Oilers hope to turn tables on Canucks in Western 2nd Round

EDMONTON -- Connor McDavid said he expects the Vancouver Canucks to present a different kind of challenge to the Edmonton Oilers in the best-of-7 Western Conference Second Round.

The Canucks' defensive system varies from what the Oilers saw against the Los Angeles Kings in the first round, which Edmonton won in five games. Vancouver advanced to the second round Friday after eliminating the Nashville Predators in six games.

“Yeah they do, definitely,” the Oilers captain said Saturday when asked to compare the two. “L.A. is more man-on-man, they (Vancouver) are a little more zone, they pack it in pretty tight. We have to find a way to generate against that. They have some big D-men that don’t go too far from the net, so we have to find a way to generate some offense.”

The dates and times for the second-round series are to be determined.

Edmonton finished five points behind Vancouver for first place in the Pacific Division this season and struggled in the season series, losing all four games by a combined 21-7.

The Oilers opened the season with an 8-1 loss at the Canucks on Oct. 11, then lost the second game of a back-to-back 4-3 in Edmonton three days later. The Oilers lost 6-2 at Vancouver on Nov. 6 and were defeated 3-1 at home on April 13 without McDavid, who was sidelined with a lower-body injury.

McDavid pointed to the Colorado Avalanche five-game first-round series win against the Winnipeg Jets as evidence regular-season results don't always translate to the postseason.

“The Winnipeg series, Winnipeg beat up on Colorado all year long (the Jets won all three regular-season games by a combined 17-4) and it’s obviously different hockey in the playoffs,” McDavid said. “Not saying it doesn’t count for anything, they played really well throughout the course of the year and beat us, but we don’t carry much stock going into it.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge, they’re a great team and we’re a good team, it’ll be a good series and I’m looking forward to seeing them.”

Edmonton and Vancouver have met twice previously in the playoffs, but not since 1992. The Oilers swept the Canucks in the best-of-5 first round in 1986 and won in six games in the best-of-7 Smythe Division Semifinals in 1992.

“It’ll be exciting, it’ll be a similar feeling to the Calgary series, the Battle of Alberta,” McDavid said, in reference to the 2022 Second Round against the Calgary Flames. “The fans were really into it, two excited buildings, Canadian cities. I would expect it to be pretty similar to that. It’s a new challenge and I’m looking forward to that.”

Vancouver led the Pacific Division for most of the season and finished with its best record (50-23-9) since 2011-12 (51-22-9). Edmonton struggled at the beginning of the season and dropped into a tie for last in the overall standings with a 2-9-1 start.

The Oilers fired coach Jay Woodcroft and assistant Dave Manson on Nov. 12 with a 3-9-1 record and replaced them with Kris Knoblauch and Hall of Fame defenseman Paul Coffey. respectively. Edmonton went 46-18-5 with Knoblauch and Coffey and finished second in the Pacific (49-27-6).

“I think adversity helps throughout the year and we experienced it early," Oilers forward Zach Hyman said, "where we were at the point where the season was almost on the line less than 15 games in, which is unusual. That definitely helps in a sense that you just have to play with a sense of urgency throughout the year and learn to be comfortable in pressure situations when everyone has counted you out in a way.

“I think we’re really confident in our group, we love playing for each other, we have a great sense of belief in the locker room and confidence. I think that all comes from what you do throughout the season as you build your team and adversity helped us build through that.”

The Oilers players says they don't believe the Canucks have seen their best game.

“I hope not, otherwise we’ll be out in four, I guess,” Edmonton defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. “I hope we haven’t show them our best, I think that’s to come. It’s going to be a fun series, with two Canadian teams and we have a couple of days to rest here, which is nice for the group that we can regroup after the first round and come back with a good mindset.”

In a sense, going back to Vancouver to start the second round is a do-over for the Oilers, who went into the regular season with high expectations but started it in the worst possible way.

“Do we have something to prove? Absolutely, they beat us every single time,” Ekholm said. “It’s going to be a great challenge for us, but I think we are a little bit of a different team than we were in the first couple of matches we had against them.”

Knoblauch was not around for the first three games against the Canucks but is keenly aware of the challenge that awaits. Vancouver gave up 12 goals in six games in its first-round win against Nashville.

“We have to step up our game to beat them,” Knoblauch said. “They have a lot of strengths, a lot of guys who can score goals, but I think the one thing they don’t get enough credit for is how well they check and how hard it’s going to be for our forwards to score goals.”