The concern was that after losing Game 3 in the way they did, the Oilers were going to give Vegas an opening to surge right back into this series. Instead, like Game 5 against the Kings, the Edmonton Oilers absolutely throttled Vegas, taking a commanding 3-1 series lead. Tonight the Oilers have a huge opportunity in front of them to close this series out.

Quick side note, Oilers fans if they weren't already should absolutely be cheering for the Jets to at least force the Stars into a Game 7. If the Oilers are able to close things out tonight, there is a path forward for them to get some much needed rest for players like Draisaitl who are clearly playing hurt and the likes of Ekholm who is reported getting closer to being game ready. The longer the Jets/Stars series goes, the more rest that these guys get.

I like to think I have decent hockey sense and an understanding of who does and does not work on this Oilers roster but I am also happy to be proven wrong. I highly questioned inserting Kapanen back into the lineup over Arvidsson and Skinner and even moreso slotting him up with Draisaitl. Kapanen not only came out swinging, leveling some huge hits (finished with 5), but the Draisaitl-Podkolzin-Kapanen line was a driving force all night for the Oileres. Most impressive was that the Oilers hard matched the Kap-Drai-Pod line against the Eichel line and completely shut them down. Eichel finished the night with a single shot on net at 5 on 5.

While the Draisaitl line was effective for it's two way play it was the Kane-Henrique-Brown line that got the ball rolling early and got under the skin of the Golden Knights, most specifically Adin Hill.

Henrique potted two goals, the first a hardworking effort by Brown behind the net to get the puck into the slot to a waiting Henrique. The second goal was the entire forward line crashing the net with Henrique making the impressive between the legs shot. After the goal was scored, Kane was crosschecked from behind and fell into Adin Hill who lost his mind. It wasn't the only moment in the game where Hill looked unhinged with the Oilers clearly in his head.

On Kane he continues to exceed expectations with where I thought his game would be after missing a whole season. #91 would score the third goal for the Oilers but was also an effective pest all night. I do not fault him for the penalty he took on Hill (still shocked Hill didn't receive anything in that game) and did an excellent job of being physical without entering the realm of stupid penalties or defensive blunders.

Depth continues to be the story for this team that is winning games with McDavid and Draisaitl appearing to be human. Here is the breakdown for scoring in this series.

3 goals: Perry
2 goals: Draisaitl, Kane, Henrique
1 goal: Brown, Podkolzin, McDavid, Hyman, Nurse, Walman

for Vegas

2 goals: Stone, Smith, Olofsson, Karlsson
1 goal: Pietrangelo, Roy

That is 10 different goal scorers for Edmonton with 6 different for Vegas. The depth continues to shine with it feeling like a different line has stepped up each game.

The Edmonton Oilers played so well that their goalie recording a shutout is a secondary story but an important one for this team moving forward. Stuart Skinner had not played in 17 days when he stepped back between the pipes in Game 3 and while he had shaky moments, the team in front of him really did not do much to help him out. In Game 4 the Oilers did a strong job at boxing out the Golden Knights and limiting their second chances and Skinner was able to be positionally sound, making a few big saves when needed. Pickard helped to keep Edmonton alive when they needed him but I also believe that Skinner at his best is far better than Pickard at his best. They need Skinner at his best again in Game 5.

The Oilers cannot afford to look past tonight's game to the Stars or the Jets. Vegas will be back at home and looking to use their crowd to come out of the gates swinging. Edmonton will need to weather the storm and aim to score first and put the Golden Knights on their heels. No game in this series has been boring and I don't expect that to change tonight.

Thanks for reading.

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