To be the last team standing and win the Stanley Cup, you have to beat the best and Edmonton will get two more cracks this regular season at the 2022 Stanley Cup champs who ended their playoff run that year in a four-game sweep of the Western Conference Final.
“You’ve got to beat them. That’s the only way,” McDavid said. “Like you said, it’s been tight-checking games. They’ve been close games, five consecutive overtime games. We look back at the playoff series and they win, it’s a sweep, and they go on to win the cup. If you want to be considered better than them, you have to beat them. That’s just the way it is. So hopefully, we get that opportunity.”
Despite the defeat, the Oilers were high-spirited and focused during Monday’s practice at Rogers Place trying to close the gap between their regular-season and playoff form after their defensive details came up marginally short against the Avalanche on Saturday night.
The Oilers stay true to their practice habits whether it’s a win or a loss, and preparing to encounter the Canadiens on home ice on Tuesday night is no different despite the Habs finding themselves in a different stage of their evolution into a playoff contender.
“You don’t want losses to start to roll into the next game. It’s important that you get back at it, and I think it starts in practice. It really does,” McDavid said. “We’ve done a good job of working in practice when our game isn’t where it needs to be and working our way out of it, and I thought today, not to say that our game is in a bad place, but I thought today was good practice.
“The way you practice is important,” Hyman added. “You want to feel good in practice so when it’s a game, you’re ready to go and you’re feeling at your best. Any time after a loss, you want to make sure you get a good practice in and get ready for tomorrow.”