Game 7 Tonight- The Oilers Head Into Game As Favourites

For fans throughout both Northern Alberta and British Columbia, today is a nerve-racking day. Those nerves either change to excitement or sadness by the end of the night depending on whether the Edmonton Oilers or Vancouver Canucks win tonight.

I can speak for most Oilers fans by saying that we are pretty confident heading into the game tonight. After beating the Canucks fairly handily a couple of days ago coupled with the news that Brock Boeser, one of the Canucks better players in this series, is not going to be in the line-up. But, also as an Oilers fan in the back of my mind, I have the thought that the Oilers play terribly and lose.

The Edmonton Oilers haven’t played in a game 7 since they defeated the Los Angeles Kings two years ago. A series where they were also trailing 3-2. Some of the roster was there back then, but there are also quite a few pieces. This Oilers team is much better than it was back then, but so is their opponent.

Heading into tonight's action there are a few areas where I need to see the Oilers continue to play well or at least improve. The most important area that needs to be good if the Oilers want any chance to win is in the net. Assuming Skinner is the starter he needs to play his best he can if the Oilers want to win this game.

Another area that the Oilers need to improve on from the previous two games is the powerplay. The Oilers haven’t scored a powerplay goal in the last couple of games. Knowing the Oilers powerplay I wouldn’t expect the slump to continue. The players are way too good on that unit for it not to score a goal if they get a couple of chances again today.

It is going to take the Edmonton Oilers playing a full 60 minutes for them to win. If they can play a solid game and don’t give the Canucks any gift goals I can see this game playing out similar to the way game 6 did.