Oilers’ McDavid on Stanley Cup Final loss: ‘Banging our head against the wall’

The Edmonton Oilers are on the wrong side of hockey history – again.

The Oilers forced Game 7 a year ago against the Florida Panthers, but couldn’t go that far in the rematch this time around. The Panthers won Game 6 on Tuesday evening in Sunrise, beating the Oilers 5-1 off the heels of a four-goal night from Sam Reinhart.

Talking to the media after the game, Oilers captain Connor McDavid was quick to give credit to the Panthers’ squad, which has now played in three Stanley Cup Finals, winning two of them.

“We lost to a really good team. Nobody quit, nobody threw the towel in,” McDavid said. “They’re a heck of a team. You know, the Stanley Cup champions back to back for a reason.”

The Panthers scored twice in the first period, and once in the second period to put the game away. Vasily Podkolzin would score the lone goal for the Oilers, while Sam Reinhart had the night of his life with four goals.

“Their forecheck was great. They tilted the rink,” McDavid said. “They were able to kind of stay on top of us all over the place. Never really able to generate any momentum up the ice. We kept fucking trying the same thing over and over again, just banging our heads against the wall. So credit to them.

“We kept on saying we want to try to win a 2-1 game. Never found a way to do that, obviously,” McDavid added. “They got great players. How many guys had 20-plus points in their postseason? They’re as deep as it comes.”

McDavid finished the Stanley Cup Final tied with Leon Draisaitl for first in playoff scoring with 33 points each. Of that, McDavid had just seven goals, with one coming in the Cup Final. Sam Bennett would go on to win the Conn Smythe after leading the playoffs with 15 goals.

“I don’t think people thought we were gonna make it this far,” McDavid said. “We obviously believed. We just came up just a bit short again.” 

SPONSORED BY bet365