So with all that said in my above post, for me, I know I mistakenly overlooked the Stars, a lot of people did. But when it comes to the Oilers, I know they have a lot of star power, but I really liked the way the Flames played them 5 on 5. The Oilers’ level does appear to drop off during the playoffs given their recent history. They had their way against the Kings in the regular season going 3-0, but then it was LA that was taking it to the Oilers at times in the end forcing them to go the distance.
So I suspect the BoA will be a completely series than the Stars as they’re vastly different in terms of roster construction and style. I don’t think they’ll be able to out hit or out muscle the Flames like the Stars did. If anything, it’ll be the opposite. I also suspect the Flames’ checking should become more prominent in this series with the heaviness and pace the Flames can play with, so the top 6 should have themselves quite the series.
The powerplay could be a major factor. But hopefully the refs call games more like they did in the latter part of the series rather than the former. That would be an advantage for the Flames. From the looks of it, Mike Smith was excellent for the Oilers vs the Kings, but will he be Oettinger good? Only time will tell, but I don’t think the Oilers’ smaller D box out as well as the Stars D, so that’ll be an advantage for the Flames in terms of being able to crowd the net and get into his kitchen more.
I won’t guess how many games this series will go. But I could see the Flames playing more like they did in game 7 vs their game 6 performance. If they can match or out work the Oilers every night, the Flames could came at them in waves. So hopefully the Flames can take this series more easily than they did against the Stars.
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