"A buzz in the air": McDavid speaks before Oilers-Canucks Game 7
It all comes down to this for the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks.
By night’s end, one of those teams will fly to Texas to take on the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Finals while the other will clean out their locker stalls for the year.
It was only fitting that this series would go to Game 7 and now the opportunity is there for the taking for Connor McDavid and the Oilers. The Edmonton captain met with the media in Vancouver earlier today after morning skate.
He looked more excited about the game than nervous.
“It’s an exciting game, exciting day, it’s not every day you get to play in a Game 7,” the Oilers captain told a scrum of reporters. “Feels a lot like a regular game day, obviously there’s definitely a little bit of a buzz in the air.”
"Knowing what it means to both fan bases, knowing what it means to the country, it’s exciting."
McDavid speaks ahead of tonight’s Game 7 in Vancouver.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/fyqDfX8Yse
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) May 20, 2024
The last time two Canadian teams played a Game 7 against each other was back in 2021 when the Montreal Canadiens knocked off the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round. The last time two Canadian teams played a Game 7 in front of a full arena was back in 2004.
An entire country will be tuned in tonight to watch McDavid’s Oilers play what might be the most important game of their careers to date. It’s something the Oilers captain is excited about and understands the significance of.
“It’s something you dream about,” McDavid said. “Knowing what it means to both fanbases, knowing what it means to the country, it’s exciting.”
McDavid has played in two previous Game 7s in his career and has a 1-1 record in these types of games. He lost the first one to the Anaheim Ducks back in the second round of the 2017 playoffs and then found a way to win against the LA Kings in the first round of the 2022 playoffs.
This experience is an asset as he tries to gain a winning record in Game 7 tonight.
“It’s good to have played in a couple of Game 7s,” McDavid said. “It’s exciting, there is going to be that excitement, that anticipation is going to be there so looking forward to getting going.”
It appears the Oilers will be running the same lineup that got them that huge 5-1 victory in Game 6 on Saturday night. Stuart Skinner is the man expected between the pipes for Edmonton.
The Canucks, on the other hand, have made a few changes to their lineup. Leading scorer Brock B0eser will miss the game with blood clotting issues and Vancouver head coach Rick Tocchet will insert two new players into his forward group.
Game 7 is set to start at 7 pm MT tonight.