BLOG: Oilers looking to avenge 2023 defeat to Golden Knights in Round 2
“That one stuck with us going into last year and now we’ve got a chance at revenge.” Janmark said
EDMONTON, AB – Looking for a little bit of revenge.
In what will be their second-ever meeting in the postseason, the Edmonton Oilers will face their Pacific Division rivals the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second time in three years.
And this time, it’s personal.
The last time these two teams met was during the 2023 playoffs, where the Golden Knights eliminated the Oilers in six games before going on to win their franchise’s first Stanley Cup – the second of three straight losses for the Blue & Orange to the eventual NHL champions (Colorado, Vegas and Florida).
Those who were on Edmonton’s roster during that series in 2023 feel strongly that they were the architects of their own demise, and there’s still some sour feelings on how it all played out after the Oilers and Golden Knights each earned a road victory to split the first four games.
“I think we were playing really good at the time,” said forward Mattias Janmark, who played two seasons in Vegas. “It felt like we had something really good going and we kind of let it slip out of our hands with some self-inflicted wounds, and they’re a good team over there and they ended up winning.
“That one stuck with us going into last year and now we’ve got a chance at revenge.”
In Game 5 at T-Mobile Arena, the Oilers scored two power-play goals to take a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes before the Golden Knights struck three times in a 1:29 span of the second period to ultimately take the series lead and push Edmonton to the brink with a 4-3 win.
With Edmonton leading 2-1 again at home in Game 6, Jonathan Marchessault’s natural hat trick in the second period of an eventual 5-2 loss wound up sealing their fate in the Second Round. Vegas didn’t look back the rest of the way, beating the Dallas Stars in the Conference Final and the Florida Panthers to win their first Stanley Cup.
For most players in the Oilers dressing room, another meeting with Vegas in the Second Round is a chance at redemption, while the others who joined the club over the last seasons feel they’ll be able to use their teammate’s history as extra fuel to help bring about a different result this postseason.
“I think it becomes a little chip on your shoulder playing against a team that knocked a lot of these guys out a few years ago, and I’m sure that’s at the top of their minds,” Connor Brown said. “For us, it’s another team in the way, so we’ll be prepared.”
“It always comes back around to those sorts of things, and you see them year after year and hear different stories with different teams,” Adam Henrique said. “I wasn’t here, but certainly, you watch and see those things that happen, and that kind of gets that extra emotion going early on.
“There’s a little bit of history there and it’s going to add to the storyline of the entire series.”
The Oilers earned themselves a few extra days between series to rest, recuperate and get ready for a fresh but familiar challenge against the Golden Knights after dispatching the Kings in the First Round for the fourth straight season by beating them in six games.
In terms of what they can expect in Round 2, the Oilers are preparing for an entirely new opponent that will present a brand new challenge tactically than what Los Angeles threw at them over a hard-fought series where they found the winning formula to string together four straight wins after falling behind 2-0.
“I know they play their D zone different. The neutral zone is different. So these first couple games, it’s important to understand where they can be exploited and where we need to improve,” Brown said. “Just like we did last year, we need to get better every single game and continue to improve. The series isn’t going to be won and lost in that first game, but there can be a lot to learn there, so it’s important to have a good start.”
The Golden Knights pose much bigger offensive threat than the Kings across their four forward lines – specifically on the rush – that will force the Oilers into adapting their game. Their defence is a lot more active going up the ice too, while their blueline holds plenty of stopping power in their own zone.
Tomas Hertl and Jack Eichel lead the Golden Knights offensively in the playoffs with six points in five games apiece, and three of their blueliners in Shea Theodore, Alex Pietrangelo, Noah Hanifin and Brayden McNabb have all pitched in with at least three points.
“They have a lot of skill off the rush, they score a lot of goals off the rush, and they have a high powered offence,” Brown added. “Their D jump into the play and they also defend well in their own zone. It’s tough to get to the net. I think those two things – getting to the net and making sure we’re not giving up odd-man rushes [will be important].”
“They’re a great rush team. They got a lot of offensive skill,” Henrique added. “You’ve got to be tight. You can’t give them that inch. So systems wise, getting LA four years in a row and the way they play the game, it’s going to a different team now that plays a different style. You’ve got to be up to the challenge. They got a lot of firepower over there from top to bottom and on the back end too, so it’s going to be a fun series.”
Connor speaks after Saturday’s Oilers practice at Rogers Place
Head Coach Kris Knoblauch wasn’t behind the Oilers bench either in 2023, but feels confident in saying that this year’s meeting won’t pose too many differences due to the fact that the cores of each team remain mostly intact.
“I guess the biggest pieces from each team are still here, so I think there are some similarities,” Knoblauch said. “Of course, there’s been some change. A lot of time has passed, but I think there’s some things that we can take from it – whether it was line matchups, who did well, who didn’t and what they were looking to do. Their systems are very similar, so there’s some things that we want to look at, but I think there’s been a lot of time that’s passed. There may be a little bit of information that’s relevant to going forward, but most of it, I think is ust noise.”
Knoblauch said the despite the little break the Oilers have between series, there’s never enough time to get fully prepared, so they’ll be relying on what they know and what’s immediately in front them in Game 1 as they try to feel out their Pacific rivals to get the early advantage.
“From the end of the LA series to the next one, there’s not enough time and I think we move on to Vegas as quickly as possible,” he said. “We look at what Vegas is – what type of team they are, what their systems are and things that we have to be aware of – and there are weaknesses they have that we can try and exploit or take advantage of. It doesn’t feel like that we have enough time to do that.
“There’s a lot of factors, but I think the best thing is for us is to review and look back on the LA series, but we were doing that last two weeks during when those games were being played, I said after my last post-game that LA ‘s systems compared to Vegas are drastically different in the way they play, so I think a lot of what we need is moving forward is just kind of get prepared for Vegas.”
