BLOG: Larsson providing Oilers with steady presence

On the heels of his two-goal performance on Wednesday night, including the dramatic game-winner with less than five minutes to play, Adam Larsson was the talk of the media on Thursday where the Oilers practiced at the Honda Center.
Larsson said he was happy to contribute to the team's success, much like David Desharnais, Zack Kassian and others have done before him to this point in the postseason.
"You need depth scoring in the playoffs if you want to get really far. You need your top guys too if you want to go a long way," Larsson said.
Oilers head coach Todd McLellan echoed Larsson's comments, something he has said throughout the playoffs several times over.
"There's not a script you have to follow in the playoffs. I've said this eight times already, you don't win on one player's shoulders. You win on a team environment," he said.
Naturally talk shifted over to the trade this past summer with Taylor Hall. McLellan flatly pointed out he thinks that storyline is over and done with.
"He's done a tremendous job with that. We've all put that trade behind us. It seems to keep coming up. We're in the middle of a tough, grinding season and have to get over the trade. It's not fair to Taylor Hall, it's not fair to Adam. It's about the two teams that are playing now.
"He's an Oiler now and we wouldn't expect anything less of him moving forward."
Larsson himself was asked about the deal, hopefully for one final time.
"I've had it behind me since day one. Obviously there's going to be a lot of talk about that," he said. "The team has made it a real easy adjustment for me."
McLellan talked about Chiarelli's move to bring in Larsson by trading the popular Hall.
"We've really harped on this lately and been asked that question an awful lot. The trade and how it affected people. We needed to improve our blueline and have an anchor back there and Larsson's been that," he noted. "We could have kept floundering but what he did to change the complexion of our team takes courage. Taylor's a tremendous player but Lars does solidify us back there.