Ryan McLeod of the Edmonton Oilers celebrates with teammates after scoring in the third period against the Colorado Avalanche in Game Three at Rogers Place in Edmonton on June 4.Codie McLachlan/Getty Images
A year ago, Zach Hyman was a member of a Maple Leafs contingent that collapsed in the first round of the playoffs against the Canadiens. He has since moved on to the Oilers and is now calling on that experience for inspiration with his team one loss away from elimination.
The Colorado Avalanche have beaten Edmonton in each of the first three games in the Western Conference final and can end it with one more victory on Monday at Rogers Place. In NHL history, only four of 198 teams that fell behind 3-0 have won under those circumstances.
“All of the guys in our locker room have been up or down heavily in a series and have seen it swing,” Hyman said after practice on Sunday. “I got a first-hand look at it last year when we were heavily favoured going in against Montreal and got a 3-1 lead.
“I don’t think anyone gave them a chance to come back and sure enough they did. You are not knocked out until you are knocked out. You have to plant that seed of doubt and it starts with one win.”
The Oilers have lost three distinctive ways against the Avalanche. They scored six but still fell in Game 1. They got shut out in Game 2. They were tied late in the third period of Saturday’s skirmish but it ended up 4-2.
It is not so much that they are playing poorly. Colorado has just been better. It is 11-2 in the postseason and possibly 24 hours away from its second four-game sweep. This is the first time Edmonton has gone on a run this long in 16 years so there is no shame in defeat.
Even if it is highly improbable, there is also no surrender.
“We have a Game 7 mindset now,” said Hyman, who had a career-high 27 goals in the regular season and has nine in the playoffs. In 32 postseason games with Toronto, he scored seven. “I think everybody is kind of counting us out. There is no pressure on us. All the pressure flips to Colorado. It is expected to win now.
“For us, it is just get one and go from there.”
The Avalanche will be without Nazem Kadri for the remainder of the series and, likely, the Stanley Cup final. The former Maple Leaf incurred a serious arm injury when hit from behind by the Oilers’ Evander Kane only 66 seconds into Game 3.
Kane was assessed a five-minute major boarding penalty and on Sunday, the NHL suspended him for Game 4.
Colorado was incensed by the dangerous nature of the play while the Oilers were annoyed that Nathan MacKinnon received only a two-minute tripping call when he sent Leon Draisaitl sprawling. Jay Woodcroft, the Edmonton coach, reiterated on Sunday that he believed MacKinnon deserved five minutes, too.
“You asked my opinion,” he said. “I thought it was a slew foot.”
Colorado is a hair’s breadth from reaching the Stanley Cup final for the first time since 2001 when it defeated the New Jersey Devils in seven games.
The Oilers are clinging to a lifeboat.
“It is a bit of a hole but there is no way to work out of it but one game at a time,” said Duncan Keith, the 38-year-old defenceman. He won three Stanley Cups with the Chicago Blackhawks and in 2011 was on a team that came back from a 3-0 disadvantage in the first round before losing to the Los Angeles Kings in seven games. “It is a tough challenge but it has to start with one win.
“The situation is what it is. You can’t think too far ahead. Once you get momentum on your side anything can happen.”
Hyman and his teammates fell victim to exactly that last year in Toronto. It wasn’t as steep a deficit but it was still a crushing disappointment.
The Oilers have persevered through a season in which their coach got fired, they were out of the playoff picture midway through the season and ended up here.
“We have faced adversity all year so we are still confident,” Hyman said. “If there was ever a team that could do it, I think this is it.”
Marty Klinkenberg