Ducks blast Oilers 7-4 in Game 3 in
Anaheim's first home playoff game in 8 years
[April 25, 2026]
By GREG BEACHAM
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Beckett Sennecke and Leo Carlsson scored 42
seconds apart in the third period, Mikael Granlund had a goal and
two assists, and the Anaheim Ducks celebrated their first home
playoff game in eight years with a 7-4 victory over the Edmonton
Oilers and a 2-1 series lead on Friday night.
Jeffrey Viel and Jackson LaCombe also scored in the third and Lukas
Dostal made 20 saves for the upstart Ducks, who have poured in 16
goals in three games to take an early lead in this first-round
series against the two-time Western Conference champion Oilers.
Mason McTavish and Alex Killorn scored early goals to the soundtrack
of a raucous sellout crowd hungry for Orange County's first
postseason hockey since 2018.
“It sounded like an army out there almost,” Sennecke said. “They've
been waiting eight years for this, nine years for a win, so it was
pretty special.”
Just as they've done so many times over their first season under
coach Joel Quenneville, the Ducks overcame their clear defensive
shortcomings by simply outscoring the powerhouse Oilers, thriving
even after Connor McDavid recorded his first points of the series.
“I thought we had a great start to the game (and) did a lot of good
things most of the night,” Quenneville said. “It was nice to see the
crowd get rewarded with a win. Been a long time coming.”
Game 4 is Sunday night in Anaheim.
McDavid had a power-play goal in the third period and an assist,
although the NHL scoring champion still doesn't appear to be at full
health. Vasily Podkolzin, Kasperi Kapanen and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
also scored, and Connor Ingram stopped 32 shots.
“You look at the goals against, and just some stuff that shouldn't
happen, especially at this time of year,” Edmonton coach Kris
Knoblauch said. “There was lost coverage in front of the net. Couple
of times we were careless with the puck. Early on, they were much
more intense. They definitely looked like they wanted it more in the
first period. We were able to find our legs. We started skating
later in the game.”
Appropriately for a defense-deficient series, the Ducks capitalized
on two transition sequences early in the third to take control.
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Anaheim Ducks defenseman Pavel Mintyukov, right, falls as he passes
the puck while under pressure from Edmonton Oilers right wing
Kasperi Kapanen during the first period of Game 3 in the first round
of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs Friday, April 24, 2026, in
Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Moments after Sennecke ripped a wrist shot for the
tiebreaking goal and the precocious rookie's first playoff point,
Carlsson clinically finished a textbook 2-on-1 rush with Troy Terry.
McDavid trimmed the Oilers’ deficit with a fortunate deflection off
Pavel Mintyukov’s stick, but the superstar short-circuited another
power play later in the third by cross-checking Tyson Hinds.
Viel then flipped home a backhand with 3:03 left to cap a strong
game by the Ducks' fourth line, and LaCombe lofted an empty-net goal
all the way from the Ducks' goal line to seal Anaheim's first home
playoff victory since May 14, 2017, in the conference finals against
Nashville.
“We couldn't even hear ourselves out there,” Viel said. “Definitely
got us going right from the start.”
The clubs split the series' first two games in Edmonton, but the
Ducks demonstrated they could stay with the playoff-tested Oilers
despite the obvious deficiencies of an inexperienced group that
allowed more goals this season than any other playoff team.
Anaheim rode the wave of crowd energy and dominated play early in
Game 3, putting 20 shots on Ingram in the first period. The Oilers
surged to a 3-2 lead early in the second, but Killorn tied it with
his 39th career playoff goal.
Oilers forwards Adam Henrique and Jason Dickinson missed Game 3 with
injuries.
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