Why would overall hits during the regular season be relevant in a discussion in a head to head playoff match-up between the Oilers vs Knights? Especially when the stats in the match-up are already showing the Oilers are outhitting the Knights by a fair margin. Do you believe those regular season stats take precedent or are more relevant over the head to head stats? If so, I understand your struggle.
Shifting goalposts again doesn’t make sense.
I'd say go with the regular season numbers. The progression through the year would be quite staggering in favour of the Oilers. They were separated by a whopping 57 hits over the course of the regular season, but there are a few important factors missing:
- Kane missed most of the regular season
- Kostin saw more games as the season progressed
- Desharnais saw more games as the season progressed
- Ekholm was acquired at the deadline
- Bjugstad was acquired at the deadline
- The combination of the above factors had a roll-on effect for how the rest of the team played, and to a man, the whole roster began to play with more physicality
The regular season was being viewed very disingenuously, and it's clear that this has been the trend for much more than a 4 game sample size. But it's also not a a 4 game sample size between these two teams this year. It's 8 games, as the Oilers also out hit VGK 125-100 in 4 regular season matches.
Basically, you're right either way.