With the Edmonton Oilers set to faceoff against the Vegas Golden Knights tonight, it's an opportunity to preview what seems like a foregone conclusion in terms of a Round One matchup in the National Hockey League Playoffs. The teams have met before, with Vegas beating Edmonton enroute to their first Stanley Cup victory, and the Oilers returning the favour in the 2024/25 postseason. With less than a dozen games remaining, the rubber match looks unavoidable.
The management of the Golden Knights should get all the credit they deserve for selecting an instantly competitive team at the Expansion Draft, and maintaining or improving the roster year-over-year since their fairytale first season. Today's team has slipped slightly backward, but they're a threat to win on any night.
Superstars on both sides
Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel have been compared against one another ever since they were selected #1 and #2 overall at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. While McDavid has undoubtedly proven himself the better of the two in terms of personal production, Eichel has ultimately found more team success. Not only does he have a Stanley Cup win on his resume, he added an Olympic Gold to that tally a month ago.
In his NHL career, McDavid has scored consistently against the Knights, and this season the team allows a lot of goals against, so that trend has and should continue.
Special Teams
Both teams have Top 5 powerplays, with the ability to score from the front and the back. And while the Knights also have a very strong penalty killing group, Edmonton is not so good at preventing shorthanded goals. These are season long numbers however, and Oilers GM Stan Bowman seemed highly focused on improving the PK with his deadline additions. Still, neither team should spend any more time in the penalty box than necessary.
Edmonton will be missing the services of Leon Draisaitl for both of their remaining games against the Knights, but Vegas isn't at 100% health either. They've clearly missed Alex Pietrangelo all season, and William Karlsson is out for the balance of the regular season as well. Managing without key players, while keeping the rest of the roster healthy, will be a priority for both clubs.
A deeper look
A comparison of the two teams shows a lot of similarities. Zone time, high danger and long distance scoring are all very similar. Where we see a difference is that Vegas seems to score regularly from a couple different places, whereas the Oilers are a danger to score from anywhere in the offensive zone.
Over a seven game series, with Draisaitl in the lineup, the Oilers should defeat the Golden Knights more often than not. That's been the story of the season series, and should continue into the playoffs. But if Draisaitl can't make it back into the lineup, all bets are off.