Six Times The Fun

Some would say that the Game Five win for the Oilers would make the series interesting. I can see where that would into play, with Doug Weight's future uncertain and the team reeling from an OT loss. Yet, I don't see something like that happening.

Though the Oilers got off the snide on the power play, as well as getting their game back, the Canes are a resilient team. They were able to bounce back after a tough double-overtime loss to the Canadiens on home ice, as well as coming through in a tightly contested Game Seven against the Sabres. Add that to the Oilers somewhat seemingly running out of gas, to use the phrase, the Canes could use this game as further motivation to win the Cup in Edmonton.

That said, full marks to the Oilers for their win tonight. They were able to get on the board real quick, 16 seconds to be exact, and they got a power-play goal, which has been the albatross around their neck for the duration of this series. There's not much you can say about Fernando Pisani either. He's become a big scoring threat and could command a nice little raise when he hits the free agent market this summer.

This was also a breakout game for Eric Staal. The attention that was given to his lack of scoring, his game today (2g, 1a) will still be overshadowed by the Pisani goal. Staal is starting to heat up, which could cause some problems for the Oilers defense for the duration of the series.

I said on my write-up on this blog and on my FantasyHockey.com article, I don't see this going a full seven-games. The FH.com article I said it would be six game or less. If there's a team who has been cooler or calmer in Rexall Place, it's the Hurricanes. For whoever wins, I don't know if anything can top the first period in Game Five.