There was plenty of hype heading into the second round matchup between the Edmonton Oilers and the Vancouver Canucks. The last two Canadian teams with the best records in the Pacific Division went at it for a seven-game series. Both teams are built to win the Stanley Cup but one, in this case, the Canucks, had to go home early.
Related: Oilers Defeat Canucks 3-2 in Game 7, Will Meet Stars in West Final
This series exceeded the hype, which rarely happens in sports. It was the definition of a back-and-forth series with plenty of highs and lows for both teams. The Canucks took all the odd-numbered games while the Oilers took the even-numbered ones, except for the clincher, a game the Oilers took to advance to the Western Conference Final for the second time in three seasons.
The series was not only great from the start but had ended with a one-goal game that came down to the wire with the Oilers building up a 3-0 Game 7 lead and holding on despite two late goals by the Canucks. This was a series that hockey fans will remember for years and one with a lot of significance for two of the NHL’s biggest franchises.
The Stars Showed Up
Oftentimes, the playoffs are when the great players disappear. It’s understandable why since the opposition keeps a close eye on them and makes sure anyone but the star players beat them. Aside from Elias Pettersson’s struggles, the elite players came to play in this series.
Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Zach Hyman carried the Oilers all season. They combined for eight goals and 20 assists. The Canucks were led by J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes but also saw their two trade deadline additions step up in the series. Elias Lindholm scored three goals and four assists while Nikita Zadorov added two goals and three assists from the point while also stepping up on the defensive end of the ice.
The Oilers also saw their young rising star make a significant impact and ultimately, allow them to win the series. 24-year-old defenceman Evan Bouchard has made his mark as one of the best two-way defencemen in the league and his talent was on full display in this series. He scored four goals and seven assists, and his shot that was deflected to the back of the net in Game 7 gave the Oilers a 2-0 lead and all the momentum in the second period, a game they’d ultimately win 3-2.
Bouchard in a lot of ways embodied the value the defencemen played in this series. The stars led the way but it came down to defence and a series that started off high-scoring was in the end, controlled by the two defensive units.
Canucks & Oilers Won With Defence
One of the tests for a Cup contender is if they can win in multiple ways. The Canucks proved that all season but reaffirmed it in this series while the Oilers, who played great defence all season, proved it could take over a series. And that’s what happened, limiting the Canucks’ offence to one goal in a Game 6 win and two goals in the series clincher.
The Canucks saw Arturs Silovs shine in the playoffs but the defence helped him out in this series. Hughes, Zadorov, and Filip Hronek cut off angles to the net and limited the Oilers’ skaters from creating offence in space. The same can be said for the Oilers with their defensive unit stepping up regardless of who was in the net. In Game 4, they limited the Canucks to two goals on only 22 shots to help out Calvin Pickard in his playoff debut, and in Game 7, they allowed only 17 shots on the goal to allow Stuart Skinner, who has a rough playoff track record, to emerge victorious.
The second round saw plenty of fireworks, especially early on in the series. The first three games saw the two teams combine for 23 goals but at the end of the day, the defensive play is what made the difference. The Oilers in particular proved they have a unit with three pairs capable of leading them to a Stanley Cup title.
Knoblauch vs Tocchet: A Clash in Coaching Styles
This series along with being great on the ice, was great from behind the bench. It showed how both Kris Knoblauch and Rick Tocchet can lead their teams to a Cup and in the process, both coaches proved that success can come from anywhere.
Tocchet wasn’t regarded as a great coach before he was hired by the Canucks. His tenure with the Tampa Bay Lightning lasted only two seasons and his four seasons with the Arizona Coyotes were forgettable. Yet, he changed the culture in his first full season as the team’s head coach. Tocchet balanced out the Canucks and had them playing disciplined hockey and it allowed them to become a juggernaut this season. Usually, the retread type of head coach doesn’t have success, especially in their third stint in the NHL. However, he’s proved that previous failures can build character and shape a great coach (so, there’s hope for Ottawa Senators fans, who will watch Travis Green lead their team next season).
Knoblauch meanwhile is one of the gems from the American Hockey League (AHL), a league that has no shortage of promising coaches. When he was hired by the Oilers early on in the season, it was his first experience at the NHL level. Despite the lack of experience, he transformed the Oilers into a complete team, one that not only has a potent offence but a great defence as well. His style required the defencemen to play the shooting lanes and have a willingness to block shots. Knoblauch coached up his team to do exactly that and in the playoffs, it paid off as they forced the Canucks to take shots from difficult angles or ones that would get blocked before reaching the goaltender.
Along with the culture that both coaches established, this series displayed the bold decisions they were willing to make. Whether it was Tocchet’s line changes or Knoblauch’s defence pairing changes and short leash on the goaltenders, these two coaches pulled out all the stops to win. The Oilers came out on top but it’s hard to think of anything more Tocchet could have done to help the Canucks win this series.
Why the Oilers Ultimately Won This Series
The Oilers won this series with their entire roster stepping up. This is a team known in the past for being led by McDavid and Draisaitl but the lack of depth always leaves them one step short of the Cup. This team is different. They have the forwards on the later lines and pairings who can step up and make an impact in the playoffs and they did. Cody Ceci scored the first goal in Game 7 while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Evander Kane added five goals and nine assists to the middle of the forward unit. The Canucks were pinned as the team with more depth when this series began but in the end, the Oilers proved they have as deep a roster as any team in the playoffs.
The Significance of This Series
This is a rough series defeat for the Canucks. This was one of those seasons where it felt like everything was going right and the front office knew it. They pulled out all the stops at the trade deadline and surrendered a lot of assets to make a deep playoff run. Suddenly, they are staring at a roster with plenty of pending free agents and not enough salary cap space to re-sign them all.
The Oilers meanwhile will look back at this series as a defining moment in their Cup run, if they end up winning it all. They still have to face the Dallas Stars, who finished the season with the best record in the Western Conference, and then play either the New York Rangers or the Florida Panthers, yet they might have leaped over the biggest hurdle already. The Canucks were the team to beat in their division and appeared to be in a tier above them. It turns out they not only could go toe-to-toe with them but emerge victorious in a seven-game series.
The second round didn’t disappoint. Every series went at least six games yet only one went the distance. It was the all-Canadian one which gave hockey fans everything they could have asked for.
