May 20, 2025 by Ryan Lotsberg

The Edmonton Oilers and the Vegas Golden Knights met in the second round for the second time in the last three seasons. The Golden Knights won the first edition of this matchup in 2023, but the Oilers got the best of the Golden Knights this time with a five-game series victory.

Five-on-five play

Recency bias won the day in this series. The Golden Knights were the better five-on-five team during the regular season, but the Oilers were the better five-on-five team in round one. They were the superior five-on-five team by a considerable margin in round two. In addition to doubling up the Golden Knights in five-on-five goals, Natural Stat Trick had the Oilers with a 54.66% expected goals percentage compared to 45.34% for the Golden Knights. The Oilers had a similar advantage in high danger chances for (57-44, 56.44%). 

Special Teams

Special teams weren’t a big factor in this series. The teams scored a combined three powerplay goals on 24 opportunities in the five-game series, and the team that scored a powerplay goal lost each game in which the powerplay goal was scored. Having said that, the Golden Knights get the special teams win here because they scored two more powerplay goals than the Oilers did, and they only allowed one powerplay goal in the entire series.

Goaltending

Adin Hill has the better brand name over either Oilers goaltender due to his Stanley Cup win in 2023, and he had a better regular season than either Oilers goaltender. However, Hill struggled in these playoffs. His save percentage was .880 in round one, and it was .893 in round two. 

Calvin Pickard still hasn’t lost a game in these playoffs, but his .878 save percentage in his two starts was lower than Hill’s in round two. Stuart Skinner entered the series in Game 3 because Pickard was injured late in Game 2. Skinner let in four goals on 24 shots in Game 3, but he didn’t allow another goal for the rest of the series after that. It all added up to a .944 save percentage for Skinner in round two.

Three of the five games in this series were one-goal games. The Oilers won both overtime games, and the Golden Knights’ Game 3 win might as well have been an overtime win as they scored with 0.4 seconds left in regulation time. Ultimately, Oilers goaltenders came up with the extra save when they needed to, and Hill did not.

Callouts

The Oilers powerplay went 1/11 in the series. That’s an uncharacteristically terrible performance by that unit. One would expect a team shutting down the Oilers powerplay like that to result in a win for the opposition, but the Oilers won the series despite their powerplay.

Standouts

Skinner had back-to-back shutouts to close out the series. That is impressive enough on its own; but if you factor in the way he struggled throughout the regular season and in round one along with the way Game 3 ended, then it becomes even more impressive.

Evan Bouchard was reliable in this series. When you use that adjective to describe Bouchard’s performance, it means he was a true difference maker. We expect him to deliver offence, which he did with five assists. He often gets criticized for his defensive play. Well, his five-on-five goal differential was 9-2 in the series, and 10-3 in all game states. According to Natural Stat Trick, he led the Oilers in scoring chances for percentage relative to his teammates. That says a lot about his defensive play.

Shoutouts

Jake Walman isn’t getting enough love for his play in these playoffs. He was great in round two. His five-on-five goal share was 8-3, and he had an expected goals percentage of 56.31%. Walman also scored a big goal to get the Oilers on the board in Game 2. He’s been bringing it at both ends of the ice. Walman was a big addition at the trade deadline that is paying dividends right now.

Corey Perry led the Oilers with three goals in the series. Perry is tied for the team lead in playoff goals this spring with five. It doesn’t matter who he plays with or how much ice time he gets. Perry finds a way to contribute. The fact that he’s doing this at the age of 40 is remarkable.

Kasperi Kapanen came into the series in Game 4. He isn’t known as a physical player, but he brought that element to the lineup. He had five hits in Game 4, and three more in Game 5. Kapanen scored the series winning goal in overtime in Game 5 from his knees in the crease. He went to work digging at a loose puck in the crease, and he ended up putting it home. That was awesome to see, especially from a player who doesn’t have a reputation for playing like that.

Obviously I have to praise Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl because they are consistently incredible. They led the series with six points apiece, including teaming up for the overtime winner in Game 2. Draisaitl got an assist on Kapanen’s series winning goal in overtime in Game 5 as well.

Draisaitl gets an extra shout out here because of the work he did against Jack Eichel’s line in Games 4 and 5. Draisaitl was put on a line with Kapanen and Vasily Podkolzin for those two games, and that line was tasked with shutting down the Eichel line. They did exactly that. Draisaitl talked about being willing to sacrifice his own personal stats for a couple of months if it means that the team will win games. That’s leadership right there. That’s a great example to set for his teammates.

Wrap

In my preview of this series, I wrote that “the Golden Knights are the team that has a cup of tea before going to bed at a reasonable hour, and the Oilers are the team that wakes up in an alley with one shoe and a hell of a story from the night before.”

Related: Oilers vs Golden Knights II: Series Preview

The Oilers lived up to that description again in this series. They came back from a two-goal deficit to win Game 1. Game 2 was a back and forth affair that ended in overtime. Game 3 was also a back and forth affair that was settled 0.4 seconds before the overtime period. The 3-0 score in Game 4 wouldn’t suggest the wildness that actually played out, especially in the first period.

The Oilers definitely settled down in the last two periods of Game 4 and in Game 5 though. The last second breakdown in Game 3 was the last goal that the Oilers allowed in the series. Game 5 was a chess match. There was no room to move out there, and every decision was made with careful deliberation. Both teams played with rigid structure that made generating offence tough for anyone.

Two months of living that crazy lifestyle would be tough on anyone. If the Oilers have thoughts of playing the full two months this spring, then they will need to have some less stressful games. They showed that they can win that way as well.

The Oilers deserve major credit for shutting down the best Golden Knights. None of Eichel, Tomas Hertl, Ivan Barbashev, Pavel Dorofeyev, or Brett Howden were able to score in the series. Eichel’s line with Barbashev and Jonathan Marchessault lit the Oilers up and won the series for the Golden Knights in 2023. This time, the Oilers shut down the top offensive threats on the Golden Knights and won the series in five games.

This was the Oilers’ first opportunity at vengeance against a team that had previously beaten them in the playoffs in the McDavid era. They got their revenge by winning all three games at T-Mobile Arena and by ending the series in overtime in Game 5 in Vegas.

The Oilers will now face another opponent seeking vengeance against them. The Oilers will face the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final for the second year in a row. The series gets underway on Wednesday night.