logo
OilersNation has no direct affiliation to the Edmonton Oilers, Oilers Entertainment Group, NHL, or NHLPA
Fresh off praise from Paul Coffey, Oilers’ Evan Bouchard turns on clutch mode in Game 5
Edmonton Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard
Photo credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images
Sean Panganiban
Apr 29, 2026, 13:00 EDTUpdated: Apr 29, 2026, 13:13 EDT
Comments
Before the Edmonton Oilers faced the Anaheim Ducks in Game 5, with the Oilers on the brink of elimination, Sportsnet aired a segment featuring former Oiler Luke Gazdic having a chat with Evan Bouchard and Paul Coffey, two of the most gifted offensive defencemen in franchise history.
Coffey talked about his first road trip, coaching the team and sitting down with the young defenceman, Bouchard, in a heart-to-heart manner and saying, “Bouch, you remind me a little bit of myself. As long as the good outweighs the bad, we’re going to be ok here.”
The three-time Norris Trophy winner also said, “[There are] a lot of great defencemen in the league, but when the game is on the line, and we need something done, we look no further than [Bouchard].”

Bouchard has a history of coming up clutch in the playoffs

It’s no secret that Bouchard plays some high-event hockey, with the occasional Bouchard blunder creeping into his play every few games, but one thing is for sure — Bouchard comes up clutch when the stakes are at their highest.
In the second round of the 2024 playoffs, the Oilers were down 2-1 in the series versus the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks tied the game 2-2 with less than two minutes remaining in Game 4, and with 38 seconds left, Bouchard unleashed a wrister that beat Arturs Silovs, which turned out to be the game-winning goal.
Last season in the first round against the Los Angeles Kings in Game 4, the Oilers were down 2-1 in the series and trailing 3-2 late in the game when Bouchard wired a one-timer past Darcy Kuemper with only 28 seconds remaining. Leon Draisaitl then scored the winner in OT, with the goal by the blueliner proving to be the turning point in the series, as the Oilers went on to win the next two games.
This playoffs, we’ve been waiting for Bouchard to activate his ‘clutch mode,’ as he’s had an up-and-down series vs. the Ducks. Heading into Game 5, he had four points (one goal, three assists), but was also sporting a -6 plus/minus.

Bouchard delivers his best game of the series in Game 5

But like we’ve seen time and again, Bouchard usually saves his best with the game on the line, and in this case, with the Oilers’ season on the line, being down 3-1 in the series, his clutch gene kicked in in a big way in Game 5.
While in past playoffs, Bouchard’s clutch moments came via dagger-like rocket shots against the opposition, Game 5 vs. the Ducks looked different. He was still clutch, just in another way. He threaded methodical passes all night, finishing with three assists — which, in hindsight, proved to be foreshadowing at its finest.
In the interview that was aired before Game 5, Gazdic also asked Coffey, “Is there anything that [Bouchard] does, or can do, that you wish you could’ve done?”
Coffey replied, “Yeah, some of the stuff gets overlooked, like his passing.”
Bouchard, known for his “Bouch Bomb,” was like a maestro, with the way he was passing the puck, conducting plays all night, and he showed he was feeling it very early in Game 5.
Close to two minutes into the game, the blueliner jumped into the attack, faked like he was going to shoot, stopped, and with the ice in his veins that he plays with, threaded the puck past a Duck and found a streaking Vasily Podkolzin, who made no mistake and beat Lukas Dostal with an absolute snipe.
Bouchard registered his second assist of the first period when he slap-passed the puck onto  Draisaitl’s tape, who tipped it past Dostal, with that tally ending the netminder’s night.
Yet, Bouchard’s most impressive helper of the night was his third one on the Oilers’ power play.
He received a bouncing pass and bobbled it momentarily. Ryan Poehling noticed the bobble and went to stick-check him, but Bouchard faked him (and me while watching on TV) with a fake backhand pass, created separation, then feathered the puck over to Connor McDavid, who then passed it cross-ice for a vintage Draisaitl one-timer from his office.
The three passes that Bouchard made in Game 5 that led to goals are plays that only a handful of defencemen in the NHL can make. Yes, he gives away the puck at inopportune times on occasion, but as Coffey said, he can make those bad plays “as long as the good outweighs the bad,” and Bouchard had one of those nights in Game 5 where he was oh so good, leaving you saying “give that man the Norris already!”
On top of that, the 26-year-old also had some good defensive moments throughout the night in Game 5, but the most notable came within the final five minutes of the game.
With the Ducks’ net empty, Bouchard made three stellar defensive plays on the same shift.
First, he picked up a rebound off Connor Ingram’s pad and flipped the puck out of danger to centre ice. Then, when the 6-foot-3, 206-pound Beckett Sennecke gained the zone, the Oilers’ D-man hammered him, dropping him to the ice with a heavy hit. Finally, when the Ducks tried to enter the zone again, Bouchard stunted their entry with a good poke check.
Overall in Game 5, Bouchard led the Oilers in ice time with 27:30, tallied three assists, posted a 6-3 edge in high-danger chances according to Natural Stat Trick, and a 57.82 xGF%, and in the process became only the eighth defenceman in NHL history to record multiple 100-point seasons, combining regular season and playoff points.
It’s safe to say he flicked the ‘clutch mode’ switch on last game, and now the question is whether that will last the rest of the series against the Ducks. Yet we’ve seen it in the past, when Bouchard fully dials it in in the playoffs, it has been a turning point in the series in Edmonton’s favour.
Still, the Oilers have quite the mountain to climb, with Game 6 in Anaheim another must-win and their season on the line.
That said, if ‘Playoff Bouchard’ — who, at 1.100 playoff points per game, is second all-time among NHL defencemen just behind Bobby Orr — is back and fully activated, things just got a whole lot tougher for the Ducks, because as Coffey also mentioned in the interview, “Bouch is as good as it gets.”

PRESENTED BY PRAIRIE TOYOTA DEALERS

The Toyota Tacoma is the ultimate power play. Its standard i-FORCE engine delivers more power than ever and a towing capacity of up to 6,400 lbs. It helps you take on challenging landscapes with confidence with its available Panoramic Multi-Terrain View Monitor that provides a live, underfloor view of the terrain you’re tackling. It even makes loading and unloading gear effortless with its available Power Liftgate. Whether it’s for early morning practice or weekend away games, the Tacoma is a teammate you can rely on. Visit your local Prairie Toyota dealer during Red Tag Days for limited-time offers.
Oilers TalkEditorials
MORE NEWS. IN YOUR INBOX.
CLICK TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

Breaking News