Think of your favorite trilogies. The third installments are usually the best. “Revenge of the Sith” says hello.
Then there are some that aren’t so great. Forgetting about Part III of “The Godfather” would probably be for the best.
The NHL is heading for a collision course to have the Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers meet in the postseason for the third time in four years.
Neither series — the Knights winning in six games in 2023, and the Oilers getting revenge in five last year — has been anything but ordinary.
Such would be the case in 2026 if the Pacific Division standings stay the same. The Knights and Oilers would meet in the first round this time around.
But home-ice advantage would swing toward Edmonton. The Oilers hold a two-point lead on the Knights for second place.
It doesn’t matter who has what advantage where at the moment. The Knights haven’t been able to solve the Oilers, with Thursday’s 4-3 overtime loss marking the ninth loss in the last 10 meetings.
“We’re just trying to get our game together and get in,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “It’s been a battle for us since the Olympic break to win games. So let’s get winning again, feel good about ourselves, take care of winning. And then we’ll worry about if and when whoever our opponent is.
“Then, we’re going to have to accept the realities of what the pros and cons are of that.”
Fireworks aplenty
If you were wondering if the hatred is still there, it very much is. The end of the first period showed that.
Oilers center Jason Dickinson barrelled over Shea Theodore after the period ended. This came seconds after defenseman Jeremy Lauzon caught Dickinson up high. Dickinson’s hit on Theodore could be seen as retaliation.
Lauzon took exception to Theodore getting hit and landed a couple of punches with Dickinson on the ice. A classic donnybrook ensued with all 10 skaters involved.
Helmets flew off. Nets were flipped over. Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse blew kisses to the Knights’ bench as one of the four culprits that were sent to the penalty box.
It was less than a year ago that Adin Hill was leaving his crease in a playoff game to get a couple of shots on Evander Kane. Nothing’s really changed.
This is the kind of rivalry that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman can point to as to why the playoff format may never go back to 1-versus-8.
But that also puts the Knights in a bind.
Still too close to call
The one point helped, but not a lot. They lead the Los Angeles Kings by three points for third in the Pacific.
There’s still the danger of the Knights, now 5-10-1 since the Olympic break, falling to the wild card, or completely out of the playoffs.
“We got nine big games left,” captain Mark Stone said after his two-goal game. “Let’s put ourselves in the dance. There’s no guarantee, so we have to continue to wake up in the morning, put our best foot forward and get better.”
A first-round series might not be the best way to decide things. It might be fitting for this year.
The winner continues what’s been an otherwise disappointing season and strengthens a band of hope for a long playoff run.
The loser would bring to end a disappointing season with plenty of questions about the future looming ahead.
Maybe it needs to happen this way for one of the Pacific’s long-reigning titans to come crashing down at the hand of the other.
One thing’s for certain: It wouldn’t be boring. There would be plenty of popcorn to pass around for Knights-Oilers III all the way to the final horn.
The Knights have to get there first.
“If it is Edmonton, I will say, yes, they’ve come in here and won games,” Cassidy said. “That’s twice this year and in the playoffs last year. But that’s the farthest thing from my mind right now. We’ve got other things to take care of.”
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
