"I'm excited for the opportunity to get in the playoffs. It's not easy to get in, we've always said that," the Edmonton Oilers captain said Saturday. "It's a great opportunity, and that's all it is, and I think our group is excited for the challenge. I'm looking forward to getting things going."
The Oilers will get things going Monday when they host the Los Angeles Kings in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round (10 p.m. ET; ESPN, CBC, SN, TVAS, BSW). The series is a rematch from the first round last season, when the Oilers won in seven games after falling behind 3-2.
Ultimately, though, McDavid said that result doesn't mean anything.
"We definitely feel good about our game, but I don't think the past predicts the future," the Edmonton center said. "When the puck drops on Monday night, it will be a brand-new series. It'll be a fresh start for both sides, and we'll see what happens."
RELATED: [Complete Oilers vs. Kings series coverage]
The Oilers and Kings split the regular-season series (2-2-0), but Edmonton won the final two games, 2-0 at Rogers Place on March 30 and 3-1 at Crypto.com Arena on April 4. McDavid had three points (two goals, one assist) in the four games.
"I'm excited to see our team take its game to new heights," Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. "Obviously, being the captain of our team, Connor leads the way, but we're excited of the opportunity that is before us. We're quite aware of how strong a team Los Angeles is, and we're quite serious in our preparation. We want to make sure we leave everything out there beginning in Game 1."
Although the Oilers were the best offensive team in the NHL this season, with the League's best goals-per-game average (3.96) and power play (32.4 percent, the highest in NHL history), they showed in their two wins against the Kings that they could play a more defensive game, something McDavid said they expect to utilize in the playoffs.
"It's really important. I think it was good for us to show each other, more than anyone else, that we can play that game, we can win that way," McDavid said. "That being said, they were solid, too, last year in the playoffs, and I thought we did a good job doing that (playing defensive). We know the game to expect, they know what to expect from us. There is lots of familiarity there. There shouldn't be any surprises."
McDavid added that on top of that familiarity is a little animosity that developed during last season's series.
"I think anytime you play a team in the playoffs and it goes seven, all those types of things play a factor. Definitely the games were emotional for both sides, and I think this will be the same," he said. "I would think all four games, they're not saying, 'Let's open it up and make it easy on their top guys.' … But that being said, they can score goals too. They have some real good players, and we have to be hard on their top guys.
"It will be tight-checking, structured, all the things that we know about them. They're a real good team, they're solid, well coached. It's going to be a good test."
