ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Edmonton Oilers walked into Honda Center on Sunday night needing a response, with the Anaheim Ducks holding a 2-1 lead in their first-round series after a 7-4 win in Game 3 on Friday. Game 4 arrived at 7:30 p.m. MT with Edmonton trying to stop the series from slipping further away.
The Oilers did not sound shaken. Darnell Nurse said the group had been through this before and believed it could handle the pressure. “Our group is calm all the time and ready for each moment,” Nurse said Saturday after practice at Honda Center. He added that Edmonton had “faced adversity and been able to overcome it,” and that the team had also “found ways to play good hockey,” calling Sunday “a big game and an important game for us tomorrow” and saying the Oilers had to be ready “to answer the bell.”
That confidence came from recent history. Edmonton rallied from a 2-0 deficit against Los Angeles in last year’s first round, came back from 2-1 and 3-2 deficits against Vancouver in the 2024 second round and nearly pulled off the comeback in the Stanley Cup Final by forcing a Game 7 against Florida. The Oilers have become comfortable with elimination pressure, even if that comfort has been earned the hard way.
Jason Dickinson said the message inside the room was even simpler. “No panic,” he said, adding that the focus had to stay on winning the next game. “You go out and win the next game, that's all you've got to focus on. Obviously, it's an important game, so that's on everybody's minds, but it's not something that can cloud your judgment or overwhelm you. You've got to be ready for the moment,” Dickinson said. Head Coach Kris Knoblauch called him a game-time decision for Game 4, though Dickinson participated fully in Saturday’s practice at Honda Center.
The pressure on Edmonton has not come from one problem alone. The Ducks’ speed has been a main culprit in the Oilers falling behind, and the Oilers’ defensive mistakes helped produce a series in which they had scored four goals a game but won only once. That is the margin they had to correct on Sunday: keep Anaheim from turning pace into chances and keep their own mistakes from deciding the night.
Vasily Podkolzin said the answer was inside the details. “I think we just need to focus on what we did well these three games and clean up defensively, and I think we'll be fine,” he said. He added that “these guys have been there multiple times, and they know what to do,” calling Sunday “a huge game for us.” Evan Bouchard struck the same note from Edmonton’s side, saying, “It feels like when our backs are up against the wall, that’s when we kind of shine.”
That is the wager for the Oilers now: that a group tested by playoff losses can still summon the same response in Anaheim. If they cannot, the Ducks will carry a 2-1 series lead into the next game with the pressure flipped squarely onto Edmonton.