There’s no linear path to winning the Stanley Cup. Losses are inevitable, meaning that, from time to time, your team won’t have a good performance. If you’ve experienced an Edmonton Oilers playoff run before, you’ll know all about this. 

They were 2-0 down to L.A. last year, 3-2 down to Vancouver the year before, and even 2-1 down to the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final in 2024. What do they all have in common? Edmonton won all of those series. 

Edmonton is tied with the Anaheim Ducks heading into Game 3 Friday night in Southern California. Wednesday night’s 6-4 loss was an underwhelming performance by the Oilers. Passes weren’t connecting consistently, the goaltending wasn’t great, and we still haven’t seen a point from the best player in the world, Connor McDavid.

Still, the series is tied at one, which isn’t an uncommon theme in Oil Country. During the McDavid era, Edmonton hasn’t even held a 2-0 series when they have had home-ice advantage. Anaheim, Florida, L.A., Winnipeg, Chicago, and San Jose all left Rogers Place with a victory under their belts.

The good news is that the Oilers still won the majority of those series. 

We are all riding the playoff wave right now, but it is surprising that we’ve already arrived at the Kris Knoblauch is being outcoached narrative. 

It’s 1-1. That’s it.

Ironically, it’s the special teams that are letting down Edmonton the most, especially the power play. The man advantage was the only part of the Oilers’ game that was consistent throughout the........

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