Without its two stars at full throttle, it was difficult for the Oilers to keep pace with the Ducks. There were other ailments throughout the lineup as well.
“It’s hard,” Draisaitl said. “Our centers 1, 2, 3 are playing through stuff. But at the end of the day, you have to find ways to win games in any way. You have to grind one out, you have to defend one out. Injuries they (stink) and it hit us at a bad time certainly. But at the end of the day, they were the better team and we’ll leave it at that.”
The Oilers were hoping to make a third consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Final, having lost to the Florida Panthers the previous two seasons.
Edmonton was eyeing playoff success after a mediocre regular season where it benefitted from playing in a weak Pacific Division. Yet, the questions asked during the season were still not answered in the playoffs.
The Oilers won the first game of the series before losing the next three. They staved off elimination at home in Game 5 but could not repeat the effort two nights later.
Edmonton ran into a younger, faster and hungrier team playing in its first postseason since 2018.
“At the end of the day, they were just better than us,” Draisaitl said. “For sure, we never really found what you need to find at this time of year especially to go all the way. In my opinion, just not good enough.”
Edmonton has played 81 playoff games since 2022, the most of any team in that span, and the grind of two straight trips to the final and three Western Conference Finals in the past four seasons may have caught up to them.
“I don’t know,” Draisaitl said. “You strap your skates on for every playoff game, and you try to go out and do your best and try to win it. Obviously, we fell short. I think as much as it hurts, I think they were just the better team.”
Special teams let Edmonton down against Anaheim.
The Ducks were 8-for-16 (50 percent) with the man-advantage and scored a power-play goal in the clinching win Thursday.
Conversely, the Oilers were 4-for-14 (28.6 percent) and did not have a power play in Game 6.
“We weren’t very good on the penalty kill,” McDavid conceded. “Our power play didn’t get off to a good start but found its way into the series. Obviously, we don’t get one tonight, but we struggled on the PK all year, too, we’ve been searching for consistency there, too. The power play could have been better to start the series. Credit to them.”
Credit could also be given to Anaheim’s speed, which pressured Edmonton in every zone on the ice.
The Oilers struggled to break out the puck, and when they did they had issues maintaining pressure in the offensive zone.
The Ducks were efficient on the break as well, making the Oilers pay for turnovers in the neutral zone or at the opposition blue line.
“Right now, it’s very disappointing and discouraging,” Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. “I thought we had a lot of games where we played really well and other times they pushed hard and we couldn’t handle that sometimes. That’s a real good hockey team over there and they have some good players but at the end of the day, we have to find ways to keep the puck out of our net.
“And that’s everybody, it’s not just a couple of guys, it’s everyone and it was a bit of a theme throughout the season and when you play a team like that, they make you pay.”
