The Oilers were happy with the win but feel they have more to give in the series as well.
"I thought we got into trouble when we were slow, when our game slowed down," Edmonton captain Connor McDavid said. "We couldn't keep anything alive and gave up some chances. For us, we have to play fast and we have to play predictable, we have to play (it) simple. When we got away from that, we got in trouble and when did do that, we did some good things."
The Oilers are not underestimating the Ducks. Anaheim had 26 comeback wins in the regular season, tied for the most in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens.
"They have some special players, players that it doesn't matter how old they are, they're very good," McDavid said. "When they push, you could tell we had a tough time. With that being said, I don't think it was our A-game. When you slow down, it kind of gave them the ability to get to their game."
Here are three things to watch in Game 2:
1. McDavid watch
The leading scorer in the regular season with 138 points was held without one in an Oilers win for the first time this season in Game 1. The Oilers captain had at least a point in each of Edmonton's 41 wins in the regular season.
One area where McDavid struggled was on zone entries on the power play, which he intends to clean up in Game 2.
"That was me just not being clean enough doing that," McDavid said. "That's an area we're obviously very good at and I'm not too concerned about it. With that being said, they threw some different things at us and we'll adjust."
The Oilers like to drop the puck back to McDavid in the neutral zone on the power play, allowing him to attack the zone with speed. Usually, he is able to gain the zone without much resistance, but Anaheim did a good job of stacking the blue line and limiting the gaps for McDavid to attack.
"Anytime I see Connor do something that maybe is not at his best, it usually doesn't last for very long; he usually finds a way to correct it," Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. "As good as Connor is, he's not always perfect, but the times when he doesn't play his best doesn't last very long and he usually turns it around. The last game, I could see the frustration with him on the entries. Once we got set up, we had some looks. I just think there should be a lot of credit to Anaheim, they did a good job of making it hard to get into the zone."
2. Ducks get their feet wet
With a game of playoff experience now under their belts for the 13 players who had yet to play in one, the Ducks feel they are better prepared heading into Game 2.
Anaheim fell behind 2-0 in the first period in the opener and was forced to battle from behind.
"It was fun," Gauthier said. "A lot of young guys played in some big games, but most of them were elimination, never in a series like this, so it was good to get our feet wet and knowing what to expect going into tonight's game. I thought we played a great game in Game 1, but it was obviously not good enough. We're all well prepared and know what to expect now, and we're going to come out a little bit better."
3. Samanski draws in
Josh Samanski will make his playoff debut for the Oilers taking the place of veteran forward Adam Henrique, who sustained a lower-body injury in the first period in Game 1.
Samanski had four points (two goals, two assists) in 24 games this season. The 24-year-old has been a pleasant surprise for Edmonton, which did not expect him to make a contribution this season.
"We've been very happy with him all year," Knoblauch said. "We anticipated him being an Oiler in the future, we weren't really expecting it to be so fast, maybe a little more down the road, maybe next year. He's somebody that the coaching staff feels really comfortable with on the ice. I think a lot of it is, that he's wired to play good defensive hockey and he was never going to hurt us when he was on the ice."
