{"id":277702,"date":"2026-04-21T00:44:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T00:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/277702\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T00:44:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T00:44:20","slug":"a-tactical-preview-of-the-oilers-first-round-matchup-against-the-ducks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/277702\/","title":{"rendered":"A tactical preview of the Oilers first-round matchup against the Ducks"},"content":{"rendered":"

One thing I can guarantee is that the Edmonton Oilers<\/a> coaching staff will be prepared for their opponent. The same goes for Joel Quenneville<\/a> and the Anaheim Ducks<\/a>. They\u2019ve likely been holed up in their offices since the moment the regular season ended, balancing their approach between tweaks made specifically for the matchup and improvements made internally.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s more about us than it is about them.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d bet the Calgary Flames\u2019 next three first-round picks those words have been spoken on both sides.
In college and junior hockey it\u2019s normal to have a week to prepare for the first round of the playoffs. I\u2019ve spent that entire week breaking down every conceivable potential weakness in an opponent only for that weakness to be magically cured 10 minutes into the first period of game one. That\u2019s frustrating.<\/p>\n

So while the Oilers and Ducks need to know who they\u2019re playing and what their tendencies are, the bottom line is they need to play to their strengths and\u00a0execute when the lights shine brightest<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For Edmonton, that starts without the puck. For me, there are only two systems: attacking and defending. Defend as fast as you can in all three zones so you get to the attack, the fun stuff.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start in the defensive zone.<\/p>\n

Edmonton\u2019s D-Zone Retrievals & Breakout<\/p>\n

As a coach, it\u2019s tempting to deliver every shred of information imaginable. If it\u2019s in my brain as a potential solution, I should share it with the players, right? I\u2019ll always remember Tom Renney reflecting on training camp 75 years ago when he talked about the players drinking through a firehose. What an incredible line. I\u2019ve tried to keep that in mind in my own coaching career when I find myself getting sick of hearing my own voice.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, here are three tight D-zone concepts that cover a lot of ground for the Oilers. Only three, no firehose. Just focus, boys.<\/p>\n

Get five back in the pictureBe predictableGo north right now<\/p>\n

The Oilers, like every team on planet Earth and beyond, need to bring numbers back to the d-zone in order to break out as quickly as possible. The most important habit the coaches will be preaching is coming back and stopping. Watch how often there are 5 in the picture, and even then there are chances for breakdowns. But without those habits, there\u2019s no chance when the forechecking pressure intensifies in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Predictability might seem counterintuitive, but that\u2019s why defencemen like Mattias Ekholm are so valuable. Sure, the other team might know what he\u2019s going to do, but it\u2019s more valuable for your own team\u00a0to know what you\u2019re going to do. Ty Emberson is a good example of this too. He\u2019s predictable with the puck.<\/p>\n

The fun thing with the Oilers is to watch the creativity that comes after those habits are dialled in \u2014 the players come back deep, they stop, and then they use their skill to solve problems. Skill players want to play with skill. They don\u2019t want to shoot it away or rim the puck all the time (except Ekholm, dude just wants to get it moving quick, I love it), so as long as they\u2019re coming back and stopping, I\u2019m sure the coaches are fine with short support passes to exit the zone with possession.<\/p>\n

Anaheim\u2019s offensive zone forecheck<\/p>\n

Barring a change of heart, it looks like Anaheim loves to forecheck in the offensive zone with two players hard. Watch how often two forwards are below the goal line \u2013\u00a0which works. It\u2019s a tiring way to play, but the Ducks are young, fast, and eager, plus the Oilers have had trouble against the heavy forechecking Florida Panthers for two years. Why would Quenneville change that? Because he is smart, that\u2019s why. Let\u2019s see what happens in game one.<\/p>\n

To forecheck or not to forecheck \u2013 what would you do if you were facing the Oilers? The Ducks also reload hard. When the puck switches sides behind the net, the first forward, the F1, on the original side or the strong side, skates hard through the zone to get above the puck while the F2 on the weak side defends at the puck. So while a slower team might not be able to maintain that 2-1-2, the Ducks\u2019 ability to reload should make their forecheck sustainable.<\/p>\n

This is the bulk of the series for me. If Edmonton can move the puck north quickly and spend time in the offensive zone, then they\u2019ll win. It\u2019s a taller order than it might seem on the surface though, because the skilled Ducks are probably hearing about the importance of forechecking and finishing their checks in the offensive zone. They have skill that can take over a game too<\/a>, and they probably believe (because their coaches believe) that if they check hard and earn the puck back, they can go on the attack.<\/p>\n

This is going to be awesome.<\/p>\n

I love offence, I love the attack. But I love it even more when that attack is a result of good defending. With that in mind, here are some position specific concepts with for the Oilers heading into the series. Let\u2019s start in the offensive zone and work our way back.<\/p>\n

DefenceOffensive blue line
\nProvide offence & creativityPrevent exits, support on exits with surfsNeutral Zone
\nNo D to D passes, don\u2019t dust it off, go northProtect the blue line, prevent zone entriesD-Zone
\nFirst, defend: kill plays early, support your partnerThen, attack: do what you do best, play to your strengthsForwardsOffensive zone play (OZP)
\nDesignate players to stop at the net (hello Colton Dach)Reload through the zone when the D are activeFirst touch escapes: get the puck and moveD-Zone (neutral zone is the same, this is getting too long, the guys are falling asleep)
\nDefend first: centre slow and low to support D (Henrique is predictable, that\u2019s why he\u2019s in the lineup)Then attack: send one winger into the neutral zone slash supportGoalie (hopefully singular)Stay focused, track the puck around traffic, read the playStay even, and for crying out loud\u00a0have fun young man!<\/a>Line matchups<\/p>\n

If Draisaitl is in, I\u2019d focus on zone starts rather than line matchups. Connor\u2019s line and whoever Dach is playing with start in the offensive zone, Dickinson or Henrique \/ Samanski start in the D-zone, along with Leon as long as he promises not to get kicked out of the faceoff circle.<\/p>\n

Nurse and Murphy need to shoulder the load against\u00a0Leo Carlsson\u2019s line<\/a>, sharing some of that load with Ekholm and Bouchard.<\/p>\n

Favourite player in the series: Jackson Lacombe. Watch how poised he is, how smoothly he moves the puck. He\u2019s a young Miro Heiskanen.<\/p>\n

My lines if Knoblauch asks:
22 97 18 OZ
92 29 28 DZ\/OZ
93 16 42 DZ\/matchup
34 19 10 OZ<\/p>\n

2 14 Anywhere
25 5 matchup
96 49 OZ<\/p>\n

Ingram<\/p>\n

THE SAUCE PLAYOFF WATCH PARTIES WITH RYDER AND LISA\"\"Edmonton, it\u2019s time to dust off your best game fits\u2014playoff season is here. And for every away game, The Sauce is taking over Greta Bar YEG<\/a> as the official playoff headquarters. There ain\u2019t no party like a Nation playoff party. Expect food and drink specials you can\u2019t beat, t-shirt tosses, giveaways, games, and a few surprises we\u2019ve been saving just for the Nation Citizens. Whether you\u2019re coming for the game, the atmosphere, or just to get a little saucy with the crew, this is where you want to be when the team hits the road. Secure your table by texting Greta\u2019s hotline at 1-587-418-8507.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One thing I can guarantee is that the Edmonton Oilers coaching staff will be prepared for their opponent.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274975,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164],"class_list":["post-277702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277702\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}