NHL Playoffs 2023: Top Storylines for May 6 Schedule
The Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights opened their second-round series with one of the most exciting games to date of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The expectation for Saturday's Game 2, which begins at 7 p.m. ET on TNT, is for more offensive fireworks from both sides.
After all, this is a matchup that featured 32 combined goals in four regular-season meetings.
Vegas appears to be in a great spot to capture Game 2 because of its well-rounded approach in the attacking zone.
The Knights had five scorers in Game 1 and put six more shots on Stuart Skinner's net than Edmonton sent in Laurent Brossoit's direction.
Edmonton's offense was buoyed by four Leon Draisaitl goals in Wednesday's opener, and it needs more from its supporting cast to leave Nevada with a tied series ahead of Monday's Game 3.
Vegas Needs to Keep Up High Scoring Output
Vegas comes into Game 2 on a five-game winning streak that started in Game 2 of its first-round series with the Winnipeg Jets.
The Golden Knights scored at least four goals in each of those victories. The six-goal tally in Game 1 against Edmonton was their highest tally of the postseason.
Almost everything went right for the Golden Knights in the series opener, with the exception of conceding first on a Draisaitl power-play goal.
Vegas provided the perfect response to the opener, as it scored 40 seconds after and two more times in succession to take control of the contest.
The Golden Knights got four or more shots on goal out of Jack Eichel, Jonathan Marchessault, Alex Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore, and Mark Stone was one of three players to put three pucks on net.
Vegas got the production out of its top players it needed to win Game 1, and if that continues in Game 2, it has a strong chance of continuing the winning streak and putting up another high goal total.
Edmonton Needs More Support Behind Top Players
Edmonton might have been blown out in Game 1 if it was not for Draisaitl.
The German forward scored all four of the Oilers goals. He received a pair of assists from McDavid.
Draisaitl and McDavid combined for nine of the team's 27 shots on goal as well.
The Oilers can't solely rely on its two superstars to pull out a result on Saturday night to gain some momentum in the series.
Edmonton needs its other lines to step up with more offensive production to counter what Vegas did in Game 1.
That is starting to become a concerning trend for the Oilers. Draisaitl leads the team with 15 playoff points. McDavid and Evan Bouchard each have 12 points.
Only two other skaters have six postseason points, and one of those two is Zach Hyman, who plays on the same line as Draisaitl and McDavid.
While it is great that the superstars have showed up in the postseason, Edmonton needs a more complete team effort to compete with a Vegas side that can't stop scoring at the moment.