EDMONTON – The path isn`t designed to be easy.
These teams required nine periods of hockey to settle the initial two matchups of the Stanley Cup Final. Following their 5-4 defeat in double overtime in Game 2, the Edmonton Oilers will need to leverage the considerable experience accumulated from 13 playoff series over the previous four seasons.
The contest for the Stanley Cup is now a best-of-five series. There’s no time to dwell on the outcome.
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch acknowledged, “There will be some disappointment.” He continued, “But we’ve maintained a mentality, regardless of the situation — whether it’s a poor game, a close one, overtime, heartbreaking, easy, whatever it may be — we move past it and get ready for the next challenge.”
“In the playoffs, you learn that things don’t consistently go your way. Sometimes circumstances work in your favour, and sometimes they don`t,” he noted.
With both opening games decided in overtime, either team could have easily been leading the series 2-0. However, a 1-1 deadlock as the series relocates to Florida accurately reflects the competitive balance seen throughout Games 1 and 2.
