It took a while, but Oilers are masters of the secret playoff formula

National Post

24-05-2025

When a team with enough high-end talent to outscore anyone in the league starts overwhelming opponents with smothering defence, it's a scary thing.
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Ask the Vegas Golden Knights. Or the Dallas Stars.
The Knights are golfing after the Edmonton Oilers closed them out in five games with back-to-back shutouts and the Stars have turned over home ice advantage in the Western Conference Final after being blanked 3-0 in Game 2.
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Three shutouts in four games by a team that boasts two Art Ross winners, three 50-goal scorers, three 100-point players and one of the most productive post-season defencemen of all time? That is a deadly mix.
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'We're a different team than we have been in years past, probably not as run and gun as years past, but we can play defence,' said Oilers captain Connor McDavid, who has to keep reminding people that this is not a new development.
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You don't make it to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final unless you've figured out and mastered the art of playoff hockey.
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'Forwards are coming back really hard, everyone is selling out blocking shots,' said McDavid. 'It's that time of year, that's what it takes. It's fun to watch.
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'And when we defend and everyone is bought in like that, we know we're going to find enough offence somewhere.'
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It's not always there in the regular season. The Oilers were a pretty sloppy group this year and the biggest question mark heading into Round 1 was whether they could keep enough pucks out of their net, especially without their best defensive defenceman in the lineup.
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But this Oilers team is a lot like those great Oilers teams of the past in that sense (minus the five Stanley Cups, of course): When the playoffs come, they turn into a very different animal.
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Stuart Skinner had three shutouts in 51 regular season starts. Now he has three in seven playoff games. And it's not because he turns into Martin Brodeur. When the Oilers tighten up and lock it down, they're as tough to penetrate as any team in hockey.
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'If you get a shutout your goalie has to be rock solid,' said winger Zach Hyman. 'At the same time, unless your goalie is out of this world, in order to get a shutout, you have to play well defensively.
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'You have to limit those chances because there are some good players on the other team and given enough chances they've shown that they can score.'
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It took some painful lessons. For years and years, the Oilers were mistake-prone thoroughbreds, stubbornly, and unsuccessfully, trying to play their regular-season game in the playoffs.