I don't care really so bring on whichever. For the betterment of the overall first round, I'd prefer seeing LA and pushing Vegas to Dallas as a Dallas/LA first round would be a waste of 8 days. Whereas the rivalry of Edmonton and LA likely propels LA to overachieve and push the series deep if not win outright.
That said, I really do feel if there is a time to beat Vegas, first round is the time before they really get going, and I don't think it's unreasonable to say Edmonton could win it. Edmonton really did do enough to beat Vegas last year, but self destructed too many times ultimately gifting Vegas at least 2 if not 3 of their wins. So what has changed with the teams.
For Edmonton, swap out Henrique for Bjugstad, Perry for Kostin and Brown for Yamamoto with Carrick available to swap out for Ryan. All of these guys except maybe Carrick, have much more pedigree than the guys they are replacing. Also, we have a one year more polished Desharnais and Skinner who were two of the weak spots on last years team in that series. If their improvement in season also yields improvement in the playoffs, then I'm confident this is a better team than last years. Furthermore in the pressbox I like the reinforcements of year older versions of Broberg and Holloway along with Stetcher and Gagner better than the pressbox guys like Shore and whoever else we had up there last year.
For Vegas, their reinforcements may be a bit stronger in that you swap in Hertl, Mantha, and Hanifin for Reilly Smith, and whichever depth dman and forward the other two replace. But they are also dealing with a lot of injuries. While we may question how much of it is Vegas misdirection on those injuries, but if their is truth to those injuries, Edmonton can get on them and maybe squeeze them in those first two home games and make it tough for their walking wounded to really dig deep and come back.
Also remember that the Vegas team last year was riding a high into the playoffs going 22-4-5 in their last 31 games. Much different than this years team that has been .500 since before Christmas and also .500 when shrinking the sample size to post-all-star game.
By no means do I think Edmonton has got it in the bag vs. either team, but really if Edmonton can't beat this version of Vegas, they likely have no business thinking they can beat Dallas, Colorado or whichever team comes out of the East anyways.
Ultimately, it's absolutely crucial whichever team we play that Edmonton finally wins a Game 1 at home (haven't done so since 1990) and hopefully Game 2 as well grab the series by the throat and potentially force a short one as either team is going to leave Edmonton weakened if it goes to Game 7.
We have home ice advantage in both cases. Speaking of ice, the LA arena will be crappy with all the NBA games.
Also, we’ve beaten both teams in their barn so that’s not a worry.
Goal tending in both cases isn’t scary.
LV rolls 4 lines better than LA, and plays with bigger, smarter Dmen…could be the difference.
When all is said and done, we have McD and Drai…..Bingo!
An underrated point. With LA we're likely battling two pro sports teams at the same time for ice slots at Crypto making for a less consistent schedule and worse conditions ice wise. Furthermore, the later the playoffs go the ice in Vegas likely gets worse, so better to get it done early.
