2018 Second Round Game 7 vs Edmonton Oilers

Lore & Background

The Oilers were founded in 1971 by W. D. 'Wild Bill' Hunter and Dr. Chuck Allard and played their first season in 1972–73 as one of the 12 founding franchises of the World Hockey Association (WHA). They were originally named the Alberta Oilers and were renamed the Edmonton Oilers the following year. They joined the NHL in 1979 as part of the NHL–WHA merger. The Oilers won the Stanley Cup five times: 1983–84, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1987–88, and 1989–90. They are tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins for the most championships since the merger. The Oilers also won six straight division titles from 1981–82 through 1986–87. Their team of the 1980s and early 1990s has been honored with dynasty status by the Hockey Hall of Fame.

In Their Own Story

The ice was scarred from forty minutes of regulation play, the air thick with the scent of sweat and anticipation. In overtime, the silence in T-Mobile Arena was deafening, broken only by the rhythmic slap of skates on the frozen surface. A loose puck drifted near the blue line; a Golden Knights forward scooped it up, eyes locked on the net. The pass found Marchessault, who one-timed the shot with surgical precision. As the puck kissed the back of the net, the roar that followed was not just noise—it was the sound of a city claiming its champion.

Reader's Guide

The Oilers have not won a division title since 1987, a drought that includes their most recent two Stanley Cup wins and is the longest division title drought in all of North American major professional sports. They missed the playoffs for 10 consecutive seasons after the 2006 Stanley Cup Final. The Oilers made 16 first-round selections in the NHL entry draft from 2007 to 2019, including four first overall picks: Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Nail Yakupov, and Connor McDavid. Nugent-Hopkins and McDavid remained with the team, helping them reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2024 and 2025, where they lost to the Florida Panthers on both occasions.

Did You Know?

• The Oilers are one of two NHL franchises based in Alberta, the other being the Calgary Flames, leading to the 'Battle of Alberta' rivalry.
• The Oilers are the NHL franchise with the northernmost home location.
• Wayne Gretzky set NHL records in 1980–81 for assists (109) and points (164), and in 1981–82 set the single-season record for goals (92) and became the first player to score 200 points in a season.
• The Oilers were the first team to score 400 goals in a season, a feat they accomplished for five straight years.