2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Round 1, Game 6 - Ducks vs. Oilers Gameday Preview (04/30/26)
The Hockey News' Derek Lee previews Game 6 of the Ducks-Oilers series.
Video Transcript
Right in front, please.
Joel, if someone told you obviously at the beginning of the series you'd be up three to two with a chance to close out at home, you would've taken it.
Yeah.
I just want to ask about this opportunity on your young group and how it's a really great opportunity for you.
Well, it certainly is.
And, I think we can learn from, the last game knowing that you get an opportunity, but, hey, they came and showed they're ready to play, and I think that the last two starts we gotta be way better.
Expect it to be a hard, hard push by them, but, you know, welcome that challenge, and it's gonna be fun to, to play a game that all game long you're gonna get pushed and challenged.
And, you know, you can control your destiny by, doing things the right way and, and try to move on.
But it's certainly, it'll be a good test for everyone, and they get a little bit of exposure to feel going into a game and see how that feels like when you got a chance to win.
And for those of us that don't know Lukas Dostl that well, how do you expect him to kind of rebound after the game last night?
well, I think that, you know, you get to watch a game.
I think that, hey, you get a little rest out of it as well.
you know, he's a pretty smart kid, and, everybody likes the way he competes, and, he's a great teammate, and, I'm sure he's excited about the challenge as well.
Is, Joel, is, is tonight maybe about, adopting a game save- game seven mentality at the start even though it isn't game seven?
Well, I think as you go along in the series, I think every game kind of you can get your team excited by thinking that, "Hey, we gotta win this game, and it's the most important game of the year."
And, they just keep growing in their, importance.
And, you know, I think everybody handles it differently.
And I think that at the same time as a team, being in it, last game was, you know, going through it.
I think we got a good, a lesson and, knowing that, we expect our opponent to be more than ready, and, so let's, let's meet that head-on.
Is, it, it feels like your team has only really played two, quote unquote, "bad periods," the first period of game one and then obviously the first period la- last night.
Do you share that, and does that make you feel a good that your overall game's still there?
No, I find that, in a series, we, we, we think that, there's always one game you're sitting there, you know, you just weren't great in a game or you could be better.
Last game might've been that game.
but at the same time, you know, w- we've been in every game almost all year even when you we had a couple you could throw in the garbage can over the regular season.
But, for the most part, we're competitive and, and, but, I think you gotta go to the next level, not just say we're competitive to, to start the game.
What are you seeing, when you give up the first goal in all these games here?
Is there a, is there a common denominator in the way you're starting games, something you want to get out of your game early, or what are you seeing early?
Well, we definitely see that we're chasing the game a lot of times almost all year long.
That's been a, that's been a sore spot all year, and, and, you know, how we go about it, what we say, what we do, you know, I just think that we don't get, phased by whatever starts our, our way.
I know that we've had some great starts, and sometimes we've given a lead away when we had good starts too, so it's like it's I mean, I, I, I think we're playing the game, playing the score.
and, the one part about it is keeping the puck out of our net is something that, whether it's early or late, we gotta be better at.
And, you know, I think there's a lot of good in between, the pucks that we do let in.
I think there can, we can be learning from them as we go in the playoffs as well.
And, there's some areas where I think we have improved defensively, but, we still need to get better.
From those early goals, is it situations where you feel like you need a save or that the defense should be doing a better job of limiting those opportunities?
What are you kind of seeing in, in that early stage?
I think we're all in it together.
I think everybody should absorb some responsibility and, you know, it's not, it's such a different group almost every night who's out there.
you know, just be comfortable being out there and want to be out there and, and, and initiate more than just, respond to what, what's going on in the game.
With that group, was there any consideration to roster changes?
Is, is Ro- Ross ready to go, for example, to maybe give a, a boost to some of these guys?
Ross could play.
I say that.
I don't expect him to play tonight, but he's, he's capable of playing.
Coach, home ice is often thought of as an advantage.
Are there any downsides to being at home versus on the road?
I think all year we, you know, we've been good at home.
We've been all right on the road, and, that's kind of been the way this series has gone.
you know, home crowd's been, been pretty good all year long, a lot of enthusiasm.
There's something to feed off of that as well.
but expect a loud building tonight and, a fun place to be.
Troy Terry gonna play tonight?
Yes.
And Dostl confirms that?
Yeah.
All right.
Thanks all.
