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Connor McDavid Reminds Oilers of 'Failures' Before Golden Knights Series

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Antonio Losada | Last updated May 5, 2025 4:55 AM ET

The Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights will meet again in the Stanley Cup Playoffs starting Tuesday, setting the stage for a rematch of their 2023 second-round clash that ended in heartbreak for Edmonton.

The Golden Knights eliminated the Oilers in six games two years ago and went on to win the Stanley Cup. Now, with both teams coming off six-game, first-round series wins, the stakes are just as high.

Vegas defeated the Minnesota Wild in six games in a team-wide effort that saw no player from the Golden Knights score more than five points throughout the first-round series.

The Oilers, meanwhile, are coming off a comeback first-round win against the Los Angeles Kings, rallying from a 0-2 deficit to win four straight and clinch their second-round berth.

"It's supposed to be a fast kind of skating penalty kill, one that puts a lot of pressure on teams. I can move pretty well, so if I can help in any way, I'm willing to do that."

Connor McDavid on being part of the #Oilers PK crew.@Enterpirse | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/lEzGO3llX9
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) May 4, 2025

Connor McDavid led the team with 11 points, continuing his dominant postseason pace by posting 1.83 points per game, the highest average league-wide.

McDavid didn’t shy away from the memories of the 2023 defeat as he addressed reporters ahead of Game 1 after Sunday's practice.

“We feel like we have another good team and as good a chance as anyone, so looking forward to getting to Vegas and getting started,” McDavid said. “But we’ve got to find a way to start the series better.

”We got to learn from our failures, and that was one of them.”

McDavid also referenced specific lessons from that series, particularly the Game 5 collapse when Edmonton gave up three quick goals after leading 2-1 heading into the second period.

“I guess just managing the game better, understanding certain situations,” McDavid said. “Those are all learning lessons along the way, and hopefully we can use them moving forward in this series.”

While the Edmonton Oilers fell just one game short of winning the Stanley Cup last season, the truth is that Vegas is the team that most recently won the Cup, hoisting it in 2023.

“They’re a proven group, battle-tested,” McDavid said. “They have a really good team… We’ve got our work cut out for us, but we’ll be ready to go.”

Game 1 is set for Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with puck-drop scheduled to take place at 9:30 p.m. ET.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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