The Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights advanced past Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and are set to face off in Round 2. The Oilers got by the Los Angeles Kings for the second straight year in six games, while the Golden Knights made easy work of the Winnipeg Jets and won in five games. As a result, the top two teams in the Pacific division are set to meet in the Western Conference semi-final.
Odds courtesy of the FanDuel Sportsbook.
Vegas Golden Knights (+124) vs. Edmonton Oilers (-152)Golden Knights
Even though Vegas has home-ice advantage in this series against Edmonton, they’re still listed as the underdog to win the series. There are a lot of excellent pieces on this Golden Knights squad that helped them get back to the postseason after missing out in 2022.
Vegas plays a really strong two-way game and has a lot of players on their roster that play the same way. Some may even call them the Carolina Hurricanes of the Western Conference because of that. To be clear, this isn’t an insult either, and they play a powerful team brand of hockey. The difference here is that the Golden Knights still have multiple star players at their disposal.
The big question for me here is whether or not Laurent Brossoit can continue playing like a number-one goalie against this elite offense that the Edmonton Oilers bring to the table. Brossoit was 4-1 in the opening round, with a strong .915 save percentage. If he can give Vegas a similar performance in Round 2, there’s no reason the Golden Knights can’t pull off the upset.
Oilers
After making it to the Western Conference Final in 2022 and convincingly winning their opening-round matchup, the Edmonton Oilers are proving to be a strong playoff team. There have been questions about how this roster has been built, but there’s no doubt this is the best version of an Oilers team they’ve put together in the Connor McDavid era.
Even though the Oilers have gotten solid goaltending from Stuart Skinner and improved defensive play, at the end of the day, they’re only going to go as far as their star players take them. In other words, if McDavid can continue playing at the level he has been, the Oilers have the potential to end Canada’s thirty-year Stanley Cup drought.
Verdict
This series has the makings of one that should go deep. These teams play very different brands of hockey, meaning there are multiple ways to view how this could ultimately play out. As good as Brossoit was in the opening round against the Jets, Edmonton offers a different hurdle for him to climb over.
In addition, we believe that Skinner is the better of the two goalies, leading us to give Edmonton more of an advantage in this series. Vegas plays strong defensive hockey, but it’s hard to see that being enough to knock off this offensive Oilers juggernaut.
Best Bet: Oilers to Win Series (-152)
