The Edmonton Oilers can be forgiven for holding their cards much closer to their chests this year — they’re in Las Vegas, a place of broken dreams and sleepless nights.
The Oilers open their second-round, best-of-seven NHL playoff series tonight at T-Mobile Arena against the Golden Knights, the second time in three seasons they’re facing each other in the second round.
Vegas won the 2023 series in six games en route to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup championship.
The Knights, with veteran Bruce Cassidy behind the bench, finished first in the Pacific Division this season with 50 wins and 110 points.
After losing the first two games of the series to the Los Angeles Kings, the Edmonton Oilers won the next four in a row. The team is moving on to the second round after getting every win with backup Calvin Pickard in net. Travis McEwan breaks down Game 6.
The Oilers, with bench boss Kris Knoblauch, ended up third with 48 wins and 101 points.
The Knights knocked off the wild-card Minnesota Wild in six games in the first round, while the Oilers dispatched the Los Angeles Kings, also in six games.
This will be the fifth appearance in the second round for the eight-year-old Knights franchise. They understand why their instant success can be polarizing and annoying, and why they are a favourite target for so many NHL rivals.
Oilers star captain Connor McDavid said his team has learned from its past failures, and remembers the bitter taste of losing in 2023 to Vegas after tying the series 2-2.
McDavid and Leon Draisaitl believe they have a deeper, hungrier and more experienced team for this year’s playoff rematch, and Cassidy knows he’ll have to pay extra attention to the “MVPs of the league” to get past the Oilers again.
Game 2 in the series is Thursday in Vegas. Games 3 and 4 are in Edmonton on Saturday and Monday.