The first two weeks of the season have not been kind to a few of the top Stanley Cup contenders.

Edmonton Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch and his staff successfully challenged a goal by the Florida Panthers at a crucial juncture of Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Connor McDavid has been the best player on the ice as the Edmonton Oilers rallied to force a sixth game in the Stanley Cup Final after falling behind 3-0 to the Florida Panthers.

Connor McDavid had two goals and two assists that added to his historic postseason, Evan Bouchard added three assists and the Edmonton Oilers fended off elimination yet again by beating the Florida Panthers 4-3 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final on Tuesday night.

Kris Knoblauch engaged Evander Kane in a conversation before the Edmonton Oilers started practice. The chat lasted roughly five minutes, and Kane left the ice just after hearing from his coach.

Up 1-0 in Round 1 against Tampa Bay, the Florida Panthers said they had to get better. Down 1-0 in Round 2 against Boston, they said it again. Up 1-0 in the Eastern Conference Final against the New York Rangers, same thing.

When Kris Knoblauch became coach of the Edmonton Oilers, they had lost 10 of their first 13 games and the Stanley Cup was the last thing anyone on the team was talking about.

Firing a coach during the season is typically seen as a sign that a season has gone off the rails.

It looks like the Edmonton Oilers made the right move when they made a coaching change early in the season.

The Edmonton Oilers have fired coach Jay Woodcroft after a team that was supposed to be a Stanley Cup contender lost 10 of its first 13 games.

Ovechkin scored two rebound goals in the final seven minutes to give the Washington Capitals their seventh consecutive victory by coming back to beat the New York Rangers 2-1 on Friday night. He has scored in five in a row and has seven goals in the past seven games. “We liked he way we played for the most part," Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba said. LINDGREN DELIVERSWhile Washington players jawed at Lindgren plenty after his open-ice hit on Ovechkin midway through the second period, Ovechkin himself had no issues with it. “It was a great hit," Ovechkin said.

New York Rangers' Mika Zibanejad (93) scores against Philadelphia Flyers' Carter Hart (79) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, March 17, 2021, in New York. (Bruce Bennett/Pool Photo via AP)NEW YORK – Mika Zibanejad had three goals and three assists in New York’s seven-goal second period, and the Rangers beat the Philadelphia Flyers 9-0 Wednesday night. Hartford Wolf Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch and associate head coach Gord Murphy, and Rangers associate general manager Chris Drury were behind the bench. Ad“You didn’t have much time to think about it,” Knoblauch said when asked about pregame preparation as the acting head coach. “Nothing about this game was any good,” Flyers coach Alain Vigneault said.