Oilers D'edmonton Fall 3-2 After 4-1 Game 5 Win
oilers d'edmonton beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-1 in Game 5 on Tuesday night in Edmonton, but they still trail the first-round series 3-2. The series now moves back to California on Thursday with Edmonton needing another win to avoid a first-round exit.
McDavid’s Pacific Division line
Connor McDavid framed this matchup long before the playoffs started. In late March, the Oilers captain said, "A lot of teams are fortunate to play in this division. It’s a bit of a pillow fight right now." Edmonton still finished second in the Pacific Division in 2025-26, but that standing did not spare it from an uneven postseason path.
The Oilers also reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2024 and 2025, so this series has become a sharper test than a regular-season race. A team with that kind of recent track record now has to push back from a 3-2 hole to keep its season alive.
Edmonton’s net problem
The bigger issue sits behind the skaters. Edmonton finished No. 32 in the 32-team league in five-on-five save percentage this season, and it had the lowest five-on-five save percentage in the Pacific Division during the regular season.
Peter Chiarelli, Ken Holland and Stan Bowman all invested money and trade assets in goaltending, but the results have not matched the spending. Bowman chose Tristan Jarry as a goalie option, and Jarry has been less than hoped for since arriving from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Connor Ingram, brought in on a minor trade early in the season, helped prevent a complete disaster in net.
Bouchard and the asset cost
That problem sits inside a roster that still leans on elite talent. Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard remain the core, but the team has paid for that core in other places. Bouchard was drafted No. 10 in 2018 and turns 27 in October, while Ryan McLeod and Mike Kesselring were taken the same year and later sent away in trades.
Edmonton also lost Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway to offer sheets by the St. Louis Blues, and the club has traded dozens of picks since Bouchard was drafted. That leaves the Oilers with a strong top end and a thinner margin for error in goal, which is exactly where this series has pushed them. The next trip west now carries the weight of that construction.
