Edmonton Oilers 2021-22 Season According to EA Sports NHL 22
The NHL’s regular season is right around the corner, and the Edmonton Oilers are gearing up for a year where they are looking to prove their postseason failures are in the past.
Also right around the corner is the release of the video game NHL 22, EA Sports’ newest entry in the series. With early access now available to those who have EA Play, I decided to simulate the Edmonton Oilers season in the game’s franchise mode.
But before we get to the simulation, we have a few rules to go over. First, injuries will be turned off, as they are impossible to predict. Second, the line combinations will not be touched. Whatever the game has as the default lineup will be the lines for the duration of the season. Lastly, there will be no trades because, like injuries, they are too difficult to predict. Trades between CPU teams can still take place, but trades between the CPU and the Oilers cannot.
With all that being said, let’s see how the Oilers fared in this simulated season.
Regular Season Record: 51-20-11 (First in Pacific division)
As the season started the Oilers actually struggled early on. They started to heat up into the month of December before really taking off in January. In the month of January, the team went 13-0-2 to catapult themselves into first in the Pacific division.
And they never held back, they dominated the regular season finishing only behind the Colorado Avalanche in the league standings. Edmonton was an elite team in every area of play, leading the league in goals per game with 3.52 and tying the Washington Capitals for the best power-play percentage with 20.7.
However, the team was also elite defensively, finishing fifth only giving up 2.68 goals per game. And the Oilers had the fifth-best penalty kill as well, sitting at 87.4%. Everything was going right, and the team was playing their best hockey going into the postseason. Going 7-1-2 in their final 10 games of the regular season.
The usual suspects led the team in scoring, but curiously still underwhelmed. Connor McDavid led the team with 44 goals and 99 points. He finished third in goals behind Nathan MacKinnon and Auston Matthews who each scored 46 goals. MacKinnon also led the league in points with 105. Leon Draisaitl had a down year as he only mustered 85 points during the season, 27 of which came on the power play.
However while Edmonton’s elite duo underwhelmed by their standards, others stepped up. Most notably Ryan Nugent-Hopkins finished at a point-per-game in the regular season with 82 points. New addition Zach Hyman had a great year as he scored 31 times and finished the year with 67 points. And Tyson Barrie had a phenomenal season, as he put up an even 50 points at 5 on 5, and 63 points overall.
The game split between the goaltenders was, let’s say slightly ridiculous. Mike Smith played in a whopping 70 games, while Koskinen started 12 games, but played in relief of Smith in an additional two contests. Smith had a mediocre .907 save percentage and 2.74 goals-against average in the regular season. While Koskinen dominated in his brief stretch of games, with a .936 save percentage and 1.84 goals against per game average.
After a great regular season, it was time for the Edmonton Oilers to start their journey towards the Stanley Cup. They would open this journey with a first-round matchup against the Vancouver Canucks.
The Edmonton Oilers were the second-best team during the regular season. And they were playing against a wildcard team in the Vancouver Canucks. Many would expect this series to be fairly one-sided, but the Canucks drew first blood with a 3-2 victory on the road in game one to put the Oilers down in the series early.
Game two was a very tightly contested affair. Each side struggled to generate anything offensively, as the game went into overtime tied at one apiece and each team having generated less than 25 shots on goal. That trend continued in overtime as the Oilers’ penalty kill shined, killing off three straight minor penalties. Then in double-overtime, Warren Foegle scored to even up the series heading to Vancouver.
From that point on Edmonton had their way with the Canucks, winning game three by a score of 3-1, game four by a score of 4-0, and finishing off the series at home with a 6-3 win.
Meanwhile, in the other Pacific division playoff matchup, the Calgary Flames swept the Seattle Kraken to set up a second-round battle of Alberta.
Edmonton once again held home-ice advantage, and once again dropped the first game to their adversary. As the Flames took game one with a 4-2 victory. Game two was a bounce-back game for the Oilers, as they evened up the series with a 4-1 victory. The series became a best-of-three as the teams headed down to Calgary for game three, which would prove to be the pivotal game in the series.
Unlike the overtime contest against the Canucks, this game was an offensive showcase. Both teams were shooting at will and it showed on the scoresheet. At the end of regulation, the score stood at 4-4 and the shots were 44-39 in favor of the Flames. But just a few moments into overtime, Connor McDavid scored to complete the hat-trick and give the Oilers a series lead.
It ended up being the same story as in round one. After dropping the first game the Oilers rattled off four straight wins to advance to the western conference finals. They would face off against a Chicago Blackhawks team who had just defeated the presidents’ trophy-winning Avalanche in six games.
The Oilers’ trend of poor game one performances continued into this series, as the Blackhawks won the opening contest 5-3. Edmonton responded with back-to-back victories, winning game two 4-1, and game three by a score of 5-2. Then in game four, after taking a 2-0 lead into the third period, the Oilers fell apart as they blew the lead before losing the game in overtime 3-2. With the series tied, the Oilers won a nail-biter game five in overtime thanks to a Leon Draisaitl power-play goal to win the game 2-1, and give the Oilers a 3-2 series lead.
As the Edmonton Oilers stood just one game away from a Stanley Cup finals appearance, they failed to put Chicago away. As they lost 3-2 in-game six despite out-shooting their opponent 46-19. This series was headed to game seven in Edmonton.
So would the Oilers step up in a win-or-go-home scenario?
No, in fact, they played their worst game of the season. Getting obliterated by a score of 9-2, ending their season with a pathetic effort on home ice.
The team had played well all playoffs long, Leon Draisaitl led the team with 19 points in 17 games, while Connor McDavid scored 11 times and finished the postseason with 16 points. Mike Smith showed improvement from the regular season as he had a .919 save percentage while allowing 2.48 goals per game.
While the team scored 3.35 goals per game (-0.17 difference from the regular season) the team only allowed 2.59 (-0.09 difference). The team also improved on the man advantage slightly as they scored on 21.2% of their opportunities (+0.05%). The biggest difference from the regular season came on the penalty kill, as they killed off 80.5% of their penalties (-6.9%).
Ultimately, the Edmonton Oilers were a great team, but one that failed to step up in the biggest moment of the year. At least, according to NHL 22.
Now it’s up to the real Oilers to get the job done.