Game 4 is always an intense one when you’ve got a 2-1 series on your hands. The Edmonton Oilers would either end up back in a tied situation with two of the next three games at home, or they’d have their backs against the wall with basically every stat stacked up against them. If ever there was a moment where their playoff inexperience would be invaluable, you’d think it would be this one. And while the night started off well with a pair of first-period goals that gave the Oilers the lead, it wouldn’t be long before the wheels started to fall off for the third consecutive night. Once again, the Ducks rose to the moment, and the Oilers weren’t close to matching their energy. Final score 4-3 Ducks in overtime.

Where do we start? Despite being the vastly more experienced team and the one who keeps saying they know how to play their best hockey when the games matter most, the Oilers find themselves down 3-1 against a Ducks team making their first playoff appearance in eight years. The team that almost everyone had as the favourite is getting a standing count because they can’t figure out how to put 60 minutes together. In the latest edition of how the Oilers shoot their own toes off, the team went out and blew two separate leads in a game that was arguably the most important one of the year. It’s like they see getting a lead in the game as an excuse to mail it in or something.

Rather than keep pushing for more offence, Edmonton seemed happy to try and sit back and flips pucks out of the zone. It was like they were channeling the L.A. Kings. It was almost as if they weren’t the ones that came back all of those times against after their opponent tried to sit back and pray that nothing bad would happen. Despite knowing full well that the Ducks would throw everything they had Edmonton’s way, no adjustments were made that threw any wrenches of their comeback. It was like the Knoblauch simply cannot figure out a Plan B that can stave off the Ducks’ attack, and that missing puzzle piece has pushed the team to the brink of elimination in the first round for the first time in years. The series isn’t over by any means, but what I know for sure is that it certainly will be if this team can’t figure out how to play consistently for more than a period and a half every night.

After the game on Friday, a lot of us were wondering whether Connor Ingram would get the start or if Kris Knoblauch would throw the changeup with Tristan Jarry making his Oilers playoff debut. Ingram had allowed 16 goals through the first three games, and while many of them were more a product of shoddy defending than anything he did wrong, that GA total is still beside his name. But what made many Oilers fans nervous was whether throwing Jarry into the fire would be any better. It’s not like he’s been great or even consistently steady since he’s gotten here from Pittsburgh.

If living dangerously is your jam, then tossing Tristan Jarry into a pivotal Game 4 situation when the team is down 2-1 is about as bold a gamble by Kris Knoblauch as the first time he threw Calvin Pickard in against the Canucks two years ago. It worked with our pal Cal, but it did not go our way with Jarry. Despite playing pretty well for most of the night and making some huge saves along the way, the unfortunate part will be that his comeback will be remembered for the squeezer that snuck through for the game winner. Other than that one, I don’t know that any of the other three goals were all that problematic. But nobody is going to care about passable goals when the series is on the line. Instead, they’ll see that the Oilers have given up 20 goals through four games, and that problem doesn’t seem to get better, no matter who is between the pipes.

One of the best stories of the playoffs so far has to be the way Kasperi Kapanen has stepped up on the second line with Leon Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin. That trio has easily been the Oilers’ best line through the first four games, and Kapanen’s goal heater has been a big part of the reason. He scored in his fourth consecutive game when he opened the scoring at the 38-second mark, and it’s been amazing how all of them have come from being in the right spot at the right time. While always a streaky scorer, there’s never any doubt about how hard he works or that he’ll give you all-out effort. He deserves this run, and it makes it especially fun that everything is going in for him right now.

No matter what happens in the rest of this series, I’d bet Gregor’s money that Kasperi Kapanen will factor into all of it. Whether he’s throwing hits, scoring goals, or causing a ruckus on the forecheck, I won’t be surprised at all if he doesn’t have more big goals still left in him. As much as it would be nice if he could keep this goal-per-game pace going — Gord knows we almost need it — at least we can all say that he was one of the few guys to elevate his game for the moment. While most of his teammates are barely getting passing grades, Kapanen has been a silver lining regardless of the outcome. If nothing else, at least we can remember this run as one of the few positives from what has been a dreadful series for the Oilers.

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