After 7 seasons without playoffs, Anaheim Ducks surge into 2nd round with a stellar series win

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — When Joel Quenneville took over the long-suffering Anaheim Ducks nearly a year ago, the veteran head coach cautiously said he hoped to get his new team into contention this season for its first playoff spot since 2018.

His young, hungry Ducks made it to the playoffs, all right — and they're clearly not just happy to be here.

After nearly winning the Pacific Division in a surprisingly strong regular season, these Ducks ended the franchise's eight-year postseason drought — and now they've eliminated Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the two-time defending Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers with a six-game series victory in the first round.

Anaheim finished it off with a 5-2 victory in Game 6 on Thursday night, calmly dispatching its more experienced opponents with the poise and potency that this team has shown for long stretches this season. Quenneville could only applaud as his team took the next step on its journey.

“It's a huge win,” Quenneville said. “I’m happy for the players. I'm happy for the fans. And now we've got a taste of playoff hockey, and I think we can feel at this moment that it's so much fun playing games that have the meaning, and the building being as loud and excited as it is. It seems to grow from this level on."

The future has finally arrived in Orange County, and the raucous sellout crowds that have supported this team all season long are loving the return of playoff hockey for the team that won California's first Stanley Cup in 2007.

The Ducks also had one of the NHL's best teams while winning five straight division titles through the middle of the 2010s, but those teams twice lost in the Western Conference finals before Anaheim fell into a rut of seven straight years without a playoff berth.

Those years of high draft picks have led to a roster with impressive high-end talent in its young core, and general manager Pat Verbeek added a slate of veteran signees to bolster it. Quenneville was the next huge piece of the puzzle, and the three-time Stanley Cup winner as a head coach has guided the Ducks to a first-round postseason upset.

“We know that (at) our best is a really good team when we're playing the right way,” said Troy Terry, the longest-serving Ducks player since 2018. “We proved it to ourselves that we can do it consistently in a series, and our group should have a lot of confidence going forward in what makes us a good team.”

After stumbling into a 2-6-2 slump down the stretch and blowing the division lead, the third-place Ducks drew the playoff-tested Oilers in the first round. It looked like a nightmare matchup for an inexperienced team — but the Ducks were ready.

Anaheim stormed to a 3-1 series lead while pumping 20 goals past the Oilers, who looked slower and creakier than the Ducks. Edmonton showed off its postseason poise in Game 5, throttling the Ducks in a 4-1 victory and putting the onus on their inexperienced opponents to finish off the series.

And that's exactly what the Ducks did: They scored three goals in the first period, jumped to a 4-1 lead after two, and never allowed the Oilers to get up enough momentum to seriously threaten a comeback.

“I’m just proud with the maturity level of that game,” Terry said. “For how inexperienced and young our team is, it’s exciting moving forward.”

Anaheim also got a star-making performance from defenseman Jackson LaCombe, who led the team with nine points while also leading its defensive effort against McDavid and Draisaitl. LaCombe, a late addition to the U.S. Olympic team last winter, led the Ducks with a plus-6 rating while playing 22 1/2 minutes per game and taking just one penalty.

“A lot of us young guys are learning a lot as we go along, and I thought we got better throughout the series,” LaCombe said. “It means a lot for us.”

The Ducks have extended their breakthrough season for at least another couple of weeks, and they're relatively healthy. Their next opponent will be either the Vegas Golden Knights — another experienced playoff team loaded with veterans — or the Utah Mammoth, who are just as green as Anaheim.

Either way, the Ducks and their fans are thrilled to take the next step on this unlikely journey.

“Now we get to experience another round, and I think this is healthy for us,” Quenneville said. “We’ve got a young group that ... you don’t know how they’re going to play, but you’re certainly excited what the upside is.”

Anaheim Ducks center Tim Washe, left, and Edmonton Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard battle for the puck during the third period of Game 6 in the first round of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs series Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Anaheim Ducks center Tim Washe, left, puts a hit on Edmonton Oilers defenseman Ty Emberson during the second period of Game 6 in the first round of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs series Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Anaheim Ducks center Leo Carlsson celebrates his empty net goal during the third period of Game 6 in the first round of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs series against the Edmonton Oilers, Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Anaheim Ducks center Leo Carlsson, left, celebrates his empty net goal with left wing Chris Kreider during the third period of Game 6 in the first round of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs series against the Edmonton Oilers, Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Shares gained in Asia on Friday, though many markets in the region were closed for May Day holidays.

Brent crude’s price held steady at $111.66 per barrel while U.S. benchmark crude oil added 46 cents to $105.53 a barrel.

Prospects for a deal to cement a three-week ceasefire in the Iran wa r remained clouded as Iran’s supreme leader said it will protect its nuclear and missile capabilities as a national asset.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.7% to 59,687.65 as the Japanese yen gained against the U.S. dollar.

The dollar bought 157.16 yen, up from 156.61 yen late Thursday. But that was well below the 160 yen level hit on Thursday.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 surged 1% to 8,750.40.

U.S. futures were higher after U.S stocks motored to more records Thursday on strong profits for Alphabet, Caterpillar and other big businesses. The gains came after the latest whipsaw moves for oil prices, which surged toward their highest levels since the war with Iran began only to quickly regress.

The S&P 500 rallied 1% and topped its prior all-time high to close out its best month in more than five years. It closed at 7,209.01. The Dow Jones Industrial Average leaped 1.6% to 49,652.14, while the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.9% to a record of 24,892.31.

Alphabet led the way and rallied 10% after the owner of Google and YouTube reported profit for the latest quarter that almost doubled analysts’ expectations. Investments in artificial intelligence “are lighting up every part of the business,” CEO Sundar Pichai said.

It’s the latest company to deliver fatter profits for the start of 2026 than analysts expected, even with very high oil prices and uncertainty about the economy.

Friday brought some calm to the oil market, where prices surged Thursday on worries over the potential long-term impact of the war on the flow of crude. Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz to oil tankers, keeping them pent up in the Persian Gulf and away from customers worldwide, while a U.S. Navy blockade is preventing Iran from selling its own oil.

Traders are buying and selling contracts for different kinds of oil, going out for many months. In the most actively traded part of the market for Brent crude, for delivery in July, the price rose as high as $114.70 per barrel, fell back toward $107 and settled at $110.40 on Thursday, nearly unchanged from the day before.

So far during the war, the peak price for the most actively traded Brent contract has been $119.50, which was set last month.

In a less actively traded corner of the Brent market, the price for a barrel to be delivered in June briefly went above $126 overnight before pulling back toward $114.

Brent’s price was roughly $70 before the war.

In share trading, Caterpillar soared 9.9%, Eli Lilly jumped 9.8% and O’Reilly Automotive leaped 8.4% after all delivered profits for the latest quarter that topped analysts’ expectations. That’s big because stock prices tend to follow the track of corporate profits over the long term.

Meta Platforms tumbled 8.7% even though the company behind Facebook and Instagram made more profit last quarter than expected. Investors focused more on its increased forecast for how much it will spend on data centers and other investments as it builds out its AI capabilities.

Doubts are still high among some investors about whether all the spending on AI will produce enough profit and productivity to make it worth it.

Microsoft fell 3.9% after likewise raising its forecast for investments and other capital spending.

Amazon rose 0.8% after swinging between gains and losses through the day. It blew past analysts’ expectations for earnings in the latest quarter.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased after oil prices fell back. Reports also suggested the U.S. economy’s growth accelerated by less in the first three months of the year than economists expected, while a measure of inflation worsened in March by about as much as expected.

A separate report said that fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week in an indication of fewer layoffs even though companies are announcing large cuts to workforces.

London’s FTSE 100 jumped 1.6% after the Bank of England kept its main interest rate on hold. That followed similar decisions by the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday and the Bank of Japan on Tuesday to keep their rates unchanged.

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AP Business Writers Stan Choe and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

Trader Derek Orth works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Specialist Anthony Matesic works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

From left, NASA's Artemis II astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Jeremy Hansen watch a replay of their ringing of the closing bell at the Nasdaq MarketSite, in New York's Times Square, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

FIL:E - The New York Stock Exchange is shown in New York's Financial District on Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

A person stands in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)