{"id":286327,"date":"2026-04-26T03:12:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T03:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/286327\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T03:12:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T03:12:13","slug":"ducks-score-seven-earn-first-home-playoff-victory-since-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/286327\/","title":{"rendered":"Ducks score seven, earn first home playoff victory since 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Day After +3.0: Ducks score seven, earn first home playoff victory since 2017<\/p>\n

Edmonton opened the scoring midway through the first period when Vasily Podkolzin<\/a> found the back of the net, but the lead didn\u2019t last long. Anaheim responded with two goals before the break, including a power-play marker, to take a 2-1 edge into the second period. It was an early sign of what would become a recurring issue, as the Ducks kept capitalizing on key moments while the Oilers struggled to manage the game.To their credit, Edmonton pushed back in the second. Kasperi Kapanen<\/a> scored his third goal of the series to tie things, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins followed shortly after to give the Oilers a brief 3-2 lead. For a stretch, it looked like Edmonton had settled in and regained control.<\/p>\n

Anaheim answered again before the end of the period, with Alex Killorn tying the game at 3-3 and resetting things heading into the third.<\/p>\n

The Ducks took over from there, scoring twice in the opening minutes of the frame to build a lead Edmonton couldn\u2019t recover from. Beckett Sennecke and Leo Carlsson struck early, and while Connor McDavid brought the Oilers back within one on the power play, Anaheim continued to find answers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jeffrey Viel restored the two-goal cushion midway through the third, and an empty-net goal from Jackson LaCombe sealed the result. The win was Anaheim\u2019s first home playoff victory since beating the Oilers in Game 7 of the second round in 2017.<\/p>\n

Like Game 2, the difference wasn\u2019t Edmonton\u2019s offence. It was everything away from the puck. The Oilers created enough to stay within striking distance, finishing with four goals, but lapses in coverage and execution allowed Anaheim to control the game at key points.<\/p>\n

The Ducks, meanwhile, played to their strengths. They forechecked aggressively, forced turnovers, and made Edmonton defend more than it would have liked. Their young core once again played with confidence, while contributions throughout the lineup made it difficult for the Oilers to stabilize the game.<\/p>\n

Now trailing 2-1 in the series, Edmonton faces a familiar challenge<\/a>. The group has been in this position before, but the margin for error has narrowed. Another performance like this will make it very difficult to regain control of the series.What they said\u2026<\/p>\n

Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch on the team\u2019s defensive breakdowns\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cYou look at the goals against and some of the things that shouldn\u2019t happen, especially this time of year. There was lost coverage in front of the net a couple of times and some careless plays with the puck.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm on the team\u2019s response and experience in the series\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cGive them credit, they\u2019re doing a good job. They\u2019re on top of us, forechecking hard, and winning a lot of pucks. We\u2019ve just got to win more battles. That\u2019s where it starts. We\u2019ve got an experienced group in here, and we\u2019ve been through this before.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a 2-1 series. It\u2019s first to four, so there\u2019s a lot of hockey left. Momentum shifts, and we\u2019ve all been through that in here. We\u2019ll lean on that, take a breath, and get ready for Game 4.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edmonton forward Zach Hyman on the team\u2019s defensive play and handling Anaheim\u2019s speed\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cAny time you give up seven, it\u2019s not a goalie problem. It comes down to defending better. We didn\u2019t give ourselves a chance with the number of goals we allowed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can either help their speed or take it away depending on how you play, and we\u2019re helping them right now. We\u2019ve got to do a better job with the little details, holding guys up and getting above them. When you make them defend the full length of the ice, it\u2019s a lot harder for them to use their speed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oilers forward Kasperi Kapanen on limiting turnovers and improving puck management\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to get pucks deep and avoid turning them over because they counter well. They\u2019ve got a lot of young talent and speed. Our forecheck can be better, and defensively we need to be quicker, skate more, and close our gaps.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anaheim head coach Joel Quenneville on the development of Anaheim\u2019s young players\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully, they turn out to be great players because they\u2019ve shown all the ingredients. They want to be the best they can be every day. That mindset pushes them, and you can see that in how they play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ducks forward Beckett Sennecke on the fans during Anaheim\u2019s first home playoff win since 2017\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sounded like an army out there. They\u2019ve been waiting eight years for this, nine years for a win, so it was pretty special.\u201d<\/p>\n

Up next\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Day After +3.0: Ducks score seven, earn first home playoff victory since 2017 Edmonton opened the scoring…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":286328,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164],"class_list":["post-286327","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\/286327","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=286327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}