With the Edmonton Oilers sitting at 1-2 disadvantage in their Round 1 series against the Anaheim Ducks, it's fair if fans have some concerns. Falling behind the third best team in the "Pacific Division Pillow Fight" isn't a great look for a team that considers itself a contender. The Oilers' defensive play has been suspect in each of the first three playoff games, and another loss will have them on the verge of elimination.
But there's good news if you look for it. Last game, in a 7-4 outing that continued a trend where the Oilers squander leads and allow opposing offence to control the game, Oilers captain Connor McDavid managed a goal. His offense has been limited by the checking strategy of the Ducks, mainly having composed of timely stick checks and Tim Washe babysitting him most of the game, but the cracks in that strategy are showing.
The best player in the game
At the Olympics, McDavid managed more points than most stars from past generations could in multiple Olympic Games. Looking further in the past, he's been a playoff dynamo, amongst the greatest in league history in terms of point per game, and quickly rising up the ranks of the total postseason points leaderboard as well. The fact is, nobody contains McDavid indefinitely.
The Oilers have, for the past decade, had the luxury of the game's best player on their roster. They can depend, from time to time, on McDavid performances that win games on their own. He had one such 5-point outing in the final stretch of the regular season, crushing the playoff dreams of Macklin Celebrini's San Jose Sharks, and finished Game 82 with a 4 assist performance against the hapless Vancouver Canucks. McDavid is so great that it isn't a question of "if" he'll dominate play, but when.
Coaching battle
While McDavid can win any single game on his own, it's not the best idea to rely solely on your superstar. Oilers' coach Kris Knoblauch is up against one of the all-time greats in Joel Quenneville. There's an argument to be made that the Oilers were outcoached in two Stanley Cup Finals by another future Hall of Famer, Paul Maurice. An early exit likely ends Knoblauch's time behind the Edmonton bench, so he needs to make the strategic adjustments that end this series favorably.
The Oilers still have home ice advantage and a win tonight sends the series back to Edmonton twice if it goes to seven games. The goaltending and defense need to tighten up and the forwards need to extend their time in the Ducks' zone when they have the puck. Anaheim is a young and mostly inexperienced club, with all the fragility and potential for panicked reactions that come with those aspects. A dominant Game 4 could shake their foundations to the degree that even great coaching can't balance it out.
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