Oilers enjoy Schadenfreude while Canucks and Predators battle it out

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The German word for it is schadenfreude — taking pleasure in the misfortune of others.

It’s basically what Leon Draisaitl and the Edmonton Oilers have been doing since Wednesday night.

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Having wrapped up their series with Los Angeles in five games, the Oilers get to sit back and take great delight in watching Vancouver and Nashville beat each other up in the other Pacific Division semifinal.

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While the Oilers get to catch their breath and mend their bruises, the Canucks and Predators were boarding planes to Nashville to continue fighting for their lives in advance of a short turnaround before the next series, which is expected to start Tuesday.

“In the long run, which is our goal, to play for a long time, these extra days are massive, they’re critical,” said Draisaitl. “Same with the travel. If we lose (Game 5) we have to get back on the plane and head to L.A. Now we get an extra couple of days of rest. But we dug deep to earn that little bit of rest.”

The Oilers know from experience that jumping from a six- or seven-game series right into the next round keeps a team from ever getting a chance to refill the tank. So having as many as five days between rounds is a luxury they plan on making the most of.

“At this time of year the opportunity to play another round is all that matters,” said defenceman Darnell Nurse, after a brisk skate Friday morning. “But, as playoffs wear on, guys are banged up and dealing with nicks and bruises just from the intensity of the game. Any time you have an extra few days to recover it’s great for us as a group.”

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Playoffs are especially hard on goalies and Stuart Skinner is expected to go wire to wire for the Oilers, so giving him some time off, both mentally and physically, can also make a huge difference. Everyone, frankly, is enjoying this rare opportunity because they know its might be the last one they get until the playoffs are over, one way or the other.

“It’s a little different when you get a couple of days and still don’t know who you’re going to be seeing but it’s nice to have a little bit of a break,” said Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. “The first round is always tough and those guys make you work for every inch. It takes 60 minutes every night so it’s nice to have that physical and mental break.”

The focus for the Oilers now is to walk the fine line between resting up and not getting soft. Teams that jump quickly from one series to the next usually hit the ground running while the team that enjoyed some time off often takes a little while to get back up to playoff speed.

The advantage turns in favour of the rested team as the series goes on and the legs get heavy, but the Oilers want to avoid a slow start in Round 2. They waited seven years to win the opening game of a series, so they don’t want to fall back into the old habit of spotting the other guys a 1-0 lead.

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You could tell that from Friday’s practice. It was short, but it was also fast and serious.

“When you win a series and have a day off it’s easy to come out a little lackadaisical for the next couple of days but I thought we were sharp,” said Nugent-Hopkins. “It was a good skate to get our legs going and get back into it mentally.”

Head coach Kris Knoblauch will have the players back on the ice Saturday but will likely give them Sunday off as he walks the line between keeping everyone at the top of their game and saving their energy for the second round.

“We do have some time,” he said. “We’ll be on the ice a couple of days but we won’t be on every single day. We’ll have time to work on some things and let the guys recover and be as close to 100 per cent as possible when the second round starts.”

As far as preparing for the next series goes, Edmonton’s staff has been on the case since the playoff began, so they won’t be scrambling to get ready. Even when the Oilers were playing the Kings, the brain trust was breaking down Nashville and Vancouver film.

“We’re prepared for both teams,” said Knoblauch. “We’ve already looked at things. There is so much work that goes into a pre-scout that if we wait until the other series is done there’s just not enough time.

“Our two video coaches have been working on this before the L.A. series even started. They’re looking at (Vancouver and Nashville) regular-season games and playoffs. On Thursday that was on my desk and I was going through both of those teams.”

LATE HITS — Adam Henrique, who took a hard hit in Game 4, and Evander Kane, who’s been wrestling with a sports hernia this year, didn’t practise Friday. Knoblauch called it “maintenance” and expects they will both be on the ice before the series starts.”

E-mail: rtychkowski@postmedia.com

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