One of the best time periods on the sports calendar is just around the corner as the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoff approaching. With the regular season winding down and the postseason set to begin Saturday, the first-round matchups are now taking shape on the schedule.
A three-way race for the second and third seeds in the Pacific Division went down to the final night of the regular season. By the time the dust settled, the Edmonton Oilers locked in with home-ice advantage for this opening-round series against the Anaheim Ducks.
As opening odds go live for each playoff series on DraftKings Sportsbook, we get our first look at which side betting markets favor. The initial listing sees the Oilers enter as -210 favorites to win this series while the Ducks come in as a +175 underdog.
If there’s one certainty in this series, it’s that goals aplenty will be scored. In three regular-season meetings this season, the Oilers and Ducks combined to score 28 goals.
It was a down year for Edmonton, which took second in the Pacific with just 93 points. A shaky goaltending saga was the biggest issue plaguing the roster by far, but the team settled in with Connor Ingram as its regular starter down the stretch and his full-season numbers aren’t the worst by any means. If he can mitigate some of the variance in his game, then this group can still make some noise. Connor McDavid is coming off his fifth Art Ross Trophy campaign after scoring 138 points and Leon Draisaitl remains day-to-day with a potential return from injury looming.
As for Anaheim, the group came up just short with 92 points in the regular season. While also an unpredictable bunch, the franchise still won 43 games and ended the year with a 7-3-0 record over its last 10. Even despite not having a single skater with 70+ points, the production of Cutter Gauthier, Leo Carlsson, Bennett Sennecke and more powered the Ducks into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The big question is the goaltending as Lukas Dostal has an .888 SV% and 3.10 GAA across 56 appearances.
The Oilers hold +1300 odds to win the Stanley Cup, the fifth best of any team on DraftKings Sportsbook. The Ducks come in with +8000 odds, last among all 16 teams.
