This in from arguably hockey’s sharpest announcer Ray Ferraro of TSN, his amazement at the play of the Edmonton Oilers in coming back from a 2-1 deficit to the Vegas Golden Knights to win 4-2.
“Frankly, I was stunned with how the second period played out,” Ferraro said on the Ray & Dregs podcast. “Like, it looked like (VGK) were never going to get another shot… They weren’t even close to getting more shots. It was like a big nothingburger for Vegas.”
Ferraro continued: “And you can say, ‘Oh, well, (VGK) they didn’t have a lot of energy because they got a bunch guys, however many it is, that are sick… It wasn’t their night.’ Whatever you want to say. Or you can look at it and go, ‘Oh, man, the Oilers played exactly how they needed to play and close again to how they played last year.’ Like remember last year? As much as we talk about Leon (Drasaitl) and Connor (McDavid), they (Edmonton) didn’t win a bunch of games 7-to-5. No…. It’s this time of year and they just ground them down.”
Even when Connor Brown took a dubious charging the goalie penalty late in the third, Edmonton held tight, Ferraro said. “Pickard made a couple of saves, but you’d say, ‘OK, those are good saves.’ But it’s not like Vegas just overwhelmed them and they just hung on… Impressive stuff. Impressive stuff for Edmonton.”
My take
1. The Oilers are going where they’ve never gone before, the first time in NHL history that a team has comeback in five straight games to victory (hat tip Jack Michaels).
Last year the Oilers were defined in the playoffs by their brilliant special teams, both a fiery power play and a smothering penalty kill. But this year their success is defined by a new element, perhaps something more durable game to game than the streaky good and bad fortune of special teams play.
2. Edmonton has never been this good at even strength, at least not this century, not during the McDavid/Draisaitl era. Their even strength play has been defined by solid-to-great attacking by all four lines and exceptional puck-moving by the defence. They’ve given up a lot of goals on special teams, and their goaltending hasn’t always been stellar, but at even strength they’ve had long stretches of being both smothering on defence and fiery on the attack.
3. The dominance of the Oilers at even strength is best seen in their Grade A shots for percentage. In seven games, they’ve put up 100 Grade A shots at even strength while giving up just 64.
That makes for a 61 Grade A shots for percentage, awesome, unbeatable really, at least if a team gets OK goaltending and saws it off on special teams.
Grade A
4. Of course the Oilers have been good in the past when it comes to Grade A shots for percentage, but never this good. In the 2023-24 regular season, they were 57.5%.
But the regular season is a poor comparison for the playoffs, where the competition is far more difficult.
In the 2024 playoffs, the Oilers mustered a 51.2 percentage. In 2023, 54.2%. and In 2022 again just 51.2%.
To be that 61% this year is astonishing.
Stunning, as the astute Ferraro says of their play.
5. In Game 1 against Vegas, Edmonton had 11 Grade A shots at even strength to just one for VGK.
It’s not possible that Edmonton will continue to be that dominant. Vegas had a down game. They’re going to come out like killers on the forecheck this next game to force the play in a way they failed to do in Game 1.
But VGK is up against it. Edmonton’s depth at even strength hasn’t been this good since they last won the Cup in 1990. It’s the kind of depth and even strength dominance that allows a team that opportunity.
The Edmonton Oilers are the real deal.