The Oilers have spent the first week scoring its way around almost every problem. Anaheim is the team that proved last spring that eventually the Oilers have to solve the problems themselves.
The Oilers arrive at Honda Center with five of a possible six points, 17 goals in three games and Connor McDavid producing as though October is simply another extension of his prime. Under ordinary circumstances, that would make a 2-0 Anaheim team feel like an early road test rather than something heavier.
These teams do not have ordinary circumstances anymore.
Anaheim eliminated Edmonton in six games last spring, ending another Oilers season before it reached the Stanley Cup Final. The Ducks were younger, faster in important moments and good enough around their own net to prevent McDavid and Leon Draisaitl from simply deciding the series through talent.
Wednesday is only the fourth game of Edmonton’s season. It is also the first time the Oilers return to the building where their previous one ended.
McDavid Has Started at Full Speed
There is no early-season adjustment period for McDavid. He has nine points through three games, including seven assists, and Edmonton is averaging 5.67 goals per game.
That production has allowed the Oilers to survive situations that would sink most teams. They lost the opener 6-5 in overtime, answered with nine goals in Vancouver and then produced a much cleaner 3-1 win over Seattle. Three games have already offered three different versions of Edmonton, and McDavid has been central to all of them.
Evan Bouchard has supplied the second major engine. The defenseman has four goals already, giving Edmonton a scoring threat from the blue line that changes how opponents can defend McDavid below the tops of the circles. Collapse too far toward the forwards and Bouchard can finish. Step toward Bouchard too quickly and the middle opens again.
Anaheim understands that problem better than most teams because it just spent six playoff games trying to solve it. The Ducks do not need to eliminate McDavid from the game. They need to make Edmonton work for the next chance after the first one disappears.
Edmonton’s Crease Is the Real Test
The Oilers’ early record looks strong. Their goaltending numbers do not.
Edmonton has a team save percentage of .785 through three games and has allowed 4.67 goals per game. Devon Levi is 2-0, but those wins have come with a 4.02 goals-against average and an .810 save percentage. Tristan Jarry allowed six goals in Edmonton’s opening overtime loss.
Mike Babcock has already confirmed Levi will start Wednesday, with Jarry scheduled to play Saturday in San Jose. That gives Levi a useful opportunity to separate his individual performance from the results around him.
Edmonton does not need him to become a .940 goalie overnight. It needs a night where McDavid and Bouchard are not being asked to erase two or three preventable goals before the game reaches its final ten minutes.
The 3-1 win over Seattle was the first sign that Edmonton can win that way. Anaheim will test whether it was a correction or simply one quiet night between track meets.
Anaheim’s Start Is More Than 2-0
The Ducks opened by beating Vegas, then took down Florida 3-2 in overtime at Honda Center. Those are not two wins against teams still figuring out whether they belong in the conversation.
Leo Carlsson has five points through two games. Cutter Gauthier has two goals. Mikael Granlund scored the overtime winner against Florida. Anaheim’s power play has converted on half of its opportunities.
The sample is tiny. The mechanism is still worth noticing.
Anaheim can now attack through several different players instead of waiting for one young star to create every meaningful possession. Carlsson can distribute, Gauthier can finish, Granlund gives the group another experienced puck handler and Beckett Sennecke adds another layer of skill.
That matters against Edmonton because the Oilers’ penalty kill has stopped only 57.1 percent of opposing power plays so far. Anaheim’s 50 percent power play will not stay there all season, but Edmonton’s penalty kill cannot afford to provide evidence that it should stay hot for another night.
Dostal Gives Anaheim Something Edmonton Does Not Have Yet
Lukas Dostal has started both Anaheim wins and owns a .918 save percentage with a 2.42 goals-against average.
Those numbers are not spectacular in isolation. Put them beside Edmonton’s early goaltending and they become one of the clearest differences between the teams.
Anaheim has been able to play knowing the first defensive mistake is not automatically becoming a goal. Edmonton has not consistently had that luxury. When a team plays in front of uncertain goaltending, every failed exit and every lost neutral-zone puck begins to feel more expensive.
That can change how defensemen make decisions. Instead of holding the blue line, they retreat. Instead of attempting the aggressive outlet, they choose the safe play. The goalie problem gradually becomes a territorial problem because the skaters begin protecting against the next mistake before it happens.
Edmonton has enough talent to survive that for stretches. Anaheim’s job is to make those stretches longer.
The Ducks Know How to Make Edmonton Defend
Last spring’s series mattered because Anaheim did not try to become Edmonton.
The Ducks used size, puck protection and pressure below the goal line to force the Oilers’ defensemen into longer shifts. That reduced how often Edmonton could turn a clean recovery into the kind of immediate transition chance McDavid destroys teams with.
The same basic idea still applies Wednesday. Anaheim wants pucks behind Edmonton’s defense rather than into races through open ice. Jackson LaCombe and Tristan Luneau have already been handling enormous minutes, and the Ducks have enough young legs to make Edmonton retrieve repeatedly before it can attack.
If the Oilers exit cleanly, Anaheim is in trouble. Very few teams want McDavid, Draisaitl and Edmonton’s trailing defensemen attacking through the neutral zone with possession.
The Ducks need the game to begin before the Oilers reach that point.
Two Days of Practice Matter
Edmonton’s schedule gives it one subtle advantage coming into the rematch.
The Oilers played three times in five days to begin the season, then had Sunday off before practicing Monday and Tuesday. Babcock has had two full sessions to work on defensive details before the first extended road trip of the year.
That matters more than ordinary October practice time because Edmonton’s issues have not been difficult to identify. The Oilers have scored enough. The question is whether their structure can prevent every game from requiring five or six.
Jason Dickinson has also been moving closer to a return after putting together consecutive practices. His availability would give Edmonton another experienced defensive center and make the bottom half of the lineup easier to organize.
The Oilers do not need to arrive in Anaheim reinvented. They need to look less dependent on chaos.
The Market Is Not Pricing a Revenge Blowout
Edmonton remains a road favorite, but only a modest one.
The Oilers are generally priced between -125 and -135 Wednesday afternoon, with Anaheim around +105 to +112. The total is 6.5, with the market charging more heavily toward another high-scoring game.
That is a reasonable reflection of what each team has shown. Edmonton has the best player in the matchup and considerably more established elite offensive talent. Anaheim has home ice, a stable start in goal and recent evidence that its style can make the Oilers uncomfortable.
The price does not treat last spring as proof that Anaheim is simply better. It also does not treat Edmonton’s nine-goal night in Vancouver as proof that the old matchup disappeared.
For an October game, that is probably the right level of uncertainty.
The Rematch Is Really About What Edmonton Learned
The easy version of Wednesday is revenge. Anaheim ended Edmonton’s season. The Oilers return five months later with an opportunity to answer.
The more useful version is structural.
Edmonton already knows McDavid can overwhelm a game. It knows Bouchard can change one from the blue line. It knows the offense can produce enough goals to hide mistakes on many nights.
The Ducks forced the Oilers to confront what happens when that is not enough. Anaheim survived the stars, made Edmonton defend and received the saves required to keep close games from becoming Oilers track meets.
Wednesday provides the first chance to see whether anything has changed.
Prediction: Edmonton Oilers 4, Anaheim Ducks 3. Anaheim is good enough to make this uncomfortable again, particularly if Edmonton’s penalty kill continues to create opportunities for a Ducks power play that has started quickly. But two days of preparation, McDavid’s current form and Edmonton’s ability to generate offense from the blue line give the Oilers enough ways to create the extra goal.
The more important result may be how Edmonton gets there.
If the Oilers win because Levi gives them a stable night and the skaters defend well enough that four goals feel like plenty, the California trip begins with something more meaningful than revenge.
Sources
NHL / Edmonton Oilers, October 6, 2026 — Oilers at Ducks preview, goaltending plan and playoff-rematch context | NHL, October 7, 2026 — Oilers-Ducks game center, team statistics and season leaders | NHL, May 2026 — Ducks defeat Oilers in six games in Western Conference First Round | Anaheim Ducks / NHL, October 2026 — Ducks opening-week results and roster information