I think that's series could (have gone) any direction,» Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said on Thursday, after a captain's skate at Rogers Place. «But it didn't, and that's a fact.
So, what happened then? What really happened, to an Oilers team that was locked in a 2-2 series, on the road in Game 5 and leading 2-1 with six minutes remaining in the second period?
We just didn't play our best hockey when it mattered most. Not consistently enough, at least, said Draisaitl. In the long run, the last two games, they just outplayed us a little bit in some little areas. A couple of penalties here.
It was a collection of little mistakes that add up, to lose the series, said captain Connor McDavid, when asked on Wednesday at press conference for next month's Heritage Classic game. Looking back, we're sitting there in Game 5, five minutes left in the second and in a real good place — on the road and up by a goal. Feeling good about ourselves. And you find a way to be down two (goals) heading into the third period.
It's a collection of mistakes throughout the series that add up to a series loss. Something that we'll fix throughout the course of year.
