The Stanley Cup Playoffs are notoriously unpredictable, and often, those who win the Presidents’ Trophy don’t end up with the trophy at the end of bracket. This year, there are several perfectly strong picks for eventual champions, including the New York Rangers, Dallas Stars, Carolina Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche, Florida Panthers, Vancouver Canucks, Boston Bruins, Vegas Golden Knights, Winnipeg Jets, and the Edmonton Oilers.
It’s a crowded field that doesn’t even take into consideration the notorious late risers in the wild card places that invariably disrupt a top-ranked team out the gates. Still, while not the outright favourites with the glut of the season in the books, and having gone on a late-season skid, hopes should be very high for this Oilers roster to go all the way.
Top goalie putting up stellar stats
Prior to the trade deadline, Ken Holland outright told the press that the team was happy with its goaltending and wouldn’t be seeking any potential upgrades. To date, Stuart Skinner has made the tenth-most total saves in the NHL, boasting the joint-fifth-most wins. Importantly, with one additional game in the books compared to last season, he’d faced 167 fewer shots, implying an improved defence.
Even when the defence has been a bit lacking, Skinner’s stood up tall. The breakaway is a huge opportunity for opponents. Going one-on-one with the goalie outside of a shootout situation, most expect an NHL breakaway skater to sell the goalie and score. It’s such an exciting moment for the team and gets the crowd on its feet, which is exactly why the moment has been captured in a casino game, which then spun off into a three-slot series of Break Away games.
In these huge moments, Skinner’s put up a most impressive line of 30 short-handed saves from 32 shots, making for a .938 save percentage. This success allows the powerplay to go all-in on the offence. Last season, Skinner struggled in the postseason, but the Oilers kept the young netminder in the crease. That experience will come in use this postseason.
A rough run, but not a time to panic
Every team suffers from a poor run of form at some point, and what matters is how the team addresses it and if it has the characters to command the team back to good play. During the drubbing by the Toronto Maple Leafs, Leon Draisaitl looked to take this on himself. He was seen quite pointedly hashing it out with Evander Kane on the bench, and Kane seemingly being receptive to this. It’s a great sign for the character of the lines.
Of course, the highlight acts for the team are the forwards. Connor McDavid, despite the poor results for the team, was named the third star of the week ending March 24. In this skid, Zach Hyman also made it to the 50-goal mark. Plus, Draisaitl looks primed for his fifth career 100-point season.
What’s most impressive about all of the stats for the players, goaltender, and team, is that they started 2-9-1. That’s 12 games of mostly poor play. Since, everyone’s stepped up to climb the standings and become Stanley Cup frontrunners.
