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Anaheim Ducks left wing Alex Killorn, left, celebrates his goal as Edmonton Oilers goaltender Connor Ingram sits in goal during the second period of Game 3 in the first round of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs series Friday, April 24, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif.<\/p>\n
Mark J. Terrill\/AP<\/p>\n
Anaheim Ducks center Mikael Granlund, right, celebrates his goal as Edmonton Oilers goaltender Connor Ingram, left, reacts during the first period of Game 3 in the first round of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs Friday, April 24, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif.<\/p>\n
Mark J. Terrill\/AP<\/p>\n
Anaheim Ducks defenseman Pavel Mintyukov, right, falls as he passes the puck while under pressure from Edmonton Oilers right wing Kasperi Kapanen during the first period of Game 3 in the first round of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs Friday, April 24, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif.<\/p>\n
Mark J. Terrill\/AP<\/p>\n
Edmonton Oilers goaltender Connor Ingram is scored on by Anaheim Ducks center Mason McTavish during the first period of Game 3 in the first round of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs Friday, April 24, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif.<\/p>\n
Mark J. Terrill\/AP<\/p>\n
Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid watches as the puck flies in front of him during the first 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.<\/p>\n
Mark J. Terrill\/AP<\/p>\n
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) \u2014 Beckett Sennecke and Leo Carlsson scored 42 seconds apart in the third period, Mikael Granlund had a goal and two assists, and the Anaheim Ducks celebrated their first home playoff game in eight years with a 7-4 victory over the Edmonton Oilers and a 2-1 series lead on Friday night.<\/p>\n
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Jeffrey Viel and Jackson LaCombe also scored in the third and Lukas Dostal made 20 saves for the upstart Ducks, who have poured in 16 goals in three games to take an early lead in this first-round series against the two-time Western Conference champion Oilers. Mason McTavish and Alex Killorn scored early goals to the soundtrack of a raucous sellout crowd hungry for Orange County’s first postseason hockey since 2018.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt sounded like an army out there almost,\u201d Sennecke said. \u201cThey’ve been waiting eight years for this, nine years for a win, so it was pretty special.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just as they’ve done so many times over their first season under coach Joel Quenneville, the Ducks overcame their clear defensive shortcomings by simply outscoring the powerhouse Oilers, thriving even after Connor McDavid recorded his first points of the series.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought we had a great start to the game (and) did a lot of good things most of the night,\u201d Quenneville said. \u201cIt was nice to see the crowd get rewarded with a win. Been a long time coming.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Game 4 is Sunday night in Anaheim.<\/p>\n McDavid had a power-play goal in the third period and an assist, although the NHL scoring champion still doesn’t appear to be at full health. Vasily Podkolzin, Kasperi Kapanen and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored, and Connor Ingram stopped 32 shots.<\/p>\n \u201cYou look at the goals against, and just some stuff that shouldn’t happen, especially at this time of year,\u201d Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. \u201cThere was lost coverage in front of the net. Couple of times we were careless with the puck. Early on, they were much more intense. They definitely looked like they wanted it more in the first period. We were able to find our legs. We started skating later in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Appropriately for a defense-deficient series, the Ducks capitalized on two transition sequences early in the third to take control.<\/p>\n<\/a>
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