What had been predicted by many became official on Monday night, after the Edmonton Oilers were thumped 5-0 at home to the Los Angeles Kings. As a result, home-ice advantage has been lost for the first round playoff matchup between the two divisional rivals.
It was a feisty affair between the Oilers and Kings inside Rogers Place, as the two teams combined for 69 penalty minutes, albeit 53 of them were assigned to the home team. The Kings' Phillip Danault accused the Oilers of putting out their B squad and trying to hurt them, but as Corey Perry pointed out that it's not as if they intentionally held out their best players. (More on this shortly.)
In any event, the Oilers have much bigger fish to fry as they continue their preparations for the playoffs. Here are three questions we have about the team, following Monday night's beating by the Kings:
1) Who will be the main starter in the playoffs?
Last week we wrote about the tough task facing Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch, when it comes to deciding who will be the number one once the playoffs begin. Does he go with Calvin Pickard or Stuart Skinner, with the latter having just returned from an injury absence?
If you're going purely on statistics and overall performances this season then it really should be Pickard, who entered Monday night having produced a .902 save percentage, 2.63 GAA, .700 quality starts percentage, 1.3 GSAA and 2.80 GAA/A. These are all better than Skinner in the same categories, with all of his respective figures also set to be single-season career-worsts. (We aren't including his first year in 2020-21, as he only played one game.)
Then came Monday night's game, when Pickard had one of his worst performances of the season, allowing five goals on 36 shots and compiling a .861 save percentage. This was in sharp contrast to Skinner's outing one night earlier in Winnipeg, when he stopped all but one of the 18 shots he faced in a 4-1 win over the Jets.
The things is though, just the fact Pickard faced considerably more shots than Skinner in their respective starts speaks volumes about how the team played in front of them. In addition, while Skinner didn't face a fully-focused Jets team, the Kings were primed and had their A-game (and roster) on full display in Edmonton.
In addition, Pickard can only really be blamed for one and at the most two of the goals he allowed; he got little help defensively, while the power play units went an unheard of -- for the Oilers -- 0-for-6 with the man advantage. Overall, Skinner does have the higher upside and talent in general but Pickard is less erratic, leaving Knoblauch with a headache as to who should be his main man between the pipes.
2) Will the Oilers regret sitting Connor McDavid?
Since coming back from his most recent injury Connor McDavid had been on a tear, with nine points and a +8 rating in three games, all of which the Oilers had won. As a result, on Monday he was named the NHL's Second Star of the Week, for the period ending Apr. 13.
Despite what has been a frustrating and injury-filled season for McDavid, the sentiment was that he was rounding into form just in time for the playoffs. This was music to the ears for Oilers fans and a loud racket to opposing fanbases, given what everyone knows what Number 97 is capable of following his record-breaking form during last season's run to the Stanley Cup Final.
With this in mind, Knoblauch made the interesting choice to sit McDavid on Monday night, with the implication that the superstar centre was being rested for the playoffs. However, this raised some questions given how well he had been playing recently, combined with the Oilers still having a shot at catching the Kings for second place in the Pacific Division.
Not that McDavid playing would have guaranteed the Oilers winning of course, but surely he should have still been out there to at least give the team some hope. Instead, the decision was made to be cautious and rest him, to make sure he is as fresh and healthy as possible when the playoffs begin.
In this respect you would also have to conclude the Oilers have confidence in beating the Kings, after three successive seasons of knocking them out in the first round of the playoffs. However, it should be noted that in each of those three matchups the Oilers had home-ice advantage, combined with the Kings having won three of the four contest between the two teams this season.
3) Just how bad is the injury situation?
The thinking is that McDavid will also be rested for Wednesday's regular season finale in San Jose, so that he is primed and ready to go for Game One of the playoffs in Los Angeles. Similarly, while Leon Draisaitl is likely to be rested against the Sharks, he will definitely be back to face the Kings when the playoffs start.
However, this does not mean Oilers fans should be feeling comfortable, given just how many injuries the team has been dealing with. The biggest concern surrounds their defensive rock and team leader Mattias Ekholm, who will definitely miss the first round of the playoffs and could well be done for the season full stop.
In addition, John Klingberg, Troy Stecher and Trent Frederic are all expected to miss Game One against the Kings, but with the Oilers hopeful they will all be back sooner than later in the series. At least there is the likelihood Jake Walman will be ready for the start of the playoffs, but overall the blue line is looking quite precarious as things stand.
In respect of the forwards the main worry is Zach Hyman, who is a maybe for Game One of the Kings series. The Oilers undoubtedly need a player who led all players in goals during last season's terrific playoff run.
One final player to consider is Evander Kane, who has yet to see a single second of action this season. The anticipation is he will finally be ready to return early in the playoffs, but no one is going to take anything for granted given how he has suffered several setbacks since his offseason surgery.
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