Edmonton Oilers say they aren't afraid of any ghosts in Florida
You don't need a degree in sports psychology to know that the best way to recover from a crushing, double-overtime defeat isn't taking a five-hour flight to the place where you suffered the most heartbreaking night of your career.
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But that's where the Edmonton Oilers will be forced to shake off Friday's gutting Game 2 loss, as well as the lingering PTSD (Post Traumatic Stanley Cup Defeat) from last season, and fire back at the Florida Panthers.
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'No matter how much time passes it will always be on your mind, to be that close,' Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said of last year's loss in Game 7 of the final. 'But I think everyone's focus is on this season. We're in a new stage of our path and we're just focused on what we need to do right now.'
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In a series too close to call, with games too intense to watch, the stakes get even higher as the Stanley Cup Final moves into enemy territory for Game 3.
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For the Oilers, who are looking to take back home ice advantage after losing it on Brad Marchand's winner 88 minutes into Game 2, this is about flushing away painful memories, both recent and enduring and being ready for what figures to be the hardest game of the series so far.
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'Right after the game there is frustration and the what ifs start going through your head a little bit,' said Leon Draisaitl. 'But the next day you move on. You have to. You have no choice. We have to get ready for Monday. We're looking to play our best game. We're comfortable playing our best on the road.'
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They'll have to. The Panthers are giving them all that they can handle, and then some, having dominated the second periods and taken a lead into the third periods in both games at Rogers Place. If it stands to reason that things will only get tougher now that the Panthers are at home, with last change and backed by a rabid, rat-infested crowd, it will be on Edmonton to find yet another level.
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Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard, for one, doesn't think it will be difficult at all to shake off the Game 2 loss and raise their game. In fact, returning to the scene of last year's final might actually help in that respect.
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'Having the experience from last year when were down 3-0, we didn't let it get to us,' said Bouchard. 'We stayed even keel and fought our way back.
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'We know what their building is like, we know how they like to play in their building. They have the last line change so it's less thinking for us, just go out there and play, let them do all the line matching. It's going to be important for us to play the way we want to play.'
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