LAS VEGAS — “Let’s get ready to STUM-BLLLLLLLLE!”
If they promoted this Pacific Division showdown the way boxing promoters put their kitschy names on Vegas fights, what would they call Thursday’s bout between the 18th-place Edmonton Oilers and the 19th-place Vegas Golden Knights?
“Pillow Fight at the Palace?”
“The Thrilla in Vanilla?”
Welcome to a battle between the teams with the 31st and 32nd best save percentages in the NHL, two big fish in a floundering Pacific pond.
“Five Holes at the Fortress?”
“The Bun Fight at Bally’s?”
Yes, as far as heavyweight tilts go, this one is more Chuck Wepner than Muhammad Ali. But say what you will about the state of the Pacific this season, with 10 games left each — and the Oilers one point ahead of Vegas in the standings — this may not be “Popguns at the Palace,” but it’s a big game for the Oilers and Knights (9:30 p.m. ET/ 7:30 p.m. MT on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+).
“There’s a lot on the line here,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said after Wednesday’s practice at T-Mobile Arena. “Not only for making playoffs, but seeding. Maybe home ice advantage…”
It’s increasingly looking like these teams will meet in Round 1, which would complete a trilogy that sits at one win apiece. Vegas beat Edmonton in six games en route to their Stanley Cup victory three seasons ago, then the Oilers dusted the Golden Knights in five in Round 2 last spring.
They clash two more times this season: Thursday at Vegas and a week from Saturday in Edmonton, with both teams trying to build a game that can win in the playoffs.
In that endeavour, Edmonton — though still imperfect — has found some traction that Vegas simply can not get its hands on.
Edmonton is 5-3-1 in its last nine. Not great, but the defensive game they seek has begun to show up more and more often.
“I think we’ve been building towards it, a commitment to team defence and getting the puck out of our own zone,” said defenceman Jake Walman.
“Simplicity,” added Knoblauch. “Not feeling like we have to score off the rush.
“If there’s an opportunity, an odd-man chance, then we want to take it. But if they’ve got numbers back… no matter how good you are, no matter how nice a pass you make, it usually leads to turnovers and not spending time in the offensive zone.”
Meanwhile, the Golden Knights couldn’t be more fragile, entering this one on the heels of a 4-1 loss at Winnipeg and winners of just five of 15 games since the Olympic break. Vegas outshot the Jets 27-21, yet Winnipeg got goals from Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, Cole Perfetti and Alex Iafallo.
Only defenceman Rasmus Andersson scored for Vegas, as the Golden Knights’ powerplay sputtered.
“Well, those are our top guys, right? They’ve struggled five-on-five and on the powerplay for a while now,” said head coach Bruce Cassidy. “(Winnipeg’s) top guys are all over the score sheet. You can get away with it for a while, but it’s been a number of games now. It’s going to need to change for us.”
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You can sniff the fragility in Vegas, where they’ve scored five goals in their past five games, allowing 16.
“They get one, (then) they get two, they get three,” Andersson said. “That’s been our issue: we don’t stop the bleeding soon enough. It feels like almost every time we let the first one in, it’s a 3-0 game.”
Vegas was fifth in NHL scoring last season, and over a five-year window they rank seventh at 3.27 goals per game. This year, with the addition of Mitch Marner, they’re 17th (3.11 per game).
“Things haven’t been easy,” said foot soldier Colton Sissons. “Guys haven’t been scoring as much as they’d like. We’ve got to find a way to have some confidence and some swagger (against Edmonton), just know that we’re going to start scoring again.”
Meanwhile, the goaltending department has run through Carter Hart (injured) and Carl Lindbom, settling on a tandem of Akira Schmid and de facto No. 1 Adin Hill.
Hill’s save percentage rests at .868 as the Oilers roll into town.
“If we’re not scoring, he’s going to have to help us put out fires,” Cassidy said. “I’m not puttin’ it on him, but that’s the hand he’s been dealt lately. He hasn’t had a lot of run support.”
The Oilers are 7-3 in their last 10 regular-season games at Vegas, and 4-2 here in playoff games.
It’s a chance for the Oilers to keep trending up, and make sure Vegas keeps doubting their game.
