How 2023 playoff loss to Vegas made Oilers ‘battle-tested' Stanley Cup contender

New York Times

05-05-2025

EDMONTON — Connor McDavid was already shifting his focus to his team's next task moments after the Edmonton Oilers knocked off the Los Angeles Kings for a fourth year in a row.
That next task is facing the Pacific Division's top seed, the Vegas Golden Knights, for the second time in three years.
'We've got our work cut out for us, but we'll be ready to roll,' McDavid said after a 6-4 victory in Game 6.
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McDavid and the Oilers feel good about their chances because of the loss they endured at the hands of the Golden Knights in the 2023 second round.
While there's certainly motivation to exact some revenge, that hunger isn't why the Oilers believe they're in a better place to beat the Golden Knights. Instead, it's the way they lost in 2023 that gives the Oilers a sense of confidence going into this matchup. Dropping that series changed the course and the makeup of the team.
'It's brought (out) a fire in us,' winger Mattias Janmark said.
'We're better equipped to handle any team,' winger Zach Hyman said. 'We're a more battle-tested group.'
The Oilers didn't think the Golden Knights were the superior team two years ago. In fact, they've maintained that they gave away that series to the eventual Stanley Cup champions.
'We made more mistakes than they did,' Janmark said. 'We put ourselves in positions where we made mistakes. They were a little more calm and a little more opportunistic in that series.'
That was apparent in the way things concluded. It was all square heading back to Las Vegas for Game 5, and the Oilers were ahead by a goal just past the midway point of the second period. With the Golden Knights on a power play, Janmark took a careless high-sticking penalty in the neutral zone to hand Vegas a five-on-three. The Oilers surrendered two goals while short-handed and then quickly gave up another one.
All told, the Golden Knights scored three times in 1:29. The Oilers also coughed up a lead at home in Game 6.
'Any time you're right there, you look at what could have gone differently,' Hyman said. 'It could have gone our way, but it didn't. A lot of it was self-inflicted.'
'It's difficult any time you lose in the playoffs, especially when you feel like you had a good team,' McDavid said Sunday. 'We felt like we had a good team then.'
The entire organization was gutted after being eliminated. Then-GM Ken Holland addressed the players after the game with a clear message. He wanted the players to soak in the gut-wrenching defeat, realize how close they were and try to realize what it takes to win.
The message was received.
The Oilers lacked cap space heading into the offseason but had room for minimal free-agent spending. McDavid met with Connor Brown to give him the sales pitch before Brown signed a one-year, bonus-laden deal after missing most of that season with a knee injury.
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'I remember when I first met with Connor, and he spoke about it,' Brown said. 'I could see it in his eyes that it stung. They felt like they could have won that series, and they could have won (the Stanley Cup) that year.'
And so a new course was charted.
But not all the best-laid plans worked out.
McDavid called all the players back to Edmonton a week earlier than usual for pre-camp captain's skates, and top-pairing defenceman Mattias Ekholm and third-line centre Ryan McLeod picked up injuries that kept them out of the exhibition schedule. Ekholm missed the season opener as well, an 8-1 shellacking in Vancouver.
Meanwhile, as a direct result of losing to Vegas, coach Jay Woodcroft opted to implement more of a zone defence compared to the man-to-man system. The Oilers struggled to adapt to the new strategies and started 3-9-1. Woodcroft and assistant coach Dave Manson were fired.
'It wasn't a dream start or anything like that,' Hyman said. 'Every year that you lose and come close, you gain experience. With experience, you understand what it takes to win and how slim the margins are in the playoffs.'
For all those tweaks — both the intention of being devoted to the cause and the structural on-ice alterations — the most important takeaway from the Vegas loss was a new mindset.
Ekholm was one of the newest members of the team, acquired just before the trade deadline, when the Oilers bowed out to the Golden Knights. But he was a veteran and one of three players, alongside Janmark and Brett Kulak, who'd appeared in a Stanley Cup Final.
He'd been harping on the need for the group to get more comfortable defending and to manage surviving onslaughts from opponents. That message hit harder after that series.
'You have to learn from your failures, and that was one of them,' McDavid said.
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The Oilers worked on that last season, and it became a calling card of their run to Game 7 of the Cup Final last June.
'We learned that every shift matters,' Hyman said. 'You don't know what play is going to be the defining moment in the game or the series. As you get older, you learn.'
Their first-round series against the Kings was far from perfect.
They trailed 2-0 and could have easily been swept or down 3-1 through four games. But they never let Game 3 or 4 get out of hand. Their comebacks in those two contests not only evened the matchup but propelled them forward to close out the series even when they weren't at their top form.
'This team's been on the brink,' Brown said. 'Even last game, there were times where we were missing assignments down the stretch that we normally wouldn't miss. But we're doing it less and less and less and less.
'It's one thing to do it in Game 50 (of the regular season). But to be able to clear the mind and make sure that you're composed in the big moments, that's where winners are made.'
The Golden Knights present a stiffer test, and the Oilers are still missing Ekholm. He sat out the first-round series with a lower-body injury and has been ruled out for Round 2.
Still, they feel they're better equipped to handle the Golden Knights because of how much that loss a couple of years ago has changed them.
'Lessons learned along the way,' McDavid said. 'Hopefully, we can use them moving forward in this series.'
'This team has the ability, and it's going to come down to little plays, little moments,' Brown said. 'This team has battled itself into good spots over the years to earn the experience to break through.'
(Top photo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl: Harry How / Getty Images)