Breaking Down How the Oilers Stack Up Against the Ducks – The Hockey Writers – Edmonton Oilers

For the first time in five years, the Edmonton Oilers will face a new opponent to kick off the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Rather than going up against the LA Kings for what would be a fifth-straight year, Connor McDavid and company are preparing to face another Californian squad in the Anaheim Ducks.

These two teams had nearly identical records this season. The Oilers finished at 41-30-11 for 93 points, while the Ducks finished at 43-33-6. As far as their regular seasons are concerned, this is a series that would seemingly have the potential to go either way. Their head-to-head record would suggest the same, as the Oilers narrowly edged them with a 2-1 record in three games, while also outscoring them 16-12.

As for offence, the two teams scored at nearly identical clips this season, as the Oilers found the back of the net 282 times to the Ducks’ 273. That said, the Oilers gave up far fewer goals, finishing the season with a goal differential of +13. The Ducks weren’t as fortunate in that regard, as they ended their season with a goal differential of -15. Here’s a look at how they compared in other areas throughout the 2025-26 campaign.

Oilers Are a More Lethal Offensive Group

When factoring in the Oilers’ offence this season, it’s important to note that Leon Draisaitl, who had 97 points, missed 17 games. If healthy, their goal differential would almost undoubtedly be better than the +13 they finished with.

To no surprise, leading the way for the Oilers offensively was Connor McDavid, who finished the season with an NHL-best 138 points. They also had Evan Bouchard finish with 95 points, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with 56, and Zach Hyman with 52 despite only playing in 58 games. In other words, this team has several legitimate scoring threats.

Leading the Ducks in scoring this season was Cutter Gauthier with 69 points, showing how much of a drop-off there is between these two teams when it comes to top-end skill. That said, the Ducks had an additional five players finish with 50 or more points in Leo Carlsson, Beckett Sennecke, Jackson Lacombe, Troy Terry, and Chris Kreider. They have plenty of offensive depth, but again, the Oilers’ elite-level scoring outweighs that depth.

Oilers Superior to the Ducks Defensively

As for defensive play, the Oilers once again outmatch the Ducks. Some may disagree given that the Ducks have plenty of young talent on their blueline who are still continuing to get better and should be quality defencemen for years to come.

That said, it’s impossible to argue with the fact that as a team, the Ducks struggled defensively throughout the 2025-26 season. The 288 goals they allowed this season were the most of all playoff teams. That could turn into a real issue given that they are playing a team with two of the league’s best offensive duos in McDavid and Draisaitl.

What shouldn’t be forgotten, however, was that the Ducks upgraded their blueline in a big way at the trade deadline by acquiring John Carlson from the Washington Capitals. The 36-year-old continues to be a massive offensive producer, putting up 60 points in 71 games.

Ducks Have the Advantage in Net

If the Ducks are going to win this series, they will need Lukas Dostal to be at his best. The 25-year-old is one of the better young goalies in the NHL, though his 2025-26 season was a bit of a struggle as he posted a 3.10 goals against average (GAA) paired with a .888 save percentage (SV%) in 56 appearances.

While Dostal wasn’t great this season, the Ducks’ defensive struggles in front of him certainly didn’t help. They are going to need to clean things up in front of their young netminder in order to give him a chance to steal this series. Based on what we’ve seen from him in spurts throughout his young career, he’s certainly capable of doing so.

As for the Oilers, they will be going with Connor Ingram. Though by no means an elite starting goaltender, he was solid in his first season in Edmonton, putting up a 2.60 GAA along with a .899 SV% in 32 appearances. Unlike the Ducks, the Oilers don’t need Ingram to steal games, but simply give them a chance to win. It remains to be seen whether or not he’ll be up to the task.

Oilers Win Special Teams Battle

What could wind up being the deciding factor in this series is special teams. To little surprise, the Oilers had the NHL’s best power play this season at 30.6 per cent. That could cause fits for the Ducks, who were tied for 26th among all teams in terms of their penalty kill, which finished the season at a disappointing 76.4 per cent. They will need to be as disciplined as possible in order to try and limit damage from the Oilers.

The Oilers penalty kill is nothing to marvel at, either. They finished 20th in the league with a penalty kill success rate of only 77.8 per cent. What benefits them in this series, however, is that the Ducks power play didn’t have a ton of success this season, finishing at only 18.6 per cent. In other words, if penalties are rampant in this series, it will heavily favour the Oilers.

Oilers’ Experience Should Play a Factor

On top of the Oilers seemingly having a better overall roster than the Ducks, they also have far more experience in the playoffs. That comes as no surprise, of course, given that they’ve gone to the Stanley Cup Final in each of the past two years. That said, the Ducks do boast two Stanley Cup winners in Carlson and former Tampa Bay Lightning forward Alex Killorn.

Overall, the Oilers do feel like the true favourites in this series, though as is always the case in the playoffs, no team can ever be written off. The Ducks are a young, scrappy bunch who should be able to, at the very least, make this a series worth tuning into.