3 Keys to Oilers Beating Golden Knights in Round 2 of Playoffs

As the Edmonton Oilers prepare for their second-round showdown with the Vegas Golden Knights, analysts Ray Ferraro and Chris Gawlik have raised serious questions about whether the Oilers can eliminate Vegas as they did the Los Angeles Kings. Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch admitted that these are two different teams, and what worked against the Kings won’t work against Vegas.

Edmonton’s performance and never-quit resilience were admirable. That said, their play revealed concerning flaws that a disciplined and experienced Vegas team could exploit.

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Here are three major issues Edmonton must address to have a chance of advancing:

Vegas’ Blue is Deeper and Bigger Than Edmonton’s

The Oilers overcame a potent Kings’ offense without Mattias Ekholm in the lineup, but Edmonton’s defensive play was wildly inconsistent against the Kings. While they tightened things up in Game 5, limiting L.A. to just six Grade A chances, Game 6 saw them revert to poor habits, giving up odd-man rushes and high-danger looks. That was a run-and-gun game that they probably won’t win against the Golden Knights.

At times, the pairing of Darnell Nurse and Evan Bouchard was acceptable, but at others, it was awful in their own zone. There’s an element of give and take with a player like Bouchard — he does so much on offense that it’s accepted to overlook his defensive shortcomings. But, if Edmonton is going to get past Vegas, Bouchard needs to tighten things up defensively.

The same goes for Brett Kulak, Jake Walman, John Klingberg, and Ty Emberson. It’s asking a lot for this group to be as good or better than the Golden Knights’ big and steady blue line. They’ll need to find a way to hold their own.

Oilers Have an Unsettled Goaltending Situation

It looks like Calvin Pickard has earned the starting job in Edmonton, and he performed admirably in relief of Stuart Skinner. However, he let in some goals he’d like back and most analysts would suggest a “Calvin Pickard-led” team is the underdog in the goaltending department.

If Pickard falters, Knoblauch won’t hesitate to make a quick switch back to Skinner, and it will be critical that he performs better than he did against the Kings. Some of his bad numbers weren’t on him, but he also wasn’t good enough. Vegas will be rolling with Adin Hill, whose numbers through six games are right on par with Pickard’s.

Turnovers and Odd-Man Rushes

One of the biggest concerns is Edmonton’s carelessness with the puck at the offensive blue line. Against the Kings, this led to repeated odd-man rushes and unnecessary pressure on their goaltenders. The Oilers are aware that this is a losing formula against Vegas.

Adam Henrique told the media on Saturday, “They’re a great line rush team, they’ve got a lot of offensive skill. You gotta be tight, you can’t give them an inch… It’s gonna be a fun series.” He’s right, but it won’t be much fun if the Oilers start this series with the same kind of coverage they played in Game 6.

If the Oilers can address these three issues — stabilize their blue line, manage their goaltending wisely, and clean up their transition play — they’ll give themselves a real shot against Vegas. But if not, expect the Golden Knights to take out the Oilers again.

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