It wasn’t a clean win, but it still counts.

The Edmonton Oilers came fired out of a cannon against the Anaheim Ducks to open the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs – scoring two goals in the first period from Kasperi Kapanen and deadline pickup Jason Dickinson. Period one was all Oilers, all the time.

But the Ducks are in the playoffs for a reason, and they struck back.

Troy Terry scored the Ducks’ first goal 19 seconds into the second for a quick momentum shifter, and Leo Carlsson tied the game for Anaheim not four minutes later on a play that should have been called offside. Edmonton couldn’t get themselves back into the game against Anaheim’s relentless forecheck, and Darnell Nurse took an awful penalty in frustration – Troy Terry scored not ten seconds later.

Edmonton’s top lines were unable to break the ice, but it didn’t matter. Jason Dickinson tied the game assisted the second defensive pairing, and Kasperi Kapanen gave Edmonton a new lead with 2 minutes left in the game after a heroic drive in by Leon Draisaitl to maintain offensive pressure.

As per usual, the team was unable to score on an empty net, but Connor Ingram was able to keep the team afloat for as long as he needed to – and not a second longer. With 15 seconds left Edmonton broke down with an empty net, but the panicking Ducks couldn’t capitalize. Final score 4-3 Oilers, 1-0 series lead.

It was the first time all season (yes, the first time in 83 games) where the Edmonton Oilers won a game without McDavid securing a single point. The Ducks hounded the Edmonton captain all game, but thankfully the third line came out to play hard.

Now the Oilers can take a breathe, regain their composure, and come back swinging on Wednesday night to secure their home ice advantage in a series that is shaping up to be much more run-and-gun than the Kings’ matchups of old.