The 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs continued on Thursday night with two more second-round games. Here are some key takeaways from the action.
Goaltending concerns for both Golden Knights and Oilers
Neither the Edmonton Oilers nor Vegas Golden Knights should be feeling overly confident about their goaltending situations through the first two games of this series.
Not only did the two goalies combine to give up nine goals in Edmonton’s 5-4 win on Thursday, but none of the goalies on these rosters have been good so far in the playoffs as a whole.
Vegas’ Adin Hill entered play on Thursday with only an .876 save percentage this postseason, which is not going to be good enough to win a Stanley Cup. It’s bad, and he was not great on Thursday.
As for the Oilers, after Stuart Skinner posted an .810 save percentage in his first two games this postseason, they went to Calvin Pickard. And while he entered Thursday’s game having won all five of his starts, his sub-.900 save percentage is a huge concern. He also was not great on Thursday.
No position changes the playoffs or a series more than goaltending, and right now both teams are struggling to get it. One of them is going to advance, but there is no guarantee it gets either one of them a championship if they keep playing at this level in net.
A positive sign for Edmonton is still developing
You need a couple of superstars to win the Stanley Cup. You cannot win, however, with only a couple of superstars being asked to carry all of the weight offensively.
That has been a huge problem for the Oilers throughout most of the Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl era. It always creates a ceiling for what they can do and how far they can go.
The good news is the Oilers’ scoring depth this postseason has been sensational independent of McDavid and Draisaitl. With goals from Vasily Podkolzin and Jake Walman on Thursday, Edmonton now has goals from 15 different players this postseason and has kept its heads collectively above water as a team when its two best players are not on the ice. That is not something that has ever really happened for the Oilers in recent years.
If that continues they are not only going to have a good chance to win this series, but also the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl again and, perhaps, even the Stanley Cup this time around.
Hurricanes’ old playoff problems are still lurking
The good news for the Hurricanes is that through the first two games of the series they are mostly playing their game.
They are pushing the pace of play, they are out-shooting the Capitals and they are dominating the game from a territorial perspective. Their quantity over quality shot approach is fully active.
But the goals are not quite following, at least not yet. That has to be a concern, because this is how so many of their postseasons have ended in recent years.
Carolina’s most consistent Achilles heel year in and year out come playoff time is that despite doing everything well and playing a winning style of hockey, it just never quite has the finishing ability and game-breakers to consistently turn it all into offense. In two games in this series the Hurricanes have just three goals on 61 total shots on goal, enough to get them one win.
They have to find a way to score enough goals to win three more games in the series, and 11 more in the playoffs overall.
