Haunted and inspired Edmonton Oilers facing their best shot at a Cup

Ottawa Citizen

2 days ago

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Listening to the Florida Panthers celebrate a Stanley Cup championship that came at the expense of the Edmonton Oilers was like an earache that lasted 11 months.
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'It's something you don't forget,' the Oilers defencemen said on the eve of their Stanley Cup Final rematch with the Florida Panthers. 'It's something you thought about all summer and something you think about all year to get back to this point to give ourselves another chance.
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'We still have that feeling from last year and don't want it to happen again.'
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Another shot at the Panthers is all they could ask for and now it's here. What they do with it is going to play out over the next couple of weeks, but one thing the Oilers know for certain is that they are a very different team than the one that came up short in Game 7 a year ago.
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'There is definitely a different feel within the group,' said defenceman Darnell Nurse. 'Our group is in a different mindset going into this one.'
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They have more experience than last year. They have the added motivation of losing last year. They are healthier than they were last year. And they're 12-2 in their last 14 games.
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This might be as ready as they are ever going to be.
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'All of our energy is going into beating the Florida Panthers, there should be nothing else on anyone's mind,' said Oilers captain Connor McDavid, well aware that the Panthers are a legitimate super power.
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'They're the champs, this is their third final in three years. They're a great team. You can't say enough good things. It's going to be a great challenge.'
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For Edmonton, the road to this point has also been much smoother than last year when they needed seven games to get past Vancouver and were badly outplayed in the conference final clinching game against Dallas.
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This time they're well-rested and coming in hot after winning the last four games against Los Angeles and taking Vegas and Dallas out in five games each. That's going to count for something.
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'The mental stress of battling blow-for-blow in a series, we didn't have much of that,' said Evander Kane. 'That helps a team when you don't go seven games at all through the first three rounds.