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Zach Hyman, Evan Bouchard, and Ryan Nugent Hopkins of the Edmonton Oilers (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)

Game 1 Showed the Oilers Exactly How to Win Series vs. Golden Knights

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Jackson Scherger | Last updated May 8, 2025 9:45 AM ET

A tightly contested first game of the series saw the Edmonton Oilers come from behind to beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2. And in the course of claiming the first game, Edmonton may have found the blueprints to getting their revenge and moving on to the next round.

Though things looked bleak early on for the Oilers, they turned it around the way they typically do after a slow start. They scored four straight goals and rarely even surrendered a shot to Vegas in the back half of the game. When the team ramped things up, the keys to winning this Round 2 series became all the more evident. Executing them is the hard part.

Stay Out of the Box

The most obvious key to finishing this series strong is playing clean hockey. The Oilers have done a fairly good job of staying out of the penalty box so far, and as the games go on, it will become more and more important. They took just three penalties in Game 1, but the Golden Knights were able to go one for three on the man-advantage. This was due to a costly Ryan Nugent-Hopkins double-minor for high-sticking.

Game 1’s power play efforts speak to how the Golden Knights have been able to function all season. They finished the regular season with the second-best power play percentage in the entire league, and also rank inside the top-five for the postseason this year thus far. It’s clear that if Edmonton wants to bury Vegas, they need to stay disciplined. It will continue to be a tight-checking and likely chippy series, but they need to keep it above board, or else the Golden Knights will have no problem handling them on special teams.

Get Pucks on Net

As simple as something like this may seem, it is much more important than one might think. The Oilers outshot Vegas in Game 1 28-17 while also allowing just seven shots through the final 40 minutes. Outshooting the Golden Knights is key, especially considering their recent troubles in net.

Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill has posted an .876 save percentage (SV%) and a 3.01 goals-against average (GAA) so far this postseason. These are uncharacteristic stats for Hill who ranks second-last among starters still alive in the playoffs. And so, one glance at these stats should be all the Oilers need to know. They just have to throw the puck from every angle and come after the Golden Knights’ goalie. When an opposing player is struggling like this, the best thing to do is to ambush them with everything you’ve got. Edmonton did that well in Game 1 with almost 30 shots. They must continue this trend throughout the series.

Capitalize on Mistakes, but Don’t Make Your Own

The cliche “defence wins championships” comes to mind here. Instead of saying that outright, we focus on which team makes fewer mistakes. The Oilers are in the bonus here and need to take advantage now. The Golden Knights ranked fourth-worst in the entire league for defensive giveaways to opponents with 551 in the regular season. That number seems extremely high for a team that won the Pacific Division. However, if you look a bit further down the list, the Oilers are sixth-worst in the league.

Game 1 showed how Edmonton had a slight advantage in this category. They capitalized on their chances, but made sure to clear out their own zone. They did have more giveaways overall in Game 1, but they were able to recover, and that is what’s important. If they want to win this series, this is a crucial area that they need to stay ahead in. If they can’t, Vegas is the team to easily flip the script and take this series home.

The path to victory in this series is clear for the Oilers. All that’s left to do is to leave it all on the ice and hope the rest works itself out. Game 2 is on Thursday night in Las Vegas starting at 7:30 p.m. MDT.