"We don't care": Draisaitl not worried about Oilers' record against Canucks
As the Edmonton Oilers prepare for their second-round series against the Vancouver Canucks, one thing has become clear: they are not worried about how the regular season went between these two teams.
It was a season where the Canucks went undefeated against the Oilers, winning all four games and outscoring Edmonton by a healthy 21-7 margin. It’s been brought up by local media each day since the playoff matchup was confirmed last week, but it’s not something that is bothering Leon Draisaitl and the rest of the Oilers.
“I don’t know how much more we need to talk about this,” Draisaitl told reporters with an exasperated smile after practice this morning. “We’re going into round two of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, we don’t care what happened in the regular season and I betcha they don’t either.
“We’re a different team now. Like I said, it’s going to be tight-checking, two really good teams going at it.”
"This time of the year, rest is good, but I think we're all excited to get going."
Leon speaks following Monday's #Oilers practice as the team continues to prepare for Wednesday's Game 1 in Vancouver.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/A5DdmxBdYk
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) May 6, 2024
Draisaitl isn’t wrong in his assessment that the Oilers are a much different team than their record against the Canucks this season shows. Three of those four losses came at the beginning of the year while Jay Woodcroft was still behind the Oilers bench as head coach.
Since Kris Knoblauch was hired as the team’s new head coach, Edmonton has become one of the best teams in the entire league. The loss that came late in the season to the Canucks was against an Oilers team that didn’t have Connor McDavid in the lineup.
You would think getting another crack at the Canucks might give the team some added motivation but, in Draisaitl’s mind, the team doesn’t need any more motivation to get them through this series.
“We don’t need any extra motivation right now,” Draisaitl said. “We’re going to change things, we’ll be better, and it should be a good series.”
Defenceman Vincent Desharnais also chatted with the media after this morning’s skate. He echoed Draisaitl’s sentiment about not dwelling on how the team fared against the Canucks throughout the season.
“The first three games were like six, seven months ago,” Desharnais said. “We’re a different team and, at the end of the day, whatever happened in the regular season doesn’t mean anything… the most important part is the first game on Wednesday and the rest doesn’t matter.”
"I'm more comfortable, more confident. I don't think as much, I just play hockey."
Vinny talks about his second stint in the Stanley Cup Playoffs after making his #Oilers post-season debut last year.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/eRzKabZcSM
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) May 6, 2024
The narrative of the Canucks having the Oilers’ number this season will persist until Edmonton does something to buck that trend. They showed the hockey world that they are comfortable in all sorts of situations in the first round against the Kings and they will have to keep that going in the second round if they want continued success.
It all gets started on Wednesday night.
Follow Channels and Categories