‘Energy level is there’ for Oilers to rally in West 1st Round, coach says

EDMONTON -- Kris Knoblauch believes the Edmonton Oilers have the drive to mount a comeback against the Anaheim Ducks in the Western Conference First Round.

Trailing 3-1 in the best-of-7 series and facing elimination in Game 5 at Rogers Place on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, KCOP-13, TNT, truTV, Victory+, HBO MAX), the Oilers coach think there’s still gas in the tank.

Edmonton has played the most Stanley Cup Playoff games since 2022 (79), one more than the Florida Panthers, who did not qualify this season. 

“I think the energy level is there,” Knoblauch said Monday, one day after a 4-3 overtime loss in Game 4 at Honda Center in Anaheim. “I think we’re ready. It has been a lot of hockey, but I don’t think that should be warranted as an excuse.”

The Ducks are playing their first playoff series since 2018; it’s the first time here for 13 of their players. 

Knoblauch admits he bears some of the responsibility of getting the Oilers to believe they can battle their way back in the series. But the game plan needs some tweaking.

“Some of that is how we’re approaching some of these games, how we’re going to alter our game just a little bit, what adjustments are we making,” he said. “Credit to them -- Anaheim this season has been a very hot-and-cold team and they’re playing well. They’re a very good team and if you look at the streaks they’ve gone on, I believe they’re playing very good hockey right now and we have to find a way how to break them.”

Oilers forwards forwards Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman and Jason Dickinson have just returned from injury, and Adam Henrique (lower body) hasn’t played since Game 1. Connor McDavid, their captain, sustained an ankle injury in Game 2 that has appeared to limit his mobility and may change the way he is deployed the rest of the way. 

McDavid led the League this season with 138 points (48 goals, 90 assists) in 82 games.

“I think maybe using him differently is maybe the matchups or the players that are playing with him,” Knoblauch said. “Those are some of the adjustments we have to look at.”

McDavid has been used on the penalty kill since sustaining the injury at 3:57 of the second period in Game 2 when he got tied up with teammate Mattias Ekholm and Ducks forward Ian Moore at Edmonton’s blue line.

He was on the ice when Mikael Granlund scored a power-play goal in Game 4 at 18:43 of the second period that tied it 2-2.

“His penalty kill time is usually a secondary role, usually it’s one shift for about 20 or 30 seconds,” Knoblauch said. “I can’t say that he won’t be used on the penalty kill as a secondary role.”

Penalties have been an issue for the Oilers thus far; the Ducks went 2-for-4 on the power play in Game 4 and are 6-for-12 in the series.

Edmonton is 3-for-10 with the man-advantage.

“There’s been numerous penalties where we have a lead and we take a penalty and they score on the power to give them an opportunity to get back in the game where we had a great start,” Knoblauch said. “We survived the first penalty that we took in the first period, and then the second one gets them back in the game and it gets us back on our heels and they gain some momentum.

“This team plays really well when they’re playing from behind. We just have to make sure we stay the course.”

Anaheim has rallied for each of its three wins. It trailed 2-0 in Game 4 before battling back and extending its series lead with Ryan Poehling’s goal at 2:29 of overtime.

“I think every game has been a little bit different,” Knoblauch said. “A lot of it has been the time of the penalty kills, and we haven’t been able to get last save or another clear or a blocked shot, loose puck or something like that.

“It’s unfortunate, (but) credit to Anaheim playing a good game. We have to find ways to be a little bit better.”