Oilers have a chance to end longstanding Game 1 curse tonight
The Edmonton Oilers have a chance to exorcise some playoff demons in tonight’s Game 1 series opener against the LA Kings.
Despite making the playoffs for five straight seasons and winning three playoff series along the way, the Oilers have not won an opening game of an NHL playoff series since the second round of the 2017 playoffs against the Anaheim Ducks.
It was a game in which former Oilers defenceman Adam Larsson scored two goals to help the team defeat the Ducks by a score of 5-3.
“I wouldn’t call it a curse,” Connor McDavid told media this morning. “The last time we won a Game 1 of a series, we lost the series.
“It’s a long series, you want to get out to a good start. Obviously, we would like to do that here tonight.”
Before that, you have to go back to the team’s 2006 playoff run, during which they lost three of the four Game 1s they appeared in, with the only win coming in the Western Conference Finals against the Anaheim Ducks.
That isn’t to say that they haven’t come close. They lost to the Kings in OT in Game 1 in last year’s opening-round series after blowing a 3-1 lead in the third period and losing off an Alex Iafallo slot shot.
GAME ONE BELONGS TO THE KINGS! 👑
Alex Iafallo scores the @SUBWAYCanada OT winner to give the Kings their first win of the #StanleyCup Playoffs. pic.twitter.com/4ty8bszJgH
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 18, 2023
Darnell Nurse was also part of that 2017 team that took Game 1 against the Ducks. He told Daily Hive this morning that breaking that slump is something they want to do, but they won’t be dwelling on it too much.
“It’s definitely a focus,” Nurse said. “It’s a delicate line because you don’t want to be so focused on the fact that you need to have a first-game win. I think we need to just naturally play our game and let it come to us.”
Maturity is a word that was thrown around a lot in the dressing room this morning. This is an Oilers team that feels like they have learned enough lessons from previous years and are ready to turn their hardships into victories.
Head coach Kris Knoblauch wasn’t here for the previous two postseason runs, but he can tell that the team is taking notes from the past two seasons.
“Wanting to win and doing the right things,” Knoblauch described his team’s attitude. “I know that there’s been some frustration in the past, feeling like they can win it all and they’ve gone through some ups and downs, and I think it’s made them stronger.”
The trend of this year’s playoffs has been home teams winning the first game of the series. Not a single visiting team has been able to steal the opening game of a first-round series this time around.
Edmonton will try to continue that trend as Game 1 of their series against the Kings gets underway tonight at Rogers Place at 8 pm MT.
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