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The Vegas Golden Knights' second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers should've been a long, drawn-out battle that stole hockey fans' attention. It was also a chance to see Jack Eichel vs. Connor McDavid, a rivalry that dates back to their draft year. However, after the Oilers went on the road and took a shocking 2-0 lead, they finished their Pacific Division rival in five games.
It's a result that won't sit well with Bruce Cassidy and his team. They had every opportunity to rally in this series but couldn't grab the momentum. It took a miraculous Reilly Smith game-winning goal with 0.4 seconds remaining in Game 3 to get their only win in the series, which ended up being the final goal Stuart Skinner would allow.
Skinner shouldn't have even been the goaltender for the Oilers. He lost his starting job after a poor start to their first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings, and Calvin Pickard took control with six consecutive wins. After a Pickard injury in Game 2, Skinner was given back the reins and had a rough start with the Game 3 loss. The Golden Knights felt that Skinner being back in the net was their path to winning the series.
It didn't work in their favor, as Skinner shut the door in Games 4 and 5, and Kris Knoblauch pushed all the right buttons with his lineup. One of his most savvy moves was to insert Kasperi Kapanen, a healthy scratch for the first nine games of the postseason.
In a series of mistakes for the Golden Knights, it's time to examine who is most to blame.
Jack Eichel and the Golden Knights' offense disappeared
Was it complacency from Vegas' top players with Skinner in the net? Did they see his dreadful performance in Game 3 and think scoring goals would be a cakewalk? It's hard to believe a bunch of professionals would feel like that, but look at their 47 shots over the final two games as a reason to say something was off with their offense.
Losing captain Mark Stone after an injury in Game 3 didn't help. He dressed for Game 4 but didn't make much of an impact, then sat for Game 5. Stone's absence in Game 5 likely says he wasn't 100% when he dressed for Game 4, which makes sense.
One thing for the Golden Knights is that they have the offensive depth to cover for Stone's absence. Many looked at Eichel as someone who should've stepped up, but he had just five shots over the final two games and one assist over the last three. He also had just one goal in the playoffs.
McDavid quickly pointed out after Game 5 that the Oilers can play defense when needed.
“How many times are we going to answer this question, really. Honestly, it's frustrating that we keep talking about this,” McDavid told reporters via Sportsnet's Mark Spector. “We can defend. We've shown it time and time again. Coming into a tough building and winning a 1-0 game when it matters most, we can play that way.”
Still, the Golden Knights must look at teams that had success against the Oilers before and see a missed opportunity. Eichel led the team with 10 points, but the rest of their offense barely scored at a 0.5 point-per-game pace. The dagger was failing to score in two consecutive games to close the series.
Adin Hill couldn't outduel Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard
It's hard to determine whether this is a slight to Adin Hill or just a testament to Skinner. Everyone hopped on the train to bash Skinner, forgetting that he did get the Oilers to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last season. 2024-25 wasn't his best work, but he can win a couple of series.
Hill isn't to blame for the last two games of the series. He could've stopped 100 shots, and it wouldn't have mattered, considering his team didn't score him a single goal. However, Hill struggled in the first two games at home, which set the stage for the loss.
The former Cup champion allowed four goals on 28 shots in Game 1, and then followed that up with five goals allowed on 37 shots. It looked like the matchup swung in his favor with Skinner entering the net, especially when he allowed three goals on 20 shots in Game 3 and still escaped with the win.
That was when the offense disappeared, leaving the question of whether it could've been different if the offense and goaltending hadn't struggled at various times. Vegas' goal for this offseason is to figure out how to prevent that from happening in the postseason.
