EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — The Edmonton Oilers, exiting the playoffs early this season after two marathon runs to the Stanley Cup Final, were a dented and depleted team.
The 5-2 loss to Anahiem in Thursday’s Game 6 ended Edmonton’s season in the first round. The Oilers were outclassed and outworked by a Ducks team that won its first playoff series since 2017 with a roster that included a dozen players under the age of 25 and 14 who were making their NHL playoff debuts.
The Oilers lost to Florida in each of the last two Cup finals in series that lasted seven and six games, respectively. Some Oilers hinted at the beginning of this year’s playoffs that the regular season felt like a chore at times, and that they were relieved to start the postseason again with a shot at finishing the job and hoisting the Cup.
They didn’t get close.
“We’ve been searching for consistency all year and we didn’t find it here in the playoffs,” said captain Connor McDavid, who signed a short-term contract extension before the season. “It’s tough. We were an average team all year. An average team with high expectations, you’re going to be disappointed.”
McDavid’s ankle, Leon Draisaitl’s knee, Jason Dickinson’s lower-body injury and penalty-kill specialist Adam Henrique’s undisclosed series-ending injury in Game 1 weakened Edmonton up the middle. Draisaitl missed the last 14 games of the regular season.
McDavid and Draisaitl spent the last two games of the series as linemates instead of centring separate lines. They battled, but weren’t able to will their team into a higher gear.
“Too hurt too soon,” McDavid told The Canadian Press. “The first round is always tough. It’s always chaotic. It’s tough to play through things so early on, as many guys did in here. Credit to our staff for making guys available and making sure they were as comfortable as possible. That being said, it’s not an excuse either. We expected to have a longer run than we did.”
Draisaitl had three goals and seven assists in six games. McDavid, who was held off the scoresheet with the first two games of the series, finished with a goal and five assists.
Defense was Edmonton’s downfall, allowing 26 goals in six games. The penalty kill gave up eight goals on Anaheim’s 15 chances. Edmonton’s power play started 0-for-6 in the first two games before finishing 4-for-14.
“We struggled on the PK all year too. We’ve been searching for consistency there,” McDavid said. “The power-play could have been better to start the series.”
Edmonton’s offense compensated for a bottom-tier ranking in the NHL in goals-against in the regular season. A leaky defense was magnified in the playoffs. Edmonton scored the first goal in the first five games, yet won just two of them.
“Pretty much the story for most of the year. We just didn’t defend well enough,” coach Kris Knoblauch said. “You usually win or lose on your defensive play. It wasn’t good enough.”
Down 3-1 after the first period in Game 6, the Oilers had time but the Ducks turned a neutral-zone turnover by Evan Bouchard into an odd-man rush and a 4-1 lead before the end of the second period.
“As much as it hurts, I think they’re just a better team,” Draisaitl said.
Did the wear and tear of two long seasons factor into Edmonton’s earliest playoff exit in five years? Players weren't interested in discussing it.
“It’s not an excuse,” said forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. “We just didn’t get the job done.”
