Oilers advance to second round for the first time in 6 years

The hockey gods do not want to give the Oilers and easy road to the cup this year. The first round saw the Oilers play the Coyotes, the best third seed in the league, many divisions would have seen the Coyotes finish second, and they showed their toughness and resilience in the first game. Lehner made 48 saves en route to defeating the oilers 3-2 in overtime. It was a tough game and showed that there was going to be no easy first round for either team.

The second game saw the oilers come out and figure out Ryan Miler in a way they couldn't figure out Lehner in game one, Mikael Backlund took the team where they needed to go, shutting down Auston Matthews and scoring 2 assists.

Next two games saw much of the same, with Backlund leading the way and going head to head with the Coyotes top young star. Backlund seeing the better of this match up, and racking up some points, including a few in an 8-4 match up.

Game 5 saw the Coyotes ready to play, they took the game to overtime, and beat the Oilers to force a game six. 

"We were worried about losing 5 game, Arizona is a tough team, and they could easily win two more games, I thought we won, but it turns out I was watching a game of pool between two bikers names "Oil" and "Yote".. you could see why I can mix that up, and if you can't see why, you need the understand that there is basically nothing to do in Edmonton besides go to a mall and crack cocaine"

The Coyotes came ready to play in game six, but Bobrovsky held the fort, and was aided by a Jack Eichel hat trick.

"Yeah, we were kind wondering when he was gonna do something besides try to get me fired, you know how Eichel is with GM's" Said GM Braithwaite after the game.

The Oilers lost some man power. Jake Muzzin went down in game five with a sprained ankle, and Alex Steen was issued a three game suspension following the game six win for abuse of the referee.

"we expect Muzzin to be back for round two, he's practicing with the team, and most likely needs a maintenance day to get up and running again...in regards to Steen, we are not happy with the call the league made. All Steen said was that he's gonna murder him, then he's coming for his wife and kids, you know, harmless banter inside a hockey game. But that ref is a giant softie who can't take a little heat. Expect to see Karlsson and Boucher up for the games Steen is out"

Next round does not get easier for the Oilers. The Canucks won a cut throat game seven against the dallas Stars, ensuring they would meet in round 2. This match up seems like it was bound to happen, the teams finished 1-2 in the league, and played several tights games throughout the season, with the first two games being split with a core of 5-2 a piece, and theOilers taking the third game 3-1 and the last game 2-1 in overtime, although we saw several regulars sat in that last game.

Both teams are a serious threat to the cup this year, and the winner of this series may prove themselves to be a front runner. GM Braithwaite has made it clear that he beleives "They have a washington capitals thing going on" and feels confident in his club, however, only time will tell how this series will shake down, but one thing is for certain, it is worth tuning in for.