EDMONTON -
The Oilers aren't settling for the second spherical.
Edmonton moved on to the subsequent part of the Stanley Cup playoffs with a 2-0 victory over the L.A. Kings in Recreation 7 on Saturday evening, however Leon Draisaitl mentioned the group's work stays unfinished.
“It feels good, however we're not achieved. This is not the tip. We have not reached something,” he mentioned. “It feels good to do it with this group. We have been by stuff all season - for lots of years, even - a variety of ups and downs, a variety of damaging stuff. It feels nice to have this sense proper now.
“Being down 3-2 (within the collection), going to L.A., grinding one out, coming house and discovering a means -- it feels good.”
After beginning the season on a scorching streak, the Oilers struggled by December and early January earlier than firing head coach Dave Tippett on Feb. 10 and changing him with Jay Woodcroft, then-head coach of the American Hockey League's Bakersfield Condors.
Edmonton completed the regular-season second within the Pacific Division with a 49-27-6 file and earned a house ice benefit.
However L.A. got here into the post-season sturdy and took a 4-3 win in Recreation 1. The Oilers roared again with lopsided victories in Video games 2 and three earlier than the Kings blanked Edmonton in Recreation 4 and pushed the membership to the brink of elimination with a 5-4 extra time win in Recreation 5. Recreation 6 in L.A. noticed the Oilers keep alive with a tightly contested 4-2 victory.
“We have confronted a variety of adversity all season,” Draisaitl mentioned. “There have been a variety of ups and downs, lots of people who counted us out lengthy earlier than the playoffs began. And we grabbed it.”
It is the primary time the Oilers have superior within the playoffs since 2017 after they beat the San Jose Sharks in a six-game first-round collection, then fell to the Anaheim Geese in seven video games in spherical two.
Since then, the post-season has been stuffed with heartache for hockey followers in Edmonton.
The Oilers did not make the playoffs in 2018 or 2019, then misplaced to the Chicago Blackhawks in a play-in collection on house ice within the bubble throughout the COVID-condensed 2020 marketing campaign. Final 12 months, the Winnipeg Jets swept Edmonton in a four-game first-round collection.
The group took these experiences to coronary heart, mentioned captain Connor McDavid.
“It is simply utilizing classes from earlier errors,” he mentioned. “We've made these errors prior to now and we did not shoot ourselves within the foot tonight, which was clearly optimistic.”
McDavid - who led the NHL with 123 factors within the common season - has continued his dominance within the playoffs, posting a league-leading 14 factors (4 objectives, 10 assists) by the primary seven video games. He had a purpose and an help, and registered greater than 27 minutes of ice time in Saturday's essential victory.
“Our greatest gamers have been our greatest gamers on this collection,” mentioned goalie Mike Smith, who made 29 saves for his second shutout of the post-season in Recreation 7. “And if you wish to get by one of many hardest rounds, your finest gamers must be on the prime of their recreation or higher.
“Each (McDavid and Draisaitl) have been our horses, our leaders and everybody else adopted. It isn't simply on Connor and Leon, however they positive did a heckuva job to get us moving into the correct route and a variety of different guys crammed within the gaps.”
Draisaitl appeared to play Saturday's recreation with an ankle damage he suffered throughout a scrum in Recreation 6. Whereas the star sniper instructed reporters after Recreation 7 he was “superb,” Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft acknowledged he was enjoying by one thing.
“He is a warrior, simply an absolute warrior,” Woodcroft mentioned. “He is an enormous sturdy man who, like (McDavid), is pushed to win. I believe that kind of mindset if you see folks play by stuff is contagious. And so they're an enormous motive, large motive, why we're at the place we're at, which is we're advancing to spherical quantity two.”
Saturday's win is necessary, the coach mentioned, however the group has no plans to stop any time quickly.
“We're attempting to get some relaxation and a few regeneration and put together for the subsequent problem,” he mentioned. “We mentioned this to our group yesterday: we did not come this far simply to come back this far. We're right here to progress and proceed to maneuver our needle ahead.”
The second spherical will pit the Oilers in opposition to the winner of Sunday's Recreation 7 matchup between the Calgary Flames and Dallas Stars.
A lot of the group might be watching the sport however nobody is rooting for one facet over the opposite, mentioned defenceman Cody Ceci.
“Both group is enjoying nice proper now. Each collection is fairly shut,” he mentioned. “Both means we must refocus and prepare for the second spherical.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Might 15, 2022.
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