The Boston Bruins and Edmonton Oilers played one of the best games of this season last night in Edmonton, with the Bruins earning a 6-5 overtime win in what could very well be a preview of the Stanley Cup Final in June.
The two teams traded first period goals by Boston's Morgan Geekie and Edmonton's Warren Foegele to make it 1-1 after the first period.
The Bruins got going in a hurry in the second period, as Brad Marchand struck in 25 seconds to make it 2-1 before Trent Frederic and Jake DeBrusk added on to put the Oilers in a 4-1 hole.
Foegele answered back with his second goal of the night to make it 4-2 heading into the third period, and Mattias Janmark and Corey Perry scored in succession in the third to tie it at four.
David Pastrnak and Zach Hyman scored within a minute of each other to make it 5-5, and both teams secured a point in the standings as it went to overtime with that score.
Star Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy proved to be the overtime hero with a goal on a backhand shot after he waited out an Oiler and goalie Stuart Skinner with a slick toe drag move.
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Could the Bruins and Oilers Meet in the Stanley Cup Final?
As much as it can be said for such an unpredictable tournament, there's a decent chance that this game was a preview of the Stanley Cup Final.
There's a strong argument for both as the best team in the league, although those arguments come from different sources.
Boston is straight-up killing it in terms of record. They won the Presidents' Trophy last season, and they're in a race with the Florida Panthers to do it once again. The team's underlying numbers are not fantastic, but the culture there is built upon knowing what it takes to get the little edges to win on the margin, and nobody can argue that they do that.
Edmonton, on the other hand, is an analytical juggernaut driven by the utter dominance of star forwards Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. They lead the league in 5-on-5 expected goals for percentage at 57.36%, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Both teams will face stiff competition in the playoffs, as Boston could end up facing both Toronto and Florida just to make it to the Eastern Conference Final. Edmonton looks extremely likely to have to face off against reigning Cup champion Vegas in the first round, and if they survive that, they'd probably have to beat Vancouver to make the West final.
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