Since 2023, the Edmonton Oilers are now 8-0 in Game 4’s following their dominant 3-0 victory over Vegas last night. It is a great record, but when you dig deeper, we see how the Oilers have played significantly better the longer series go.

Over the past three playoffs, the Oilers have played 47 games. They are 28-19, but there is a significant difference in their results early in a series compared to later on.

In Games 1-3, they are 9-15.

In Games 4-7, they are 19-4.

Under Kris Knoblauch the results are even more noticeable.

In Games 1-3, they are 7-11.

In Games 4-7, they are 15-2.

Their only losses were Game 5 in Vancouver, when JT Miller scored with 27 seconds remaining and the Canucks won 3-2, and their 2-1 loss in Florida in Game 7 of the Cup Final.

They were outscored 5-3 in their two losses, but in their 15 victories they’ve outscored teams 60-25.

They aren’t just winning games later in a series, they are crushing teams. And Stuart Skinner has been outstanding later in series.

He has a record of 11-1 in Games 4-7, and he’s allowed only 17 goals in 12 games. He has two shutouts, allowed one goal five times, two goals three times and three goals twice. He has a .942Sv% in those 12 games.

I’ve long argued that Skinner’s overall playoff statistics look much worse than how he plays, because he will have a few bad games that really skew his overall stats. Last year he had two brutal games against Vancouver where he allowed nine goals on 39 shots in Games 1 and 3. In his other 21 playoff games he had a .916Sv% and 2.14 GAA. Two ugly games made his overall playoff numbers read as .901Sv% and 2.45 GAA. You’d like a bit more consistency, no doubt, but Skinner has shown, especially late in a series, even when teams have more video on him, that he can be very good.

He was again last night. In the first period he made two massive saves when the game was 1-0. He stopped Ivan Barbashev on a breakaway late in Vegas’ first power play and his stop on Brayden McNabb on a nifty redirection were massive in the first 10:36 of the game. Skinner needed those saves and that propelled him to looking poised and controlled the entire game, which is how he’s played the past two seasons late in series.

Last night the Oilers thoroughly dominated their opponent for the third time in their last six games. I felt they owned the Kings in Game 5, then gave Vegas nothing in the final 51 minutes of Game 1 of this series. When the Oilers are on, they are hard to beat, and what’s key about those three victories is they didn’t rely on Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl to carry them. Last night every player made a significant impact.

Adam Henrique scored two goals in the first 13:03. It was his first multi-goal game in the playoffs since he was a rookie in 2012.

Kasperi Kapanen had one of the best shifts I’ve seen all season. He hammered Alex Pietrangelo, then rocked Brett Howden and at the end of his shift ran Pietrangelo again. The crowd roared at each hit.

Trent Frederic had a spirited tilt with Nic Hague. It was a marathon fight that saw both guys land some big shots. It was the first fight of the playoffs and that energized the crowd.

The stretch of six minutes from Frederic’s fight to Skinner’s save on McNabb was the most electrifying six minutes I can recall in any playoff game. There were no whistles, and those six minutes illustrated what is best about NHL playoff hockey.

There were big hits, including both of Kapanen’s.
Skinner stopped Barbashev on a breakaway.
There were numerous puck battles, with both teams going up and down the ice.

Adin Hill stopped Mattias Janmark on a partial breakaway.

Hill stopped Zach Hyman in tight.

Darnell Nurse had a great blocked shot in the slot on Brett Howden.

Alex Pietrangelo blocked a great scoring chance from Evan Bouchard.

And finally, Skinner stopped McNabb to get a whistle.

If you want to be energized, go back and watch that six-minute sequence. It was an outstanding display of what makes hockey awesome, even though there were no goals.

Edmonton didn’t let up and three minutes later Henrique showed a quick set of hands to beat Hill down low. The Oilers’ first two goals came off great plays behind the net by Connor Brown and Hyman. They both won battles against Vegas and passed the puck to Henrique.

Edmonton had only scored one goal in the first three games that came from a pass below the goal line — Jake Walman’s clapper came from Vasily Podkolzin down low — but that goal wasn’t off a cycle or a turnover.

Last night the Oilers scored twice from winning battles below the goal line, and that was the difference in the game. Edmonton didn’t lose any of those key battles in their own zone.

From Skinner to the defence pairs to all four lines, this was a dominant performance against a very good Vegas team to put the Oilers in the driver’s seat. And their recent history shows it will be extremely difficult for Vegas to win three consecutive games late in a series against this Oilers group.

— Oilers scratches/injured players often line up just inside dressing and high five/cheer teammates as they come off. Skinner was the last one in the room, as he had a post-game interview with Gene Principe. As he walks in the loudest supporter was Calvin Pickard and he shouted loudly, “Fucking Rights” as Skinner walked closer. He was genuinely happy.

I asked Skinner about it. “It has been an amazing ride with him the last two years. Everything we have gone though, makes you closer. It takes a lot of character to show each other support, maybe when one guy isn’t in the best situation. It (his cheering) shows everyone his character and how much he cares about me. It isn’t fake and it is the same the other way around. There is no facade there, it is just two guys battling for each other and supporting each other.”

— I thought Evander Kane would be able to help the Oilers when he returned from his 10-month absence, but I didn’t expect him to be this impactful. There are 21 players still alive in the playoffs who have scored four goals and Kane is one of them. He also has three assists for seven points in nine games. He is tied for fifth on the Oilers in points, tied for third in EV points with seven, he’s averaging 16:36/game and he’s third on the team with 36 hits and when he’s on the ice the Oilers have outscored the opposition 9-6. He’s healthy, and he’s looking similar to the playoff performer of 2022 and 2023.