Wow. What a great start for the Edmonton Oilers to kick off this second round. Winning both games in Vegas is a significant accomplishment. The Oilers will now have a chance to sweep the series in their own barn.
I think most Oiler fans would agree that before the playoffs started, when they heard the news that Mattias Ekholm would miss some time, the team would probably beat L.A. but have no chance against the Knights. Well, not only has the defence played phenomenally thus far, but Calvin Pickard made some key stops that allowed the team to steal the game in overtime. The depth as well has shown to be a surprising development right now. If anything, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have probably been the most disappointing skaters from this series.
With all the hype right now in Oil Country, let’s do a bit of an analytical look on the first two games of the series and see what’s making the Oilers so successful thus far and if this can continue throughout not just this series but the playoffs as a whole.
How Edmonton found success in the first game
The Oilers played an almost perfect road hockey game in Game 1. The Oilers controlled the 5v5 aspect of the game all night. In the first period, they controlled 76.27% of the xG share, in the second period, they controlled 70.79%, and in the third they controlled 71.78%. Vegas was outplayed so bad that they only had NINE 5v5 shots total all game. They had THREE of those in the final forty minutes. It was an absolute clinic by the Oilers, with Vegas’ only goals coming from Mark Stone in the first, one being a power play goal.
Edmonton also had more High Danger chances compared to Vegas with a 13–3 advantage. Calvin Pickard basically stopped what he had too leading to a GSAx of +0.07. It’s been said that the Oilers need average goaltending to go far and they got that from Pickard this game. The Oilers got goals from outside the big guns to with Connor Brown scoring a beautiful goal on Adin Hill as he danced around Shea Theodore and the Zach Hyman-Ryan Nugent-Hopkins-Evander Kane connecting once as well.
If you have to nitpick an area of the game, it was the Oilers’ special teams (and this will come up again in Game 2). They were way too passive on the goal against via Stone. Defenceman Ty Emberson only played penalty kill time and saw a total ice time of 6:43. This did not change heading into Game 2. When the Oilers had their power play looks, they were generating absolutely nothing. It’s clear they lack creativity and it showed again two nights later. Besides that however, it was a great game by the boys. You couldn’t ask for a better performance on the road to start the series.
Edmonton managing another win in overtime
This is what we call a stolen game on the road. Something we’ve seen rarely in this era of Oilers hockey. Vegas dominated the 5v5 game this time around holding an xG share of 44.41, 83.41, 39.44, and 60.79%. It may not look that dominated given how the first and third periods went, but truly Edmonton wasn’t peppering Hill at all this game. Hill sunk his team having a GSAx of -1.52. Pickard on the other hand only had a -0.15. So again, very average. But I think those numbers are underrating just how important Pickard was.
The Knights had numerous point blank and HD chances, having eleven of them in the second period compared to the Oilers’ zero. Do you know what the scoring was like in that second frame? 3–1 for Edmonton. They capitalized on Hill when they had a chance and Pickard shut the Knights down.
The Viktor Arvidsson-Mattias Janmark-Vasily Podkolzin line getting two goals in the second frame really gave some juice to the team. Podkolzin having six points now is absurdly awesome. The Kane-RNH-Hyman line once again got on the board early in the third.
What the Oilers may need to tweak
Briefly mentioned in this article, the Draisaitl-McDavid-Corey Perry line was awful. They’ve been bad for quite some time. If you remember my Game 5 and 6 review against the Kings, I mentioned the big two actually had a minimal impact on those games, rather it was depth stepping up. Yes, McDavid and Draisaitl combined for the OT winner, but actually watching that game was an eyesore. It’s clear Draisaitl is still hurt, but McDavid looks healthy. These two need to be split up and I’d reckon you have to go Kane-McDavid-Hyman and Nugent-Hopkins–Draisaitl-Perry to get them going. At the same time though, the bottom-nine have been phenomenal so do you really want to touch those lines? If these two wake up, the Oilers will sweep this series mark my words.
Special teams again was an issue. Vegas got two goals by Victor Olofsson on the power play and Ty Emberson once more only played seven minutes. It may be time to see what Troy Stecher has in store. The power play was somehow even worse. They refuse to shoot and when they do, it’s telegraphed by Evan Bouchard or Draisaitl since it’s the only play they run. They need to make massive changes or functions to both the penalty kill and power play. There is zero explanation for the Oilers not scoring on that five minute major. If that gets going, then again, the Oilers are unstoppable.
The Oilers could possibly take the series
NHL_Sid here on Twitter has essentially confirmed what I’m about to say here. The depth scoring showing up, the strong defence and the average goaltending from Pickard is sustainable. This isn’t a mirage. The Oilers are playing excellent hockey throughout their line up. If the special teams finally start to wake up and McDavid and Draisaitl get their feet going like the playoff performers we know they are, not only with this team probably sweep or beat Vegas in five at the very least, but they’re easily the Cup favourites.
Don’t forget… Mattias Ekholm will probably be back by Round 3. Game 3 is a massive one for Edmonton to take a strangehold on this series, but I have high confidence they can pull out victories in both home games, especially with how they’re playing.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
