Author: Stephen Vani

Oilers fan in Toronto. Staying up past my bedtime for Western games since the mid 2000s.

Oilers Playoffs: Round 2 – Game 4 Preview

I couldn’t sit and watch Game 3 on Monday night. I could only check the score on my phone every once in a while. I was out of the house that whole evening but did make it home on time to watch the third period if I wanted to. But I felt there was no […]

Stuart Skinner in net for the Edmonton Oilers in Round 2 of the 2023 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs

Oilers Playoffs: Round 2 – Game 3 Preview

Exactly which critiques am I supposed to give? That they only scored five goals instead of six or seven? That Leon only scored half the amount of goals he did on Wednesday night? Draisaitl tied the lead for goals in last year’s Playoffs, and we’re only two games into the second round. Before Game 2, […]

Oilers Playoffs: Round 2 – Game 2 Preview

Before the hockey talk, here is a quick tribute to former Oiler Petr Klima, who passed away at the age of 58 on Thursday. Traded to Edmonton from Detroit in 1990, the year the Oilers won their last Stanley Cup. He only scored five goals in the Playoffs, but the most memorable was in Game […]

Oilers Playoffs Preview: Round 2 – Game 1 Preview

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl scored goals in an elimination game on Saturday night, as you expect superstars to do in big moments. And yet, it’s not even their goals that were talked about. It was evident throughout the first round that the Edmonton Oilers no longer fit the one- or two-man team narrative they’ve […]

Oilers Playoffs: Round 1 – Game 6 Preview

The Oilers put on a dominant performance in Game 5 after a stellar comeback win in Game 4. The roles on both sides of the rink are reversed from last year. Edmonton went into Game 6 in LA, needing to force Game 7 back at Rogers Place. This year, after the aforementioned Games 4 and […]

Oilers Playoffs: Round 1 – Game 5 Preview

“Up and down like a toilet seat.” Monday night was the return of Ken Holland’s famous words for the first time in these Playoffs. Whatever was said in the Oilers locker room after that first period worked. Down 3-0 after 20 minutes, they started the game looking deflated. They looked like they were too afraid […]

Oilers Playoffs: Round 1 – Game 4 Preview

Even though every sports fan is slightly biased, I try not to be THAT fan. However, it is admittedly hard to preview the next playoff game without mentioning the elephant… I mean, hockey stick in the room. The Edmonton Oilers are swallowing yet another tough loss. Gabriel Vilardi’s high stick before the OT winner is […]

Oilers Playoffs: Round 1 – Game 3 Preview

I said don’t take stupid penalties; they took a couple more stupid penalties. I alluded to McDavid not having any points in Game 1, and he only gets one point out of four goals in Game 2. They needed to be better at hanging on to a lead, then blew another two goal lead, and […]

Oilers Playoffs: Round 1 – Game 2 Preview

We were 17 seconds away from going to bed earlier. Going up 1-0 in the series looked promising after the first and second periods. But there are three periods in a hockey game, and the Oilers let the third one slip away. That is seventh out of eight series openers that they have lost in […]

Oilers Playoffs: Round 1 – Game 1 Preview

Sometimes, last year’s trip to the Western Conference Finals still feels like yesterday while we wait for Round 1 to get underway. As exciting as it was, we can’t view it as the standard. Expectations for the Edmonton Oilers grew higher after that wild run. At that moment, the franchise’s Stanley Cup window finally opened. […]