The Edmonton Oilers were 37-25-9 (.585 points percentage) and will enter the Stanley Cup Qualifiers as the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference. They will play the No. 12 seed, the Chicago Blackhawks (32-30-8, .514 points percentage), in one of eight best-of-5 series. The start date and hub city have not yet been determined.
Here are 5 key Questions facing the Oilers:
1. Will Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl pick up where they left off?
Edmonton sure hopes so. Draisaitl scored an NHL career-high 110 points (43 goals, 67 assists) in 71 games and won the Art Ross Trophy as the leading scorer in the League while McDavid was second with 97 points (34 goals, 63 points) in 64 games. If they continue to play on separate lines, they're going to spread out the offense and create matchup nightmares for the Blackhawks.
2. Will Kailer Yamamoto make an impact?
Yamamoto's emergence gave the Oilers a big lift this season. The 21-year-old forward was recalled from Bakersfield of the American Hockey League on Dec. 29 and had 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists) and led Edmonton with a plus-17 rating in 27 games. Playing with Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, he helped balance Edmonton's top two forward lines. Yamamoto also scored three goals in two games against the Blackhawks, which can only boost his growing confidence heading into this series.
3. Can James Neal return to early season form?
Neal had 31 points (19 goals, 12 assists) in 55 games, ranking fourth on the Oilers in goals and second in power-play goals (12). However, seven of those goals were scored in his first four games of the regular season and since Oct. 8, he's had two multipoint games. The Stanley Cup Qualifiers aren't the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but they're going to feel like them, and Neal has experience in big games. He played in the Stanley Cup Final in 2017 with the Nashville Predators, losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games, and again 2018 with the Vegas Golden Knights, losing to the Washington Capitals in five games.
4. Will they continue to be dominant on special teams?
The Oilers led in the League on the power play at 29.5 percent and ranked second on the penalty kill at 84.4 percent. So special teams should be a big advantage for the Oilers in this series as the Blackhawks were 28th on the power play (15.2 percent) and tied for eighth on the penalty kill (82.1 percent). Despite going 1-2-0 against Chicago this season, Edmonton was 3-for-7 on the power play and 8-for-8 on the penalty kill in those games. If the Oilers can continue their dominant special teams play, they'll have a great chance to advance to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second time in the past 14 seasons.
5. Who is the No. 1 goaltender?
Mike Smith (19-12-6, 2.95 goals-against average, .902 save percentage) shared the No. 1 role with Mikko Koskinen (18-13-3, 2.75 GAA, .917 save percentage) throughout the season and each had similar statistics. But this is an elimination series, much like the Stanley Cup Playoffs, where Smith has experience (11-12, 2.17 GAA, .938 save percentage in 24 postseason games) and Koskinen does not (zero postseason appearances). Will coach Dave Tippett go with Smith, who helped the Phoenix Coyotes advance to the Western Conference Final in 2012, or Koskinen, who went 2-0-1 with a 1.44 GAA and .966 save percentage in his final four games before the season was paused on March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus?
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