Vegas knocked off Edmonton in the second round of the NHL playoffs. Edmonton superstar Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl were disappointed.
The NHL championship is not celebrated in Canada this year either. That became clear when Edmonton fell to Vegas in the second round of the playoffs.
In the sixth game, Vegas defeated Edmonton 5–2 and advanced to the conference finals with a 4–2 victory.
The sixth match started with quite a goal celebration. And Edmonton Connor McDavid that of Vegas Reilly Smith hit during the first minute of the game.
Warren Foegele took Edmonton to a 2–1 lead in 2:43.
In the second round, Vegas became the hero Jonathan Marchessault. He scored three goals in 20 minutes.
Vegas will face either Dallas or Seattle in the conference finals.
Toronto was the biggest favorite to win the NHL championship after Boston fell to Florida in the first round, according to betting companies. Florida, however, struggled in the second round to undo Toronto as well.
In Canada, hopes rested with Edmonton. The last time the Stanley Cup was lifted in Canada was in 1993, when the Montreal Canadiens won the championship.
Edmonton has two of the best point guards in the league. In the regular season Connor McDavid forged no less than 153 power points. His chain mate Leon Draisaitl was far behind McDavid with his 128 points, but still scored 15 power points more than the next ones in the points market.
Even in the playoffs, McDavid and Draisaitl had been the hardest scorers in the entire league.
– It’s hard to find words right now. At the beginning of the season, we are going to win. If you don’t succeed, it feels like a failure or a wasted year. This hurts, Draisaitl commented to a crowd of reporters after the game.
German star Draitsaitl registered a fierce power reading of -4 in the sixth game that decided the Vegas series. The star striker explained the loss to Vegas as Edmonton not being able to create enough scoring opportunities.
– Today we scored two goals in a draw. Sometimes that should be enough. I have to take a lot from this as well. “I wasn’t good today,” Draisaitl said.
He was left without power points in the decisive match. Even McDavid didn’t have any power after the opening goal, which occurred after 55 seconds of the game.
– Vegas did a lot of good things. They were able to freeze the match. In the third set, Vegas was clinical, McDavid praised.
Vegas is now in the conference finals for the fourth time in six years.
The team from the casino city gets its opponent early on Tuesday when Seattle and Dallas face off in the series-clinching seventh game.
– We enjoyed the victory today, but we are only halfway there, Marchessault said.
– Every night everyone here tries to play the right way. Sometimes we get an award for it. Some nights one works, some nights the other. We have gone with that attitude this season.
Sources: Sportsnet