Is the Script Flipped in Oilers vs. Golden Knights Series?

The Edmonton Oilers were long known as the Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl show. In some ways, that’s still the case. That said, in the series between the Oilers and the Los Angeles Kings, the depth on the Oilers won the day, while the Kings shortened their bench and couldn’t handle the Oilers rolling four lines. The narrative going into the series with Vegas is that the Oilers might actually have a depth advantage, which is a flip of the script in previous series.

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There is no denying that the Oilers go as McDavid and Draisaitl go. However, in Game 6, they had one point between them in a 6-4 win, with forwards like Connor Brown, Trent Frederic, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Adam Henrique scoring among forwards. Meanwhile, the Golden Knights were loading up their top line of Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, and William Karlsson in an attempt to eliminate the Minnesota Wild.

The Oilers previewed the series on their website and wrote of the win over the Kings:

“In total, they scored 15 five-on-five goals against Los Angeles, and 11 of their 12 forwards who were a part of their Game 6 roster last Thursday in Edmonton all found the scoresheet at some point during the series. The only holdout in Vasily Podkolzin, who still contributed four assists, 29 hits and going plus-3 while averaging 10:09 TOI per game.”

Suppose the Golden Knights feel that’s their winning formula against Edmonton. In that case, it leaves them exposed when it comes to their depth, especially considering that the leading goal scorer of the Vegas Golden Knights, Pavel Dorofeyev, will be sidelined for much of the series.

The Oilers Can Keep Rolling Their Lines

The Oilers’ depth might be their greatest advantage in this series. Things are a far cry from how they went when these two teams met two years ago.

If the Oilers can keep McDavid and Draisaitl on separate lines — barring special instances when the coach wants to load them up in the offensive zone — it becomes more than the Golden Knights can potentially handle. And because the blue line isn’t as strong as it once was in Vegas (they are still big and strong), the Oilers can take advantage of the matchups.

If the Oilers beat the Golden Knights in this second-round series, expect McDavid and Draisaitl to lead this team. At the same time, they won’t win unless the depth keeps producing and the second and third lines (even the fourth) are giving the Golden Knights all they can handle.

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