2019s feeling it.<\/p>\n Ty Emberson might have been the most impressive D out there all night for me, and that includes Jackson Lacombe, of whom I\u2019m a huge fan. Emberson looked like he set his jaw prior to puck drop, determined to take the next step in his career. He\u2019s been in and out of the lineup for a couple postseasons now, but he\u2019s still a young player, and he played great.<\/p>\n Good HabitsWith the score tied at zero, there\u2019s always an air of doubt even though the Oilers had mostly outplayed the Ducks to that point. They\u2019re moving the puck north, but at some point you need to take some chances, right? In the clip below Darnell Nurse is creating deep in the offensive zone, No worries, right? Not when you have good habits<\/a>. Watch how bloody hard Kapanen works to get above the puck, and then Draisaitl, moments before a glorious chance. It doesn\u2019t go in but that\u2019s the right way to play.<\/p>\n And right after that it pays off!<\/p>\n Watch the first clip below as Emberson checks over his shoulder prior to retrieving the first puck in the defensive zone. As a coach, you love to see it \u2014 look over your shoulder, take a snapshot of what\u2019s going on behind you, and then make a play.<\/p>\n And now we see both Podkolzin and Kapanen reloading again above the puck in the offensive zone and neutral zone multiple times. As a coach I am going bonkers on the bench because I would have just celebrated how hard they backchecked the previous shift. That\u2019s just good hockey! Just keep doing that all game, right?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Again, good habits are paying off. The goalie is seeing the puck and tracking the play, but the other team is trying too. Still, that second period, given what we\u2019ve talked about here, what do you see?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Guys, guys, hello? We were patient in the first period, moved the puck efficiently, and the speedy youngsters woke up. That was us a couple years ago, and it still needs to be us. Watch that first chance again. Like, hello? Did everyone\u2019s controllers unplug at the same time?<\/p>\n I\u2019ll say this, tracking clips are likely 50 per cent or more of the clips professional coaches show. It\u2019s easy to lose focus when your heart is pumping and you\u2019re working your tail off to get back. It\u2019s a mental skill as much as a physical skill. Brutal tracking combined with two unnecessary penalties (plus a couple pass interceptions), and just like that, they\u2019re down 3-2 going into the third.<\/p>\n Third Period, Anything Can Happen<\/p>\n As a coach you just want to control what you can control. The Oilers\u2019 coaching staff is blessed with some of the best players the game has ever seen. That doesn\u2019t mean you leave them alone \u2013 I\u2019ve heard legends about Connor McDavid and how he just wants to be one of the guys, he wants to be coached.<\/p>\n So you plan as much as you can, you prepare the team, but you don\u2019t OVER-prepare the team, and you hope for the best.<\/p>\n And then it all goes out the window when the other team\u2019s d-man blows a tire at the blue line and you go in and bury the tying goal. What are we even doing here? Just go play, you can\u2019t write that stuff.<\/p>\n Three Details to Focus on at PracticeTracking (all game)Five back in the pictureplay patient and fast at the same time, come to the puck and use your teammatesThree Key SuccessesDraisaitl, Kapanen, Podkolzin reloadingNurse, Murphy, Walman, Emberson poised and punctualSeeing Connor Ingram\u2019s wife celebrating a win in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Stupendous.PRESENTED BY SOUTHVIEW ACURA![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776879737_48_image.webp\"\/)
<\/a>At Southview Acura, luxury isn\u2019t just what you drive, it\u2019s how you\u2019re treated. Family owned and operated, we\u2019re proud to offer an exceptional selection of new and certified pre-owned Acuras, backed by a service experience built on trust and precision. Whether it\u2019s your first visit or your next, our team is committed to excellence every step of the way. Visit Southview Acura today or online at www.SouthviewAcura.com<\/a>, where luxury meets reality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"And we have a series! I was watching closely for the Edmonton Oilers\u2019 breakout against the Anaheim Ducks\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":621510,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194294],"tags":[49,48,23752],"class_list":{"0":"post-621509","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edmonton","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-edmonton"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=621509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/621510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}