Connor McDavid<\/a> said after Monday\u2019s practice, a few hours before boarding the charter for Salt Lake City. \u201cWe feel good no matter where we start, but with that being said, we know our building, we know our home our fans and how excited they are. It is a difference maker.\u201d<\/p>\nTruly, the biggest factor that affects Edmonton\u2019s final five games prior to their seventh consecutive playoff appearance is the absence of Hyman and Draisaitl \u2014\u00a0a duo that is good for 85-100 goals per season.<\/p>\n
Edmonton\u2019s power play has taken a hit, with two goals (2-for-21) in the nine games that Draisaitl has missed, though the team has posted a 6-3 record over that span. Hyman and Draisaitl have been replaced on the powerplay by a rotating combination of Matt Savoie, Vasily Podkolzin and Jack Roslovic \u2014\u00a0nice players all, but not a one of them has ever posted a 25-goal season in the NHL.<\/p>\n
So players can \u201cstep up\u201d all they want over the last five games. The moment Draisaitl and Hyman are healthy, they\u2019re back in and everyone else gets shuffled back down the roster.<\/p>\n
\u201cHyman, I would think that he’s going to play one, if not two games before the end of the season,\u201d Knoblauch said. \u201cLeon is going to be on the ice this week (skating in Edmonton while the team travels), but I don’t anticipate him playing any games in the regular season. Sometime in that first round, if things go well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSometime in that first round, if things go well.\u201d<\/p>\n
As he said to the German media, hopefully the Oilers can play long enough for him to have a playoff team to return to when he\u2019s healthy.<\/p>\n
This is just another area, however, where an experienced team is not overreacting to the cards it has been dealt.<\/p>\n
A year ago, Edmonton limped into Round 1 without an injured Mattias Ekholm. Trent Frederic would start Game 1, still limping from a high ankle sprain, and Josh Brown was on the third pairing because John Klingberg was injured. Evander Kane didn\u2019t join the team until mid-round.<\/p>\n
The Oilers survived Round 1 against Los Angeles \u2014\u00a0barely \u2014\u00a0and away they went.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt throws a wrinkle, for sure,\u201d Ekholm said of this year\u2019s injuries, \u201cbut you\u2019ve got to look at it as an opportunity for some other guys to step in and get bigger roles. More ice time and hopefully even more confidence going into the playoffs.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we get pieces back, that will be a boost itself. But hopefully we have guys that are on the level where they feel good about themselves and can contribute, even though maybe the minutes go down a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
These are the fruits of being a good team for a long time now.<\/p>\n
Vegas has the same fruit. Anaheim and Utah do not.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why a calm exists as the playoffs finally near in Northern Alberta. An excitement to get started, an ambivalence towards whomever the opponent may be.<\/p>\n
The Utah\/Arizona franchise, but for a series in the bubble season, hasn\u2019t been in a real playoffs for 13 years. Anaheim has missed for seven years straight. They are both devoid of playoff experience as a franchise.<\/p>\n
Despite a 5-1 loss to Vegas on Saturday, the Oilers have a strong confidence against a Golden Knights team they have defeated in nine of their past 11 meetings \u2014\u00a0including a five-game Round 2 last spring.<\/p>\n
If you can\u2019t win rounds against that collection of opponents, then maybe you should pack up and head to the lake.<\/p>\n
Certainly, it\u2019s not something to be stressed over with five games to play in the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EDMONTON \u2014\u00a0There is a veteran calm in Edmonton now, as they head out on the road for one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":528451,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5125],"tags":[198,146,5300,5,4,24],"class_list":{"0":"post-544391","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edmonton-oilers","8":"tag-edmonton","9":"tag-edmonton-oilers","10":"tag-edmontonoilers","11":"tag-hockey","12":"tag-nhl","13":"tag-oilers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116359940343874002","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544391\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/528451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}