Oilers - Preds run down

It's that time of year again. Snow is melting(unless you live in Canada), coronavirus is going away(maybe..hopefully), and playoff hockey is just about begin. The season is winding down and most matchups have been settled. Among them is the presidents trophy winning Edmonton Oilers facing off against the second wild card team in the Nashville Predators. The Oilers clinched their second straight presidents trophy this year, but still long for the true league championship, the stanley cup.

Last year, the Oilers had a solid run in the playoffs making it to the conference finals, before bowing out to the eventual cup winners, the Colorado avalanche. This year they hope things will be different and they can finally bring home lord stanley. In their way is the Nashville Predators. The predators won their division last year, but were bounced in the first round by the Dallas Stars in round 1 in an upset loss. They hope to get past the first round this year. 

GM Braithwaite had this to say about the match up. 

"The preds have a bit of a dickass for a GM, but they are still dangerous. They have a respectable top six filled with top tier scorers like Pettersen, Wheeler, and Boeser. But their biggest weapon comes at the opposite end of the ice in Ben Bishop. If he gets hot he can steal any series. We will have to get to him early in the series and never let up if we plan to win."

The season series was a 2-1 series win for the Oilers with no games reaching extra time. A nashville predators victory was sandwiched between two Oilers victories. The teams look a bit different after the deadline though, as the predators seemed to sell, and the Oilers were in complete buy mode, bringing in talents like Bozak, Malkin, and Bleugers and bringing experience on the backend in Holzer and Daley. 

The preds on the otherhand shipped off defenceman Matt Niskanen and forward Joe Thornton in exchange for picks in the upcoming draft. 

The keys for an Oilers victory are
 

• get to Ben Bishop early in the series and early each game
• take advantage of powerplays to keep Nashville in their own end
• play solid defence against the Predators top line. Shut them down in the neutral zone

the keys for a predators victory are

• Ben Bishop must play well
• the top line players must outperform Edmontons top line players
• the defence must be able to hold off Edmontons depth while the top line it not out.

This is a series worth tuning in to.