The Edmonton Oilers douse the Calgary Flames in five, moving on to face the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Finals

May 30, 2022 by Kirk Morris

Never underestimate the power of the underdog, especially when you have nothing left to lose.

Everywhere you looked, before the Battle of Alberta had started, there was reports that everyone in the media had picked the Calgary Flames to dominate the Edmonton Oilers in every facet of play. Hockey observers expected tight-checking games, with punishing hits from the favourites.

However, few expected Edmonton to handle Calgary in the fashion that they did. To overwhelm Calgary overall and literally knock the Pacific Division champions in five games? I doubt that was on many bingo card.

Here are my five takeaways from this series:

1. Mike Smith and Jacob Markstrom were both out of their elements. Markstrom, a finalist Vezina Trophy finalist this season, was a brick wall against the Dallas Stars. Smith, had some rough moments, but was also stellar for several games in the first round against the Los Angeles Kings. Then, in Game 1, the 40-year-old netminder allowed goals on the first two shots he faced. Markstrom looked wobbly as well, allowing a couple bad angle goals from Zach Hyman. Smith eventually gained composure, but the Oilers had Markstrom’s number the entire series.
2. Sure, the first game of the series was literally fire wagon hockey. You could even say that the series was offensively driven. Goals galore. Where was the lockdown defence from Calgary? They were missing a key defender in Tanev, but they didn’t fare as well as they did during the regular season. Edmonton countered with 1-1-3 and 1-4 defensive formations and forced the Flames to be out of their element.
3. Offensive production was off the charts. Evander Kane scored a hat trick in Game 3, Zach Hyman tallied at least a goal in all five games, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had the performance of his career in Game 4, scoring the game winner with less than four minutes remaining in the third period. Goals from the defence were there as well, noticeably from Evan Bouchard, scoring at opportune times too.
4. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl went into legend mode. Draisaitl had 17 points in just five games. Yes, that’s correct, FIVE games…and on a bad ankle to boot (no pun intended). And to add, set a new NHL postseason record for having three or more assists in four games-quite a feat in the modern era. McDavid, was well…McDavid again. Scoring the series-clinching goal in overtime five minutes in, McDavid had upped his game once more. Between the two, 52 points have been scored in twelve playoff matches…off the charts results.
5. Head Coach Jay Woodcroft literally out coached two-time Stanley Cup Champion Darryl Sutter. Between lineup matching, and in-game changes, Woodcroft really did have the upper hand in this series. His pedigree grows with every game going forward, and Sutter’s tactics of covering the “one guy” proved to fail.

The Next Big Test

On deck, the Colorado Avalanche await. Sweeping the Nashville Predators handily in the first round, the St. Louis Blues tried their best to wear down the Western Conference leaders, but failed as they fell four games to two. The Avalanche have a very deep team, four forward lines that can punish you offensively into the ground, with the likes of Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen.

Headlining on the back end, probably one of, if not the best defenceman in the league, Cale Makar. Trade deadline acquisition Josh Manson can stop you in more ways than one as well. And finally, with the goaltending, Darcy Kuemper. If Kuemper is on his game and stays healthy, he is best in the league to beat.

Is it impossible for the Oilers to defeat the Avalanche? No. They fared very well in the regular season against them, going 1-0-2 in three matchups. The biggest roadblock the team has is staving off the offensive pressures from all sides that the Avalanche present in game.

Even all of their defencemen can be quite a handful in zone entries, as seen in the past two playoff series. If the Oilers stay true to their game plans and structure, it’ll be a very close, hard-fought battle right to the end. There are no mulligans with Colorado…should be one for the books!