Something changes at a certain point, usually in the second period of a game that the Oilers most likely shouldn’t be winning. There is a deficit. There is a slight silence in the crowd. Then, virtually without warning, Edmonton begins to ascend. It’s embarrassing to call it a coincidence because it has happened so many times. Resilience is not something that this team stumbles into. It is a team that has built it over the course of three seasons—intentionally, sometimes painfully, and frequently in front of a continent that was skeptical that they would ever succeed.
At the time, the 6-1 loss to the Florida Panthers in Game 3 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final appeared terrible. It was the kind of score that causes viewers to switch channels and prompts pundits to draw broad conclusions about a team collapsing. However, Mattias Ekholm returned to the ice at Baptist Health IcePlex in less than a day, discussing closing books. The seasoned defenseman said, “I closed that book last night as I did with Game 1 and I did with Game 2,” with the unique composure of someone who has actually experienced worse. That calmness doesn’t come easily. Years of getting knocked down and deciding to get back up the following morning have practiced it, almost like muscle memory.
Ekholm is thirty-five. Corey Perry is forty years old. During that time, Edmonton had the oldest average roster age in the NHL; some analysts point to this as a drawback, but in reality, it’s more akin to institutional memory. These are athletes who can recall losing, the particular pain of it, and getting back up. There’s a difference between a young team that recovers because it doesn’t fully comprehend what happened and an experienced team that decides to move forward despite knowing how awful it was. The Oilers are definitely in the second group.
The victory over the San Jose Sharks in January 2026 was a miniature version of the same tale. The Oilers could have quietly accepted the outcome given that they were behind 3-0 after two periods and had not yet won three straight games this season. Instead, Zach Hyman won in overtime after Draisaitl, McDavid, and Bouchard tied the score. Edmonton had only won three times that season when they were behind after the first period. The Oilers are aware that this is a poor percentage. However, Hyman later said something that is worth considering: even if you don’t want to stay in a hole, getting out of one boosts a team’s confidence in a way that a convincing victory just cannot match. Most likely, he is correct. There is a feeling that these challenging wins have added up to something the Oilers carry with them, a sort of evidence they store in a practical location.
It hurt differently to lose to Anaheim in the 2026 playoffs. Resilience by itself does not ensure results, as demonstrated by a 4-2 series loss to a Ducks team that was younger, quicker off the rush, and possibly better coached in specific situational moments. It’s possible that the Oilers have occasionally relied on their track record of comebacks in place of the better defensive practices that could have prevented the deficit in the first place. As I watched that series, I kept getting the impression that Edmonton was constantly lagging behind in terms of tactical changes.
However, interpreting the Anaheim defeat as proof that the foundation is weak would be incorrect. The emotional architecture, experience, and conviction that they can rise from any place that the Oilers have developed over these three seasons are truly exceptional. The majority of franchises are unable to develop that kind of scar tissue without completely collapsing. Edmonton has persevered and prospered for a number of significant periods. Now, the more difficult question is whether they can add real structural improvements to an already successful culture. Tha
