The Game 1 reality check could be exactly what the Edmonton Oilers needed

Originally posted on Daily Faceoff | By Tyler Kuehl | Last updated 5/9/24

It was the perfect start to the second round for the Edmonton Oilers, until it wasn’t.

In Game 1 against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night, the Oilers built up a 4-1 lead by the second period. However, thanks to the play of Vancouver’s Conor Garland and Dakota Joshua, the lead was erased, as the Cancucks scored four unanswered goals to steal a 5-4 win.

Losing the opening game of a series is not ideal, especially for an Edmonton team that came in with more rest compared to the Canucks. However, it might be was the doctor ordered for the Oilers. After a convincing series win over the Los Angeles Kings–in which Edmonton won the series 4-1–the Oilers were humbled on Wednesday night. Given the fact that the team has dealt with very little adversity since their abysmal start to the regular season, a disappointing loss might be what re-lights the fire underneath the Oilers.

On Thursday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk discuss what happened in Game 1, and how the loss might benefit the Oilers.

Frank Seravalli: The Edmonton Oilers handed the Vancouver Canucks that game on a silver platter. We’ve talked for a couple years now about the idea of the Oilers being a team that has a pension for shooting itself in the foot. That’s what they did in Game 1.

This is a really odd way to frame it…but I think losing Game 1 in that fashion is exactly what the Oilers need. I feel like they were riding high from beating the Kings. I think they thought, with perhaps some help from their opponent taking a penalty 40 seconds into the game, they got off and running, and they took their foot off the gas. Because of their pension for…beating themselves, this is the last freebee that they are going to get. So you have an option, “Either we get it out of our system, and we’re going to learn our lesson once and for all, or we’re going to have this happen again and doom our chances at winning a Stanley Cup.”

You can watch the full segment and the entire episode here…