Waking up this morning the playoffs are going about the way I expected them to. The series I thought would be close are split at 1-1 whereas the one-sided series are 2-0. I expect the Oilers to continue that trend today as I expect them to win tonight.
With their win on Monday, the Oilers proved that they can control the game and put it to the Los Angeles Kings. With a 7-4 win the Oilers were able to plant that seed of doubt in the Kings' mind and if the Oilers win again tonight, there will be no chance the Kings will be able to get back in the series as I think their mental state will be in tough shape.
While there would still be a chance if the Oilers did win tonight, I think the way the Oilers are playing right now and down the stretch of the regular season, they will not let the Kings get a breath of air in this series if they get up by two games. So a win tonight I would expect a 4-0 or 4-1 series win for the Oilers.
Oilers Need To Once Again Get The Lead
Zach Hyman's goal just under 7 minutes into the game set the tone for that whole game. After that, the Oilers never looked back and continued to push the pace and force the Kings to make mistakes as the Kings needed to be more offensive to try and tie the game.
The Kings' game is built on locking down their end and not letting teams get through the neutral zone with speed, but when they fall behind they aren't as strong defensively because they need to score to catch up. If the Oilers can get that first the Kings gameplan unravels.
For the Los Angeles Kings, I think they need to loosen up defensively and try and get a goal before the Oilers do. If they do that I think that is their best line for victory. Unfortunately, for the Kings, the Oilers are the better offensive team so this will likely only end up benefiting the Oilers in the long run.
It is still a lot of hours till the puck drops, but the excitement is growing in and around Edmonton that this Oilers team has a chance to go far in the playoffs. Dispatching the Kings in this game and eventually this series will only put gasoline to that fire.