GAME RECAP: Ducks 5, Oilers 2 (Game 6)

EDMONTON, AB – That's it, that's all for this season.

The Edmonton Oilers were defeated 5-2 by the Anaheim Ducks in Game 6 at Honda Center on Thursday night, closing the book on their 2025-26 NHL season after falling four games to two in their first-round series.

"We never really found what you need to find this time of year, especially to go all the way," Leon Draisaitl said. "In my opinion, just not good enough."

The Ducks jumped on the Oilers early with three goals in the first period, opening the scoring through Ryan Poehling near the midway through the opening frame and leading 2-0 soon after on a snipe from Chris Kreider before Connor Murphy made it 2-1 with his second goal of the series – only for Cutter Gauthier to respond on the power play 1:31 later.

After a scoreless middle frame, Vasily Podkolzin gave the Oilers a lifeline 1:13 into the third period with his third goal of the series that made it 4-2, but the Ducks finished it with an empty-netter from Leo Carlsson in the final three minutes.

The Ducks earned their first playoff series victory since their 2017 Second Round win over the Oilers, which ended in seven games, while Edmonton fell short of its goal of returning to the Stanley Cup Final for a third straight season with a first-round exit.

"They're gifted offensively," Mattias Ekholm said. "They showed it in a lot of the games throughout, and we couldn't contain their offence. Obviously, it was a big factor in the series. It's hard right now to have a much broader view than that, but they deserved to win."

Thanks for your support, Oil Country, and we'll see you next season.

FIRST PERIOD

Unfortunately, it was an all-too-familiar opening frame for the Oilers that served as a microcosm of a season in which they struggled to keep the puck out of their net.

As if it weren't a tall enough task already, the Oilers faced an uphill battle to keep their season alive through the opening 20 minutes of Game 6 after the Ducks rectified their slow start in Game 5 by scoring three in the first period of Game 6 to take a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.

But you have to give the Ducks props for being a hard team to handle in the series.

"It's a real hockey team over there, and they got some good players, but at the end of the day, we gotta find ways to keep the puck out of our net," Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. "It's not just a couple of guys, it's everyone, so it was a bit of a theme throughout the season.

"Playing a team like that, they'll make you pay."

Anaheim picked a great time to score their first opening goal of the series just before the midway mark of the frame, taking the 1-0 lead off the first of two great bounces for the hosts in the opening frame when John Carlson's wrist shot from the point deflected off Ty Emberson and then Ryan Poehling in front before tricking just over the goal line.

"There are a couple of bad bounces that ended up in our net, and the game could go differently if those don't go in, but at the end of the day, they're good at getting those pucks there, and they know how to play the right way," Leon Draisaitl said. "They were just better than us."

The deficit became 2-0 just 3:47 later on a well-placed shot from Chris Kreider that beat Connor Ingram under the crossbar after he got lost out wide to take a wide-open pass from Leo Carlsson off the rush.

Needing a spark, the Oilers received it less than two minutes later when the fourth line went to work and created havoc and a loose puck inside the Ducks' crease for Connor Murphy to creep down and shovel home his second goal of the playoffs, leaving the Oilers down 2-1 with 4:46 left in the period.

With the assists, Colton Dach notched his first career postseason point, while Josh Samanski nabbed his first career playoff assist to go with his first goal back in Game 2.

Ducks fans weren't happy with the forecheck that led up to the goal when Curtis Lazar reached against Ian Moore to separate him from the puck, and if Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' frustration on a soft holding call soon after play resumed wasn't enough to make up for it, Cutter Gauthier's lucky break on the power play should've been enough.

Nugent-Hopkins was called for wrapping his arm over Pavel Mintyukov's shoulder in the offensive zone before Gauthier's one-timer from the right circle managed to deflect in past Ingram off the laid-out stick of Darnell Nurse as he tried to defend the pass, restoring Anaheim's two-goal lead at 3-1 on their first power play in the night.

The Ducks would finish the series an insurmountable 9-for-18 on the power play.

"We weren't very good on the penalty kill or the power play," McDavid said. "We didn't get off to a good start. Obviously, we didn't get one tonight. We struggled on the PK all year, too, searching for consistency there. The power play could have been better to start the series, so credit to them."

Jack Roslovic hit the crossbar on a breakaway soon after, before a bench minor for too many men from the Oilers prior to the intermission meant they'd be on the penalty for 1:18 to begin the second period.

SECOND PERIOD

The Ducks delivered right before the death in the middle frame to deliver a devastating blow to Edmonton's chances of extending this series.

Edmonton came out and generated more quality scoring chances, including on a disallowed goal for Hyman for kicking the puck in with under two minutes left in the frame, but Anaheim continued to fly in formation and force the Oilers into mistakes, with Leo Carlsson's steal on Evan Bouchard at the red line not long after leading to an odd-man rush and a 4-1 lead for the Ducks through 40 minutes.

Hyman was denied by Lukas Dostal on a breakaway before the five-minute mark before the winger had one disallowed with 1:32 left in the period for kicking the puck over the goal line, and it was only 44 seconds later that the Ducks went ahead by three to put the Oilers into a precarious position, down 4-1 heading into a critical final 20 minutes.

After the Ducks broke out with numbers late in the period, Kreider was able to scoop up Carlsson's turnover against Bouchard to create a two-on-one where Troy Terry was able to beat a sliding Ingram through his five-hole to deliver a late blow for the Oilers.

THIRD PERIOD

The gas was running out for the Oilers after two deep runs to the Stanley Cup Final and a long 82-game season, culminating in this year's first-round exit when the fatigue and injuries caught up to them.

"You strap your skates on for every playoff game, and you try and go out and play your best and try to win, but it obviously falls short," Draisaitl said. "As much as it hurts, I think they were just a better team."

Despite the hardships and injuries, the Oilers hoped for a lot better.

"I think we felt good, but it's not an excuse," Nugent-Hopkins said. "We just didn't get the job done at the end of the day, but I can't speak for everybody else. Obviously, guys are banged up. They're fighting through a lot of stuff, but energy-wise, I don't think it's an excuse.  

"Everybody's tired out there, everybody's just grinding, but at the end of the day, we just didn't get it done. They completely took advantage of any power play they had, started that early in the series, and then just continued it."

If the Oilers were going to get back in it, they were going to need to filter everything towards Dostal and the Ducks' crease in hopes of getting some bounces, and luckily, one arrived early for Vasily Podkolzin only 1:13 into the final frame to give them a chance.

After a strong breakout and zone entry, Leon Draisaitl threw a puck on goal that was pushed out by Dostal, leading to Kasperi Kapanen finding himself with the puck in space to fire it back into the blue paint and off the body of Vasily Podkolzin to make it 4-2.

The Russian continued his terrific showing with his third goal and sixth point of the series, keeping himself on pace to finish with a point per game in these playoffs with a goal his side desperately needed early in the period.

The Oilers were close to pulling themselves within one not long after off a fluttered one-timer from Draisaitl that created a dangerous rebound in the blue paint for Kapanen, but the Finnish forward wasn't able to corral the loose puck before it escaped danger. 

Edmonton continued to grind away with their season on the line and needing a pair of tallies to at least force overtime, but they were close to needing a miracle when they pulled Ingram for the extra attacker with over three minutes left in regulation.

Ultimately, it wasn't meant to be, as Carlsson was able to seal the Game 6 win and Anaheim's first series victory sicne 2017 – also against the Oilers – with an empty-netter with 2:34 left to go.

Time expired on Edmonton's season with a 5-4 defeat and a four-games-to-two series defeat, falling short of their goal of reaching a third straight Stanley Cup Final.