Raptors forward Brandon Ingram doubtful for Game 6 vs. Cavaliers due to heel injury
Brandon Ingram is doubtful for Game 6 against the Cavaliers due to a heel injury.
The Anaheim Ducks defeated the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 in Game 6, advancing to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2017. They will face the winner of the Utah Mammoth-Vegas Golden Knights series.
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Itâs been said that speed kills, and the 2025-26 Edmonton Oilers couldnât help but agree.
The two-time defending Western Conference champions were overwhelmed by the upstart Anaheim Ducks 5-2 in Game 6 of the first round.
The Ducks advanced in a Stanley Cup Playoff series for the first time since 2017, when they also defeated the Oilers. Anaheim will take on the winner of the Utah Mammoth-Vegas Golden Knights series.
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Itâs stunning to see the run-and-gun Oilers get beat at their own game.
Yet, the Oilersâ season is over in April for the first time since 2017 due to their inability to slow down the high-flying Ducks.
Anaheim scored 26 goals in the best-of-7 series, by far the most of any playoff team. Its power play fired at 50%, with eight goals on 16 man-advantage opportunities, while still managing to score the same number of even-strength goals as Edmonton (17) in the series.
âLot of credit to the Ducks team,â Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. âI thought they played really well. Theyâve got a really exciting future ahead with the players we have.â
The Anaheim Ducks won 5-2 against the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6.
The Ducks last advanced in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2017.
The Ducks will face the winner of the Utah Mammoth-Vegas Golden Knights series.
The victory marked the Ducks' first playoff series win since 2017, overcoming the two-time defending Western Conference champions.
Brandon Ingram is doubtful for Game 6 against the Cavaliers due to a heel injury.
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Yet, the Ducksâ overwhelming Connor McDavidâs line was the most shocking development. McDavid was clearly hampered by an ankle injury that nearly caused him to miss Game 5, but McDavid managed just two points at even strength and was minus-8 in the series â tied for second-worst of any playoff player.
âToo hurt, too soon,â McDavid said.â The first round is always tough. Itâs always chaotic, and itâs tough to play through things so early on as many guys did in here.
âThat being said, itâs not an excuse, either. We expected to have a longer run than we did.â
Mattias Ekholm looked old and slow, and Evan Bouchard was a minus-7, turnover machine in the series. Bouchardâs 13 giveaways were tied with Leon Draisaitl for the team lead and were second-most among playoff performers.
This isnât to blast Edmontonâs best players, who are some of the best in the world. But the Oilers rely on their top guys more than any other team, and the Ducks took it to McDavid, Draisaitl, Bouchard and Ekholm in ways we havenât seen any team â not even the Florida Panthers.
âWe didnât defend well enough,â Knoblauch said. âWe knew this series was gonna be a little bit more open with the team we were playing. ⊠Usually, you win or lose on your defensive play, and it wasnât good enough.â
Those guys have played a lot of hockey over the past three seasons. They went to the Cup final two straight years then played in the Olympics in February. Only Draisaitl missed out on the 4 Nations Face-Off last year, since Germany didnât have a team.
âMost games in the last three years, most games in the last five years,â Knoblauch said, rattling off the Oilersâ stats. âOn everyoneâs mindsâ was the playoffs, and unfortunately for us, the timing wasnât good.â
Maybe a more adequate offseason will help both Draisaitl and McDavid rest and heal up, since Draisaitl was certainly not playing at 100% either.
âLeon was injured for the last three or four weeks heading into the playoffs. For him to come back after that long stretch, I thought he played well,â Knoblauch said. âWeâve got some guys with some fractures that were playing through things that made it really difficult to play at their best.
âI thought they contributed as much as they could.â
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Though they were adept at coming back all season, the Ducks were frustrated about having to chase the game from behind all series.
So Anaheim took things into its own hands in Game 6. The Ducks scored three times in the first period, including Ryan Poehlingâs goal at 9:56 that was the first time Anaheim scored first in any game.
Chris Kreider celebrated his 35th birthday by scoring his 49th career playoff goal, and first for the Ducks. Then after Connor Murphy threatened to start an Edmonton comeback by making it 2-1, Cutter Gauthier scored on the power play, giving the Ducks a two-goal lead they would never relinquish.
âOur power play scored a very timely goal for us,â Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said. âThe special teams were special in the series and it made a big impact.â
So much is made of Anaheimâs youth, but the Ducks vets delivered in the series. Kreider had three points in the clinching game, Alex Killorn and Mikael Granlund each had six points and John Carlson chipped in five assists over the six games.
âIt could have been our best game of the year,â Quenneville said. âA lot of things went well tonight. We didnât have to play catch-up. We had a good start. We might not have scored right away, but still thought we had good pace, good possession.â
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
This is going to be a lonnnng offseason in the Great White North. The knives have already come out for GM Stan Bowman, particularly his decision to trade goalie Stuart Skinnerâs expiring contract for Tristan Jarry, who played just one playoff game and has two more years at $5.375 million on his contract.
The cap is expected to spike to $104 million, which will give the Oilers some breathing room. Plus, McDavidâs extremely team-friendly $12.5 million cap hit continues to give Edmonton roster flexibility it truly doesnât deserve.
But the Oilers have just seven NHL forwards and five defensemen, plus Jarry, under contract through next season. They expect to have about $16 million in cap space with 10 spots to fill.
Most free agents will want to play with McDavid and Draisaitl, and under Knoblauch who seems to have a perfect demeanor for players. Plus, the coach understands what his club will gain from this offseason.
âI think with the break that we are going to have, it sets us up to have a more meaningful regular season,â Knoblauch said. âMore attention, more determination and not being so tired. It gives this team a break. It needed a break.â
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