The <a href="http://oilersnation.com/combinations">Edmonton Oilers</a> never forget.

Just after they closed their first-round series <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2025/05/03/oilers-beat-kings-unexpected-heroes/">against the Los Angeles Kings</a>, Connor McDavid was quick to highlight who they were about to see in their second-round opponent.
&#8220;We owe Vegas a good series. We don&#8217;t forget what happened two years ago.&#8221;
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
&quot;We owe Vegas a good series. We don&#39;t forget what happened two years ago.&quot;
Connor McDavid joins <a href="https://twitter.com/GenePrincipe?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GenePrincipe</a> as the Oilers look to face Vegas in Round Two <a href="https://t.co/HMCG5vgG7W">pic.twitter.com/HMCG5vgG7W</a>
&mdash; Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1918175012307009698?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
But when you talk the talk, you have to walk the walk — and boy, did the Oilers walk the walk, eliminating the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round in five games, with Kasperi Kapanen capping it off with <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2025/05/14/edmonton-oilers-advance-to-western-conference-finals-kasperi-kapanen-overtime-winner-vegas-golden-knights/">an overtime winner Wednesday night</a>.
It was a grinding game and series, for that fact, but the Oilers found a way to get it done, winning all three of their road games in Vegas, giving Golden Knights fans little to cheer for.
Nobody would&#8217;ve thought the Oilers are where they are after dropping their first two games against the Los Angeles Kings in round one, but <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2025/05/14/depth-players-stepping-up-edmonton-oilers-playoffs/">the team has displayed tremendous depth</a>, getting scoring up and down the lineup. It&#8217;s also seen offence dip from guys like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, who have changed up their game in the post-season, realizing they don&#8217;t need to push for as much offence as they had in years past.
It&#8217;s done wonders for the team. Draisaitl, for example, was tasked with shutting down Jack Eichel&#8217;s line in the five-game series. In the 35 five-on-five minutes where the two were on the ice, the Oilers controlled 60.8 percent of the shot attempt share, 51.2 percent of the scoring chance share and a staggering 58.8 percent of the high-danger scoring chance share. While the expected goal share was just 47.9 percent for the Oilers, they outscored Vegas 4-2 in those minutes.
That was a huge boon for the Oilers, who choked out the Golden Knights in the final two games where Stuart Skinner slammed the door with back-to-back shutouts.
After the Game 5 win, a firey McDavid took aim at Skinner&#8217;s doubters.
&#8220;Hopefully it shuts a lot of people up that were talking about him, first and foremost, but we&#8217;ve always had belief in him. He comes in and pitches two shutouts, you can&#8217;t say enough good things.&#8221;
File that under &#8220;things nobody thought would happen after the first two games against L.A.,&#8221; because boy — <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/oilers-need-to-change-more-than-goalie-stuart-skinner">was it rough for Skinner</a>. Credit where it&#8217;s due for his ability, in the second straight year, to park rough starts and turn his game around.
That wasn&#8217;t all that McDavid was fired up about, though. Edmonton&#8217;s excellent five-on-five play had people asking about the way this team has progressed over the years in terms of their ability to defend.
McDavid, once again, with a firey response.
&#8220;I mean how many times are we going to answer this question, really? Like honestly — that&#8217;s frustrating that we keep talking about this. We can defend. We can. We&#8217;ve shown that time and time again. You come into a tough building and win a 1-0 game when it matters most. We can play that way, we can score goals, whatever it takes, we can win games.&#8221;
This Edmonton team is a very serious threat right now, and one could argue look the most threatening we&#8217;ve seen in the Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl era.
Now, thanks to them making their series with Vegas a short one, will get some extra days off ahead of the Western Conference Finals, where they will face one of the Winnipeg Jets or Dallas Stars, the latter of whom carrying a 3-1 series lead heading into Thursday night&#8217;s game.
<hr />
Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QX_QCiZyIo&amp;list=PLRSWOpthKmdtmFOKQDd7TQdTU2KSKXYvX">DFO DFS Report</a>. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at <a href="http://www.x.com/zjlaing">@zjlaing</a>, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.
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The <a href="http://oilersnation.com/combinations">Edmonton Oilers</a> never forget.



Just after they closed their first-round series <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2025/05/03/oilers-beat-kings-unexpected-heroes/">against the Los Angeles Kings</a>, Connor McDavid was quick to highlight who they were about to see in their second-round opponent.

"We owe Vegas a good series. We don't forget what happened two years ago."
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https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1918175012307009698

But when you talk the talk, you have to walk the walk — and boy, did the Oilers walk the walk, eliminating the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round in five games, with Kasperi Kapanen capping it off with <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2025/05/14/edmonton-oilers-advance-to-western-conference-finals-kasperi-kapanen-overtime-winner-vegas-golden-knights/">an overtime winner Wednesday night</a>.

It was a grinding game and series, for that fact, but the Oilers found a way to get it done, winning all three of their road games in Vegas, giving Golden Knights fans little to cheer for.

Nobody would've thought the Oilers are where they are after dropping their first two games against the Los Angeles Kings in round one, but <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2025/05/14/depth-players-stepping-up-edmonton-oilers-playoffs/">the team has displayed tremendous depth</a>, getting scoring up and down the lineup. It's also seen offence dip from guys like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, who have changed up their game in the post-season, realizing they don't need to push for as much offence as they had in years past.

It's done wonders for the team. Draisaitl, for example, was tasked with shutting down Jack Eichel's line in the five-game series. In the 35 five-on-five minutes where the two were on the ice, the Oilers controlled 60.8 percent of the shot attempt share, 51.2 percent of the scoring chance share and a staggering 58.8 percent of the high-danger scoring chance share. While the expected goal share was just 47.9 percent for the Oilers, they outscored Vegas 4-2 in those minutes.

That was a huge boon for the Oilers, who choked out the Golden Knights in the final two games where Stuart Skinner slammed the door with back-to-back shutouts.

After the Game 5 win, a firey McDavid took aim at Skinner's doubters.

"Hopefully it shuts a lot of people up that were talking about him, first and foremost, but we've always had belief in him. He comes in and pitches two shutouts, you can't say enough good things."

File that under "things nobody thought would happen after the first two games against L.A.," because boy — <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/oilers-need-to-change-more-than-goalie-stuart-skinner">was it rough for Skinner</a>. Credit where it's due for his ability, in the second straight year, to park rough starts and turn his game around.

That wasn't all that McDavid was fired up about, though. Edmonton's excellent five-on-five play had people asking about the way this team has progressed over the years in terms of their ability to defend.

McDavid, once again, with a firey response.

"I mean how many times are we going to answer this question, really? Like honestly — that's frustrating that we keep talking about this. We can defend. We can. We've shown that time and time again. You come into a tough building and win a 1-0 game when it matters most. We can play that way, we can score goals, whatever it takes, we can win games."

This Edmonton team is a very serious threat right now, and one could argue look the most threatening we've seen in the Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl era.

Now, thanks to them making their series with Vegas a short one, will get some extra days off ahead of the Western Conference Finals, where they will face one of the Winnipeg Jets or Dallas Stars, the latter of whom carrying a 3-1 series lead heading into Thursday night's game.

<hr />

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QX_QCiZyIo&amp;list=PLRSWOpthKmdtmFOKQDd7TQdTU2KSKXYvX">DFO DFS Report</a>. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at <a href="http://www.x.com/zjlaing">@zjlaing</a>, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.

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