LOS ANGELES, CA - Fresh off Saturday's elimination of the Los Angeles Kings, the sights of the Edmonton Oilers are already set on the Vegas Golden Knights.
As satisfying as it was to knock out their rivals in Los Angeles for a second straight year, the team and the coaching staff knows the work has only just begun.
"You enjoy it for a little bit, and then your mind gets going towards the next series and preparing for a really good Vegas Golden Knights team that finished first in the conference for a reason. So, our preparations have already begun," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said on Sunday before the team travelled to La Vegas in the afternoon.
The Oilers have a daunting task to overcome and continue their run towards hockey's holy grail. Vegas finished the NHL regular season with a 51-22-9 record and a Western Conference-leading 111 points. The Golden Knights are also fresh off of dispatching the Winnipeg Jets in just five games, winning the last four games of the series and scoring at least four goals in every one of those contests.
The Sin City squad also poses a much different challenge than the rigidly-structured 1-3-1 neutral-zone forecheck that the Oilers just faced in Los Angeles.
"I think they're a big difference actually," Woodcroft said. "Different styles, different challenges, different problems that they present and they seem to be firing on all cylinders. It's going to be a tall task but we're up to it."
BLOG: Preparation begins for the Golden Knights
Following Saturday's elimination of the Kings, the Oilers have began preparations for taking on the Pacific Division-winning Golden Knights
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