Top Oilers playoff trends, as Western Conference finals loom

Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporterMay 21, 2024, 12:01 AM ET

CloseRyan S. Clark is an NHL reporter for ESPN.

The Edmonton Oilers are headed back to the Western Conference finals, after holding on to defeat the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 in Game 7 of their second-round series.

Edmonton’s win sets up a matchup with the Dallas Stars, who defeated the Colorado Avalanche in six games.

Here are the key takeaways from the Oilers’ run so far, and how they match up with the Stars in the next round:

Both Oilers special teams are proving elite

It’s possible that what the Canucks did in Games 5 and 6 may have provided something of a blueprint for how to at least slow down the Oilers’ power play. But even then, the Oilers have used this postseason to once again show why they’ve been one of the premier power-play units in the NHL over the past few seasons.

Coming into Game 7, the Oilers had the NHL’s best power-play unit, with a 36.8% success rate that’s been buoyed by Leon Draisaitl scoring six of their 14 goals while Connor McDavid had 10 assists.

But for anyone thinking the power play is the Oilers’ lone advantage on special teams, guess again. The Oilers’ penalty kill has also been the best in the NHL this postseason, as it has had a success rate of more than 90%. Mattias Ekholm, Vincent Desharnais, Mattias Janmark and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins are all playing vital roles in anchoring the kill, logging more than 20 minutes in those short-handed sequences this postseason.

What a difference a year makes

Go back to what happened to the Oilers when they were eliminated in the second round last season.

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Among the issues they faced then was finding defensive consistency. They allowed the sixth-most goals per game (3.50), the eighth-most shots per game (31.5) and possessed an average penalty kill (75.6%).

One of the questions facing the Oilers heading into this past offseason was seeing what lessons they would learn from their second-round exit.

With coach Kris Knoblauch’s in-season…

Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/40185264/nhl-playoffs-2024-stanley-cup-edmonton-oilers-takeaways-conference-finals-bracket-stars

Author : Ryan S. Clark

Publish date : 2024-05-21 05:04:22

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