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The Ducks鈥� top four scorers 鈥� forwards Cutter Gauthier, Leo Carlsson and Beckett Sennecke, and defenceman Jackson LaCombe 鈥� average 21 years old.

鈥淭hey have a lot of young talent over there that has led the way through the regular season, so it will be a focus of ours to be hard on them, not give them anything easy,鈥� Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said of the young Ducks.

鈥淲e know in general they want to play a fast game, play on the run and on the go,鈥� he said after Friday鈥檚 practice, which saw backup goaltender Cal Picard return. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not how we want to play. We want to play tight defensively and make things really difficult for them and wait for our chances.鈥�

The Oilers finished second in the Pacific Division, two points back of Vegas, after a 6-2-2 run to close the regular season. The Ducks were third but went 2-6-2 over their final 10 games.

The Oilers, Stanley Cup finalists the last two years, head into the series feeling confident after having found their defensive game in the last few weeks of the regular season.

鈥淭he push we had the last month or so, we鈥檝e played a lot better,鈥� veteran defenceman Mattias Ekholm. 鈥淲e had some big guys go down, and guys come in and fill those spots. The guys in here feel as good as they have all year, going into the playoffs, which absolutely can help our group.鈥�

What could also help the Oilers would be the return of forward Leon Draisaitl. He鈥檚 been out since March 15, but for the past several days has been skating with the team and spending upwards of 90 minutes on the ice.

鈥淗e looks good on the ice,鈥� head coach Kris Knoblauch said of Draisaitl. 鈥淗e鈥檚 pushing himself in the gym and on the ice.鈥�

Still, Knoblauch was not prepared to commit to whether the big German forward would be ready for Monday night鈥檚 series opener. Whenever he does return, it will give the Oilers two high-powered offensive lines and two solid defensive units that have also been contributing to scoring recently.

Their much-improved defensive play in the final weeks of the season has the Oilers confident they鈥檒l find ways to handle the spirited Ducks.

鈥淭hey鈥檝e got some really high-end skill up front,鈥� Ekholm said of the Ducks. 鈥淥n the back end, they鈥檝e got great goaltending; they鈥檒l be a tough opponent for sure. But we鈥檙e starting at home, and hopefully we can take advantage of that. It鈥檚 going to be hard all the way through.鈥�

Expectations are high in Edmonton, with players confident they can compete with anybody. But as Knoblauch cautioned, a lot has to go right 鈥� solid goaltending, good health, continued defensive play 鈥� and even then, winning often comes down to the right bounces.

鈥淲e have a lot of belief in here,鈥� captain Connor McDavid, the NHL scoring leader for a sixth time, said. 鈥淚t takes skill to win in the playoffs, and we feel pretty good about having that skill, having been there and won a lot of playoff games.鈥�

TALE OF THE TAPE:

Regular-season series: 2-1 Edmonton

Goals for per game: Edmonton, 3.44 (6th); Anaheim, 3.23 (13th)

Top scorer: Edmonton, Connor McDavid, 138; Anaheim, Cutter Gauthier, 69

Starting goaltenders: Edmonton, Connor Ingram, 16-10-3, 2.60 GAA, .899 save percentage; Anaheim, Lukas Dostal, 30-20-4, 3.10, .888.

Power play: Edmonton, 30.6 (1st); Anaheim, 18.6(23rd)

Penalty kill: Edmonton, 77.8 (20th); Anaheim 76.4 (27th)

The big stat: McDavid and Draisaitl scored a combined 29 power-play goals; Cutter Gauthier and Chris Kreider totalled 19 for the Ducks.

This report by 好色tvwas first published April 18, 2026.