Oilers Gameday @ Anaheim: Let the Duck Hunt Begin

It’s April 26 and the Oilers are still playing hockey. They’re in Anaheim tonight for the first game of the SECOND ROUND of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. I don’t mean to get anyone too excited here, but the last time the Oilers were in this position, they beat the Ducks in 5 and moved on.

After eliminating the Sharks in Round 1 on Saturday, the Oilers look to win just their second playoff series in 11 years (though some more optimistic Oil fans will say that they’ve won 4 of their last 5 playoff series). If someone had told us in October that we’d be cheering for the Oilers past the first round of the playoffs, I’m not sure many people would have believed them. And yet, here we are.

For a series preview, check out this post from Sullivan Larson.

Keys to the Game

Edmonton

• In order to beat the Ducks, the Oilers are going to have to come out flying (perhaps in a V formation?) and not let up. They had success against the Ducks in the regular season, but the Ducks are notoriously tough in the playoffs. Don’t believe me, ask the Flames.
• Capitalize on any power play opportunities they get. At 5v5 I feel that the Ducks and Oilers are pretty evenly matched, so special teams are going to be pretty important.

Anaheim

• The Ducks will have to contain Connor McDavid, and recognize that if he’s contained, the Oilers do have some other potent offensive weapons. Leon Draisaitl, Pat Maroon, Oscar Klefbom, Zack Kassian (!) were all responsible for some of the Oilers offence in lieu of McDavid.

Players to Watch

Edmonton

• Connor McDavid didn’t really get the chance to break out in the first series, due to the Sharks matchup working fairly well. Given the team’s success against the Ducks this year, I’d imagine he’s due for a breakout.
• Oscar Klefbom had quite the series in round 1, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what else he can do this series. Maybe he’s got another big goal or two in him.
• Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was the Oilers best player not named Cam Talbot last series.

Anaheim

• Ryan Getzlaf is a peak playoff performer, and he’s one of the least detestable Ducks.
• The NHL’s reigning IronMan, Andrew Cogliano, will likely be a pretty good matchup against McDavid, due to his speed. He’s carved himself a pretty nice career after being seen as too small to play in Edmonton. Cogliano has played in 786 consecutive regular season games, 4th all-time (and 2nd behind Doug Jarvis from the start of a career). He’s fast and will absolutely prove to be good competition for Connor.
• Cam Fowler is back in the lineup for the Ducks, after missing round 1 against the Flames. This will be a boon for the Ducks, probably.

Projected Lineups

Edmonton

Patrick Maroon – Connor McDavid – Leon Draisaitl

Milan Lucic – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Drake Caggiula – Mark Lestestu – Zack Kassian

Benoit Pouliot – David Desharnais – Anton Slepyshev

Oscar Klefbom – Adam Larsson

Andrej Sekera – Kris Russell

Darnell Nurse – Matt Benning

Cam TalBot

Anaheim

Nick Ritchie – Ryan Getzlaf – Patrick Eaves

Andrew Cogliano – Ryan Kesler – Jakob Silfverberg

Rickard Rakell – Nate Thompson – Corey Perry

Chris Wagner – Antoine Vermette – Logan Shaw

Cam Fowler – Brandon Montour

Hampus Lindholm – Josh Manson

Shea Theodore – Kevin Bieksa

John Gibson

Notes

The Oilers are in Round 2 of the playoffs for the first time in forever. It’s fun to see the fans and the city excited about spring hockey, and not paying attention to trivial things like the Draft Lottery (which is this Saturday, in case anyone was wondering).

Be safe and have fun out there. Though maybe we’ve forgotten, this is a fun time of year even if these games are going to take years off our lives.