Hey everyone, apologies for the lack of blogs the last couple days. Been fighting an illness that has been less than pleasant to say the least.
I did my best to watch what I could from the Avalanche and Oilers game and this Edmonton team continues to look like an absolute wagon. Despite the score, the Oilers absolutely owned the Avalanche in terms of 5 on 5 chances against and the defense did an excellent job at limiting the Avs to a bunch of one and done shots. The only issue that the Oilers had was not being able to capitalize on their PP, particularly the 4 minute one they had in the second period. That being said they more than made up for that on their PP in overtime with a brilliant move by Evan Bouchard.
On Bouchard, it still boggles my mind that some people wanted to trade Bouchard earlier in the season. Bouchard was still getting the chances that he is now early on, the only difference was they weren't going in. Now we are seeing the mean regress and Bouchard is firing on all cylinders.
Remember when some people thought that the Oilers PP was going to struggle without their "PP quarterback" in Tyson Barrie. No disrespect meant to Barrie but the PP never was quarterbacked by him. He was a good offensive player who took advantage of playing with elite forwards. Bouchard is also taking advantage of this fact but he also has the 5 on 5 production to boot that Barrie did not. Bouchard has 24 points at 5 on 5 compared to Barrie's 14.
Bouchard and Ekholm have become the Oilers top defensive pairing and are just dominating their opponents. Ekholm is arguably the best defender the Oilers have had since Pronger. Again; I am not saying Ekholm=Pronger, but the immediate impact that he is having on this team and his skillset as a top pairing player has drastically changed this team for the better. Edmonton is 17-2-1 since the Ekholm acquisition, including the team's current 8 game winning streak.
McLeod had a solid game upon his return, adding an assist on the Ekholm goal. McLeod is a key bottom six player for this team and people should not discount what his return to this lineup means. Once the playoffs begin I wonder how long it takes for Dylan Holloway to come in and replace Klim Kostin. I do wonder if we see Holloway in the lineup on Thursday against the Sharks.
My guess is Jack Campbell starts against the Sharks which means Stuart Skinner will have finished the regular season in his rookie year with a 0.914SV%, 28-14-5 record. Since March 1st Skinner leads all goalies in wins with 13 and a 0.74GAA. It's been a phenomenal season for the rookie and he deserves Calder recognition.
The Oilers still have a chance to clinch the top spot in the West with a win against the Sharks and the Golden Knights losing in regulation to the Seattle Kraken. That would mean Edmonton plays Winnipeg in Round 1.
If Edmonton loses and Seattle loses than Edmonton will stay second and play the Kings in Round 1.
If Edmonton loses but Seattle wins than the Oilers will play the Kraken in Round 1.
Thursday is going to be a fun day.