Stanley Cup Playoffs: 3 dark horse candidates from the Western Conference
3. Edmonton Oilers
On one end of the postseason spectrum, you have the Stars, whose refusal to score goals is almost impressive. On the other end, you have the Edmonton Oilers, who love to score goals. Though their 5v5 scoring numbers are unimpressive at best, their power play numbers are astronomical. The Oilers scored over 10 goals per hour on the power play and they were the only team in the NHL to do that this season.
Now, the Oilers are flawed. They’re a bit too reliant on Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. While it shouldn’t be socking the Oilers are better when at least one of their two best scorers is on the ice, the difference is staggering.
- With McDavid and Draisaitl (553 minutes): 3.69 5v5 goals per hour
- With McDavid (502 minutes): 3.34 5v5 goals per hour
- With Draisaitl (610 minutes): 3.44 5v5 goals per hour
- Without McDavid and Draisaitl: 1.47 5v5 goals per hour
In short, the Oilers scored 1.47 goals per hour at 5v5 when their two best players weren’t on the ice. By comparison, the Detroit Red Wings, who had the worst season of the salary cap era, scored 1.63 5v5 goals per hour as a team. If the Oilers without McDavid and Draisaitl were a team, they’d have finished last in the NHL in 5v5 scoring.
Next. Each Team's Greatest Player Of All-Time. dark
Luckily for the Oilers, that’s not the case because they have McDavid and Draisaitl. Now, can they have success away from each other? Their numbers since the start of January apart from each other are quite encouraging, but it’s still a relatively small sample size. But they’ll need help. Luckily for the Oilers, they won’t need that much help.