On Sunday, April 26, 2026, the Edmonton Oilers lost 4-3 in overtime to the Anaheim Ducks when a video-reviewed goal stood after a prolonged review. Mattias Ekholm, one of the Oilers most consistent defenders, opened for the team by saying, "I don’t know how they see it as a conclusive goal," after the call that ended Game 4.
The decisive sequence was messy and consequential. Ryan Poehling was credited with the overtime winner after an on-ice signal that the puck had fully crossed the goal line; the referee’s initial call was that the puck completely crossed the goal line and, after referral, the Situation Room upheld that call. Edmonton had blown 2-0 and 3-2 leads in Game 4, and Connor McDavid finished with two assists, both on the power play, but that production wasn’t enough to prevent the Ducks from stealing the win in extra time.
The result matters now because the Oilers are down to their last life in the series. The club’s coach and players made clear their frustration with what they said was an absence of conclusive video evidence on the disputed finish. "Maybe there is somebody who can prove otherwise, but it doesn’t matter. They called it a goal and we’ll have to abide with that," Ekholm added, reflecting a team forced to accept a result they believe hinged on an unclear replay.
Goaltender Tristan Jarry described the play as a fluke. "Just kind of a battle in the corner and it just gets thrown to the middle… It's unlucky," he said. "An unlucky bounce goes off of the skate, just kind of bounces right between my legs, and it just kept going. It just died behind me." Those words underlined the sense inside the Oilers that luck, more than superior execution, had swung the game the Ducks’ way.
Coach Kris Knoblauch, reacting to the review, voiced the same bewilderment. "I thought we were going to get away with it," he said. "I've seen in the past where I thought goals have gone in and they haven't been able to prove them (with video evidence). So I thought that's what the call was going to be, but obviously they thought otherwise." The club also said it was unhappy with the lack of video evidence on the disputed goal, a complaint that sits at the heart of the postgame argument.
Those tensions are amplified by simple numbers: Edmonton has struggled to keep Anaheim under three goals in regulation through four games, even while attempting to play closer to 3-2 hockey; the team’s inability to hold leads in Game 4 — surrendering a 2-0 advantage and later a 3-2 edge — directly produced the overtime scenario that ended their night. Connor McDavid’s two power-play assists were bright spots, but they could not change the final ledger.
What happens next is immediate and unforgiving. Game 5 is set for Rogers Place on Tuesday, and the Oilers must win to avoid elimination. Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ will carry Game 5 at 10 p.m. ET and 8 p.m. MT. McDavid summed up the position plainly: "We’re in a hole, no doubt about it. We have to find a way to get a win at home."
Edmonton’s history — two trips to the Stanley Cup Final before this spring — only sharpens the moment. The replay outcome that decided Game 4 leaves unanswered the single, simple question that will define the series: can the Oilers convert home ice into another life, or will a disputed finish and a late collapse end their postseason run?
