Let's be honest here. Not many people expected the Minnesota Wild to give the Vegas Golden Knights so much trouble in the first round. A strong forecheck and Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy dancing on the ice kept the Wild around until Game 6. Add in a dash of Filip Gustavsson and you're under even more pressure to avoid an upset.
Now comes a tougher challenge: The Edmonton Oilers. Armed with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the Oilers are looking for another Clarence Campbell Trophy to hang in their hallowed hallways. But what's more is they're looking to end a decades-long Stanley Cup drought for their home country.
Imagine being dry since 1993 and not having that summer-long dopamine hit from your country's official sport. Nah, couldn't be me.
Anyway, it's time to try our hands at the ol' predictions game. Last time was an absolute curveball for hockey experts and writers alike. This time? The series will be much tougher to gauge.
Will Draisaitl and McDavid get the best of the Golden Knights? Or does Jack Eichel and company get the last laugh like they did in 2023? Let's lay out some predictions for the Oilers-Golden Knights series.
Brian Ault: Golden Knights in 7
Like Spider-Man 2, this is gonna be a sequel that surpasses the first one. They played each other pretty evenly in the regular season, outside of that 6-3 drubbing Edmonton gave back in December. Both teams played multiple OT games in their respective first-round series.
I give the edge to Vegas, though. That's because, despite the Oilers being deeper than they were two years ago, I trust this Golden Knights team in a snarly brawl of a series just a touch more than I do Edmonton.
A key player for Vegas in this series is the OT hero in Game 4, Ivan Barbashev. He was the third-highest scorer for the Golden Knights in that second-round series, assisting on the game-winner in Game 6. He's gonna need to summon a series like that to get this team to a fourth Western Conference final in franchise history.
Jacob Walters: Vegas in 6
The Edmonton Oilers can win this series if they can get other players not named Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl involved. We're talking about role players such as Zach Hyman (27 goals), Viktor Arvidsson (15 goals), and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins being involved. Edmonton has the power to outscore its opponents in absolute barnburners (especially with its top two superstars on the same line), given its scoring depth both at the forward and defenseman positions.
But therein lies the problem when you're the hockey equivalent of "all gas, no brakes". What about the slow-moving blue line? What about the uncertainty in net? Sure, they can beat a Vezina Trophy finalist in Darcy Kuemper. However, they must get past a team with scoring depth on all four lines.
That's where the Golden Knights will win. They have countless two-way forwards who can fly up and down the ice. They can also overwhelm the Oilers with 30-40 shots in one game. Fans know how that would turn out, given that Stuart Skinner is as reliable as Amber Heard keeping your bed clean and Calvin Pickard hasn't faced a real challenge.