Three dragons slayed by the Oilers and one more to go

The Oilers are going to the Finals

Man did it ever feel good to type that. :) Anyway, let's get to the meat and potatoes and see how the Oilers stack up against the Panthers, because that's what we're all here for.

The case for the Oilers

Florida has a bit of a funny roster - on the surface, there isn't a lot of name guys on this team. It's a very unheralded roster, so it's tempting to take them lightly, maybe even boldly proclaim that they'll be an even easier opponent than Dallas.

However, look deeper at the roster and we discover that the Panthers are not such easy pickings after all. Florida is a team built on team defence and physical play. Does this mean the Oilers should be worried about them? No, IMO it's nothing they can't handle.

After all, the LA Kings tried to play the Oilers physical and they got beat in five games. The Canucks tried to beat the Oilers with toughness and team defence - and admittedly although it came close to working, the Oilers were still victorious in seven games, and in a series where the Oilers largely beat them at their own game.

The Dallas Stars tried coming at the Oilers with a combination of team defence and goaltending, and the Oilers beat them at their own game, too. Many pundits are picking the Panthers as the favourites in this series, but I predict the Oilers will make those pundits eat it due to their unique ability to beat teams any which way they need to. Heck, even the press here in Canada is picking Florida. Of course, that's what everyone said about Dallas too in the third round, and look how that went?

Want to try and beat the Oilers with scoring? They boast one of the deepest top six forward groups in the NHL. They also have one of the league's best offensive blueliners in Evan Bouchard, plus two capable guys bringing up the rear in Darnell Nurse and prospect Philip Broberg,

Nurse can produce offence when he's given room to work. Broberg meanwhile, is just two games into his playoff experience and has already scored a goal (short sample size to be sure, but a good omen of things to come). This means that if the bounces and momentum go the Oilers' way, they've got blueliners on every pairing that can burn you for a goal.

Want to try to check the Oilers into submission? They can beat you that way too, and expect to see a steady diet of well known pests in Corey Perry and Evander Kane if you do, not to mention some monster players in Vincent Desharnais, Mattias Ekholm, Leon Draisaitl, and more.

Team defence? The Oilers have that covered too. Although technically Florida has the lower GA in the playoffs with 39, the Oilers are not that far behind with 47. Your goaltender can steal a game for you you say? Stuart Skinner proved he has that ability as well against Dallas, and if he falters there's Calvin Pickard, who's performed very well in two playoff games so far.

Depth scoring? Admittedly the Oilers' depth scoring was largely missing in rounds one and two. However it most definitely woke up in round three, and the Oilers also have something no other playoff team has - every single guy who has suited up for the team has produced at least one point on offence. The Panthers still have two guys who have produced no offence at all - Ryan Lomberg and Dmitry Kulikov.

How about speed? The Oilers have some very speedy players - Connor McDavid is widely acknowledged as the fastest player in the league, and Draisaitl, Dylan Holloway, Warren Foegele, Zach Hyman, and many others boast the speed that fits the modern game.

Special teams? The Oilers boast the top penalty kill unit in the league amongst all playoff teams with 93.9 percent efficiency, including being perfect against the LA Kings and Dallas, only allowing a modest three power play goals against during the second round. They also boast the top power play unit in the league as well during the playoffs, with a 37.3 percent efficiency.