Edmonton Oilers 2021-22 Season According to EA Sports NHL 22

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.