There's no shortage of intrigue as the Anaheim Ducks and Edmonton Oilers prepare to decide their second-round matchup in Game 7 on Wednesday night.

The Ducks will have the home crowd behind them for the winner-take-all contest, but that's hardly been an advantage for either team in this series.

Anaheim enters the game as the favorite, but the Ducks' difficulty in Game 7s at home is well documented. Edmonton has the momentum by virtue of a 7-1 destruction of the Ducks in Game 6 at Rogers Place, but Anaheim can still get the last laugh with a better effort in Game 7.

Here are a few things the Oilers have to do to advance to the Western Conference final:

Keep McDavid and Draisaitl apart

Oilers head coach Todd McLellan decided to break up Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in Game 5, and while Edmonton lost that game, the move has largely paid off.

Both players scored in that contest - before the Oilers' collapse and crushing defeat in double overtime - and while McDavid was held off the score sheet in Game 6, Draisaitl exploded for a hat trick and five points in Edmonton's blowout victory.

McDavid's line is still likely to draw the attention of stellar defensive forward Ryan Kesler, but spreading the Oilers' most dynamic scorers out over two lines has freed up Draisaitl and allowed Edmonton to better utilize its best offensive options.

Learn from Game 5

The last time the Oilers played in Anaheim, things didn't end well. Edmonton scored three times in the second period, but blew a 3-0 lead in the third and lost 4-3 on Corey Perry's double-overtime winner.

However, Edmonton won the first two games of the series in California, and finished strong in both contests.

The Oilers gave up the first goal in the opening game, but then scored five of the next seven en route to a 5-3 win at Honda Center. Edmonton followed that up with a 2-1 victory in hostile territory in Game 2.

If they can close out the final game of the series the way they finished the first two, Edmonton should be able to avoid another heartbreaking defeat.

Get in the Ducks' heads

The Ducks have more playoff experience, but they also have more baggage.

Anaheim has lost four consecutive Game 7s on home ice, and while Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle tried to distance himself from the club's previous failures under Bruce Boudreau, the pressure is squarely on Carlyle and his veterans to exorcise the demons.

Edmonton hasn't been intimidated on the road in this series, winning two of three away games and coming within one third-period meltdown of emerging victorious in all of them.

As much as the Ducks insist their Game 7 struggles aren't an issue, the longer the Oilers control play Wednesday night, the more doubt will creep into the minds of Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, and the other members of Anaheim's leadership group who've endured the quartet of disappointments in decisive games.

Regardless of how it ends, Game 7 between the Oilers and Ducks should live up to the hype.

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)

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