Oilers seek to stay alive in playoffs after 4-1 win over Ducks, still trail in series

The Edmonton Oilers beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-1 in Game 5 Tuesday night, avoiding elimination.

EDMONTON — Have the Edmonton Oilers turned the tide?

A 4-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday to avoid elimination from the playoffs was the Oilers’ most complete game yet in the first-round series.

Edmonton still trails the best-of-seven affair 3-2 heading to Anaheim for Thursday’s Game 6 at the Honda Center, where the Oilers have yet to win in this series.

The Oilers can hope they planted a seed of doubt in the speedy young Ducks side, with a dozen players under the age of 25, and 14 who have made their playoff debuts in the series. A Game 7 would be back in Edmonton on Saturday.

“We’re still in a tough, tough spot, a really tough spot,” said Edmonton’s captain Connor McDavid, who had two assists and played 24 minutes after coach Kris Knoblauch had said McDavid’s participation was a game-time decision.

“We’ve got to find a way to win in a tough building.”

McDavid, who rolled his ankle in the second game of the series and didn’t participate in the morning skate, said there wasn’t any suspense that he would play in an elimination game.

“No, there was never a doubt,” the captain said.

Despite a suspect ankle, the NHL’s points leader in the regular season was more mobile than in Game 4 when he was seen wincing.

“He looked like he was skating better tonight,” Knoblauch said. “I really think he’s played his best in the last four periods. The third period in Game 4, I thought he played better — that he had some really good scoring chances, drove the net two or three times late in the game.

“He just continuing to get better, so that’s a good sign for us.”

Edmonton reached the Stanley Cup final each of the last two years before bowing out to the Florida Panthers both times.

But after winning the series opener against the Ducks, three straight losses put Edmonton in a precarious playoff hole.

“All we did is survive one more day,” McDavid said. “The pressure’s on us, but it’s a big game for them too. I’m sure they’ll be feeling that too. Closeout games are tough.

“I’m sure they’re not going to want to come back to Edmonton, so pressure on them, but we’ve got to find a way to survive another day.”

Unable to protect leads of one or two goals in the series, the Oilers scored three in Tuesday’s first period to chase Lukas Dostal from Anaheim’s net.

Edmonton maintained control in the face of an expected pushback from a Ducks team that led the league in comeback wins. When Anaheim’s Alex Killorn scored a power-play goal early in the second period, Leon Draisaitl countered with one for the Oilers before the midway point.

“A game like that gives us a little bit of fresh air, a little bit of a fresh start,” said Vasily Podkolzin, who scored Edmonton’s first goal.

Goalie Connor Ingram stopped 23 or 24 shots in the last 40 minutes of the game for 29 saves overall in his return to the net. He started the first three games of the series before Tristan Jarry’s 34 saves in a 4-3 overtime loss in Game 4 in Anaheim.

“I was frustrated after Game 3 just with myself and what was going on, so to give myself a little break mentally and physically was huge,” Ingram said.

Edmonton’s top players lived up to their billing Tuesday with Draisaitl scoring twice. One more playoff goal and the centre will surpass Wayne Gretzky’s 23 for the most in franchise history.

Knoblauch paired McDavid and Draisaitl on the same line for several minutes in the game.

Defenceman Evan Bouchard played his best game of the series with savvy passes for three assists and a plus-2 rating.

“We’re going to need more of that because he’s our best defenceman,” Knoblauch said. “He plays 25 to 30 nights every game and we need that.”

Edmonton heads to Anaheim with momentum and needs to make the most of it to extend the series again.

“I don’t know what it is with us,” Bouchard said. “I’m sure you’ve heard this a thousand times. When our backs are against the wall, we play good hockey.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 29, 2026.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press