The Ducks (2-1) face the Oilers (1-2) in the second game at Honda Center for Game 4 of the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Puck drop is set for 6:30 p.m. PT and will air locally on KCOP-13 and Victory+. The game is also nationally televised on ESPN.
Anaheim went up a game in the series as it convincingly beat Edmonton, 7-4, on Friday, good for the team’s first home playoff victory since May 2017. The seven goals were a franchise playoff record and additionally, were scored by seven different Ducks players. Four of those players scored their first career playoff goals.
While the game was tied 3-3 heading into the third period, the Ducks scored four goals in the final frame to edge the Oilers. Most notably, Beckett Sennecke and Leo Carlsson each scored 42 seconds apart to open the scoring.
"Hopefully, they turn out to be great players because they've shown all the ingredients," head coach Joel Quenneville said of Sennecke and Carlsson. "They want to be the best they can be on a daily basis, and I think that kind of pushes them and they're showing that's their mindset and that's their objective."
It’s once again status quo on the injury front for the Ducks for Game 4; Radko Gudas (lower-body) remains out while Troy Terry is in.
As for the Oilers, a change may be on the horizon in the net. On Saturday, head coach Kris Knoblauch hadn’t settled on a starting goalie for Game 4 as Connor Ingram is 1-2 in the series with Tristan Jarry waiting in the wings.
“Today in the NHL, very rarely do you have one goalie play all the games in the playoffs,” Knoblauch said. “20 years ago and before that, it was unheard of to be swapping goalies, but we got two good goalies that we feel confident that they can both play. Going into the playoffs, we felt that there was going to be a time when we're going to have to make a switch. So whether that's for game four or game five, whatever it is, we have confidence in both.”
With a win tonight, the Ducks have an opportunity to take a 3-1 series lead back to Edmonton to close this first round out. When asked about what’s at stake, Quenneville said his group is riding the energy from the last two wins noting continuing to play a solid “team game” is what the group is focusing on tonight.
“Momentum is always important in a playoff series,” he said. “We took it from Games 2 to 3 which was a great test, and we know that tonight’s going to be our biggest challenge. I think that being ready for the start of the game and continuing on from that pace [is important.] We anticipate this will be the hardest game and we feel that we have to improve from each game.”
A challenge certainly awaits Anaheim as Edmonton has won six-consecutive Game 4s when trailing 2-1 in a series. Per Jack Michaels of the Edmonton broadcast team, Knoblauch’s Oilers squads are 19-4 in Games 4-7 after going 11-16 in Games 1-3.
“We know they’re going to push tonight,” Jeffrey Viel said of the Oilers. “For us I think it’s just keep playing the way we’ve been playing. Play consistent hard 60 minutes and be ready for their push.”
