The Edmonton Oilers will see the Montreal Canadiens five more times, including tonight, before the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs begin. For two teams potentially on a collision course to meet in the First Round, now is the time to send a message.
The Oilers are just 1-3-0 in four meetings with Montreal this season, but have been in extremely difficult rest positions in two of their three losses. Tonight, Edmonton enters having played just once in the last six days. That outing was a 3-2 victory over the Calgary Flames on Friday night.
Edmonton is rested up and ready for revenge after their worst effort of the season last Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.
“They came into Edmonton early on in the year and they played great. Really beat us bad,” McDavid said on Sunday prior to the team’s flight out east. “Then we played them in their barn in a back-to-back and then they got us on a back-to-back under some weird circumstances. The four games have kind of been a bit unusual. It’s another test for our group.”
The circumstances are completely normal this time around. Not only has Edmonton only played once in the last six days, but Montreal has only played two times in that span. They played a two-game series with the Ottawa Senators on Thursday and Saturday. They demolished the Senators on Thursday, but fell in regulation on Saturday night.
“They’re obviously playing some good hockey since they’ve been back from their break,” McDavid continued. “It’s a good chance for us to show how we stack up against them.”
An Edmonton victory would put them squarely in the driver’s seat over Montreal for a top-three seed, and a likely date with the Winnipeg Jets next month. It would also prove to the hockey world that there really isn’t a gap between these two opponents.
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