The Edmonton Oilers are the last Canadian team standing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and after getting through the rival Calgary Flames in a quick, but tough, five-game series, they now walk into Colorado to face an Avalanche team that has been maturing as a contender for a couple of seasons and seems to be blooming this spring.
So will this be the end of a nice run to write home about for Edmonton, or will they be able to topple a team many had picked to win it all a few weeks ago?
While Colorado was expected to be here all season long, Edmonton’s road has been a lot less secure and there was even a time when just qualifying for the playoffs wasn’t guaranteed. But they have been coming together as the season has gone along, with improved defensive play after the coaching switch to Jay Woodcroft, more stable goaltending from Mike Smith than what was happening in the crease over the first few months of the season, and the best all-around playoff performances we’ve yet seen from Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
They could be peaking at just the right time. And Colorado is already there waiting for them.
There is plenty of star power atop both lineups that could lead to an explosive series of offence and will certainly entertain with an endless stream of awe-inspiring highlights. Here’s a look at the Western Conference Final.
HEAD TO HEAD RECORD
Avalanche: 2-1-0
Oilers: 1-0-2
What we’ve learned about the Oilers
Connor McDavid, good.
Leon Draisaitl, good.
The duo have been historic, really.
The top two scorers in the Stanley Cup Playoffs both suit up for the Oilers and have often shared a line in this run. But it’s not just that they’re leading the NHL in post-season scoring, it’s how far ahead of the competition they are. Both players average 2.17 points per game and have a 10-point lead on the pack behind.
McDavid gets most of the ink, and deservedly so as he’s personally taken over games on the regular, but Draisaitl has earned just as much attention for his contributions and where he should fit in the Conn Smythe discussion after two rounds, especially considering that it seems like he’s playing injured. The German’s Round 2 efforts were sublime, piling up 17 points in five games against the Flames (to McDavid’s 12) and recording at least three points in every game. Absolutely ridiculous performance.
But we didn’t really learn that McDavid and Draisaitl were elite players in the first two rounds, did we? Somehow, they’ve both elevated to yet another level. Is there a league above the NHL for them?
While those two are the driving forces at play behind Edmonton’s first trip to Round 3 since 2006, there have been other key performers. For example, Evander Kane, the risky mid-season UFA signing, has been a smashing success on the top unit and leads the playoffs with 12 goals in 12 games, including a couple of hat tricks already. If Edmonton advances, perhaps he’ll have a shot at the all-time record of 19 playoff goals in a season, held jointly by Reggie Leach and Jarri Kurri. Zach Hyman led the Oilers in goal scoring against the Flames with six and he’ll start the West Final on a five-game scoring streak. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins‘ play at centre (six points against the Flames) has allowed the Oilers to load up that top line and not feel an offensive pinch below.
But the primary worry about these Oilers all season was the goaltending, and specifically if Mike Smith could be the guy to get them through, or at least to not scuttle the alien performances of the superstars up front. It’s been 11 years since Smith was outstanding in getting the Arizona Coyotes to the West Final and though he’s not willing the 2022 Oilers on in the same way, he has been good enough with a .927 playoff save percentage that is better than the netminder he’ll face in Round 3.
There certainly have been moments, though, including a puckhandling gaffe that cost the Oilers Game 1 of Round 1, and a goal against from the other end of the ice in Round 2 that allowed the Flames back into a Game 4 that Edmonton won anyway. Smith will continue to be the ultimate wild card.
What we’ve learned about the Avalanche
After being eliminated in the second round of the past three Stanley Cup Playoffs, the fourth time was the charm for the contending Avs to get over the hump and return to the conference final for the first time since they were a powerhouse led by Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg in 2002. Now Sakic’s in the GM chair and the careful build up he’s overseen has brought Colorado all the way back to those days, with star power up and down the lineup.
The Oilers are used to having an advantage on teams at the top of their lineup with the McDavid/Draisaitl duo, but the Avs have something of an answer to them with Nathan MacKinnon, who’s somewhere in the mix of the top five players in the world today himself. A bull of a player, MacKinnon will go around or through your team for offence and will be by far the biggest handful Edmonton’s defencemen have had to manage so far.
Where Edmonton’s main threats are atop the depth chart among their forwards, the Avs can really sting you from anywhere. Nazem Kadri has carried over his career-best regular season performance into the playoffs with a point per game effort and he’s not really come close to stepping over any line into suspension territory yet. And Edmonton will not have an answer for Cale Makar, who has the same 1.30 points per game average MacKinnon does, but from the blue line. And don’t overlook his partner Devon Toews, who has a point in seven of Colorado’s 10 playoff games to date and may just be the second-best blueliner in this series.
Yes, the Avs seem to be levelling up to their full potential as one of the top contenders this season, taking no time at all getting through Nashville (sweep) and St. Louis (six games). The quickness with which they’ve arrived in the West Final could help them through the last couple of legs.
Interestingly, though, goaltending may be a situation to watch with the Avs. Colorado is the best team in these playoffs at limiting shots against (27 per game), scoring chances against (20.03 per 60) and high danger opportunities against (8.32 per 60), but Darcy Kuemper has underperformed the team’s expected goals against rate.
He hasn’t allowed a pile of actual goals, with a 2.44 GAA and only one game in which he allowed more than three, but that’s been helped by a relatively lighter workload than some of his counterparts around the league. Kuemper’s minus-2.18 goals saved above expected will be the lowest mark of any remaining netminder and if the Oilers’ superstars can do a better job of getting high-quality opportunities than either Nashville or St. Louis did (and who’s betting against McDavid and Draisaitl doing just that), this could possibly become an issue for Colorado.
ADVANCED STATS Playoff 5-on-5 numbers via Natural Stat Trick
PLAYOFF TEAM STATS
Oilers X-Factor: Mike Smith
Like a box of chocolates, you never really know what you’re going to get from Smith one play to the next. Edmonton’s hoping it’s more of a caramel filling performance in Round 3 than a maraschino cherry.
In seven of 11 playoff games so far Smith has allowed at least three goals, which normally could be a pressure point this time of year, but Edmonton’s explosive offence has given Smith much more of a safety net so far. But now it gets interesting. Where the Oilers have a league-best 4.33 goals per game, Colorado is right behind them with 4.30 goals per game. If there was one team that could match Edmonton goal for goal, this is it.
So what will we get from Smith now? Will the Avs just be too relentless and expose Edmonton’s expected weakness in the Final Four? Will Edmonton’s own offence still be able to cancel out whatever Colorado can throw at them? Or can Smith elevate and outperform Kuemper at the other end, which may be the most important X-Factor for Edmonton?
Avalanche X-Factor:Nathan MacKinnon
We expect a huge series from MacKinnon and a lot of attention will be paid to the matchup he’ll have against McDavid, who has carved up the competition through two rounds. MacKinnon has certainly taken over games all on his own — his late go-ahead goal in Game 5 against St. Louis was a superior individual effort that looked like it would carry them into Round 3 before Colorado let the win slip away in OT. But McDavid, with less of a supporting cast, has regularly taken his team upon his shoulders shift after shift as he’s put up playoff numbers not seen in Edmonton since they were winning Cups in the ’80s with Wayne Gretzky. Will MacKinnon feel the pressure to match whatever magic McDavid throws down in their own little head-to-head narrative?
We have no doubt MacKinnon is one of the few who could match McDavid and, in fact, Edmonton may not present as much of a defensive challenge to him as Nashville or St. Louis did. If MacKinnon matches, or outperforms, McDavid in this series, there won’t be many other places in the lineup where Edmonton will be able to find an advantage over Colorado.
EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion, led the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan vote her first year on the ballot — an important part to possible selection to the hall’s next class.
The organization released the voting results on Friday. American doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan finished second with Canada’s Daniel Nestor third.
The Hall of Fame said tens of thousands of fans from 120 countries cast ballots. Fan voting is one of two steps in the hall’s selection process. The second is an official group of journalists, historians, and Hall of Famers from the sport who vote on the ballot for the hall’s class of 2025.
“I am incredibly grateful to the fans all around the world who supported me during the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan votes,” Sharapova said in a statement. “It is a tremendous honor to be considered for the Hall of Fame, and having the fans’ support makes it all the more special.”
Sharapova became the first Russian woman to reach No. 1 in the world. She won Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. She also won the French Open twice, in 2012 and 2014.
Sharapova was also part of Russia’s championship Fed Cup team in 2008 and won a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
To make the hall, candidates must receive 75% or higher on combined results of the official voting group and additional percentage from the fan vote. Sharapova will have an additional three percentage points from winning the fan vote.
The Bryans, who won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, will have two additional percentage points and Nestor, who won eight Grand Slam doubles titles, will get one extra percentage point.
The hall’s next class will be announced late next month.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road had a blood-alcohol level of .087, above the .08 legal limit in New Jersey, a prosecutor said Friday.
Gaudreau, 31, and brother Matthew, 29, were killed in Carneys Point, New Jersey, on Aug. 29, the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of nearby Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. At a virtual court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that he be held for trial after prosecutors described a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving.
“’You were probably driving like a nut like I always tell you you do. And you don’t listen to me, instead you just yell at me,’” his wife told Higgins when he called her from jail after his arrest, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Flynn of Salem County.
The defense described Higgins as a married father and law-abiding citizen before the crash.
“He’s an empathetic individual and he’s a loving father of two daughters,” said defense lawyer Matthew Portella. “He’s a good person and he made a horrible decision that night.”
Higgins told police he had five or six beers that day and admitted to consuming alcohol while driving, according to the criminal complaint. He also failed a field sobriety test, the complaint said. A prosecutor on Friday said he had been drinking at home after finishing a work call at about 3 p.m., and having an upsetting conversation with his mother about a family matter.
He then had a two-hour phone call with a friend while he drove around in his Jeep with an open container, Flynn said. He had been driving aggressively behind a sedan going just above the 50 mph speed limit, sometimes tailgating, the female driver told police.
When she and the vehicle ahead of her slowed down and veered left to go around the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered right, striking the Gaudreas, the two other drivers told police.
“He indicated he didn’t even see them,” said Superior Court Judge Michael J. Silvanio, who said Higgins’ admitted “impatience” caused two deaths.
Higgins faces up to 20 years, a sentence that the judge said made him a flight risk.
Higgins has a master’s degree, works in finance for an addiction treatment company, and served in combat in Iraq, his lawyers said. However, his wife said he had been drinking regularly since working from home, Flynn said.
Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the league and was set to enter his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68 million deal in 2022. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames, a tenure that included becoming one of the sport’s top players and a fan favorite across North America.
Widows Meredith and Madeline Gaudreau described their husbands as attached at the hip throughout their lives. Both women are expecting, and both gave moving eulogies at the double funeral on Monday.
