The Edmonton Oilers finished fifth in the Western Conference when the NHL season went into hiatus, eleven points off of the St. Louis Blues. As the NHL verges on its restart, the Oilers hopes of lifting a first Stanley Cup since the days of Mark Messier look good. The Stanley Cup playoffs will be unique this season and fans are anticipating an exciting postseason. Fans can visit ice-hockey-betting.pro before the puck drops and wager on their favorite team in the playoffs.
Philadelphia Flyers and Edmonton Oilers players mix it up in the second period.
The Oilers may have underwhelmed at times during the NHL season posting a 37-25 record, but since returning for the pre-restart training camp, the club looks to be in good shape. One of the areas in which Edmonton look strongest is goaltending. Goalies Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen are currently competing to be the team’s starting goalie. The competition between the two netminders is good for a Stanley Cup hopeful as they challenge each other to improve and be the best possible.
Prior to the NHL season being paused in March, coach Dave Tippett rotated the two goalies. Koskinen, playing in just his second season with the Oilers, posted 18 wins from 33 starts. He posted a 2.75 GAA but just one shutout. Smith, on the other hand, collected 19 wins from 37 starts in net. His GAA was slightly higher at 2.95 and like Koskinen, posted just one shutout. Smith put together a .902 save percentage compared to Koskinen’s .917.
Koskinen is six years younger than veteran Smith. He could get the nod for the Oilers to begin with thanks to being slightly younger and fresher with games coming fast and furious. However, it is the fast and furious games that are coming up in August and September that could present problems for other teams. The NHL season and postseason will be completed between August 1 and October 4.
Tippett’s ability to call on two top goalies for the NHL Playoff play-in games and the postseason gives the Oilers an edge. The coach is likely to go with the hot hand and has the ability to rotate his netminders when needed.
The revamped NHL will see the Oilers play the Chicago Blackhawks in a best-of-five series to determine the team that will qualify for the playoffs. The winner of the series will advance to the postseason while the loser will go home and hope to get the first overall pick in the NHL Draft.
Tippett could hand Smith the start despite Koskinen’s numbers being slightly better. Why? Smith has started 22 NHL Playoff games in his career while Koskinen has never played in the league’s postseason. Smith posted a 1W-2L record against the Chicago Blackhawks during the regular season allowing nine goals. Koskinen appeared just once against Chicago playing 25 minutes in March in the Oilers’ loss.
The good news for the Oilers is the one-two punch available from Smith and Koskinen. Having two high—quality netminders could be the difference between the Oilers making the players and going home early.
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