The Anaheim Ducks stepped on Superman’s cape on the opening night of their playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers, refusing to allow Connor McDavid to weave his magic but the other Connor, goalie Ingram, beat them with his net presence.
They always say, it’s not how many saves a goalie makes.
It’s when he makes them, and Ingram refused to break against the Ducks in the Oilers 4-3 rally Monday.
Cue up the point-blank stop on Anaheim rookie Beckett Sennecke midway through the third, just before Jason Dickinson banged in Mattias Ekholm’s rebound to tie it 3-3.
Fire up that save on the fantastic 21-year-old centre Leo Carlsson, one of his nine shots, with five minutes left, setting the table for Kasperi Kapanen’s game-winning goal.
Yes, Leon Draisaitl took up the offensive mantle, playing his first game in five weeks after a suspected knee ligament tear, setting up two goals. But, quietly, Ingram saved the Oilers when the heat was at its hottest in the third period.
Yes, Ingram gave up three goals, two to Troy Terry, one to Carlsson.
But, in Ingram’s fourth-ever playoff game—his first since playing three for Nashville in round 1 against Colorado in 2022, in one game making 49 stops, the year the Avs won the Cup—the moment here was none too big for Mr. Chill.
“This was awesome. The bulk of my career I played out of (5,000-seat) Mullett Arena (Arizona State campus), so to walk out of the tunnel today, this was a different animal,” said Ingram, who faced 27 shots (16 by Sennecke and Carlsson).
“Loud, fun. After the anthem, I usually smile and take it all in. But this one today, it was like ‘this is cool,’” said Ingram.
The Edmonton Oilers’ goalie Connor Ingram (39) stops a shot from the Anaheim Ducks’ Mason McTavish (23) during second period NHL playoff action at Rogers Place, in Edmonton Monday April 20, 2026.
Being thrown into the deep end with the Predators against the juggernaut Avs four years ago was sink or swim. He had barely gotten his feet wet as an NHL goalie before the playoffs, and he was sensational in his 49-save 2-1 OT loss in Game 2 with Juuse Saros hurt.
This time around, he’s the acknowledged Oiler starter.
“It’s been a while (playoff action). I don’t think nervous is the right answer…to be honest, I was just anxious to get it going. It’s a late game; we’re here early. You’re kind of sitting around and it’s like, ‘let’s hurry up and do this.’ I definitely wanted to get into it,” he said.
“All in all, it’s been a wild year. I hit 100 (NHL games), 50 wins, small little accomplishments along the way,” said Ingram, who broke his stick over the crossbar in Game 81 of the regular season after the Avs scored three shootout goals on him, then offered Oiler equipment man Jeff Lang a handsome sum for a new stick, to pay for his anger.
“Every time I do something (special), Jamie (PR man Cartmell) makes me a little plaque, which is nice,” he said.
Back in 2022, the playoffs were all a blur to Ingram, but he’s never forgotten. Maybe muscle memory for this one?
“I played 15 minutes in Game 1 (relief) that playoff year, and then in my first start I let in the first shot (Nate MacKinnon) and then the last one. I ripped off 48 straight (saves),” said Ingram, who was almost having an out-of-body night. “I was naïve back then, I’d only played three (NHL) games before that. I wasn’t even thinking. Looking back, it seems kind of crazy that they would throw me in there,” he said.
Now it’s his net, and he’s running with the chance to shine.
Ingram shrugged off the big Sennecke save, a little water off a, um, Ducks’ back.
“He just turned and fired it,” he said.
Whatever, the timing was great.
“If they score there, it’s a two-goal game and it’s very unlikely you come back,” said Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch.
The save on Carlsson was just as timely, but more dangerous, maybe.
“That two-on-one that Carlsson had. Without that save, who knows what the result in the game could be. You ask your goalie to make a big save at the big moment, and he stepped up,” said Dickinson.
Then in the last few seconds, Mikael Granlund almost sent it to OT, but an off-balance Ingram came dashing back into the crease and threw down a pad.
“I went flying over there thinking Terry was going to hit it, and he did, he got the puck back into it (melee) and I think Bouch actually bailed me out. Game-saver,” said Ingram, rolling the play through his mind.
And so the Oilers escaped on this night. Draisaitl was back and downplaying his two assists, saying he was just OK in his 22 minutes, while the Oilers team, with the exception of Kapanen, Dickinson, Vasily Podkolzin, Jake Walman on the back-end, and Ingram, has lots of room for improvement.
Truth is, the Oilers played about 35 minutes out of 60 and won.
“It just wasn’t our game, too many turnovers,” said Draisaitl.
The Edmonton Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl (29) battles the Anaheim Ducks during first period NHL playoff action at Rogers Place, in Edmonton Monday April 20, 2026.
Frankly, the Cardiac Quacks let this one get away. The Ducks, who had 26 comeback wins in the regular season, overcame a 2-0 hole in this one but couldn’t close the deal in the third. The Oilers’ top line of McDavid, Zach Hyman and Matt Savoie didn’t get a single point, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins didn’t get a shot. Evan Bouchard had a rough second period, and their PP fired blanks.
Ingram was one stop better than Lukas Dostal in the other cage.
What did Ingram see from his perch in the Oiler net? Same assessment as Draisaitl’s
Ingram’s a goalie, not a teacher, grading people’s work.
“I just stay within the blue paint. Ask somebody else those questions,” he said.
Henrique on the limp
Adam Henrique, in his first playoff game against his former Ducks’ game, only played six shifts and 2:56 in the opening period and was hurt. He collided with Kapanen as they tried to corral a high puck, and Henrique got up and immediately skated slowly to the bench. It could be a leg issue or maybe a core muscle problem.
If he’s out for Game 2—a distinct possibility– their healthy Game 1 scratch Josh Samanski will likely centre the fourth line with Colton Dach and Trent Frederic as he did down the stretch.
“We’ll find out tomorrow exactly how long (he’ll be out),” said Knoblauch, who looked like he wanted to put a time frame on it at his post-game presser, but backed off. Playoff secrecy and all.
“Obviously, not having Rico leaves a hole. He’s been so good on our special teams (PK),” said the coach.
Bit of a scare for Dickinson
In the second period, Dickinson appeared hurt, too, and on the bench he talked to Oilers athletic therapist TD Forss, who relayed the message to Knoblauch. He missed some time, but maybe it was just a tweak on his ankle problem, which had him out for about two weeks.
“He felt something, took a bit of time off. There were several minutes he didn’t play, but after a TV timeout, he said he felt good and went back out,” said Knoblauch.
This ‘n that
Jake Walman was terrific on the Oiler back-end, not just the pass to Dickinson for his first goal. He had two assists and was plus-2 in 15 minutes. “He was moving his feet, he was able to break some pressure,” said Knoblauch. “It all starts with moving your feet, from the time you’re young, dads and mums are telling you that. Tonight, he had another gear. Might have been his best game.”
Oilers cut back to five defencemen in the third, only playing Ty Emberson for two minutes.
Zach Hyman took a wallop on a reverse hit by Jackson LaCombe in the third period and was shaken up (maybe a shoulder to his jaw), but he returned. McDavid, Hyman and Savoie only had five shots in the game.
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