Connor McDavid

Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid tried to find the positives from his team's playoff run after reaching the Western Conference final for the first ...

Edmonton was swept by the Winnipeg Jets in the first round last year and eliminated in the qualifying round of the 2020 playoffs by the Chicago Blackhawks. Zack Kassian scored to push the game to overtime, where Artturi Lehkonen ended the series just 1:19 in off of a rebound. They become a playoff team and then they get there most years and then they go on a little bit of a run and they learn that lesson and then it becomes their time to win.

Connor McDavid's playoff performance is bringing back memories of what Mario Lemieux did 30 years ago.

Scoring, of course, was completely out of whack in the 1980s, as the Oilers cleaned up against the hideous Smythe Division before winning the highest-scoring series in NHL history against Chicago. Smythe Division teams scored 4.36 goals per game that season, to put the numbers in perspective. And against four of the NHL’s best defensive teams? Lemieux’s spring of 1992 was a microcosm of his career. He erupted for five more points in Game 6 with the Penguins down in the series, 3-2. Who’s to say what’s the greatest postseason in NHL history? Lemieux decided the Penguins needed to use a more defensive system to beat the Capitals. Using the left-wing lock, the Penguins won three straight games while Lemieux notched eight points in those contests. Bourque was rarely a match for Lemieux and certainly wasn’t in this series. McDavid’s postseason has been brilliant and historically relevant for a number of reasons: He’s the first player to average in the range of two points per game this deep into a postseason since Lemieux in 1992. The final five games of the series arguably produced the finest hockey of Lemieux’s career. And ESPN and TNT are in the first season of their respective TV deals with the NHL, badly wanting to promote a star. Already dealing with back issues and a separated shoulder that was still healing, Lemieux now had a broken hand that kept him out for about two weeks. Don Beaupre, Washington’s goalie, was selected to the NHL All-Star Game in 1992.

Colorado deserves high marks for successfully executing a plan to slow down Edmonton's captain. It's similar to how the Golden Knights handled Avs superstar ...

–Mike Johnson, TSN Analyst and former player to TSN However, there are blueprints, notes, and strategies to pick up on. Alex Pietrangelo, Brayden McNabb, Zach Whitecloud, and Shea Theodore are capable of limiting #97. However, none are as unique as Makar and will have to use other skills to slow down McJesus. In other situations, Colorado has effectively suffocated McDavid by limiting his threatening attacks on net with their skill and speed. Through three WCF games, the Avalanche have held McDavid to 3 points. However, in the Western Conference Final, the Colorado Avalanche seem to have figured out how to at least slow him down.

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl each called a trip to the Western Conference Final for the Edmonton Oilers a step in the right direction.

“It’s always fun being in the playoffs and competing for the Cup. With that being said, we don’t play for the outside noise. McDavid, who had 33 points (10 goals, 23 assists), netted multiple points in 12 of 16 games this postseason, becoming just the fifth different player in NHL history to record as many in a single playoff year. The Oilers then topped the Calgary Flames in their second-round Battle of Alberta series to move to the conference final for the first time since that 2006 run, too. “With that being said, we expected to be here and we want to be here and we want to be even further, right? I’m proud of the group, but obviously it’s very disappointing and it sucks right now. It’s a step in the right direction.

The Edmonton Oilers season ended Monday night in the Western Conference Final after being unceremoniously swept out of the playoffs by the Colorado Avalanche.

The 40-year-old goaltender had some standout moments in the playoffs, but it’s well past time for the Oilers to move on. After yet another season of both McDavid and Draisaitl cresting over 100 points, the pair were the most electric players in this postseason. The Oilers finally seem to have gotten a talented supporting core around their two stars with Evander Kane and Zach Hyman, something Edmonton can build upon in the seasons to come. It’s been 32 years since the Oilers hoisted the Stanley Cup, with this trip to the Western Conference Final the first for McDavid and Draisaitl in their tenure with the team. The Oilers were never out of it when McDavid and Draisaitl were on the ice and it showed. Mika Zibanejad of the New York Rangers with 24.

After so long and coming so far, the Edmonton Oilers lost four in a row to the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference final.

It took until this year for them to win a round again, and then a second, for the first time in 16 years. “The unique thing about hockey is that the margins are so thin,” Hyman said. It is not certain if the Oilers can retain him but they will certainly try now that Kane is a free agent. McDavid just concluded a year in which he scored a combined 156 points in the regular season and playoffs. It was a step in the right direction. Eight and a half months after they reported for training camp, the Edmonton Oilers’ NHL season came to an abrupt end on Monday night.

Oilers fans may be feeling the loss of the Western Conference Final, but that didn't stop them from showing their support for Connor McDavid.

With that being said, we expected to be here, we want to be here & we want to be even further. Fans could be heard chanting “MVP” for Connor McDavid, while the Oilers captain was speaking following the series loss to the Avalanche. - "Always be the Battle of Alberta Champs": Oilers fans react to season's end

The No. 1 priority of the off-season has to be to sign a No. 1 prime-of-his-career starting goaltender.

That’s more than his combined totals in six seasons in the playoffs in Toronto. McDavid again illustrated the extent to which he’s driving this bus as he played 26:59 and had a goal and two assists. They next step was to knock on it and then to knock it down. We want to get to the finals and eventually win the Stanley Cup. He registered multi-point games in 12 of the 16 games. McDavid ended up with 10 goals and 33-points. Playing hurt, he had 17 points in a five-game series with Calgary. Seven times he had three or more points. But we’ll get to that, Evander Kane, Jay Woodcroft and all Wednesday. He ended up with seven goals and 32-points. “That shows you how hard it is n this league to do it consistently, year after year. I think that can only help and think that. At the start of the series, the Avs swept to run their playoff record to 12-2 and eliminate 8-8 Edmonton, that was the point I made.