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Oilers Dominate (2 Periods) in Win in Vegas |
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I wrote in my last blog that my biggest concern for the Oilers in this series was they have shown in the past that they struggle against aggressive attacking teams. Things went about as poorly in the first period as possible as Vegas came out swinging with RNH taking a dumb 4 minute high sticking penalty. Shortly after the PP began Mark Stone ended up scoring on a double tipped shot which Pickard stood no chance on.
From there the Oilers continued to reel in their own end and couldn't seem to generate any legitimate scoring chances or zone time in the Vegas end. A poor choice by Draisaitl in the offensive end led to an odd man rush the opposite way with Corey Perry making a baffling decision which gave Stone once again all the time in the world to score. A 2-0 deficit less than 10 minutes in was probably not how Knoblauch wrote things up on the board.
To the Oilers credit they started to find their way from there and started getting some chances. Corey Perry redeemed himself by doing what he has all playoffs and parked himself in front of the net with a good set of hands to beat Hill to make it 2-1 after 1 with the Oilers quite frankly lucky to be down only one goal.
From the start of the second period onwards it was all Edmonton. Shots at 5 on 5 were 7-1 for the Oilers in the 2nd period and 6-2 for them in the 3rd. High Danger chances were 8-1 in those two periods. Edmonton absolutely dominated Vegas for two periods, creating a ton of chances and allowing almost nothing to get towards Pickard.
Not an unsung hero but the surprise difference maker for the Oilers in this game was John Klingberg. I specifically targeted Klingberg as a potential concern in this series with his foot speed and decision making under pressure and we did see a ton of that in the first period. From the 2nd period onward though he was making quick smart outlet passes and transitioning the puck effectively. He did not show up on the score sheet but he was instrumental in this game.
Kudos as well to Evan Bouchard who played smart on both sides of the puck and notched two assists. He is now the 2nd fastest defender in NHL history to reach 50 assists. He did it in 60 games... Bobby Orr did it in 59. He's an incredible player.
I'm sure many have seen the stat that the Oilers are the first team in NHL history to win 5 consecutive playoff games when trailing and Pickard is the first Oilers goalie to go 5-0 since Fuhr. While it's clear this is a team with no concerns about trailing in games and coming back, it would be nice to see this team actually leading for once.
If I told you at the start of the playoffs that Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard were tied for the team lead in goals with 4 you would probably believe me... you might not if I said that Connor Brown was also tied with them, or that Corey Perry was tied with RNH and Hyman for 3 goals. The depth of this team was on display in that first Vegas game and a huge part of their victory. Even with McDavid and Draisaitl playing together, the Oilers were able to roll 4 lines on the regular and were able to find goals from 3 of their 4 lines and 4 different goal scorers.
The Golden Knights were without Dorofeyev who remains injured and a last minute scratch of Pietrangelo due to illness. I am assuming we will see at least Pietrangelo in Game 2 and the Vegas blueline will certainly benefit from it but aside from a rough first 10 minutes this was a convincing win by the Edmonton Oilers.
Quick note on Adin Hill who looked unbeatable in period 2 before becoming leaky in the third. It was clear the Oilers were aiming glove hand against him, an area he struggled in against the Wild. Both the Hyman and Brown goals beat him glove side and Hill finished the game with a 0.857SV%.
Thanks for reading.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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