It’s a rematch of 2023 — the Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights will square off in the second round of the playoffs for the second time in three seasons.
Last time, Vegas took down Edmonton in six games before winning their first Stanley Cup in team history. The Oilers are hoping for a different result this time around against the winners of the Pacific Division, as they enter the series as the reigning Western Conference champions.
Let’s get set for Game 1 between the Oilers and Golden Knights.
Oilers vs. Golden Knights Game 1 Information
- Date: Tuesday, May 6, 2025
- Start Time: 7:30 PM MT
- Location: Vegas, Nevada
- Venue: T-Mobile Arena
- Watch: CBC/SN (Canada), ESPN (USA), Fubo (Stream)
Projected Line Combinations
- Oilers: There weren’t any major changes made to Edmonton’s lineup during their four consecutive wins over the Kings in the first round, and it appears that the Oilers will carry the same lineup into Game 1 against the Golden Knights. When the team practiced on Monday, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl were together on the top forward line with Corey Perry on the right wing. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was the centre with Evander Kane and Zach Hyman, while the third and fourth lines, centred by Adam Henrique and Mattias Janmark, remained intact.
- Golden Knights: Per SinBin Vegas, winger Pavel Dorofeyev was absent from the Golden Knights’ practice on Monday. Without their leading goal-scorer from the regular season, Vegas elevated Keegan Kolesar into their top-six forward group with Tomas Hertl and Brandon Saad. Their top line features Jack Eichel down the middle with veterans William Karlsson and Mark Stone on the wings. The Golden Knights have split their top three defenders, with Alex Pietrangelo, Shea Theodore, and Noah Hanifin anchoring different defensive pairings.
Projected Starting Goaltenders
- Oilers: Head coach Kris Knoblauch said on Monday that the Oilers haven’t decided who their starting goaltender will be in Game 1. Stuart Skinner practiced in the starter’s net on Sunday, then Pickard was back in the spot on Monday. Pickard posted a .893 save percentage against the Kings while winning Games 3 to 6 after coming into the net for Skinner.
- Golden Knights: Adin Hill had two rough outings for the Golden Knights in their first-round series with the Minnesota Wild, allowing eight goals on 37 shots in losses in Games 2 and 3. He settled down in the final three games of the series, posting a .918 save percentage across three consecutive wins in Games 4 to 6.
Thoughts and Notes Going into Game 1
- The Oilers and Golden Knights split their four-game season series this year, with each team winning two games in regulation time. Three of those games were played before mid-December and only one came after the trade deadline, so we don’t have a great gauge on how the teams stack up currently.
- Edmonton managed a 3-2 victory over the Golden Knights in Vegas on April 1 despite not having Connor McDavid in the lineup, which was among the team’s most impressive wins of the season. It showed the Oilers have the depth to go on the road and face a playoff-like atmosphere against a strong opponent without their best player available.
- Winning Game 1 has been somewhat of a challenge for the Oilers in recent years. They lost the first two games of their first-round series with Los Angeles on the road and came back with four consecutive wins. During last year’s run, the Oilers dropped Game 1 against the Vancouver Canucks in the second round and the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final. They were able to edge out Vancouver in seven but weren’t able to complete a three-game comeback against Florida. The Oilers didn’t win any of the Game 1s they played between 2020 and 2023, going a shocking 0-7 in series-opening games over those four seasons.
- Losing in Game 1 doesn’t mean a team is going to lose the series. The Kings went up 1-0 in three of four playoff meetings with Edmonton and the Oilers have come back to win all four meetings. The Golden Knights went up 2-0 in the first round of last year’s playoffs against the Dallas Stars and wound up losing in seven games. The most dominant series victory for the Oilers that came after a Game 1 loss was in 2022 when they stormed back to hand the Calgary Flames a gentleman’s sweep in the second round.
- Two years ago, Edmonton dropped Game 1 to the Golden Knights in the second round. The two teams exchanged wins through the first four games of the series before Vegas pulled off comeback wins in Games 5 and 6 to knock out the Oilers. After earning a split on the road, the Oilers weren’t able to take control of the series when they returned to Edmonton.
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