from Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal,

As daunting tasks go, there’s this old saying.

“When the world says ‘give up,’ hope whispers ‘ah, try it one more time.’”

It looked like we would see that, a Game 5 in Denver, but Artturi Lehkonen slapped in a rebound off a Cale Makar shot — the defenceman’s fifth point of the night — 79 seconds into overtime for a 6-5 Colorado victory over the Edmonton Oilers Monday night. The Oilers didn’t go quietly into the June night, leading by two in the third and then sending the game to OT on a goal by Zack Kassian with 3 1/2 minutes left but the bottom line was they got swept in the NHL’s Final Four.

There’s solace in getting this far, for sure, especially against a better, deeper, healthier team–winning two playoff rounds against Los Angeles and Calgary-but in the end, the Oilers’ run is over with defenceman Darnell Nurse soldiering through 15 games with a torn hip flexor, with Leon Draisaitl playing on a leg and a prayer with a suspected high ankle sprain but getting four assists in the last game. With the Oilers still playing into June when 28 other teams weren’t.

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But, losing hurts. “There’s no participation medals,” said a clearly hurt Oiler goalie Mike Smith, who is 40 and running out of time to be this close to his first trip to the Stanley Cup final. “We lost, we’re done. We got the lead and it seemed like when we got the lead they came at us in waves and we couldn’t withstand that, couldn’t get some saves, couldn’t get the bounces. Ultimately, they get another break at the end (Makar’s shot was tipped by Lehkonen as he reached towards Smith’s glove, and then reached around for the winner).”

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