Ducks Rally Past Oilers In Overtime

Photo: AP

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks hosted the Edmonton Oilers for Game 4 of thier playoff series. Lukas Dostal was in net against Tristan Jarry. The Ducks went with the same lineup once again.

The Oilers scored just 38 seconds after the puck drop. After an initial shot, Kasperi Kapanen got to a loose puck and scored before Pavel Mintyukov could clear the puck.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins then scored on the power play about six minutes later to make it 2-0 Oilers. The first shot was blocked by Dostal, but then the rebound went off Minty’s skate and into the net. Edmonton led 2-0 at the end of the first period.

The Ducks came back with two goals in the second period to tie the contest up. First Cutter Gauthier scored on the power play from the right circle to get Anaheim on the board just over seven minutes into the middle frame.

Mikael Granlund then scored on the power play in the final minutes of the period to tie the game. Granny did a give-and-go play with Leo Carlsson as he skated in the slot beating Jarry’s stick side.

Evan Bouchard put the Oilers back on top early in third with a power play goal after a questionable hooking call against the Ducks. He beat Dostal from the right circle.

Jeffrey Viel then scored just over halfway through the period to tie the game. John Carlson took a point shot which hit Viel and fell to the ice in front of him. Viel quickly shot the puck beating Jarry low.

The teams were all tied at three at the end of regulation, so bonus hockey was on the menu. In overtime Ryan Poehling threw the puck on the net from a severe angle and scored the game winner. On first glance the play was ruled a good goal and after a lengthy review the call stood on the ice. Ducks won 4-3 in overtime.

Analysis:

Another wild game between the Ducks and Oilers. Edmonton came out strong in the first period and looked to run Anaheim out of their own barn. The Ducks, however, fought back down 2-0 and 3-2 to comeback and win in overtime.

After a slow start the Ducks played better in the latter stages of the first period and then they carried that play into the second period. Anaheim ended up with 38 shots on goal to 27 for Edmonton.

Special teams with a big factor in this contest. The Oilers scored on their two power play chances and the Ducks scored on two of their four chances.

Mintyukov had a rough night getting scored on twice early in this contest. He couldn’t clear the puck on the first Edmonton goal and then had the second score go off his skate. He was able to settle in after that and played his normal game.

Lukas Dostal played better in this game. The first two goals weren’t on him as already explained. He also made a partial breakway save on Connor McDavid, which would have likely won the game in the final moments of third period for Edmonton.

The big controversy was how this game ended in overtime. Poehling ended the game, but it took a while to determine if he did or not. He threw the puck on net and it squeezed behind Jarry appearing just past the goal line. The officials on the ice called good goal, but then it was reviewed for a while before being confirmed.

Being at the game in person with the limited angles shown on the Jumbotron I wasn’t sure if the call was going to stand as a good goal. After coming home and reviewing several videos and photos the puck crossed the line barely.

Some of the conversations surrounding this have been focusing on how could the officials have seen the puck initially cross the goal line from where all four of them were positioned. It’s a valid question, but the league got the call correct regardless of the on ice call. They reviewed the play and determined the puck crossed the line.

The Ducks will now look to knock out the Oilers in Game 5, but Edmonton isn’t going to down easily. Anaheim needs to get a better start in the next game if they want to close this series out.

Team Notes/Stats:

Vyacheslav Buteyets and Damian Clara were recalled to Anaheim.

What’s Next?

The Ducks travel to Edmonton for Game 5 tomorrow at 7PM.

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April 27th, 2026