The feeling out process is over.
Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy says if it ends up being a good Stanley Cup playoff series of six or seven games, you most often forget about the first one.
I’m guessing his team has already forgotten about this one.
The explosive Edmonton Oilers showed themselves to be just that Tuesday night, scoring three third-period goals in a 4-2 win over the Knights in Game 1 of the best-of-seven series.
You can probably get used to it. Not necessarily the Oilers winning games — who knows how this thing is going to play out? — but the swiftness in how Edmonton can find the net.
Count them up: The Oilers have outscored their opponents 17-6 in the third period of the playoffs.
Even more impressive: That number is 12-1 in their past five games.
Yeah, man. They can finish things.
They can strike at any second.
“Just try and play your game to your identity as a group as much as possible,” Knights center Jack Eichel said. “Listen, it’s a long series.”
For sure. We’re talking about two incredibly evenly matched teams. This one won’t be ending any time soon.
It looked sort of easy early.
It never really is.
Stone can play
Captain Mark Stone scored twice in the first 11 minutes for the Knights. Yep, he’s hardly a forgotten man among the newly formed top heavy line of Eichel, William Karlsson and Stone.
Everyone talked all week about the defensive prowess Eichel and Karlsson would bring against Edmonton’s dynamic duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Never forget Stone is a two-time Selke Trophy finalist. Never forget how great a player he is.
The storm that Edmonton brought in the second period equaled 12 shots on goal to one for the Knights. It means Adin Hill picked up in goal where he left off for the Knights in Game 6 of a series win over the Minnesota Wild.
It means he was exceptional at keeping the score 2-1.
But the Oilers never go away. That’s one thing the series is apt to be defined by. No matter the score, their high-level talent always has them within close distance.
They needed just 58 seconds into the third period to tie the score when Hill tried to play a puck, but it took a crazy bounce and Draisaitl was there in front to score.
It was then Zach Hyman who beat Hill with 3:02 remaining and Connor Brown who closed the scoring with 1:46 left.
“Experience matters — it doesn’t mean you’re going to win, but when you’ve been through some of these things, you’re calmer,” Cassidy said. “There’s a little bit of been there, done that, but you still have to perform. You have to execute. You have to play.”
They did for a period Tuesday until the Oilers took control. The Knights managed just seven shots in the final 40 minutes. Edmonton was in complete control at five-on-five.
The Oilers outshot the Knights 28-17 and receive solid goaltending from Calvin Pickard.
You remember him, right? The first pick in the Knights’ 2017 expansion draft.
“They’re a heavyweight — that’s what is in front of us,” Cassidy said. “Two good teams going at it. We expect physicality and animosity. That type of series.
“We’re going to have to finish games against Edmonton. This is a team that’s never out of it.”
He has that part correct. Ditto the part about having to finish games. They couldn’t do so Tuesday and paid for it.
Different animal
Whether that means anything if this series reaches six or seven games is anyone’s guess. They’ll learn from it. They did in rallying from a 2-1 deficit to Minnesota.
But the Oilers are a different animal.
Different type of explosiveness.
The feeling process is over. The series is underway.
And you have in Edmonton a team that won’t be going away any time soon. Especially in the third period.
Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at [email protected]. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.
