Connor McDavid stood along the boards and waited for his teammates.
The Oilers had given everything in the Stanley Cup final.
McDavid rewrote the NHL’s playoff record book with a jaw-dropping performance as part of a memorable post-season run that ultimately ended in Florida’s sweltering heat inside Amerant Bank Arena.
The gutsy effort — Edmonton forced Game 7 with a trio of victories after trailing the title series 3-0 — wasn’t enough.
Wiser and more balanced almost 12 months on, McDavid and Co. are hoping for a different closing chapter with the same opponent.
The Oilers open this year’s best-of-seven showcase against the Panthers on Wednesday at Rogers Place as a calmer, more confident, grounded bunch.
Edmonton rode a roller-coaster of emotion to last year’s final. After a horrendous start to the regular season that resulted in a coaching change, the club went down 3-2 in the second round and 2-1 in the Western Conference final before surging to victory.
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This version trailed the Los Angeles Kings 2-0 in the opening round and has barely looked back since. The Oilers, who are 12-2 over their last 14 contests, won four straight to take that series before disposing of the Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars in five games apiece.
“Just keep giving yourselves opportunities to be in this position,” McDavid said Tuesday. “Keep giving yourself chances to win, and eventually it happens. We’ve done that. We’ve put ourselves in another good spot.
“Learned a lot of lessons last year in that month that we can use this year.”
Last year’s playoff push saw McDavid register 42 points — the most ever by a player in a single post-season not named Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux — while his 34 assists were also a record.
“Winning in the playoffs takes everything you’ve got,” said McDavid, whose interview station at NHL media day was situated not far from a picture of Florida winger Matthew Tkachuk hoisting the Cup.
“We’re in the last series, and it takes even more … they can be draining physically and emotionally, but it’s supposed to be.”
The Oilers superstar captain and his partner-in-crime, fellow stud centre Leon Draisaitl, have again been excellent this spring, but Edmonton possesses a more balanced attack, with goals from no fewer than 19 different players on the way to the final.
“The maturity factor of it,” Draisaitl said of what feels different this time around. “The experience of having been through the travel, the media attention, knowing what it’s all about, knowing the details that go into a game.
“It’s exciting to have worked ourselves back into the situation.”
Edmonton is also relatively healthy, save for grinding, heart-and-soul forward Zach Hyman’s upper-body injury suffered against Dallas that likely ended his campaign.
Top-six winger Evander Kane was ready in time for the playoffs after missing the entire regular season with abdominal surgery, while minute-crunching defenceman Mattias Ekholm returned to the lineup in Game 5 last round following a long absence due to a lower-body issue.
“We’re more patient and more trusting in our game,” Draisaitl said. “We seem to have an understanding of when to pounce and when to do the right moves and make the right plays, and the plays that are needed in certain moments.”
Stuart Skinner has done the job in goal for the Oilers after briefly losing the crease to backup Calvin Pickard for a second straight playoffs, for a group that moves the puck quicker compared to last season.
“There’s definitely more of a sense of calm,” said defenceman Darnell Nurse. “It’s definitely a different feel within the group, knowing how much work has to come. When you go through it the first time, there’s a heightened level of excitement, a heightened level of everything.
“We’re focused on the moment. Our group definitely has little bit of a different mindset.”
The Panthers, meanwhile, are in the final for the third straight June. They disposed of the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games, the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven despite falling behind 2-0, and the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1.
Led by captain Aleksander Barkov, who won his third Selke Trophy as the NHL’s top defensive forward this week, and always-quotable head coach Paul Maurice, Florida plays a hard forechecking style that wears down opposing defence corps.
A talented, tough-as-nails stable of forwards that includes Tkachuk, Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart added Brad Marchand at the trade deadline, and the former Boston Bruins captain has embraced life alongside his former Atlantic Division rivals.
Apart from winning for themselves, their teammates, fans and city, the Oilers have the extra burden — like it or not — of Canada’s Cup drought that stretches all the way back to Montreal’s victory in 1993.
Edmonton lost in seven games in 2006 before also going the distance last year, while Vancouver (1994, 2011), Calgary (2004), Ottawa (2007) and Montreal (2021) also came up short at the final hurdle.
McDavid said his team is better prepared for the emotions of the final a second time around.
“It can feel like it’s larger than it is,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s another series. We’re playing another great team. You’ve got to beat them before anything else happens. They have our complete focus. All of our energy is in going into beating the Florida Panthers.
“There should be nothing else on anyone’s mind.”
