Oilers-Ducks Series Preview.

 2P Edmonton vs Anaheim 3P

We are back with another Playoff preview here on the ETEH Blog in 2026, so today we are looking at the 4th Series that was locked in the Western Conference playoff picture, as we're going to be looking at the 2nd and 3rd team in the Pacific as Edmonton who has been quite a decent team all season long and was able to barely edge out a few other teams for home ice advantage will be looking to head to their 3rd straight Cup Final as they take on the Ducks who thanks to some massive growth from their players snuck into the 3rd Pacific spot and will make their first playoff appearance since 17-18.

History of Rivalry Between teams in playoffs:

Now if you look at the history of these two teams playing in the playoffs, they have actually not played a ton as this will be the 3rd all time

Meeting in the postseason between the Ducks and Oilers as the first meeting happened in 2006 when the Oilers were able to get the first ever series win against Anaheim en route to their Cup Final appearance against Carolina while the 2nd time they played and the most recent was in 2017 in round 2 when the Ducks made a spectacular series comeback to beat Edmonton with a young McDavid and get to the Conference Final, so they both have 1 series win in the all time matchup and it will be interesting to see which team gets their 2nd win in this matchup.

Season Series Record: 

Edmonton 2-1-0 16-12+4

Anaheim 1-2-0 12-16-4

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Each teams X-Factors: Gauthier vs Murphy

Next we go over to the two teams X-Factors in my opinion for this series and the two X-Factors in my eyes are Ducks sniper Cutter Gauthier and Oilers in-season acquisition defensive defender Connor Murphy. Now for the Ducks they are making the playoffs for the first time in a while and they are going to find it harder to score in the postseason which is why I feel the X-Factor for the Ducks is Cutter Gauthier, now Gauthier in his sophomore season has looked unstoppable as he was able to pot 41 goals and lead the Ducks in points and more than that he was by far the leader in goals as no other player on Anaheim had 30 goals so if the Ducks want a shot in this series Gauthier will have to pot a couple, while for Edmonton one of their key in-season acquisitions in Connor Murphy has been such a good add as it has provided a defensive presence on the blueline they have desperately needed and if he is as effective as he was in the regular season defending and helping on the PK then I feel the Oilers have a solid chance in this series but those are the two X-Factors I have for this series. 

Which teams are best at 3 Positions:

Offense: now when it comes to which of these two teams has the better offense, I think it is pretty obvious here who has the better offense, now the Oilers I feel have the Better offense here and I don’t believe it is particularly close as now that Draisaitl is back they have a more experienced and lethal forward group, now had Draisaitl still missed time I think the gap would’ve definitely shrunk as the Ducks have some decent forward depth and a lot of solid young talent, but with Draisaitl back and there in-season additions I will give the advantage here to Edmonton .

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Defence: on the defensive side of the puck I feel it is pretty close as I feel both sides are doing great defensively as with Edmonton adding Murphy and Anaheim adding Carlson I feel these two defences are amongst the best in the West, but I will give the slight edge defensively to Anaheim as I feel with the Ducks adding Carlson and the sort of lines they could roll defensively I think I would give them that advantage as I think if they stacked up their best vs Edmonton’s best the Ducks would have the better 3rd pair and depth so advantage to Anaheim on the D side.

Goaltending: while in net I feel it is once again obvious who has the advantage here as the Ducks in my opinion have the way better goalie in Dostal, now don’t get me wrong since being named the starter Ingram has been pretty dang good for the Oilers and has helped stabilize what was a chaotic crease earlier in the year but Dostal is a clear cut starter and when he is playing well one of the best in the NHL so I think without question because of Dostal the Ducks have the advantage in net.

Biggest on Ice Matchup: Ducks offense vs Oilers defence

So when it comes to the biggest matchup in my eyes in this series for the Ducks and Oilers, I would have to go over to this matchup and that is the Oilers defence going up against a really good Ducks offense, now this year the Oilers have not been a great team as especially earlier in the year with Jarry and Skinner this team was leaking goals left and right and they couldn’t get consistent goaltending or defensive play but in the late stages of the year the Oilers have found their defensive game and look a lot better but are going to have a tall task taking on a young Ducks forward group that is hungry and has many offensive weapons, as we said the Oilers do have the better offense but the Ducks offense is no slouch and can score with the best of them and I feel might be able to take advantage of that potentially weak defence but I do feel that is the best on ice matchup in this series.

Predictions:

Now when it comes to my predictions for this series, I feel this is going to be a difficult series to predict as I could see it go either way and I feel has a strong possibility to go the distance as the Oilers did win the season series but all 3 games where high scoring shootouts and I feel Anaheim can hang with Edmonton being the only California team in the McDavid era to beat the Oilers, but alas I am going with the Oilers in 7 as I feel the Oilers experience and toughness will let them escape round 1, not sure if they will be able to get out of round 2 but I do think they will have just enough in their tank to take down the Ducks.