We should've believed them.
Every time an Edmonton Oiler stepped in front of a mic this season and said they had belief in their room, that they knew what they were capable of, we nodded and moved on. Connor McDavid said it, Leon Draisaitl said it, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman, take your pick. The message never changed.
Now here's Darnell Nurse saying it again.
"We've never wavered in what we believe that we're capable of in here, and that's the special part of this group," said Nurse.
Hard to argue. The Oilers are tied for first in the Pacific, with a shot at home ice. That's not something anyone was saying with confidence a few weeks ago, including Kris Knoblauch.
"We're in danger of not making the playoffs," the head coach said. Out loud. To the media.
If the guy behind the bench is willing to say it, you'd think the rest of us were allowed to have some doubts, too. And they were warranted. Edmonton spent big chunks of this season looking like a team allergic to consistency. There were some good games, but it was mostly stretches of nothing, a style of hockey that made it hard to know what to expect night to night.
This five-game win streak they're riding right now? Longest one they've put together all season. Not exactly a confidence-inspiring stat.
But they're finding ways to win games. Low-event, low-scoring, tight defensive hockey. Not always pretty. Probably not always deserved. But the results are there, and that's what counts this late in the season.
"We're playing good hockey recently. You're not going to have your A game every night, we probably won with our B game the other night, and that's a good sign," added Nurse. "But for us to be a team (and to) play as long as we want to play, there's going to be nights when you're not feeling it, there nights when you are feeling it, you gotta get the results either."
That's a guy who gets what April hockey actually demands. You don't need to be dominant every night. You need points and Edmonton is getting them.
The division race isn't over. Anaheim has been a surprise this season, but the Oilers are in the driver's seat, and with this group, that's not a position they're unfamiliar with. Same core that went to the Stanley Cup Final twice. Same guys who spent all season telling us not to worry. They've been in pressure situations before and figured it out.
Turns out they were right. Again.
Never doubted them.