from Mark Spector of Sportsnet,

They spent three days on a Santa Monica beach after winning Round 1, and when Round 2 began the Edmonton Oilers looked exactly like you’d think they would.

Like a bunch of guys coming off of a beach vacation.

Attention to detail, execution of the game plan, knowing when to make the safe, easy play… All of those things got left behind at their swanky boutique hotel like a broken pair of sandals, or those sunglasses you can never seem to find when you get on the plane home.

Oilers' Draisaitl does it all himself with four-goal night vs. Golden KnightsPlay VideoPlayMuteCurrent Time 0:00/Duration 3:13Loaded: 5.13% Fullscreen

Leon Drasiaitl scored four times, but even that Herculean effort was enough to carry the Edmonton Oilers past the quick and decisive Vegas Golden Knights, as the Oilers dropped Game 1 of their Rd. 2 series by a 6-4 score.

“I didn't think we gave them a whole lot of trouble tonight. I thought we made it too easy on them — and that can't happen,” said Mattias Ekholm, after a two-assist, plus-2 night. “To be honest, I didn't enjoy the game tonight too much. I thought we gave them our ‘B’ or ‘C’ game.

“Towards the end it's a winnable game still. So there's some kind of strength in that too, but I think we can be a lot better.”

continued

from Jesse Granger of The Athletic,