The Edmonton Oilers wrapped up another season with heartbreak after falling 5-1 in Tuesday’s season-ending loss, marking their second consecutive Stanley Cup Final defeat.
Head coach Kris Knoblauch didn’t try to find positives in the loss.
“There’s no silver lining to this. It’s still heart-wrenching. It’s very difficult to handle right now,” Knoblauch told reporters after the game. “Just because we were maybe the underdogs going into the L.A. series, underdogs against Vegas, Dallas series – it hurts right now and I don’t think it’s going to let up for a while.”
The Oilers entered the playoffs as longshots after struggling with a 16-14-1 record from February through the regular season’s end.
Injuries plagued the team down the stretch.
Leon Draisaitl missed Edmonton’s final seven regular season games and said the pain hasn’t lessened from last year’s Cup Final loss.
“It always hurts,” he said. “Not more or less, it’s just the same.”
When reporters asked about takeaways from the series, Draisaitl kept his answer simple.
“The takeaway is that we didn’t win,” he said. “Nobody cares, nobody cares. We didn’t win. Try again next year.”
Goaltender Stuart Skinner expressed frustration with the repeat result.
“We need to learn from this right away, right now. Letting it happen two times in a row is devastating.”
The Oilers join rare company with back-to-back Cup Final losses. Only three teams since 1968 have reached consecutive Finals without winning either – the St. Louis Blues (1968-70), Boston Bruins (1977-78), and now Edmonton.
The franchise now faces another offseason of questions about how to get over the final hurdle.
