Stop.
Don’t say it.
Don’t even think it.
Monday’s game between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers is NOT a rematch of last year’s Stanley Cup Final.
There will be no getting even for the Oilers. Not unless they’re giving out Stanley Cup rings to whoever wins.
Edmonton can pummel Florida 10-0 and it wouldn’t be the slightest consolation or measure of revenge for what happened last summer.
Last year is over. When all the money was on the table in Game 7, Florida won fair and square. They get the last laugh for the rest of their lives and nothing is ever going to change that.
What this game is is simply another heated diversion during the long, cold dog days of winter. The Oilers want to win so they can keep their five-game win streak going, so they can hang another set of big game antlers over their fireplace next to Tampa Bay, Minnesota and Vegas. So they can catch the Golden Knights for first place in the Pacific Division by Christmas.
And it goes without saying they will always have a special place in their hearts for the Panthers, no matter where or when they meet them.
This isn’t about last year. This is about Monday night.
“I think we’ll be excited,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch. “We were excited playing the first place team in the NHL, Minnesota, to see where we ranked. Then Vegas, first in the division, and playing really well, a bit of a rival. We were excited to play that.
“And we’ll be excited to play Florida. Usually at this time of the year it can get a little monotonous so it’s a nice time of year for us to get ramped up for these games.”
Indeed. It might only be mid-December, and there is nothing on the line Monday other than the same two points that will be available when they play San Jose and Ottawa next week. But in a league where too many games aren’t the least bit compelling, this one is.
“Obviously it will be an exciting match, we haven’t seen them since,” said defenceman Mattias Ekholm. “But we have new players, they have new players. Their core is pretty much the same and so is ours. I’m sure it will be a great game and a measuring stick for our group. We’ll have to bring it again on Monday.”
Last year aside, this is a sweet matchup, a high-profile game between a pair of NHL heavyweights who happen to be bitter rivals.
It’s the 18-11-2 Panthers against the 18-10-2 Oilers. It’s probably going to get heated because there is some bad blood between these organizations and the Panthers are always a handful physically.
As far as mid-week games in December go, this is as good as it gets.
“It was a hard-fought series against them last year,” said Darnell Nurse. “It’s a new season, they’re a team that’s played really well through the year, but a lot like (the Vegas win) we’ll come in with the mindset that we want to play our game and worry about ourselves.”
The timing is perfect. Better that they meet now than back in October when the Oilers were still reeling from that Cup Final defeat. They’ve shaken it off now and are back on track.
“You look at the first three games we had (0-3 to start the year), and I don’t think anyone mentally was even ready to play,” said Ekholm. “That’s not to find an excuse, but you go from a Game 7 to start the year again, it’s hard.
“And then getting new guys in, they’re trying to find their roles. It takes a while. Right now everyone’s roles are a lot clearer than they were in the beginning, guys are getting more comfortable and you’re seeing performances on a high level.”
The Oilers are 5-0 in their last five, 8-1 in their last nine and 12-3-1 in their last 16. In what was supposed to be a brutal stretch of opponents, they’ve gone 3-0 so far and outscored Tampa Bay, Minnesota and Vegas 15-5.
This is starting to look a lot like last December, when the Oilers turned their ship around and went on a torrid run of wins (24-3).
“Yeah, the way our team is starting to gel,” said Nurse. “When teams are having success there is a lot of instinct that goes into it and you’re kind of just playing. That’s where our team is getting to.
“It’s also a group that always wants more. If you look back to last year we were never satisfied with our game, we were always pushing for more. That’s the mindset within our group — no matter how well we’re playing or how many points we’re putting together, there is always another level to get to.”
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