Kasperi Kapanen was a healthy scratch that started the Western Conference semifinals, which is why the Edmonton Oilers made it to the Western Conference finals.

Kapanen was exempted from being exempted in November, scoring an overtime goal, which allowed the Oilers to beat the Vegas Golden Cavaliers 1-0 in Game 5 on Wednesday.

For the defending Stanley Cup runner-up, this will be their second straight trip, reaching the Western Conference Finals over the past four years. They will face the Dallas star - the winner of the winning Jets series, which continued to lead 3-1 on Thursday.

"It's obvious that this team has been playing hard and I've only played one couple, but I'm glad to be a part of it," Kapanen told ESPN after Game 5. "It means everything to me. They took the opportunity and then since I came to Edmonton, they picked me up and I felt so comfortable, I felt so comfortable."

Kapanen became Edmonton's latest playoff star when Oilers defender Darnell Nurse fired hockey online. It created a scramble in front, allowing Oilers superstar center Leon Draisaitl to catch the puck, and Kapanen blocked Golden Knights goalkeeper Adin Hill to win the game with the remaining 12:24 overtime.

While the goal is to win the series for the Oilers, it also expands the biggest difference in the series, as the Oilers’ depth becomes the end of the Golden Knights.

As a franchise built around a pair of generation centers of Captain Draisaitl and Captain Connor McDavid. But depth has been a challenge for years, and Edmonton has worked hard to nurture it in recent seasons. This paid off in 2023-24 as the Oilers reached the Stanley Cup final and then lost to the Florida Panthers in seven games.

The Oilers returned several players from the team while adding more help to free agents and exemptions, just like Kapanen, will be a team that relies on more than a few players.

Kapanen's match winner is just one example of this collective effort.

The other is goalkeeper Stuart Skinner. Like Kapanen, Skinner started the series on the bench, supporting Calvin Pickard, who then injured the Golden Knights in Game 2. Skinner was originally the number one goalkeeper for the Oilers but was relegated after allowing 12 goals in the first two games against the Los Angeles Kings in the quarter-finals.

Pickard's injury led to Skinner's return in Game 3 - a game where the Golden Knights won the final goal of Reilly Smith.

It was the last goal of the Golden Knights scoring in the series, with Skinner recording consecutively in Games 4 and 5.

"I hope it will shut down a lot of people talking about him," McDavid told reporters after the game. "We've always had confidence in him. He came in and threw two closures. You can't say enough good things."

Meanwhile, Las Vegas faces questions about how to find an offensive solution in the regular season, as it loses Jonathan Marchessault and Chandler Stephenson, who are part of the 2023 Cup-winning team.

The Golden Knights watched local talent Pavel Dorofeyev scored 20 professional goals from 67 games to break in, leading them with 35 goals in 82 games. They also saw Brett Howden scored 23 goals from the club in three seasons to a career-high 23 goals in 80 games.

However, in the game against the Oilers, the Golden Knights failed to hit it with their star or auxiliary actors. Howden, Ivan Barbashev and Tomas Hertl combined to score 78 regular season goals, but didn't score in the second round.

Their six main defenders scored 35 regular season goals with zero scores, and Jack Eichel, who led them with 94 points in the season, didn't score either. Dorofeyev missed the first two games due to injury and didn't score.

"We lost too many close games. I think that's the difference," said Golden Knights forward William Karlsson. "We haven't scored in the last two games, and that's the difference."

A straight return to the Western Conference Finals could allow the Oilers to draw them over the teams that last playedoff. The Oilers won the series and then fell into a 2-1 deficit, but the rally won three games.

As the Oilers seem ready to deal with any situation, a potential rematch against the stars may be approaching again. From their six straight comeback wins against the Kings and the Golden Knights to how they ended the series, the Oilers have paved the way for their first straight session finals.

The Oilers won the Stanley Cup in the 1989-90 campaign, the team's final title.

When asked about the depth of the Oiler, Draisaitl told ESPN: "It's huge, it's the only way to win the year," Draisaitl told ESPN. "Eight teams are good, so deep that you need everyone to contribute. You need everyone to do their best and our depth is incredible. They're winning our hockey game every night."