Oilers shrug off 'what-ifs,' turn page after OT loss

SUNRISE, Fla. -- The Edmonton Oilers were 1 changeable distant from taking a 2-0 pb successful the Stanley Cup Final against Florida.

Instead, it was 1 changeable against them -- successful Friday's Game 2 double-overtime thriller -- that gave the Panthers a 5-4 triumph and evened the bid arsenic it shifts to the Sunshine State.

Taking the divided astatine location was a pugnacious pill to swallow for Edmonton. But the Oilers are determined not to dwell connected what could person been.

"Right aft the game, there's vexation and the what-ifs commencement going done your caput a small bit," Leon Draisaitl said pursuing the Oilers' signifier Sunday. "But the adjacent time you determination on. You person nary choice. We've got to get acceptable for [Game 3] tomorrow, coming successful here, looking to play our champion game."

The Cup Final has highlighted ascendant stretches for some sides -- making the margins for mistake wafer thin. Edmonton rallied to borderline Florida 4-3 successful Game 1 acknowledgment to Draisaitl's overtime marker, a melodramatic commencement to the rematch of past year's last that saw Florida down the Oilers successful 7 games. The uptick of strength successful Game 2 further cemented however choky the bid projects to beryllium from here.

Edmonton has learned from experience, carrying it implicit to assistance negociate the inevitable emotions that travel with vying for hockey's beatified grail.

"Especially astatine this point, the magnitude of the series, you conscionable get much comfy with [the emotions]" defenseman Darnell Nurse said. "There's going to beryllium highs and lows. There are 2 truly bully teams playing against each other. There's adjacent to zero accidental there's going to beryllium a sweep. So, you're going to look immoderate challenges astatine immoderate point. For america successful Game 2, losing successful treble OT, you were coming disconnected an affectional precocious [from Game 1], and past you deed an affectional low. But present we travel backmost and conscionable cognize the value of this Game 3 and playing hard."

Getting backmost connected the roadworthy tin help, too. Edmonton has dropped conscionable 1 crippled successful force territory implicit its past 2 playoff series. It's a small antithetic present being backmost successful Florida -- considering that's wherever Edmonton mislaid Game 7 of the Cup Final past twelvemonth -- but the Oilers expect to consciousness astatine location successful Sunrise.

"We've got a bully mentality connected the roadworthy -- sticking together, that's been a large one," guardant Connor Brown said. "Just the content successful our radical and a content successful 1 another, it's huge. It's the sanction of the crippled here, erstwhile you get heavy successful the playoffs, is uncovering that balancing enactment of not getting excessively precocious oregon low. It was an affectional triumph successful Game 1. Both teams person benignant of felt that."

Coach Kris Knoblauch got his squad unneurotic for Sunday's on-ice league knowing the Oilers' biggest names -- including Draisaitl and Connor McDavid -- would pb by illustration successful helping Edmonton crook the leafage to what's up successful their adjacent ace astatine the Panthers.

"I've seen it firsthand, nary substance wherever we are aft a large triumph oregon loss, they truly acceptable the code and a enactment mentality of 'This is business,'" Knoblauch said of the team's apical skaters. "Today was a small signifier day, astir a formality, but they're getting retired connected the crystal and there's repetition and drills and they're focused. Everyone knows what's astatine involvement close now, and it's thing to instrumentality lightly, [so] let's marque definite we get prepared for our adjacent game."

For Knoblauch, that included making a fewer lineup changes astatine practice. He mixed up the Oilers' defence pairings, putting Nurse with Evan Bouchard, Brett Kulak beside Jake Walman and Mattias Ekholm with John Klingberg. Edmonton was besides missing top-line guardant Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, whom Knoblauch characterized arsenic a "game-time decision" for Monday. Jeff Skinner skated successful Nugent-Hopkins spot with McDavid and Corey Perry.

"We're ever making adjustments and countering what the different squad is doing, [and assessing] who's playing well," Knoblauch said. "Our lines and D-pairs mightiness power up a small bit, whether it's successful the archetypal play oregon is aboriginal successful the game, immoderate it is. Our players are comfy with immoderate of the changes we bash marque conscionable due to the fact that of however overmuch we've fluctuated our lines and pairings each season."

Anything to summation an advantage. It has been a bid rapidly defined by precocious scores and small leeway. Edmonton isn't expecting overmuch to alteration successful Game 3 -- oregon beyond.

"You're not going to look precise galore teams wherever you're conscionable moving implicit them for 60 minutes," Draisaitl said. "Both games person been precise choky and gone the region and other [time], truthful you person 2 truly bully teams going astatine it. [We] person to enactment elaborate and cognize each those small bounces matter."