McDavid: 'It's a step in the right direction, but that's all it is'

Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid tried to find the positives from his team's playoff run after reaching the Western Conference final for the first time in his seven-year career.

"It feels like it's steps right?" McDavid said. "Every team kind of goes through it. They become a playoff team and then they get there most years and then they go on a little bit of a run and they learn that lesson and then it becomes their time to win.

"You look at a Colorado team that's been in that situation many, many times, and obviously they're knocking on the door right now. It's a step in the right direction, but that's all it is."

The Oilers lost 6-5 to the Avalanche in overtime of Game 4 on Monday, seeing their season end in a four-game sweep for the second straight season. 

Edmonton's season has officially come to an end, as Colorado completed the series sweep to advance to the Stanley Cup Final. The TSN Hockey panel discusses what went wrong for the Oilers in their late collapse, where they go from here, and if Pavel Francouz has stolen the crease from Darcy Kuemper.

Edmonton held a 3-1 lead entering the third period of Game 4 and a 4-2 lead in the frame before seeing the Avalanche storm back to take a 5-4 lead with less than six minutes remaining. Zack Kassian scored to push the game to overtime, where Artturi Lehkonen ended the series just 1:19 in off of a rebound.

"I liked that there was no quit," McDavid said of the Oilers performance. "I don't think anyone quit out there, no one quit on each other. That's always a good sign, but we, obviously, let it get away."

The Oilers reached the postseason for the fourth time in the McDavid-era this season and a won series for the first time since reaching the second round in 2017.