Depth could prove critical between Oilers, Golden Knights 

The Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights are set to face off in the second round of the playoffs for the second time in three years. Both teams are much different this time around, particularly in experience as both now have a Stanley Cup Final under their belt. So what will be the difference maker this time around?

Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli talked about the depth up front for both the Oilers and Golden Knights, and how that will be a key factor to winning this series on Daily Faceoff Live.

Tyler Yaremchuk: The last time these two teams met in the playoffs two years ago (granted they are somewhat different teams), McDavid and Draisaitl had 11 goals, they got three more on the power play from Bouchard and Hyman, so with McDavid and Draisaitl on the ice, they had 14 goals. The rest of their roster scored five.

The Oiler’s depth needs to be better for them to compete this time around against the Golden Knights, and to their credit, they were better against the Los Angeles Kings. What do you see from the Golden Knights in this series as something they must do?

Frank Seravalli: Well I was going to say, the Oilers’ depth might actually be better than the Golden Knights up front. Evander Kane, and then a healthy Trent Frederic made a bigger impact each game as the [first round] series went on. I thought it was critically important to the Oilers’ success.

Critically important for the Vegas Golden Knights’ success is getting that top line playing the way that they did to close out the [first round] series. Much better, much improved. I think they’ve got a group of players that have the brains to go up against the top players in the world that the Edmonton Oilers have. I think they’ve got a clear advantage over Edmonton on defense and in goal.

I think that this series comes down to a coin flip. It’s going to be about what team can play a cleaner brand of hockey over the next two weeks, because both showed vulnerabilities, both showed a lot of things that they can fix.

I just think the Oilers are that much more, if this makes any sense when I say it, on the poles. They’re either one way or the other. They’re either really, really good, or they’re really, really bad, and sometimes in the same game. You’re not going to be able to give away games the way that you did against the L.A. Kings, and think that you’re going win a series against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Yeah, bang on. The Golden Knights, again, are Stanley Cup champions, they know how to win in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The other thing I had for Vegas was just their blue line, on paper, is so good. I mean, a third pairing that has Noah Hanifin. At points in that Minnesota series, it felt like almost every Golden Knights defense had some really tough moments. But if that blue line can play to the level they’re capable of, that’s an absolute series changer.

You can watch the full episode here…