2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Round 1, Game 2 - Ducks vs. Oilers Gameday Preview (04/22/26)
The Hockey News' Derek Lee previews the Ducks' Game 2 matchup against the Edmonton Oilers.
Video Transcript
Questions?
Coach, is Troy Terry playing tonight?
Yep.
I didn't see Radko Gudas out there.
Is he playing tonight as well?
he's out tonight.
what are you expecting to see from Drew Helleson coming into the lineup tonight?
Well, Drew played some nice games for us down the stretch here.
I mean, Drew's had some, some good moments for us.
you know, he gives us some, some quickness, some size, and, you know, I think that, that spot, his partner, they played together at some point over the last few years.
And, you know, just wanna be consistent and be, predictable.
Mm-hmm.
With Cutter Gauthier, only one shot in game one, and obviously his game is predicated on shooting.
How do you sort of get him more involved and engaged in, in tonight's game?
Yeah, I'd like If he gets the puck more, I think, he doesn't need time to shoot it.
So I, I just think he's gotta find the puck and, and, and, and look to get our way.
Made some nice plays there with the goalie out, late in the game.
had more touches there than, than most of the game.
So it was a, You know, I think he's effective in that offensive zone when he does touch pucks.
And, you know, we'll, we'll try to make that a And we can be better with the puck ourselves and, and, and not just, giving it up as rather as easy as we did.
When you guys are, are tied or, or up a goal, and you compare that to the way you play when you're maybe down a goal or two, is there sort of What are the qualities you play with when you're down that you'd love to see when you're even or up?
Well, when you're down, you're obviously taking risks.
I mean, there's, you're, you've got, your, your pinching, your, you know, sometimes your pinching.
I mean, that, that's, or you're a little more aggressive out face-offs.
You're, you know, a little more risk-oriented, making plays.
We have some guys that, have patience and can make plays and plays to their strength, but it's a, you know, there's, there's a time and a place to, to do those things.
And, you know, we'd rather play with the lead.
We, we had a-- We were doing a pretty good job of it the other day.
We created some chances off it just, like, playing simple.
at the same time, they beat us to the, to the next goal.
When you're playing someone like McDavid every other night now in a playoff series, how much time do you spend emphasizing what needs to happen against him specifically with, with the team?
Yeah.
He's more than a handful, obviously, with, you know, the, the, the way they, they look to adapt to, to get him freer to-- for him seeing moments where we're vulnerable.
And, and I'm sure there's, areas that, he'll be looking to exploit.
but that's, it's, it's an ongoing challenge.
It's kind of like the, the nuances of, day-to-day penalty or power play, adjustments, but he's, full time on a regular shift as well.
So it's a, I think you just gotta know when you're on the ice, you know, you can face him, anybody in our lineup in the middle of the game.
Hey, don't be surprised when he's out there.
And, and, and trust that, we're gonna, we're gonna be able to get it done.
But it's a, basically everybody's responsibility.
Joel, you mentioned before that you plan on using everybody.
You weren't gonna hard match.
Tim Waage actually played the most minutes against McDavid, and it looked like at times you were even putting him out there.
What is it about that line that gave you the confidence to believe that they could match up against him?
Well, Timmy, they did a really good job, late in the season in San Jose, in a game that, we were having a tough time with, Celebrini, and it was a one-shot deal, but it was, that was, They, they did a really good job.
And, you know, Timmy's got the defensive side of the game, kills penalties for us.
you know, look at each guy in the line, you know, they've got a little defense to their game, but at the same time, they bring energy.
And, so they, they, they held their own in the game.
I was, I was, I was happy with it, but I mean, it's, it's tough to It's not a hard match.
It's not, You know, it's gonna happen over the course of the game no matter what line's out there.
But, you know, I thought they did their job.
Joel, why has, Tyson Hinds become such an option for you?
And, and, and how do you think he'll respond tonight after, you know, a couple of hairy moments in game one?
I thought he was fine as the game went on.
The first period, I think he had a little bit of, like some of our younger guys, whether the jitters or, you know, getting welcome to the playoffs.
And, and he adjusted as the game went on.
I thought he, he really got a lot more comfortable with his gap and, going into the puck area, and he's useful in a lot of ways.
you know, the simplicity of his game, we like.
but he still has some other ingredients that we, also like, whether it's his size, his quickness.
And he can make plays, and he can get up in a play.
So we'll be looking for all that tonight.
A few of your guys making their playoff debuts last game took over the game.
would you like to see a little bit more contribution maybe from some of the guys with more prior playoff experience tonight?
We need everybody.
We're gonna need everybody going forward every game and every shift.
So we're calling on everybody to, you know, get better from the first game.
There's some positives we've taken out of that game, but, we're gonna need more.
Can't be satisfied with that.
Do you anticipate Gudas being back at all during this series?
we're gonna say he's day to day right now.
Okay.
No more questions.
