3 THINGS: Edmonton Oilers hitting on all playoff cylinders right now

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The Edmonton Oilers are on the brink of breaking through to the next round of NHL playoffs, where they will have a chance to defend their Western Conference title from a season ago.

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One more win against the Pacific Division-winning Vegas Golden Knights and the Oilers will find themselves one step closer to their season-long goal of ultimately returning to the Stanley Cup Final, where they came oh-so close to winning it all, bouncing back from a 3-0 series deficit against the Florida Panthers only to wind up on the wrong side of the determining goal in Game 7.

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And if you don’t think that’s been the biggest driving force of what we’ve been witnessing over the past month, then you simply haven’t been paying attention.

Here are three factors ahead of Wednesday’s Game 5 of the conference semi-final in Sin City (7:30 p.m., CBC, Sportsnet):

NET PROFIT

Calvin Pickard or Stuart Skinner?

Goalies are a hot topic in Edmonton right now, with Pickard injured after going 6-0 in place of Skinner, who got off to a rocky start to the playoffs, to say the least. But after going 0-3 and getting pulled for his more-than-capable backup, Skinner shut the door on Vegas with a bounce-back performance for the ages, posting a perfect sheet in Monday’s 3-0 win in Game 4 to give the Oilers a 3-1 stranglehold on the series.

Chances are he will be back in net for Game 5, as head coach Kris Knoblauch tends to ride his hot hand in the playoffs and not make a change for the sake of change. Meanwhile, Pickard is healing up from the lower-body injury he suffered in Game 2.

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And  you can bet Knoblauch won’t hesitate to call upon him again.

While the goalies are basking in all the glory right now, the real story of the Oilers’ playoffs has been the complete 180-degree turnaround the defence has taken since the midway mark of Round 1.

And they’ve been doing it without injured defensive standout Mattias Ekholm, who missed 16 of the last 21 regular-season games and has yet to play in these playoffs. The good news is, Knoblauch said Ekholm is back skating now and could even see a return in Round 3.

The moral of the story is, when the defence is on top of its game, it doesn’t really matter who’s in net.

KANE IS ABLE

Hands up if you thought the Oilers’ gamble on Evander Kane sitting out all season long to get multiple surgeries and recover just in the nick of time for playoffs was going to pan out like it has?

The guy has made an absolute impact both on the scoresheet and on opposing bodies since rejoining the Oilers in Game 2 of the opening round against the Los Angeles Kings, earning seven points (four goals, three assists) in nine games.

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What makes it even more impressive is Kane hadn’t played since Game 2 of last year’s Stanley Cup Final. It’s like he didn’t miss a beat when it comes to laying the beat down on those wearing the other coloured jerseys.

Maybe there’s something to be said about not undergoing the wear and tear of an 82-game season, but Kane is well above his career .59 points per game pace in the playoffs, checking in at .78 points per game over these two series.

Aside from his offensive contributions, his physicality was sorely missed over the season. But he’s been making up for lost time.

OH HENRIQUE!

Two first-period goals by Adam Henrique and another by Kane made for a performance by the third line that turned out to be more than enough to dull the shine on the Golden Knights, on a night when Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl had a single assist between them.

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In fact, in Edmonton’s two most complete performances of these playoffs so far, Monday’s and a 3-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings that gave the Oilers a 3-2 series lead they wouldn’t look back from, the two Oilers superstars earned all of three points, all on assists.

Of Edmonton’s playoff-leading 42 goals, only eight have come off the stick of McDavid or Draisaitl — less than 20 per cent. Compare that to the regular season, where they accounted for 30 per cent of the Oilers’ 259 goals.

And it’s led to a noticeable difference in results on the nights, albeit rare ones, when McDavid and Draisaitl go a bit quiet on the scoresheet.

Edmonton’s depth has truly surfaced, allowing Knoblauch more opportunity to roll through four lines and keep the energy levels up overall.

To be fair, this is still the Connor and Leon Show, but this time it comes with a cast of consistent secondary scoring that has proven so frustratingly elusive to the Oilers over the years.

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Add it all up, and you arrive at a 3-1 series lead in Round 2. With no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge

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