With a 6-4 Game 2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks in a game that looked like it had all the makings of another come-from-behind win, we’re back on the fun, exciting, emotional rollercoaster that is Edmonton Oilers playoff hockey.

Game 2 brought some feel-good highs and some pretty big lows, so with that, we break down the good, the bad, and the ugly from the Oilers’ last game.

The Good: Josh Samanski

If you’ve followed my writing, I’ve been a big supporter of Josh Samanski over the last month and, most recently indicated that he definitely should’ve been in the lineup for Game 1 on opening night.

Since playing in the Olympics, I’ve been impressed with Samanski’s steady upward trajectory, and while he’s been able to handle his business defensively, one thing I’ve been mentioning is seeing subtle offensive moves in his play that hinted the offence was going to come for him, and boy did it ever in Game 2.

The 24-year-old scored his first-ever playoff goal, off a rocket of a shot to briefly tie the game for the hometown team, and perhaps the only thing better than the goal itself was his fired-up celly.

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JOSH SAMANSKI SCORES HIS FIRST PLAYOFF GOAL IN HIS FIRST PLAYOFF GAME TO TIE GAME 2 LATE IN THE THIRD! 📹: Sportsnet

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4:33 AM · Apr 23, 2026

The Good: Oilers’ five-on-five scoring

Another positive from Game 2 was the Oilers’ play at five-on-five, where they outshot the Ducks in every period and scored four goals from Leon Draisaitl, Connor Murphy, Zach Hyman, and, of course, Samanski.

On that note, after the game, when Connor McDavid was talking about his team’s play at five-on-five, he mentioned, “I feel we’ve done lots of good things,” and added, “When we play fast, we’re tough to handle.”

The Oilers have been labelled “power play merchants,” with a big reliance on their man advantage to put pucks in the net in recent seasons, but ironically, so far in the series, it’s been the other way around, and, normally when you score four five-on-five goals, that should be enough to win you the game. The question is, when will their power play start to click? We’ll talk about that more later.

The Bad: Connor McDavid

The Oilers’ captain had a scare in the second period when he ran into Mattias Ekholm, with Oilers fans holding their breath as he went to the locker room to get checked out. He eventually returned, and when asked about his condition after the game, Connor McDavid said, “Yeah, I just rolled up on it a little bit, it’s fine.”

That said, in my years of writing, I don’t think I’d ever put McDavid in any “bad” category, but after another pointless game in Game 2 and three giveaways on the night, including one on the power play that ended up in the back of the Oilers’ net.. here we are.

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Well, that's not what you want to see from the Oilers on the power play😶, 4-2 Ducks. 📹: Sportsnet

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3:42 AM · Apr 23, 2026

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While trying to break down what might be affecting McDavid’s play, Kris Knoblauch spoke about his captain after the game and said, “I think he’s putting a lot of pressure on himself,” and overall, I too think that may likely be the case.

Trying to tap into the mindset of the best player in the world (which honestly, no one really can with any real accuracy), I feel he gets into that mode to put on a show for the hometown crowd who’ve paid good money to see the team in the postseason, almost in a way to give back to the amazing energy the crowd puts out, while chasing a signature playoff moment.

For example, there are instances when he’s trying to beat three players by himself, yet, despite credit to the Ducks, who are checking him well, he’s yet to squeeze by. This has been the opposite of what we saw in the last game of the regular season, where he was making more subtle, yet more effective plays passing the puck, which earned him four assists in game 82 of the regular season.

That said, McDavid has never gone three straight games without recording a point in the playoffs. And if he truly is fine, and not feeling any effects of a possible injury, I think heading out on the road will be a good reset, calm the mind, and we’ll likely see the best of the Oilers’ captain in Game 3.

The Bad: Evan Bouchard

When you read about Evan Bouchard, you’ll get different narratives from different writers, and for this writer, I’ve mostly been supportive of Bouchard and all he brings to the team, but Game 2 was a tough one for the blueliner.

Despite leading the team with 26:16 minutes in Game 2, he went pointless and was on the ice for all five of the Ducks’ goals.

The most significant one came with the game tied and just under five minutes to go, when Bouchard tried to clear the puck. It went off Draisaitl and bounced right to Cutter Gauthier, who put it in the net for what turned out to be the game-winning goal.

That said, a positive that I saw in Bouchard’s game is that we’re seeing that sort of angry, nasty side of him, having knocked a couple of Ducks to the ice and getting in the face of Jacob Trouba after he shot the puck after the whistle. In past playoffs, when he starts to bring that nasty side out in him, it’s usually followed by his “clutch mode” activation.

Am I concerned about the NHL’s regular-season forward points leader and defenceman points leader going pointless in the first two games of the series? Nope. Even the best have tough games, and they’ll work their way through it, like they’ve shown time and time again.

The Ugly: Oilers’ special teams

When a team scores four goals at five-on-five, that should normally be enough to win the game, but the Oilers’ Achilles’ heel in Game 2, and throughout the series for that matter, has been their special teams.

The Oilers went 0-for-4 on the power play in Game 2, while the Ducks scored two power-play goals on three chances and also added a short-handed goal, which is, in fact, downright ugly.

If the Oilers want to take control of the series, their special teams, especially their power play, need to get going. The Ducks have three power play goals on five chances, while the Oilers are 0-for-6 overall.

The positive is that the Oilers’ power play looked much better than in Game 1, where they struggled simply gaining the zone. That said, Edmonton moved the puck better in Game 2, and Draisaitl, who misfired a couple times in Game 1, looks more settled in. The downfall in Game 2 for them was a lack of execution and not capitalizing on their chances.

Am I concerned about the Oilers’ power play, which has historically been one of the best the league has ever seen? Definitely not. As Zach Hyman alluded to in his postgame interview, the five-man unit with Draisaitl back is a little rusty. They’ve tormented the league in recent seasons on the man advantage, and they’ll figure it out one way or another.

The Ugly: Fan throws an object onto the ice

Nearly 20 seconds after Samanski scored, an inconsiderate “fan” threw what initially appeared to be a donair, but may have actually been a rotisserie chicken, a duck, or something else entirely, onto the ice. Regardless of what it was, throwing objects onto the ice is shameful behaviour. I also think back to last year, when someone threw a tray of nachos onto the ice at Rogers Place.

Simply put, throwing things onto the ice — other than hats after a hat trick — is a classless, bonehead move.

Brenden Escott

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The team has all the momentum in the world after scoring a huge goal, and someone throws a donair on the ice at Rogers Place. Unbelievable.

4:32 AM · Apr 23, 2026

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In regard to the latest incident, with some pictures I saw online, it appears it was a fan wearing an Oilers jersey, likely cheering for the hometown team. And not that it matters, because throwing anything onto the ice, unless it’s a hat from a hat trick goal, is bad behaviour. But it came at the poorest of times, after the Oilers’ big tying goal, and took away their momentum.

That said, Oilers fans, please, can we enjoy Oilers playoff hockey without the stupid shenanigans? Please.

Nevertheless, the Oilers head out on the road for the next two games, which could be a good opportunity to get away from potential home-ice nerves at Rogers Place, and a chance to calm things down, tighten up their defence, and, above all, start scoring on their power play.

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