Superstar Connor McDavid believes the Edmonton Oilers’ 3-0 loss to the Florida Panthers on Saturday may have been due in part to some karma.
“Maybe it was the hockey gods getting us back for that Game 6 where we probably didn’t deserve to win,” McDavid quipped.
The Oilers won Game 6 against the Dallas Stars 2-1 with only 10 shots on goal to advance to the Stanley Cup Final. Stuart Skinner made 33 saves in that contest.
Edmonton dropped Game 1 of the final on Saturday despite outshooting the Panthers 32-18.
“Tonight, maybe we deserved at least one goal or maybe two goals, and we don’t find a way to get them,” McDavid said. “This group will stick with it, bounce back. That’s what we take a lot of pride in doing. We’ll gear up for a big one on Monday.”
Zach Hyman believes the Oilers will be just fine if they continue to play like they did in Game 1.
“We had our looks. I thought we played pretty well, overall,” Hyman said. “(Sergei Bobrovsky’s) a good goalie over there. He made some good saves. But I liked our game.”
Hyman added: “I think we’re right there. We’re very confident in our group, we’ve been in positions like this before. They’re a good team. We’re a really good team.”
The Oilers had 18 high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick, more than double Florida’s six. It’s only the third time the Panthers have been outshot this postseason.
Game 2 is Monday at 8 p.m. ET.
