How the Oilers are embracing their unusual Stanley Cup Final journey

EDMONTON — Prevailing wisdom suggests that momentum doesn’t carry over from game to game. Confidence, however, appears to be another thing entirely.

Led by Connor McDavid’s back-to-back four-point performances, the Edmonton Oilers are now in the thick of their matchup against the Florida Panthers. They not only extended the proceedings with a massive 8-1 beatdown in Game 4 but they then dragged the Panthers back to northern Alberta with a 5-3 win in Game 5.

With two more victories, the Oilers can complete an epic comeback from a 3-0 deficit and claim the Stanley Cup. And even though they’re still trailing in the series they feel like they’re almost in the driver’s seat with Game 6 in Edmonton.

“There’s no group that is more ready for the moment than this one here,” McDavid said.

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“We’ve enjoyed this whole process,” coach Kris Knoblauch said. “We’ve enjoyed just the fact that we’ve handled adversity all season — being (tied for last) in the NHL at one time to facing elimination games at difficult times through the playoffs.

“Right now, any extra time that we get to spend together, any extra game that we get to play, we feel very fortunate to do. We feel very fortunate to be in this Game 6 situation. But I know I’ve got a team full of guys who are hungry to make sure they get to play two more games and not just one.”

The Oilers have handled every test they’ve faced this season.

Making the playoffs felt like an ambitious goal after a 2-9-1 start that put them at the bottom of the standings alongside the lowly San Jose Sharks. But the Oilers won 26 of their first 32 games after Knoblauch took over en route to an NHL-best .703 points percentage through season’s end.

They lost the series opener against Vancouver in Round 2 and traded victories all the way up until Game 7 when they finally won two in a row. They were down 2-1 in the Western Conference final to Dallas, too. The start of the Cup Final sure didn’t go according to plan but the Oilers have battled back.

Why make things easy when the hard way is so much more satisfying?

“Look at the Vancouver series. We’re down 3-2 knowing we need to win two games. We go out; we win two games,” defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. “It’s nothing I can say that we’ve worked on or anything.

“It’s just a group that comes together and plays hard for each other and realize it’s going to be what it is, but we can’t control it at the moment. All we can control is the next game. Whether we do it or not, I feel like we’ve done a good job with that and not staying too fragile on that, letting things linger in a series.”

Added Knoblauch: “They’ve seen a lot of adversity, they’ve read it all and now they’re just playing hockey. You’ve heard a lot about the players talk about how they play their best with their backs against the wall. That puts a lot of pressure on teams.

“Sometimes you see a lot of players clamp up (and) not play their best because of that extra stress. Our guys have gone through it so many times. They’re just savoring the moment.”

To top it off, it feels like the Oilers haven’t quite peaked yet in this series. Though McDavid has gone off in the last two contests and has three goals and 11 points in five games, his running mate Leon Draisaitl has yet to score and has just two assists — both in Game 4.

“He’s been playing well,” Knoblauch said. “Has it been what it sometimes is and what it was against (the Kings in) the L.A. series or other times during the playoffs? Maybe not quite. But it’s still been pretty good.

“He’s been doing a lot of things for our team and just missing the goals and assists, and that a lot has to do with the luck factor.”

There’s no better time for Draisaitl’s luck to turn than Friday — the day of the biggest hockey game in Edmonton since Game 6 of the 2006 final. The Oilers, who were down 3-1 in that series, trounced the Hurricanes 4-0 to send the series back to Raleigh, N.C.

Goaltender Stuart Skinner was a 7-year-old cheering on his hometown Oilers back then. As a player, he has a different appreciation of the vibes around town.

“It’s very enjoyable in the city. For me, it’s just about enjoying it,” Skinner said. “It’s really hard to get into a situation like this, and being able to embrace this moment that you’ve worked so hard is really all you can do.”

All eyes will be on the Oilers, not only around Edmonton but from coast to coast to coast.

Should the Oilers extend the series with a victory, they’ll be the fifth Canadian team to play Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final since 1993. That, of course, is the last time a team from north of the border won the championship.

“The excitement’s high,” Knoblauch said. “Playing in that game where so many people are interested in what happens, we’re thrilled to be a part of that.

“We’re thrilled to be part of that last game being played in Canada. But we’ll also be very thrilled to be playing that last game, which is going to be a Game 7 — hopefully.”

The Oilers are ready for the challenge of making that happen. Check that, they’re relishing it.

“This has always been part of the plan for our group to be in a position like this, playing big games at home in big moments,” McDavid said.

(Photo of Connor McDavid and Stuart Skinner: Codie McLachlan / Getty Images)