Another game, another Edmonton Oilers comeback. After dismantling the lead the LA Kings had built over the Oilers in Round 1 and ultimately sending them home for the fourth straight playoff series, the Oilers are at it again. This time, Connor McDavid and Co. took away the Golden Knights’ 2-0 lead and handed them a 4-2 loss in Game 1, Round 2 of the NHL playoffs. And while some questions about the ice being less than ideal cropped up, the Knights’ coach shut it down.
“I got a few questions about the ice tonight,” Jesse Granger of The Athletic posted on X. Granger, who was among the reporters at the post-game presser, heard Coach Bruce Cassidy mention the ice. “You could see the ice. The pucks were bouncing, and the ice looked a little bit soft. I don’t know, for whatever reason,” said Cassidy. However, the coach didn’t blame his team’s loss on the ice. “Same for both teams,” added Cassidy. The coach also clarified why he didn’t blame it on the ice.
Granger theorized whether the ice was soft because of the “unusually rainy and humid” Vegas weather. The NHL coach, on the other hand, explained the serious shortcomings that cost his team the lead and the game. Among the first things Cassidy addressed was the Knights not doing “enough” in the third period. While Corey Perry put the Oilers on the board late in round one, they pulled away in the final shift, rattling off three goals.
“When our game gets off the rails, it’s turnovers, and we play slow… We slowed the game down and allowed them to forecheck us,” said Bruce Cassidy. And if that wasn’t enough, the 59-year-old also highlighted their defensive lapses in the third shift. “We didn’t defend hard. We got beat one-on-one a number of times,” the Golden Knights coach added during the presser.
While these shortcomings definitely hurt the Golden Knights, the Oilers have proved their resilience during the 2025 NHL Playoffs. Don’t take my word for it, just look at the stats. The Edmonton Oilers have outscored their opponents 18-6 across all their playoff third periods so far. That leads us to another record-setting Oilers stat.
Edmonton Oilers make NHL playoffs history
Edmonton created NHL playoff history with Game 1 of Western Round 2 in the bag. What history, you ask? Well, with the McDavid and Co. turning comebacks into a habit, they’ve set the record for the most comeback wins in playoff history. Beating the Knights 4-2 after trailing 2-0 marked their fifth straight comeback win during this year’s playoffs.
Last year’s runner-up, Edmonton, started their comeback streak in game three against the LA Kings. Just when the Kings looked to finally win an NHL postseason series against the Oilers since 1984 in a 3-0 series shutout, the Oilers sprang to life. The Oilers won 7-4 after trailing 3-2 against the Kings in Game 3. Game 4 saw the Oilers dig themselves out of a 2-0 hole.
Games 5 and 6 saw more of the same, as the LA Kings were no longer in the driver’s seat. The Kings tried and failed to solve the Oilers’ comeback puzzle, losing Game 5 and Game 6, 3-1 and 6-4, respectively. And now it seems even the Vegas Golden Knights can’t deal with the third-period Oilers. In fact, the victory over Vega saw Leon Draisaitl reach another milestone after scoring 52 goals this season.
The German hockey icon’s incredible rebound goal pushed him above Wayne Gretzky as he racked up his 9th game-tying playoff goal. Now the forward is in fifth place, trailing the legendary Jari Kurri by just 1 goal. Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch has chalked up his team’s habit of comeback wins to experience.
“During the playoffs, things fluctuate. There are a lot of things that can stress out the team. No matter what happens, I think we handle it really well. Tonight is an excellent example,” said the coach after the game. Now the question is: Can Bruce Cassidy and the Knights halt the Oilers?
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