McDavid says he's looking forward to proving Oilers doubters wrong again

The Edmonton Oilers are down 2-0 to the Florida Panthers after falling 4-1 tonight, but they don’t seem to be panicking just yet.

The Oilers have proven their resilience as they overcame a 2-9-1 start in the regular season to get to where they are now. They had many doubters at that time, and do once again, something which Connor McDavid seems to be relishing.

“It’s supposed to be hard, it’s supposed to be difficult,” McDavid told reporters postgame. “I’m excited to see what our group is made of, I’m excited our group to come together, and I’m excited to see us fight through adversity. I’m looking forward to people doubting us again.”

It’s no secret that the Oilers’ biggest issue in this series has been their lack of offence, as they have managed just one goal through the first two games. Head coach Kris Knoblauch believes things aren’t as dire as they seem on that front, mentioning that his team hit three posts tonight, and expects those bounces to go the Oilers’ way soon.

“I think we feel that we came here, we played well enough that we should’ve had a split,” Knoblauch said. “That doesn’t always happen. We just have to take it one game at a time. I don’t see any reason to panic or do anything drastic. We win one of these, which I think we were capable of doing, we’re really happy. I don’t want to get too caught up in ‘We’re down 2-0, and we’re in a whole lot of trouble.'”

Knoblauch also mentioned that he feels his top players have played well despite their lack of stats. Leon Draisaitl didn’t seem to share those same feelings, admitting that he has been far from his best.

“I can only speak for myself. I certainly have a lot more to give,” Draisaitl said. “Not my best tonight, obviously I’m owning that. Gotta regroup and make sure it’ll be better in Game 3.”

This game had plenty of physicality throughout, and could see some key players from both sides miss Game 3. Darnell Nurse was injured on a first-period hit from Evan Rodrigues, and played only a few shifts for the remainder of the game. Knoblauch didn’t have an update on him when speaking with reporters.

It’s been a rough night for Darnell Nurse.

🎥: Sportsnet | NHL pic.twitter.com/FwbnktsiGA

— Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) June 11, 2024

For the Panthers, they could be without Aleksander Barkov, who was forced to go down the tunnel in the third after taking a high hit from Draisaitl.

Cats head to the PP after this hit from Leon on Barkov pic.twitter.com/c7SS6nIQ54

— Spittin’ Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) June 11, 2024

It could be a bit of time before we get official updates on either, as these teams will have two days off before Game 3 in Edmonton. Puck drop in that one is set for 6 pm MT.

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