The Edmonton Oilers are expecting a raucous crowd at Rogers Place on Sunday afternoon when they host the Anaheim Ducks for their first home game in a second-round best-of-seven playoff series that sees them hold a 2-0 lead.
“Coming back home, it will be fun to see how much energy the fans have,” Oilers centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said to reporters on Sunday in a video posted to the Oilers Twitter account.
The Oilers are buoyed by an impressive California road trip in which many hockey pundits expected them to be happy with a single victory. Instead, the team returned to Alberta’s capital Saturday afternoon to learn a prominent online oddsmaker, vegasinsider.com, now ranks the Oilers’ as the odd-on favourites to win the Stanley Cup this year.
READ MORE: Edmonton Oilers fly home for Game 3, soar to top of Vegas odds for Stanley Cup
The Oilers’ young superstar and team captain Connor McDavid looked impressive in Game 2, thrilling fans with his speed and stickhandling, but statistically speaking, the high-scoring centre has been relatively quiet through the first two games of the series, only gathering one point – an assist – against the Ducks in Game 1. McDavid may break out offensively in Game 3 but he also says the offensive contributions from the entire lineup have been key for the team’s success.
“We’re a very deep team,” McDavid told reporters on Sunday. “We’ve got guys who can produce up and down the lineup.”
Goaltender Cam Talbot, who had amassed an impressive 42 wins while playing a gruelling 73 games of the 82-game NHL regular season, has sustained that success through the post-season and drawn praise from teammates and hockey analysts.
READ MORE: Oilers beat Ducks 2-1 for 2-0 series lead, Cam Talbot makes 39 saves
Watch above: The Edmonton Oilers took a 2-0 lead in their playoff series against the Anaheim Ducks with a nail biting win on Friday night. Kevin Karius was live with fans after the game.
“The one wearing the big pads was our hero tonight and had a tremendous game,” Oilers head coach Todd McLellan said after Friday’s 2-1 victory in which Talbot made 39 saves. “They pushed us hard and they did a lot of good things tonight. While all that’s going on, the goaltender stood on his head.”
On Sunday, Talbot told reporters the defence in front of him should also be credited with the team’s impressive ability to keep the puck out of their net this post-season.
“We saw a lot of shot volume last game, but credit to the guys, they cleared away second chances,” he said.
The Anaheim Ducks have fallen behind 2-0 in a playoff series seven times over the course of their franchise’s history. In all seven instances, they were unable to overcome the deficit.
“It’s big for us, a 3-0 series is a lot different than a 2-1 series,” McDavid said Sunday.
“We definitely stole one in Game 2 that maybe we didn’t deserve to win but we ultimately did just enough to win it.”
-with files from The Canadian Press
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