With their elimination of the reigning conference champs San Jose Sharks, the upstart Oilers ensured that the West will have a new representative for the Stanley Cup finals. It was an entertaining matchup that saw Edmonton win back-to-back games to close out the series after losing a 7-0 laugher in Game 4.
There’s a lot of confidence and momentum in the team’s young core. They won three of the five regular season meetings with the Ducks, as led of course by the dynamic duo of Connor McDavid (30 G, 70 A) and Leon Draisatl (29 G, 48 A), with the former’s 100 total points leading the league in scoring. McDavid is continuing his good production this postseason. He had a pair of goals and assists in the first round.
On defense, Cam Talbot will look to have a better showing against Anaheim. The 12 goals he gave up in their five matchups was his second-most against any team this season (.902 save percentage). Additionally, the 2.61 GAA he had was the second-worst among any team he faced three or more times.
There’s no debating the Ducks’ place as the hottest team in the league right now. Following their sweep of the Calgary Flames in the previous round, they are now 15-0-3 in their last 18 games.
The Ducks battled the Oilers tightly in the regular season, but would fall short most of the time, as they lost a pair of overtime games (2-1-2 overall). However, considering the said streak and their superiority in playoff experience – Anaheim’s 18 playoff wins in the last three years are second only to the Chicago Blackhawks – it shouldn’t be that big of a concern.
Just like what it has been all season, Ryan Getzlaf and Rickard Rakell are 1A and 1B for the the Ducks in scoring this postseason (both have five points). The two were also the team’s top point-getters in the season series with Edmonton, scoring seven and and four points, respectively, with Getzlaf having six assists.
John Gibson is undefeated in the three starts against the Flames (113 saves, .926 save percentage), but although he has identical numbers versus the Oilers this year (115 saves, .913 save percentage), he’s only 1-1-2.
