3 Keys to Oilers’ Game 5 win over Ducks – Hockey Writers – Edmonton Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers look to land at Rogers Place on Tuesday (April 28), when they host the Anaheim Ducks for Game 5 of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

After losing Game 4 by a score of 4-3 in overtime at the Honda Center on Sunday (April 26), Edmonton has now dropped three straight games and trails the best-of-seven series 3-1.

If the two-time defending Western Conference champion Oilers are going to avoid elimination, they will need to play much better than they have in any previous game of the series. Here are the keys to Edmonton beating Anaheim in Game 5:

Close Down Power Ducks Play

The Ducks had only the 23rd most efficient power plays in the NHL during the regular season, converting at a rate of just 18.6%. In this series, however, Anaheim has been a big threat with the man advantage, going 6 of 12 with at least one power play goal in every game so far.

Anaheim’s power-play goals came at a huge cost to the Oilers, especially on Sunday, when the Ducks used a pair of power-play opportunities to erase a two-goal deficit in the second half of Game 4.

Many felt that special teams would be the difference maker in this series, except that it should have been in favor of the Oilers, who had a league-high rate in 2025-26, converting 30.6% of the time. On the power play and penalty kill during the regular season, the Oilers had a plus-18 goal differential while the Ducks had a minus-10. In this series, Anaheim has a plus-4 edge.

The Oilers have it in them to defend much better while short-handed. In the last 10 games of the regular season, when the team made a significant commitment on defense, Edmonton managed to kill penalties 87.5% of the time.

It’s not too late for Edmonton to tilt the special teams play to their advantage. The Oilers scored on both man-advantage opportunities in Game 4 and are 3-for-4 in the past two games after starting the series 0-for-6. But it will all be for naught if Edmonton can’t figure out how to shut down Anaheim’s game.

Get More Strong Goal Performance

Of all the reasons the Oilers lost on Sunday, scoring was not one of them. After starting in place of Connor Ingram, who scored 14 goals in the first three games, Tristan Jarry delivered Edmonton’s best goaltending performance in the series, making 34 saves on 38 shots.

He was excellent to start the game, stopping the first 17 shots he faced. It wasn’t until Edmonton went into penalty trouble in the second half that the Ducks were able to solve the Oilers net on the power play.

Jarry’s colleagues were not so helpful. Their poor defensive play created many good scoring opportunities for Anaheim, but Jarry was up to the task, making several tough saves.

In the end, Jarry played well enough for Edmonton to win, which is probably more than could be said for Ingram in Games 2 and 3. As of Monday (April 27) night, it was not known whether the Oilers will give Jarry a second consecutive start or go back to Ingram for Game 5. But regardless of who is in the pipeline, they need to have the best chance for the Edmonton Game to give Edmonton their best chance.

Play with Pride

The Oilers have had some impressive postseason success over the past few years. They advanced to the Western Conference Final in 2022, reached the second round of the playoffs in 2023, and reached the Stanley Cup Finals in both 2024 and 2025.

But for much of this series, the Oilers haven’t looked like the team that has won nine playoff series in the past four years. It wouldn’t be fair to suggest they aren’t making a serious effort, but there is clearly a spark missing from this team. The Oilers don’t seem to be fully engaged from the whistle, as evidenced by the six leads Edmonton has blown.

The Oilers just look tired, which has been the case for a long time. That’s not an excuse, but maybe it’s the fact that all the hockey of the last few years has caught them. There’s also the Oilers playing badly, most notably Connor McDavid, the extent of which won’t be known until after their final game.

But with all that said, if this team has any pride, the Oilers should be able to make enough calls, especially in front of the home fans, to stay alive for at least one more night. Either way, Tuesday’s tilt could be the last hockey game at Rogers Place until September.