{"id":286565,"date":"2026-04-26T07:04:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T07:04:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/286565\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T07:04:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T07:04:28","slug":"ducks-look-to-keep-pressure-on-oilers-in-back-and-forth-series-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/286565\/","title":{"rendered":"Ducks look to keep pressure on Oilers in back-and-forth series \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

ANAHEIM \u2014 It felt like more than just the series lead tilted in the Ducks\u2019 favor on Friday night, when they made a triumphant return to Honda Center<\/a> after earning a split in Edmonton<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Not only did they blow past the Oilers with four third-period goals, but they dominated key individual matchups and appeared to be regaining their peak form from the early season, as Coach Joel Quenneville pointed out on Friday.<\/p>\n

They even hung a seven-spot on Edmonton, as they did to opponents four times in the first month of the campaign. They also rolled with the punches, twice surmounting a deficit on Friday in a series that has seen flurries in both directions, as it probably will again in Game 4 of the best-of-seven first-round battle on Sunday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve kind of been that way all year. We\u2019ve played from behind a lot in our games. It doesn\u2019t really change the way we play or feel in the course of the game,\u201d Coach Joel Quenneville said. \u201cThat experience probably helped us (in Game 3) and, actually, every game in this series, because it just keeps going back and forth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Top defenseman Jackson LaCombe \u2013 more on him in a moment \u2013 said that the Ducks\u2019 topsy-turvy 2025-26, which included two seven-game winning streaks but two ice-cold stretches as well, taught them how to adapt.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to learn how to win games in different ways throughout the season,\u201d LaCombe said. \u201cHere and now, if it\u2019s going to be a high-scoring game or a low-scoring game, we\u2019ve just got to be ready no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n

LaCombe\u2019s own preparedness has been off the charts. He has a six-game points streak dating back to the regular season, and in the series, he has six points. He followed up a three-assist display in Game 2 with another multipoint effort and a stellar performance on defense in Game 3.<\/p>\n

Though Connor McDavid, whom LaCombe and the Ducks held pointless for the first 145:39 of the series, got his first assist and first point of the round, LaCombe was at his most imposing on Friday.<\/p>\n

At 5-on-5, the Ducks outscored the Oilers 3-0 and out-shot them 11-1 with LaCombe and McDavid both on the ice. McDavid\u2019s only goal was a somewhat fluky power-play tally that glanced off defenseman Pavel Mintyukov\u2019s stick.<\/p>\n

After last season\u2019s breakout, LaCombe was rewarded with the most lucrative contract extension in franchise history, set to kick in this fall. Thus far, he has lived up to that billing.<\/p>\n

Mikael Granlund, who spearheaded the Game 3 attack with three points, has played with star defenseman like three-time Stanley Cup champion Kris Letang, back-end magician Miro Heiskanen and the effortlessly complete Roman Josi. He\u2019s typically measured in his responses, but was relatively effusive when asked about LaCombe.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s such a rock back there,\u201d Granlund said. \u201cHe can skate, he can make plays. He just looks so calm and confident. He\u2019s already one of the best in the league, and he\u2019s only going to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDavid and Evan Bouchard, the NHL\u2019s leading scorer and top producer from the blue line, respectively, have been net negatives by nearly any measure thus far. They and the typically sturdy Zach Hyman have combined for just five points and a woeful -17 rating. Of the Oilers\u2019 stars, only Leon Draisaitl has been pulling his weight, leading the postseason in points through Friday\u2019s games with six.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey certainly carried us the previous two years, they absolutely did,\u201d said Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch, who stewarded the Oilers to consecutive conference titles in 2024 and 2025. \u201cRight now, to say that it\u2019s all on their shoulders is completely unfair. Everyone needs to step up a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

OILERS AT DUCKS<\/p>\n

What: First-round series, Game 4<\/p>\n

When: Sunday, 6:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Where: Honda Center<\/p>\n

TV: ESPN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ANAHEIM \u2014 It felt like more than just the series lead tilted in the Ducks\u2019 favor on Friday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":286566,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,824,165,164,404,9900,127,4626],"class_list":["post-286565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-ducks","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-nhl","tag-nhl-playoffs","tag-sports","tag-stanley-cup-playoffs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286565","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=286565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}