The Edmonton Oilers’ defence collapsed in spectacular fashion Friday night as they surrendered seven goals in a lopsided 7–4 loss to the Anaheim Ducks in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series. And while goaltender Connor Ingram faced 39 shots at Honda Center, forward Zach Hyman made it clear where the real issue lies.
The loss puts Edmonton in a 2–1 series hole against a young, fast Ducks team that has dictated the pace through three games. Despite the Oilers taking leads of 1–0 and 3–2, Anaheim’s offence led by Mikael Granlund’s four-point night and a pair of goals from rookie Beckett Sennecke, proved too much for an Edmonton defence that looked lost for stretches.
Zach Hyman won’t point to the crease
Ingram stopped 32 of 39 shots on the night, but the defensive breakdowns in front of him told the story of the night. The Ducks scored four unanswered goals in the third period alone turning a 3–3 tie into a rout. And in the postgame presser, Hyman didn’t mince words about where the blame belonged.
“Anytime you let in seven, and it’s not a goalie problem, it’s just defending better,” Hyman said. “We didn’t give ourselves a chance with the amount of goals we gave up.”
The series has turned into a track meet with all three games featuring scores of 4–3, 6–4, and now 7–4. That’s exactly the kind of hockey the Oilers can’t afford to play against Anaheim’s speed and depth.
Hyman’s prescription for getting back on track was simple.
“Just simplify it,” he said. “Play boring, right? I mean, we’ve had success putting it behind them, it’s the cliché. Putting it behind them, getting it to the top, shooting it, getting it back. Just play simple.”
Oilers to blame for Anaheim’s advantage on pace
The Oilers have been guilty of helping Anaheim’s speed rather than neutralizing it, according to Hyman.
“Well, I think you can help their speed and you can deter their speed depending on how you play, and we’re helping their speed right now,” he explained. “When you make them defend the full length of the ice, it’s a lot harder to use your speed. We got to be better getting above guys. I think we can be better in a lot of areas on the defensive side of things.”
Head Coach Kris Knoblauch echoed Hyman’s assessment pointing to mental mistakes and poor execution as the root cause.
“Just doing little things,” Knoblauch said when asked how to regain control of the series. “You look at the goals against and just some stuff that shouldn’t happen, especially this time of the year. There’s lost coverage in front of the net a couple times, or just a little careless with the puck, stuff like that.”
The coach noted that while Anaheim came out with significantly more intensity in the first period, the Oilers managed to find their legs and put together strong stretches in the second and third periods. But those positive moments were undone by critical defensive lapses.
“We had a couple times where we had them hemmed into their zone and it looked like we were pressing for the go-ahead goal, and then we give up an odd-man rush and then that was pretty much the story,” Knoblauch said.
Kris Knoblauch agrees it’s not Ingram’s fault
The Oilers HC was quick to deflect blame away from Ingram, who has now faced 101 shots through the first three games.
“I don’t know that they were making a bunch of passes to pick through us, it was just a missed responsibility or misexecution on a play,” the coach said. “Not digging in front of the net, giving up odd-man rushes.”
The struggles have been team-wide, but Edmonton’s core has been particularly under fire. Connor McDavid, Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm, and Hyman are a combined -12 through three games and Knoblauch acknowledged that championship runs require elite performances from top players.
“You usually win and lose out of your best players, and they certainly carried us the previous two years. They absolutely did,” Knoblauch said. “I think right now to say that it’s all on their shoulders is completely unfair. I think everyone needs to step up a little bit.”
Knoblauch reflects on Connor McDavid’s slow start
McDavid, who finally registered his first point of the series with a goal and an assist in Game 3, had been held completely off the scoresheet through the first two contests.
Knoblauch was measured in his assessment of McDavid’s performance.
“I thought he, like our team, wasn’t very good in the first period,” the coach said. “I thought he had his best period in the second. He had some great scoring chances, some odd-man rushes, and we got a goal and assist tonight. We got a goal on the power play, which is good for us. I think he is getting better, and that’s what we need.”
What was supposed to be a favorable first-round matchup has turned into a wake-up call for the Oilers. They entered the series as the higher seed, but now find themselves chasing a Ducks team playing with house money.
Knoblauch pushed back on the notion that Anaheim has been eye-opening, insisting the Oilers expected a tough fight.
“We were expecting a good team,” he said. “There’s a lot of, we’re one point away from each other in the regular season. We had a good match every game. I think it was a one-goal game. We knew about them, and we knew that they’re a good team and they’ve got a lot of depth and some young, exciting players. We just need to find our best game.”
The Oilers will need to find it quickly. Game 4 is Sunday in Anaheim and another loss would put Edmonton on the brink of elimination.
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