EDMONTON — The ‘A’ cliché at this time of year is a true hockeyism: Your best players have to be your best players.

So when Connor McDavid goes pointless, yet you win for the first time this season when the captain posted zeroes; when you get the October version of Evan Bouchard instead of the June version; when you’re power play doesn’t fire and the entire top line goes pointless — yet you still beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 in Game 1 of a playoff series — you’ve got to feel like the Edmonton Oilers stole one to open their 2026 playoff run.

The solution to a slow night from the superstars?

How about two goals each from winger Kasperi Kapanen and third line centre Jason Dickinson, as the playoffs began with a depth win for an Oilers team that so often leans on their big boys in games like these.

“Your top players have to be your top players,” said Leon Draisaitl, “but you're not going anywhere if you don't have guys like that chipping in. We don't expect two goals from guys like that every night, of course. But you need that.”

Like Draisaitl, who missed the final 14 games of the season but chipped in two assists in Game 1, Dickinson hopped off the trainer’s table to play against Anaheim after missing the final three games of........

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