Edmonton Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch emphasizes depth in Round 2 battle against Vegas Golden Knights

The Edmonton Oilers will go up against Vegas Golden Knights in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. This will be their second postseason meeting in three years. Both the teams advanced to the second round as Oilers defeated Los Angeles Kings and Vegas defeated Minnesota Wild.

What did Kris Knoblauch say ahead of Vegas Golden Knights clash?

The series will feature last two Western Conference champions. The Oilers reached the Stanley Cup finals last season but failed to win as Florida Panthers got the best of them. The Golden Knights won the cup two seasons ago.

Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch spoke to the media ahead of the series.

We're going to need as much as Connor and Leon are our two most valuable players, and they typically impact the game more than anybody every single night. They can only do it so many times, he said. We need other guys stepping up.

Several players contributed to the series against the Kings. This will give much needed confidence to Knoblauch as the Oilers head into Round 2.

The Oilers lost to the Golden Knights in the playoffs in 2023. Vegas were able to the series in six games and further lift the cup. In that series, Vegas scored over four goals per match. McDavid and Draisaitl had strong numbers and the team were not able to defend well.

Oilers turn to Calvin Pickard in the net for Round 2 battle against Vegas Golden Knights

This time around, Edmonton Oilers are going with a different goalie. Calvin Pickard has replaced Stuart Skinner in the Kings series and showed his abilities. Pickard went 4-0 in four games and even helped Oilers close out the series.

After the series, Pickard said that he wanted to focus on his own job.

Make the saves when I can, he said via TSN. Let in one less than the other guy.

Kris Knoblauch said that he trusted Pickard because of how he handled the pressure last year against the Vancouver.

I was never doubtful to throw him in because we kind of ripped the Band-Aid off last year, Knoblauch said. Put him in a very stressful, almost a must-win game against Vancouver and he responded tremendously and gave us a lot of confidence.

Both the teams have 2-2 wins from their regular season games. Vegas won first two and Edmonton won the last two. Draisaitl had four points against Vegas, McDavid had one assist in three games. Vegas forward Ivan Barbashev led the charge for his team as he had five points in those games.