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Posted on April 28 before Game 2.

Updated series wager. With the young Maple Leafs out of the playoff picture, the Canadian media has now set their sights on the Oilers for their next meal, and why not? There’s a lot to like about the Oilers. They have arguably the best player in the game, a top notch goaltender and a  supporting cast that has a healthy mix of top prospects and character veterans. Sure, they were gifted another chance at a franchise player and finally hit with Connor McDavid, but the guys around him are solid too. Even the greatest scorer of all time, Wayne Gretzky, wanted to get a piece of the upstart Oilers and is now a partner and VP with the club. He’s now the go-to cut-a-way for reaction during the games on TV. All of the renewed excitement around the Oilers has drawn some unfair comparisons to the Gretzky teams’ of the 80’s and after a 5-3 win at Anaheim in Game 1, #99 was on national radio, answering questions about McDavid’s greatness as compared to his own. Now that the media is playing up the Oilers way too much, it’s time to pump the breaks and jump off this bandwagon.  

While a 1-0 series lead is nice, the game winner was a bounce that happened to go the Oilers way. An empty-netter made this game look much better for the Oilers than it really was. That Edmonton blew a two-goal lead in the third period is not a great sign either. What we’re focusing in on here is that the Ducks got better as the game wore on. Let’s not forget that the Ducks disposed of Calgary in four straight so they had a long layoff between playoff games. You all might remember what happened to teams during the regular season upon returning to the ice after their bye weeks. The Ducks were flat to start but by the third period, they had the Oil on their heels.

The Ducks have been nearly unstoppable in winning 17 of their last 21 games including that aforementioned series sweep of the Flames in Round 1. With that kind of success, it’s hard not to become complacent. The Ducks played their typical brand of hockey in Game 1 and word from their locker room was that they were not going to worry about taking penalties with the focus being to batter and bruise Connor McDavid. Mission accomplished. The Ducks threw the kitchen sink at McDavid with a Ryan Kessler slash to the back of his legs early setting the tone. The Ducks took five trips to the sin bin, but it could have been twice that. The Ducks did what they said they were going to do and also outhit the Oilers 46-27 in the process.

The Ducks figure to be ready to play some hockey now that the “feeling out” portion of the series is over. Losing for the first time in these playoffs is not a bad thing. A loss is sometimes the best thing that can happen, as it wakes up a complacent squad and makes them hungrier. Furthermore, the Oilers are getting just a little too much hype and there is the danger of all those accolades being thrown their way getting to their heads. After the Oilers lost 7-0 to the Sharks in Game 4 of the first round, it made them hungrier and we’re suggesting that the loss in Game 1 will have the same effect on the Ducks. What we like about this wager is that if Anaheim loses tonight, it’s still alive and if they win, which we expect, the value becomes tremendous. 

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