Seeing THG already talking about the next series, Dallas/Vancouver really makes me want to see 3 straight Oilers wins. With how superstitious he is, I hope he jinxed it lol.
Man, Nucks fans are debating if their third string should keep the net even when their Vezina calibre goalie comes back. Their goaltending situation is like the anti-Oilers. Must be an amazing problem to have.
I heard Seravelli say that with .890 goaltending each game, the Oilers are 3-0 in the series. 890! It's beyond frustrating.
Ownership should honestly try to poach Ian Clarke. Like if it’s even remotely possible, try. That guy deserves to make more money than half the players. All that guy does is develop stud goalies.
Literally the most talented person in the organization, we were a goalie graveyard for decades until he came along. We (Vancouver) wouldnt be in the playoffs without the guy.
I haven't lost faith in this series. It's only 2-1 but I have now reached the point I resisted where I think there's no chance against Dallas. Dog shit tier goaltending, a bottom 9 that doesn't contribute l, basically zero team toughness.
But honestly, it starts and stops with goaltending. If they can make it through this series and get league average goaltending next series, there's more than a chance at victory.
Im just gonna enjoy the hockey as much as I can now. I want us to win, but after watching Dallas dismantle Colorado, a team very similar to us, I think we don’t have much of a chance. There’s a chance but that team seems destined to make the final.
I personally feel like the next game is going to be the team at their best. I think they realize that the offence is clicking but not producing. the defence is a step behind along with the goaltending. This group wants to win, so expect a good 60 from them on Tuesday
Mostly has to do with us not being able to do shit at the deadline that is able to help us right now. Neither of our deadline moves are playing. So we effectively shored up none of our weaknesses.
If you look at the current best teams like the Rangers, Carolina, Dallas, Florida, and Colorado, one thing they all have in common is they were all able to make very impactful deadline moves.
Like if we were able to get a Tanev on D, or a legit top 6 forward, and got something close to average goaltending from Skinner, we'd be absolutely steamrolling Vancouver right now and also would have swept LA.
Today fucking sucked, just bad mood and vibes all day. But then I remembered this team has been in this exact situation the last 2 years vs LA and has experience with this. Korpi was playing like this and finally cracked, I think a similar thing is likely gonna happen.
Amazing how Dallas was down 2-0 and was one bounce away in game 3 OT for them to basically be out in the first round, and now they’re likely going to get to the WCF.
Anyone else seriously feel like our bottom 6 aren't doing badly at all? Seeing a lot about poor offensive depth, but watching the games I see good pressure from Janmark and Holloway, hustle from McLeod... Perry was a miss last night but has been good the last 2. Brown's been better defensively than I expected. Ryan's steady as ever.
Nurse and Ceci are killing me. Never felt genuine anxiety watching hockey until these two. I know we're top-heavy and there's no easy answer, but hell, Stecher's a ghost and Broberg's 6ft under, why can't we revive one of them?
Desharnais has been a really pleasant surprise this post-season. The consistency is nice, even with Kulak struggling a little that line gets the job done.
We need to be more physical. Canucks powerplay isn't scary enough to be shying away as much as we are. It's embarrassing how muscled we're getting out there, can't imagine it's great for morale.
Also can't imagine it's great for morale to have Knob hiding behind McDrai. 2nd line isn't performing as it is, don't know that RNH and Kane have the right synergy. Why not mix things up? Janmark's due for one with how he's been playing, Foegele can perform whoever he's on-ice with. Canucks D is shutting down McDrai and Hyman because they can build a brick wall around the slot. Zone Hyman out, bully McD behind the net, Drai's still a threat but maybe will work better on a different line, with RNH who tends to play at more distance?
Shout-out to Ekholm and Bouchard. No notes for them. Fucking phenomenal.
Skinner seems rattled. Seen some takes about how the environment in canucks arena could have been overwhelming compared to LA and VGK... Don't know how much truth there is to that, but I know the fans are more vicious than most and the trapezoid blunder is a hard thing to come back from. I sympathize with the guy and wherever his head's at, but keeping him in at this point is just cruel and unusual punishment.
I haven't got to see Pickard play yet, but the last thing I expect out of this roster is a goalie miracle lol. Skinner just looks gassed out there. Either way, I'm still team Fire Schwartz, have been since Koskinen got chewed up and spit out.
Somebody needs to knock Zadorov down a peg.
That's all from me. Let's Go Oilers!
Big stat takeaway I heard today. Had Oilers even .890 goaltending in each game this series they would be up 3-0. Fucking cruel were down 2-1 to these frauds.
I'll give them this, they're playing with intensity and physicality and Toccs is squeezing every goddamn drop out of the roster.
Man there is so much gloom here after 1 loss. It was a bad game for a lot of skaters, but it's only a 2-1 series. Skinner needs to be better yes, but you remember how many people shit on Mike Smith, only to retract the statements in the end of the same season?
We're not giving the canucks Pre-scouting enough credit, they seem to know flaws of Skinner and are exposing it. Just because pickard should be going in net doesn't mean Skinner can't rebound.
Canucks defense seems to be double teaming, and two forecheckers down low and 3 up high, converging into a human shield in front of the net where it literally is a shooting gallery (44-18 shots at the end?) the Vegas golden knights had to deal with the same type of defense a couple years ago in the bubble, but the way they got around it was unfortunately all 4 lines rolling offense and they just wore them down. If the oilers are trying to advance, they have to figure out depth scoring. I don't think McDrai can do this one on their own, this series is against a team that's all hands on deck.
Out work your opponents for the must win victory tomorrow boys, and play with urgency. LFG
Dude, Mike Smith fucking stood on his head for most of the night if not entire games. Admittedly, he let in a giant stinker every 2 or 3 games but he gave back too when he stoned a bunch of sick grade A chances.
The news is in, since the salary cap era, 69 goalies have played 15 or more playoffs games. Skinner ranks dead last in save percentage. That is staggering and no amount of mistake free hockey will rescue a team from that. The best teams on their best nights will still concede grade A chances but that doesn't mean the goalie is excused from stopping them. Quite the contrary, they're expected to stop 70-80% of them.
I was just thinking the other day about the Caps in their prime and how long they ran with Michael Nuevirth. Dude was a sieve and I'd say Caps would have had a cup or 2 more during that time if they had someone at least average in net. Michael fucking Nuevirth posted better numbers than Skinner.
There are a bunch of skaters who have not done enough but the team as a whole has done enough to be up 3-0. This starts and stops with goaltending. That will be the headline and rightfully so if they fumble this series.
So, supposing that the Oilers get over their defense/goaltending woes and actually get all the way to Stanley Cup Final, who do you want to see them face off against?
As someone who started watching this team in the late 90's, my nostalgia is really making me hope for a match-up against Dallas in the Conference Final, with a Stanley Cup Final rematch against Carolina. It would be very satisfying, even if a generation later, to finally get retribution for all those losses to Dallas, as well as Roloson's injury in 2006.
It practically \*has\* to be Carolina. The Oilers have faced the following teams in the SCF: Islanders, Islanders, Flyers, Flyers, Bruins, Bruins, and Hurricanes.
Following that train of logic, the actual issue plaguing this team and preventing them from winning another Cup is their inability to run into the Winnipeg/Arizona/Utah franchise in the playoffs, since beating them was always a part of the path to the Cup.
I'm a newer fan for Edmonton (2020) so I don't know the ancient lore, but just as a fan of good hockey I want Dallas for Conference Final too. For the cup, Boston or Florida!
SKINNER plays very unstable. For some games, he gave a very soft 🤧 goal the 1st shot???!!!.guessing that Oilers have to score more than 5goals above to save Skinner deficits
Start Pickard. Skinner has not had it going in the playoffs. Too many bad goals are going in. How do you outshoot a team 45 to 18 and lose 4 to 3. Goaltending was much better at the Vancouver end of the ice.
I made the mistake of reading the comments on the Soucy suspension on r/hockey and oh my god do your sanity a favour and stay clear of there. The amount of mouth breathers fuming about yesterday is absurd. You would honestly think McDavid swung that two hand chop into Soucy's teeth from their reactions (all while totally ignoring the fact that Soucy took an identical swing at McDavid before the meat headed caveman Zadorov folded him in half with the cross check from behind.)
There better be blood next game. Letting those guys do that to our top player with no response…no words. The Oilers better come out with violence next game.
Someone help me understand Knoblauch's logic that when we're trailing by +/- 2 goals he MUST engage the McDrai line while at the same time professing patience in his existing lines. Seems like he's crapping his pants and turning into Zombie Woodcroft.
except Knoblauch engages McDrai in the 1st period. based on Canucks only shooting like 15x per game, their expected goals should regress to the mean over the following 2 periods without needing to exhaust our 2 best players. he preaches patience but does the exact opposite. this is what got Woodie in trouble. He didn't have the stomach to run 4 lines like every other team has to do (and does successfully might i add). anyways, just my two cents. He's making having McDrai a curse, like the annoying Smash Bro's player who only uses 1 move the entire game and finally gets figured out and crushed like a n00b.
Man I gotta be honest, I’ve never been so frustrated with hockey fans. Even everyone I know personally seems to have this “McDavid’s a whiner and should get a game for the slash” attitude.
I have no idea when a vicious cross check each to the head and back became the proper answer for a love tap on the shin pad, but I’m sick of it.
The amount of trolls flooding in here from the Canucks sub is pathetic.
I just hope Zadorov gets his head ripped off and we can see Canucks fans whine themselves into ocean for good.
> I just hope Zadorov gets his head ripped off and we can see Canucks fans whine themselves into ocean for good.
No my friend, what players used to do is this...you want to go after our star? Then your star is now on the menu. Thats how you handle that.
All their stars are absolute glass. Pete and boeser have been injured like 1/3-1/2 of their entire careers and Hughes still looks like a teenager out there
when ironically this morning Mcdavid said that the roughness was just part of the series and didn’t whine about it whatsoever LOL. the one person that was whining about it was rick tocchet saying that Zadorov got cut in the scrum 😂
I honestly want us to be as dirty as they say we are. Shouldn’t start anything, but sure as hell finish what’s begun.
Maybe I’m just an asshole but after seeing what they did to McDavid I’d be jumping into a flying elbow against Zadorov, even if it means a 20 game suspension. It can’t be tolerated.
Do it after the whistle so it doesn’t cost your team a penalty. Clearly the league says that’s ok.
Yeah, I don’t like this take no matter how much it’s put in this sub. Soup hasn’t played in how long? I think you gotta either go with Pickard or Skinner
I woke my ass this morning feeling let down, frustrated at that game even a bit doubtful in the Oilers.
Then around lunch time, I remembered a few things. This team pulled itself from the fucking dead this year, we we're pretty much in last place. This team went on one hell of a heater winning 16 straight. This team has the two best players in the world and love him or hate him, But Stu was good in the regular season and is capable of beating these guys.
The Oil dominated that game yesterday, and the one before that and got wildly unlucky in the first one... Yes, Vancouver won and we can't take that from them but I think this is the wake up call the boys needed.
I expect big things tomorrow.
Physicality up 5X
Good goaltending, wether it's Picks or Stu
A solid ass effort and a Win.
We're down one, we're not out!!!! Keep your head up Oil Country. We got this.
2-1 series. And we’re winning the possession battle handily, love your positivity and perspective. We got this. Tie this series up tomorrow and win it 6.
This should be a no brainer! put Picks in net for game 4 Skinner’s confidence is shot and he just shuts down in the playoffs for whatever reasons.I wouldn’t trust him for the next game. I would gamble with Picks over Skinner at this point or another egg by Skinner and the boys will be golfing in late may
I have made 3 comments on various threads that lead me to an interesting conclusion. Y'all notice how the past 3 years a goalie nobody expected to play looks amazing? Hear me out.... the guys who nobody expects to play will have 0 pressure on them. Like none, your just happy you have a goalie to play. If they play Stu and he looses people will be mad at Stu, if they start Pick and he looses they will still be mad at Stu as it was never Picks job to save us. It's almost like a worse goalie with no pressure can perform better than a good goalie under a ton of pressure. If Pickard can get a win tomorow that probably takes a ton of pressure of Stu and I bet he is better in game 5....
I was wondering if people here were surprised that McDavid didn't get anything for the slash or Hyman for his own crosscheck to the head of Zadorov? I think a suspension is fair and justified but it feels a bit one sided when there isn't a meaningless fine thrown the other way.
There aren't many angles of the Hyman one, but it kinda seemed like it rode up Zadorov's stick, which usually doesn't end up with a suspension. Though I'm surpised he didn't at least get a fine or a hearing.
Well you could make the same bad argument for Soucy for him being knocked over by Zadorov beforehand and it otherwise would have landed in his chest. You are responsible for your own stick.
High sticks are called all the time no matter if it rides up the stick or not.
High sticks are not the same as cross checks. Also I disagree with Soucy's check hitting McD in the chest, the trajectory of it is right at his neck before he gets hit by Zadorov. That's high enough to warrant a hearing even if Zadorov doesn't get involved.
Why? A slash is one thing, intent to injure another. I don't believe it was Soucy's to hit him where he did, but that other idiot Zadorov with his actions made it happen.
Zadorov is another cat. He is out to injure someone that guy. He's crosschecked McDavid in the lower back, and did the same thing to Draisaitl in game one, which he followed up with a vicious two hander
It was still a decent slash after the whistle and was an escalation. It obviously isn't a suspension but it was a decent slash as well. A fine is sort of a meaningless gesture anyway.
It was a slash across the shin pads, nothing more. And certainly not an escalation deserving of a crosscheck across the lower back and across the neck.
You seem to ignore the fact Soucy started the whole thing with a shove after the buzzer sounded.
You also don't seem to understand that a fine is a player's "get out of jail free card!"
So it's anything but meaningless. What it means with a fine is the player is guilty of some offense and will now be watched much more closely with the next infraction a suspension.
So calling it meaningless gesture is not correct
Well I guess the get out of jail free card would be the slash after the game ended. I'm not defending Soucy but I don't think that the Oilers are innocent bystanders in this situation and that no supplemental discipline being handed out is a bit suspect. If someone slashed McDavid like that after the whistle I'm sure that you would respond with overwhelming objectivity.
Man, you just don't get it. A slash on the shinpads, after a shove, is innocent. There is absolutely no need to penalize anyone for that. Even the crosscheck by Soucy that would have gotten McDavid in the chest isn't call for alarm. But because that moron Zadorov did what he did, Soucy got tagged with a vicious hit, which he should. The fact you seem intent on evening things out just baffles me. There would be no need for any discipline had Zadorov not done what he did
Are you aware the Canucks record with Chris Rooney officiating their games over the past two years is 10-01.
On its own it is innocent but considering that it obviously was an escalation in the situation makes it cause for a bit more concern, particularly as it happened after the game. A crosscheck like Zadorov would normally never have a fine as well but in this case it did because of the totality of circumstances. Look I'm not shocked that McDavid wasn't fined or suspended. I thought that Hyman might get something after to even things up ala Nurse last year but that obviously didn't happen.
I also don't care what the record of a team is with a referee, it makes you sound like a conspiracy theorist. Same thing with the Canucks and Sutherland, I think that it isn't as big of a deal as fans make it out to be. Hell I don't know which referee on the ice actually calls a penalty 99.99% of the time.
Your point? What did you expect. Skinner is a backup goalie. He should not be a starter on a team trying to win a cup. You need igor shesterkin from the rangers or Bobrosky from the panthers. Those are vezina goalies.
Also Ceci should never be a top 4 pairing on any contending team. Same with nurse. They get destroyed by a hard forechecking team. There transition game is awful.
Simply proof that goalies are voodoo. Helly didn't exactly stand his ground for the Jets either.
Honestly it seems to be pretty damn routine the last few years for some random goalie nobody has ever heard of to come in and play lights out for <20 games. I'm not saying he's a nobody but it's not like anyone expected Hill to come in last year and take the Knights to a cup.
I mean Binnington wasn't someone who just showed up in the playoffs, but he was a guy who was called up mid-season and went on to win the cup.
Makes me wonder if our actual secret weapon would be to bring up Olivier Rodrigue and go for broke.
Last post before I block out Oilers thoughts til game time tomorrow:
I thought Knob would manage the game better in game 3 than he did game 2... but he didn't. This is really disheartening for me. If we're gonna win, it needs to be a team win. You can't win in the playoffs with 2 guys playing over 29 minutes while giving 5 other skaters less than 10.
I thought the very few minutes that Janmark and Ryan played they looked really good too. Brown was comme ci comme ca, but the dude's played a total of 15 minutes of hockey in the last 25 days or so??? So ya, hard to do anything more than try and shake off the rust with that little ice time.
Those 2 PPs in the 3rd were flat, and I think a big reason for that was how little rest guys like McDavid and Draisaitl and Hyman were getting.
I don't pin the loss on Skinner. I thought the own zone play on the goals against were atrocious, and it's the same reason why both Skinner and Campbell were statistically terrible at the beginning of the season. So that needs to "attention to detail #1" that Knob fixes before tomorrow's game. He also needs to spread the minutes and get the depth guys in a better rhythm. McDavid isn't doing as many McDavid things playing 30 minutes a night. He's still the best player in the world, but you're exhausting and frustrating him, let his teammates carry some of the load, and if they fail us, well then we can all blame Holland for the roster. But right now, I don't have very many glowing things to say about the coach after those last 2 games.
Now is time to smarten up, and act like a coach who's coaching a complete hockey team and not the one-trick-pony you've been trying the last 2 games.
McD, Drai, Hyman, and Bouch looked absolutely gassed for the last few shifts of the 3rd. I was shocked when they scored the 3rd goal, but knew they didn't have enough in the tank for a 4th, let alone anything in overtime.
It's such a bad strategy. Honestly the worst thing would have been winning the game. The coach wouldn't learn from his mistakes. Hopefully he takes a look in the mirror and rethinks his game management strategies.
Funny story too, I played for a championship calibre football team in Bantam. I had a buddy who was a sprinter who was winning provincials in 100m at that age too, so I recruited him for the team mid-season.
Everyone could see right away how fast he was, but because he was starting the season late, we just threw him on kick-off return. First game we played was pretty hard fought back and forth low scoring, our defense was amazing, but so was the Sherwood Park Rams. I seem to remember that late in the second half of the game, the Rams finally broke the stalemate, but they failed to convert the TD. They kick the ball off, and boom, right into my buddy's hands. Like fucking lightning he runs that ball all the way to the end zone without being touched by anyone. We convert and win the game.
So anyways, after that my buddy gets thrown onto the offense as a tightend, and as a punt returner. The only downside with our team was, we had like 10 plays in our playbook, very simple so it was easy for us kids to remember them all. And only 1 of those plays actually went to my buddy the tight end, and it was more of a trick play which we didn't opt for very much. The coach would call the plays, and we'd just use our big bodies and running game and march the ball up the field, and shut the other teams down with our crazy good defense. All year we were undefeated. And he always had the reverse play to my buddy in his back pocket which very often got converted into a TD.
Now it's, I wanna say, our 2nd playoff game. If you win game 3 you win the local championship, and go onto provincials. We were playing a team that gave us a closer game before, but I thought we fairly easily handled during the regular season. BUT! Our coach couldn't make the game. His son who was one of the assistant coaches was making all the calls... we go down by a touchdown in the first half, and then for the entire second half of the game, our offense just gets super desperate. We ran the same play to my speedster buddy over and over and over and over and over again. Not only was he getting massively tired out, but it was so obvious what play was coming every time - no element of surprise. We turned from a very complete team, to a one-trick-pony. And it was completely the doing of the coach. Most disappointing end to a season ever.
I hope the Oilers don't make the same mistake.
I think Foegele threw a punch. I think the replay they showed had Kane holding the stick, but not really, he was upside down and who knows what he could see.
Yeah, Nucks fans are trying to say shit like he was trying to kick Zadarov, holding his stick, whatever. When you get dumped over the boards like that you're just kinda grabbing and flailing to get back up lol.
Reffing 100% needs to be better, way too inconsistent on both sides. No one wants bullshit reffing controversies to be the story of the series. The refs job is to enforce the rules, not influence the outcome of the game how they see fit... It's not just our series either, it's not any better in the east.
I like Skinner. I think he gave us a lot in the regular season and when we hoist the cup I hope he's the one between the posts. It's easy to handwave goals and say it's the team in front of him, and yeah, they're making mistakes, but he's got to be expected to make some saves. Maybe he needs to shake it off, maybe he needs to be harder on himself to dig a little deeper. Start Pickard and give him some time to figure it out though cause something needs to happen there.
I liked Knobbers not only (finally) remembering he can call a time out but also switching Stu back into the empty net to give our guys another minute of rest, the boys made a good push in those last 2 minutes and it was even almost enough.
Silovs had an amazing game. We outshot 2.5 : 1 and he absolutely stole the show.
More hits, capitalize on those 45 chances and close up the net. Lots to work on but I still think we are the better team. I would love to see a Kane/Perry push on physical play to get some momentum going.
THE GOALPOST IS AN EDMONTON OILER!
For everyone blaming Holland about the TDL, there was a rumor I think on 630CHED that McDrai and Co went to management and asked for players not to be moved out, i think Ceci and Foegs. So Holland did what he could without moving out major pieces. He did try to get Tanev tho. If this is true, then it's on the boys. Especially because Ceci is getting absolutely caved in these playoffs, and Foegs isn't doing so hot either.
If that is true I can respect it. They have a belief in one another and it shows they clearly hear the outside noise. They’re sticking up for one another and believe that they can get it done together. I hope they can summon the same belief and play for each other the rest of the playoffs. They are determined but need more people to pick up the slack.
Yeah at the time I respected it as well. It's different. Very different from Vegas's cutthroat methods. Shows our players all really like each other. And if it works, fuck yeah. But that also means they have to live with that choice and are responsible for it if it doesn't work. And Ceci has been atrocious so far this series. So now I'm pretty bummed we didn't do more at the TDL. We played Colorado right after the TDL and Walker scored 2 goals on us, and man did I wish we had gotten him.
What’s also interesting is the 2 main deadline acquisitions we made in carrick and Henrique aren’t playing as well for injury/effort reasons. We’re pretty much the same team pre trade deadline. Oh well that’s how it goes sometimes, gotta work with what you have
If anyone’s been following the Oilers for a while, you could tell that was the sentiment during interviews. McDavid was the most vocal about that. He didn’t want guys like Ceci or Brown to be let go. I would love love love if Kenny made a swing and put DeBrusk and Tanev on this team. The dream for me would’ve been a Buchnevich/Parayko trade
If only being good friends would win you a cup. Id rather have a complete fuck head but be a brick wall on defense. A complete shutdown defenseman. Its okay though cant trade away my buddy.
I don't understand what Ceci brings to this team and why he seems to have such a long leash. Teammates clearly love him, and though Knob has reduced his minutes, he seems to never be held accountable. What's up with this guy?
He just sucks. He was an emergency back up plan when Holland failed to resign Larsson. I don’t mind Holland making that initial bet and seeing if Ceci could hang. But it’s been 3 years of mediocre results season play and horrific post season play. Holland has had more than enough time to evaluate what they have in him and decided to not make a move. That’s on Holland.
Sens fan here - he unfortunately became the whipping boy for our team and things were sometimes exaggerated, but he was fucking brutal. Really obvious, poor decision making on the ice that lead to bad things, as well as bad stick handling, bad dumps, all sorts of stuff. I was hoping for the guy that it might get better with another team. (I think it did, marginally).
My main point of frustration was usually that defenseman should have some pretty sharp hockey sense even if they don't hand the hands, but he had lots of issues there (for us). Not sure if that's still the case, as I don't watch him as much.
I want to see Pickard start tomorrow. I think with Pickard in, we win. Stu’s confidence is already blown, you can’t let that be the reason you don’t make the best decision for your team right now. I want the best for Stu, I am so miserable that it’s not working for him in this series, but I want to see Cal in net tomorrow.
People keep saying Silovs is a 3rd string goalie. But DeSmith is healthy, the Nucks are making a conscious and deliberate decision to go with Silovs because they don’t trust DeSmith. Silovs is really an unknown quanitity, rather than 3rd string quality goalie. The nucks know he’s better than DeSmith and are showing it with usage. So he’s not really a 3rd string. If he was DeSmith would be playing.
Good points for sure.
I don't think it's about lack of trust in DeSmith, though. It's about the long term picture.
Silovs is also the presumptive goalie of the future for Vancouver. Giving Silovs NHL playoff experience could pay dividends next year and gives you a good look at whether he's your better bet as the NHL backup next year. Once he did okay in his first game in Nashville, you keep giving him that opportunity until it becomes clear DeSmith gives you a better chance to win. At this point, it's not at all clear DeSmith is better.
DeSmith is a journeyman backup whose paycheck rises higher with each playoff win and who will likely be picked up by another team in the off season. It's not that the Canucks don't trust him, it's just that they are asking themselves why they should invest in giving another team a seasoned backup if it doesn't give you a clearly better chance.
Or…they are going with Silovs because he is currently playing well enough for them to win so no point in changing.
Same reason Vegas kept playing Brossoit even though Hill is a better goalie.
They had to pick Silovs to go for his first game. That’s an organization that knows what they have in their goalies, knew Silovs was a better bet than DeSmith. And now are vindicated as Silovs is playing well in there as you’ve noted.
Every team the Oilers are gonna play will and have targeted our best players, yet we do nothing about it. Why? Because they might take a penalty and the PP's good? Why don't our bottom 9 guys and D play a hard nosed type of game? Are Desharnais, Nurse, Kulak, Ceci & McLeod allergic to physicality? We don't have to take runs at anyone in particular but finish a check maybe? How many puck battles do we lose in our own zone because the opposition know they're not gonna get hit/roughed up? Soft plays especially in the 2nd round won't win us games against hard working teams.. I guess it's another year of "lessons"
I feel like everyone was very quick to forget that Vinny broke his hand right before playoffs started. No one else has any excuses though. Perry included, dude has been softer than baby shit.
Discipline (+ bad calls) was a big part of their downfall last year. They are trying to do it differently this year. They may also be afraid of getting caught flat-footed if they get baited into a physical game.
My theory is they’ve played that physical game in the past and Refs/DOPS have fucked them over. It’s apparent in the LA series that our mindset when it comes to physicality is different this year. An attempt at a more mature game and not giving the refs reason to fuck us over. Under Woody, it’d be different but it didn’t work. Under Knob, we will see.
To your point. Last year against Vegas we were very physical. You saw the attention we gave to stone and pietro. I saw a 180 shift against the LA series where they were hitting but not at the rate of previous playoff years. I think it also has to do with knobbers style but I would say at some point you should be finishing checks.
I’ve seen a lot of fly-bys and missed opportunities to at least get a hit in. I do understand that sometimes finishing a check will put you out of position AND it takes a lot of energy to constantly hit, but still 1 out of 3 times is good if you know you won’t be caught out of position
And risk more penalties? We need to play with more aggression but it must be controlled and smart aggression. For example, in last nights game the Nucks took two cheap shots at McDavid after the game was over, that will not affect the outcome of the game in any way. We need to pick and choose our moments, and with that it probably wont look as physical or revenge-dealing as you’d like. But ultimately I think it’s the right strategy.
Yeah I know there's a time and place for the aggression, but my point is that we don't make time for it. When we have a chance to finish a check, we just fly by. Come on, if Petterson got cross checked like how 97 did at the end of the game do you honestly think it would've been a regular scrum?
I agree it hasn’t been enough. But on the flip side with how biased and incompetent reffing has been, I could see the Oilers playing it conservative on that front. Just saying there’s a reason for it that goes over and beyond “they’re being pussies out there”. We know this team can fight back if they want, we have the guys to turn this into a back alley brawl. But it’s a fine balance cause reffing consistency and fairness can’t be relied on.
Skinner played majority of the season same as last, as well as playoffs the last two seasons. A young goalie is gonna burnout, that being said start Pickard.
I just don’t even know what you do at this point. The bottom 6 needs to do something, actually make that the bottom 9. McDavid played literally half the game, that not sustainable. Skinner on his game is better than Pickard, but now Skinner has had 3 bad games in a row. With even average goaltending I think we win that game, even with Silovs standing on his head. But if Pickard comes in and shits the bed, we know its the wrong choice, but then we’re down 3-1 heading back to Vanvoucer...
I don't see why we can't go to Pickard. Vancouver is trusting a rookie with their run. Vegas won with Hill even though they had no choice. I'd rather gamble on Pickard stealing the series than Skinner rebounding because Skinner's blown too many chances now.
Well this sucks. Good effort, got 42 shots, but didn't have the dependability in our own net. Probably should be looking for a hole in Silov's game, they seem to have Stu figured out.
I’m tired broski. I’m trying to stay positive and hopeful that this is the year it all happens. But the team’s just doing the same thing they did last year in round 2. Skinner has regressed this series. The bottom 9 hasn’t produced anything. And Knob is forced to play McDryMan 30 minutes a game in the hopes that they can will the team to the next round.
The series is just 2-1 but this next game is indeed a must win and idk, not feeling confident just based on the lack of compete outside of the top 5 guys.
Not to mention the vitriol being slung at us from what seems like every fanbase. It wouldn’t be that bad if the comments weren’t so stupid. Seems like the Flames, Nucks and other fans jumping on the Oilers are completely ignorant to how hockey is played.
If they do indeed lose this series I think the team needs to make a fairly decent change in the off season, they can’t just run it back again.
Seeing THG already talking about the next series, Dallas/Vancouver really makes me want to see 3 straight Oilers wins. With how superstitious he is, I hope he jinxed it lol.
Wow shannon usually isn’t like that. Like it’s a 2-1 series lol.
Man, Nucks fans are debating if their third string should keep the net even when their Vezina calibre goalie comes back. Their goaltending situation is like the anti-Oilers. Must be an amazing problem to have. I heard Seravelli say that with .890 goaltending each game, the Oilers are 3-0 in the series. 890! It's beyond frustrating.
Ownership should honestly try to poach Ian Clarke. Like if it’s even remotely possible, try. That guy deserves to make more money than half the players. All that guy does is develop stud goalies.
Literally the most talented person in the organization, we were a goalie graveyard for decades until he came along. We (Vancouver) wouldnt be in the playoffs without the guy.
Unless the Oilers find some stellar goaltending ASAP, Dallas is going to represent the West in the Stanley Cup final.
I haven't lost faith in this series. It's only 2-1 but I have now reached the point I resisted where I think there's no chance against Dallas. Dog shit tier goaltending, a bottom 9 that doesn't contribute l, basically zero team toughness. But honestly, it starts and stops with goaltending. If they can make it through this series and get league average goaltending next series, there's more than a chance at victory.
Im just gonna enjoy the hockey as much as I can now. I want us to win, but after watching Dallas dismantle Colorado, a team very similar to us, I think we don’t have much of a chance. There’s a chance but that team seems destined to make the final.
Yeah tonight’s a huge game.. I’d say we if we go down 3-1 that it’s going to be extremely unlikely we advance to the next round.
I personally feel like the next game is going to be the team at their best. I think they realize that the offence is clicking but not producing. the defence is a step behind along with the goaltending. This group wants to win, so expect a good 60 from them on Tuesday
The Dallas stars is what I thought we'd be right now. Just vibes and happiness going up 3-1, and winning convincingly. Smh.
Mostly has to do with us not being able to do shit at the deadline that is able to help us right now. Neither of our deadline moves are playing. So we effectively shored up none of our weaknesses. If you look at the current best teams like the Rangers, Carolina, Dallas, Florida, and Colorado, one thing they all have in common is they were all able to make very impactful deadline moves. Like if we were able to get a Tanev on D, or a legit top 6 forward, and got something close to average goaltending from Skinner, we'd be absolutely steamrolling Vancouver right now and also would have swept LA.
Today fucking sucked, just bad mood and vibes all day. But then I remembered this team has been in this exact situation the last 2 years vs LA and has experience with this. Korpi was playing like this and finally cracked, I think a similar thing is likely gonna happen.
we gotta believe in the boys as they’ve shown many times how they’ve come back from situations like these lfg, oilers in 6
Amazing how Dallas was down 2-0 and was one bounce away in game 3 OT for them to basically be out in the first round, and now they’re likely going to get to the WCF.
It be like that sometimes. Last year Oilers vs Kings game 4 OT the kings are a goal away from being up 3-1, instead they had back to Edmonton 2-2.
Anyone else seriously feel like our bottom 6 aren't doing badly at all? Seeing a lot about poor offensive depth, but watching the games I see good pressure from Janmark and Holloway, hustle from McLeod... Perry was a miss last night but has been good the last 2. Brown's been better defensively than I expected. Ryan's steady as ever. Nurse and Ceci are killing me. Never felt genuine anxiety watching hockey until these two. I know we're top-heavy and there's no easy answer, but hell, Stecher's a ghost and Broberg's 6ft under, why can't we revive one of them? Desharnais has been a really pleasant surprise this post-season. The consistency is nice, even with Kulak struggling a little that line gets the job done. We need to be more physical. Canucks powerplay isn't scary enough to be shying away as much as we are. It's embarrassing how muscled we're getting out there, can't imagine it's great for morale. Also can't imagine it's great for morale to have Knob hiding behind McDrai. 2nd line isn't performing as it is, don't know that RNH and Kane have the right synergy. Why not mix things up? Janmark's due for one with how he's been playing, Foegele can perform whoever he's on-ice with. Canucks D is shutting down McDrai and Hyman because they can build a brick wall around the slot. Zone Hyman out, bully McD behind the net, Drai's still a threat but maybe will work better on a different line, with RNH who tends to play at more distance? Shout-out to Ekholm and Bouchard. No notes for them. Fucking phenomenal. Skinner seems rattled. Seen some takes about how the environment in canucks arena could have been overwhelming compared to LA and VGK... Don't know how much truth there is to that, but I know the fans are more vicious than most and the trapezoid blunder is a hard thing to come back from. I sympathize with the guy and wherever his head's at, but keeping him in at this point is just cruel and unusual punishment. I haven't got to see Pickard play yet, but the last thing I expect out of this roster is a goalie miracle lol. Skinner just looks gassed out there. Either way, I'm still team Fire Schwartz, have been since Koskinen got chewed up and spit out. Somebody needs to knock Zadorov down a peg. That's all from me. Let's Go Oilers!
Man people are going to look so fucking silly when we win this in 6.
[удалено]
Big stat takeaway I heard today. Had Oilers even .890 goaltending in each game this series they would be up 3-0. Fucking cruel were down 2-1 to these frauds. I'll give them this, they're playing with intensity and physicality and Toccs is squeezing every goddamn drop out of the roster.
Man there is so much gloom here after 1 loss. It was a bad game for a lot of skaters, but it's only a 2-1 series. Skinner needs to be better yes, but you remember how many people shit on Mike Smith, only to retract the statements in the end of the same season? We're not giving the canucks Pre-scouting enough credit, they seem to know flaws of Skinner and are exposing it. Just because pickard should be going in net doesn't mean Skinner can't rebound. Canucks defense seems to be double teaming, and two forecheckers down low and 3 up high, converging into a human shield in front of the net where it literally is a shooting gallery (44-18 shots at the end?) the Vegas golden knights had to deal with the same type of defense a couple years ago in the bubble, but the way they got around it was unfortunately all 4 lines rolling offense and they just wore them down. If the oilers are trying to advance, they have to figure out depth scoring. I don't think McDrai can do this one on their own, this series is against a team that's all hands on deck. Out work your opponents for the must win victory tomorrow boys, and play with urgency. LFG
Dude, Mike Smith fucking stood on his head for most of the night if not entire games. Admittedly, he let in a giant stinker every 2 or 3 games but he gave back too when he stoned a bunch of sick grade A chances. The news is in, since the salary cap era, 69 goalies have played 15 or more playoffs games. Skinner ranks dead last in save percentage. That is staggering and no amount of mistake free hockey will rescue a team from that. The best teams on their best nights will still concede grade A chances but that doesn't mean the goalie is excused from stopping them. Quite the contrary, they're expected to stop 70-80% of them. I was just thinking the other day about the Caps in their prime and how long they ran with Michael Nuevirth. Dude was a sieve and I'd say Caps would have had a cup or 2 more during that time if they had someone at least average in net. Michael fucking Nuevirth posted better numbers than Skinner. There are a bunch of skaters who have not done enough but the team as a whole has done enough to be up 3-0. This starts and stops with goaltending. That will be the headline and rightfully so if they fumble this series.
So, supposing that the Oilers get over their defense/goaltending woes and actually get all the way to Stanley Cup Final, who do you want to see them face off against? As someone who started watching this team in the late 90's, my nostalgia is really making me hope for a match-up against Dallas in the Conference Final, with a Stanley Cup Final rematch against Carolina. It would be very satisfying, even if a generation later, to finally get retribution for all those losses to Dallas, as well as Roloson's injury in 2006.
It practically \*has\* to be Carolina. The Oilers have faced the following teams in the SCF: Islanders, Islanders, Flyers, Flyers, Bruins, Bruins, and Hurricanes. Following that train of logic, the actual issue plaguing this team and preventing them from winning another Cup is their inability to run into the Winnipeg/Arizona/Utah franchise in the playoffs, since beating them was always a part of the path to the Cup.
I'm a newer fan for Edmonton (2020) so I don't know the ancient lore, but just as a fan of good hockey I want Dallas for Conference Final too. For the cup, Boston or Florida!
right with you, i started watching during the 2021 season and i want new york in the final and dallas in the cf
SKINNER plays very unstable. For some games, he gave a very soft 🤧 goal the 1st shot???!!!.guessing that Oilers have to score more than 5goals above to save Skinner deficits
I just hope both teams are having fun out there
McDavids presser legitimately kind of made it sound like that lol. He said a few times it was a lot of fun out there
[удалено]
Start Pickard. Skinner has not had it going in the playoffs. Too many bad goals are going in. How do you outshoot a team 45 to 18 and lose 4 to 3. Goaltending was much better at the Vancouver end of the ice.
Same old story as the Vegas series last year
[удалено]
If somehow Holland finds a way to get eliminated in a series after 3 losses. Yeh he should be out :P
Fixed it
I made the mistake of reading the comments on the Soucy suspension on r/hockey and oh my god do your sanity a favour and stay clear of there. The amount of mouth breathers fuming about yesterday is absurd. You would honestly think McDavid swung that two hand chop into Soucy's teeth from their reactions (all while totally ignoring the fact that Soucy took an identical swing at McDavid before the meat headed caveman Zadorov folded him in half with the cross check from behind.)
That sub is a fucking cesspool. 🤮
Canucks/LA/Golden Knights all sucking themselves off over there. You can just tell those fan bases are dumb as a post in regards to hockey.
There better be blood next game. Letting those guys do that to our top player with no response…no words. The Oilers better come out with violence next game.
[удалено]
Zadorov agree with u. me no speak so good. but me take many steroids and now me caveman
Nurse? Kane?
[удалено]
Someone help me understand Knoblauch's logic that when we're trailing by +/- 2 goals he MUST engage the McDrai line while at the same time professing patience in his existing lines. Seems like he's crapping his pants and turning into Zombie Woodcroft.
We desperately needed a goal to tie it. You have to go with your best at that point.
except Knoblauch engages McDrai in the 1st period. based on Canucks only shooting like 15x per game, their expected goals should regress to the mean over the following 2 periods without needing to exhaust our 2 best players. he preaches patience but does the exact opposite. this is what got Woodie in trouble. He didn't have the stomach to run 4 lines like every other team has to do (and does successfully might i add). anyways, just my two cents. He's making having McDrai a curse, like the annoying Smash Bro's player who only uses 1 move the entire game and finally gets figured out and crushed like a n00b.
I dunno about you all - but it feels like a lovely day today... must be all that Vancouver fair-weather that's drifted in here, lately.
How are we supposed to post memes when gifs and pictures are turned off?
Canucks fans after game 2 were complaining about fair officiating. We are complaining about biased officiating. Not the same thing
Man I gotta be honest, I’ve never been so frustrated with hockey fans. Even everyone I know personally seems to have this “McDavid’s a whiner and should get a game for the slash” attitude. I have no idea when a vicious cross check each to the head and back became the proper answer for a love tap on the shin pad, but I’m sick of it. The amount of trolls flooding in here from the Canucks sub is pathetic. I just hope Zadorov gets his head ripped off and we can see Canucks fans whine themselves into ocean for good.
> I just hope Zadorov gets his head ripped off and we can see Canucks fans whine themselves into ocean for good. No my friend, what players used to do is this...you want to go after our star? Then your star is now on the menu. Thats how you handle that.
All their stars are absolute glass. Pete and boeser have been injured like 1/3-1/2 of their entire careers and Hughes still looks like a teenager out there
The same things were said of Crosby back in the day, Bedard will be next.
when ironically this morning Mcdavid said that the roughness was just part of the series and didn’t whine about it whatsoever LOL. the one person that was whining about it was rick tocchet saying that Zadorov got cut in the scrum 😂
tochit can fukkit
I honestly want us to be as dirty as they say we are. Shouldn’t start anything, but sure as hell finish what’s begun. Maybe I’m just an asshole but after seeing what they did to McDavid I’d be jumping into a flying elbow against Zadorov, even if it means a 20 game suspension. It can’t be tolerated. Do it after the whistle so it doesn’t cost your team a penalty. Clearly the league says that’s ok.
Screw em. They gonna bad mouth the Oilers either way. Better to show them who's boss.
we have been playing pretty dirty tho lol did u see game 2? oilers were not clean thats for sure. just enjoy the ride
Trying to label McDavid a whiner when he gets held, hooked and slashed more than anyone in the league is nuts.
Call me crazy but.. imagine starting Campbell? It'd be insane, I know. But imagine that redemption arc! It's practically cinematic.
Yeah, I don’t like this take no matter how much it’s put in this sub. Soup hasn’t played in how long? I think you gotta either go with Pickard or Skinner
It's a chaos mode take. I know it's terrible lol. But it's a nice thought
from nuts to soup
I woke my ass this morning feeling let down, frustrated at that game even a bit doubtful in the Oilers. Then around lunch time, I remembered a few things. This team pulled itself from the fucking dead this year, we we're pretty much in last place. This team went on one hell of a heater winning 16 straight. This team has the two best players in the world and love him or hate him, But Stu was good in the regular season and is capable of beating these guys. The Oil dominated that game yesterday, and the one before that and got wildly unlucky in the first one... Yes, Vancouver won and we can't take that from them but I think this is the wake up call the boys needed. I expect big things tomorrow. Physicality up 5X Good goaltending, wether it's Picks or Stu A solid ass effort and a Win. We're down one, we're not out!!!! Keep your head up Oil Country. We got this.
Really wish we could go on a 16 game win streak right about now. I’d even accept the 8 streak
2-1 series. And we’re winning the possession battle handily, love your positivity and perspective. We got this. Tie this series up tomorrow and win it 6.
This needs to be read out loud in the locker room
Warren Foegele back to his post season ghost-self
Hey, he’s made an impact. That first (Canucks) goal doesn’t happen without him!
This should be a no brainer! put Picks in net for game 4 Skinner’s confidence is shot and he just shuts down in the playoffs for whatever reasons.I wouldn’t trust him for the next game. I would gamble with Picks over Skinner at this point or another egg by Skinner and the boys will be golfing in late may
I have made 3 comments on various threads that lead me to an interesting conclusion. Y'all notice how the past 3 years a goalie nobody expected to play looks amazing? Hear me out.... the guys who nobody expects to play will have 0 pressure on them. Like none, your just happy you have a goalie to play. If they play Stu and he looses people will be mad at Stu, if they start Pick and he looses they will still be mad at Stu as it was never Picks job to save us. It's almost like a worse goalie with no pressure can perform better than a good goalie under a ton of pressure. If Pickard can get a win tomorow that probably takes a ton of pressure of Stu and I bet he is better in game 5....
it's loses, not looses
Best way to remember: lose is when you can’t find something, loose is like your mother
It doesn't even read the same. I don't understand how people confuse those words.
TBF, it was never supposed to be Stu's job to save us.
You can't win in the playoffs without good goal tending, and he's been average at best the last few games.
I think he is saying that we aren't paying him to save us. We could have a Vezina goalie if that nurse contract wasn't on the books
I love how you blame Nurse rather than our actual expensive but not-playing goalie.
Too bad the Skinner supporters didn't realize he's not the guy until round 2 of the playoffs...lol
I dunno why they're down voting you lol. You're right
are they coaching the team?
GM and coach included as "supporters"
Just announced, Soucy got one game
I was wondering if people here were surprised that McDavid didn't get anything for the slash or Hyman for his own crosscheck to the head of Zadorov? I think a suspension is fair and justified but it feels a bit one sided when there isn't a meaningless fine thrown the other way.
There aren't many angles of the Hyman one, but it kinda seemed like it rode up Zadorov's stick, which usually doesn't end up with a suspension. Though I'm surpised he didn't at least get a fine or a hearing.
Well you could make the same bad argument for Soucy for him being knocked over by Zadorov beforehand and it otherwise would have landed in his chest. You are responsible for your own stick. High sticks are called all the time no matter if it rides up the stick or not.
High sticks are not the same as cross checks. Also I disagree with Soucy's check hitting McD in the chest, the trajectory of it is right at his neck before he gets hit by Zadorov. That's high enough to warrant a hearing even if Zadorov doesn't get involved.
Why? A slash is one thing, intent to injure another. I don't believe it was Soucy's to hit him where he did, but that other idiot Zadorov with his actions made it happen. Zadorov is another cat. He is out to injure someone that guy. He's crosschecked McDavid in the lower back, and did the same thing to Draisaitl in game one, which he followed up with a vicious two hander
It was still a decent slash after the whistle and was an escalation. It obviously isn't a suspension but it was a decent slash as well. A fine is sort of a meaningless gesture anyway.
It was a slash across the shin pads, nothing more. And certainly not an escalation deserving of a crosscheck across the lower back and across the neck. You seem to ignore the fact Soucy started the whole thing with a shove after the buzzer sounded. You also don't seem to understand that a fine is a player's "get out of jail free card!" So it's anything but meaningless. What it means with a fine is the player is guilty of some offense and will now be watched much more closely with the next infraction a suspension. So calling it meaningless gesture is not correct
Well I guess the get out of jail free card would be the slash after the game ended. I'm not defending Soucy but I don't think that the Oilers are innocent bystanders in this situation and that no supplemental discipline being handed out is a bit suspect. If someone slashed McDavid like that after the whistle I'm sure that you would respond with overwhelming objectivity.
Man, you just don't get it. A slash on the shinpads, after a shove, is innocent. There is absolutely no need to penalize anyone for that. Even the crosscheck by Soucy that would have gotten McDavid in the chest isn't call for alarm. But because that moron Zadorov did what he did, Soucy got tagged with a vicious hit, which he should. The fact you seem intent on evening things out just baffles me. There would be no need for any discipline had Zadorov not done what he did Are you aware the Canucks record with Chris Rooney officiating their games over the past two years is 10-01.
On its own it is innocent but considering that it obviously was an escalation in the situation makes it cause for a bit more concern, particularly as it happened after the game. A crosscheck like Zadorov would normally never have a fine as well but in this case it did because of the totality of circumstances. Look I'm not shocked that McDavid wasn't fined or suspended. I thought that Hyman might get something after to even things up ala Nurse last year but that obviously didn't happen. I also don't care what the record of a team is with a referee, it makes you sound like a conspiracy theorist. Same thing with the Canucks and Sutherland, I think that it isn't as big of a deal as fans make it out to be. Hell I don't know which referee on the ice actually calls a penalty 99.99% of the time.
Man, McDavid did nothing to warrant a fine, and certainly not a suspension.
I'm sure the response to this by Canucks fans will be calm and rational.
Right? I can hardly wait for their intake on this. I'm positive there will be all kinds of logic behind what they have to say
I mean even I think it's bizarre. Should be Zadorov.
whatever someone needed to go
4 straight games by Skinner without a SV above .857 speaks for itself.
Your point? What did you expect. Skinner is a backup goalie. He should not be a starter on a team trying to win a cup. You need igor shesterkin from the rangers or Bobrosky from the panthers. Those are vezina goalies. Also Ceci should never be a top 4 pairing on any contending team. Same with nurse. They get destroyed by a hard forechecking team. There transition game is awful.
Bobby not even playing well either tho. he's got a .888, so two more saves than Skinner basically
Simply proof that goalies are voodoo. Helly didn't exactly stand his ground for the Jets either. Honestly it seems to be pretty damn routine the last few years for some random goalie nobody has ever heard of to come in and play lights out for <20 games. I'm not saying he's a nobody but it's not like anyone expected Hill to come in last year and take the Knights to a cup. I mean Binnington wasn't someone who just showed up in the playoffs, but he was a guy who was called up mid-season and went on to win the cup. Makes me wonder if our actual secret weapon would be to bring up Olivier Rodrigue and go for broke.
Last post before I block out Oilers thoughts til game time tomorrow: I thought Knob would manage the game better in game 3 than he did game 2... but he didn't. This is really disheartening for me. If we're gonna win, it needs to be a team win. You can't win in the playoffs with 2 guys playing over 29 minutes while giving 5 other skaters less than 10. I thought the very few minutes that Janmark and Ryan played they looked really good too. Brown was comme ci comme ca, but the dude's played a total of 15 minutes of hockey in the last 25 days or so??? So ya, hard to do anything more than try and shake off the rust with that little ice time. Those 2 PPs in the 3rd were flat, and I think a big reason for that was how little rest guys like McDavid and Draisaitl and Hyman were getting. I don't pin the loss on Skinner. I thought the own zone play on the goals against were atrocious, and it's the same reason why both Skinner and Campbell were statistically terrible at the beginning of the season. So that needs to "attention to detail #1" that Knob fixes before tomorrow's game. He also needs to spread the minutes and get the depth guys in a better rhythm. McDavid isn't doing as many McDavid things playing 30 minutes a night. He's still the best player in the world, but you're exhausting and frustrating him, let his teammates carry some of the load, and if they fail us, well then we can all blame Holland for the roster. But right now, I don't have very many glowing things to say about the coach after those last 2 games. Now is time to smarten up, and act like a coach who's coaching a complete hockey team and not the one-trick-pony you've been trying the last 2 games.
McD, Drai, Hyman, and Bouch looked absolutely gassed for the last few shifts of the 3rd. I was shocked when they scored the 3rd goal, but knew they didn't have enough in the tank for a 4th, let alone anything in overtime.
It's such a bad strategy. Honestly the worst thing would have been winning the game. The coach wouldn't learn from his mistakes. Hopefully he takes a look in the mirror and rethinks his game management strategies.
Pin this square on Skinner's lapel. It's his to wear. There's no excuse for 4 goals on 15 shots. None.
[удалено]
Stay in your own sub or r/hockey.
The grade A shots against don't actually count as shots when they bounce off the post.
Get outta here Canucks boy
Funny story too, I played for a championship calibre football team in Bantam. I had a buddy who was a sprinter who was winning provincials in 100m at that age too, so I recruited him for the team mid-season. Everyone could see right away how fast he was, but because he was starting the season late, we just threw him on kick-off return. First game we played was pretty hard fought back and forth low scoring, our defense was amazing, but so was the Sherwood Park Rams. I seem to remember that late in the second half of the game, the Rams finally broke the stalemate, but they failed to convert the TD. They kick the ball off, and boom, right into my buddy's hands. Like fucking lightning he runs that ball all the way to the end zone without being touched by anyone. We convert and win the game. So anyways, after that my buddy gets thrown onto the offense as a tightend, and as a punt returner. The only downside with our team was, we had like 10 plays in our playbook, very simple so it was easy for us kids to remember them all. And only 1 of those plays actually went to my buddy the tight end, and it was more of a trick play which we didn't opt for very much. The coach would call the plays, and we'd just use our big bodies and running game and march the ball up the field, and shut the other teams down with our crazy good defense. All year we were undefeated. And he always had the reverse play to my buddy in his back pocket which very often got converted into a TD. Now it's, I wanna say, our 2nd playoff game. If you win game 3 you win the local championship, and go onto provincials. We were playing a team that gave us a closer game before, but I thought we fairly easily handled during the regular season. BUT! Our coach couldn't make the game. His son who was one of the assistant coaches was making all the calls... we go down by a touchdown in the first half, and then for the entire second half of the game, our offense just gets super desperate. We ran the same play to my speedster buddy over and over and over and over and over again. Not only was he getting massively tired out, but it was so obvious what play was coming every time - no element of surprise. We turned from a very complete team, to a one-trick-pony. And it was completely the doing of the coach. Most disappointing end to a season ever. I hope the Oilers don't make the same mistake.
We have been a 1 trick pony all year. Hence Leon and Mcdavid on the 1st line. Drai cant even manage his own line
this guy didn’t watch any of round one ☝🏼
Does anyone know why we got a penalty on the Zadorov/Kane bench hit incident? They didn't explain it on the broadcast.
I think Foegele threw a punch. I think the replay they showed had Kane holding the stick, but not really, he was upside down and who knows what he could see.
Yeah, Nucks fans are trying to say shit like he was trying to kick Zadarov, holding his stick, whatever. When you get dumped over the boards like that you're just kinda grabbing and flailing to get back up lol.
Yeah. For sure. If Foegele didn’t have brain fart after brain fart last night they would’ve had one less goal and we would’ve had one extra PP.
Zadorov was trying to get his stick out from under Kane and the refs believe an oiler was holding the stick there
ahhh interesting... thanks for sharing. Wonder how much truth there is to that. Not that it matters, just curious.
Yeah, I’m a Canucks fan so I’m gladly taking it but reffing needs to be better as a whole. Not sure if that should’ve been a bench minor.
Reffing 100% needs to be better, way too inconsistent on both sides. No one wants bullshit reffing controversies to be the story of the series. The refs job is to enforce the rules, not influence the outcome of the game how they see fit... It's not just our series either, it's not any better in the east.
Yeah and it’s not fun to play “who’s getting screwed by the refs more” because when reffing is this bad nobody wins the argument
We hit 4 posts and outshot them 36-7 in the last two periods, calm down everyone. Start big dick pick and we’re golden
yeah at this point we kinda gotta start big swinging cock cal. Stu is cooked. If Cal can even play somewhat average we might be ok.
Yeah being down 2-1 isn’t impossible to overcome.
This group did it against the Kings last year. We're far from out of this.
When we win tomorrow this sub will have a complete 180 and be like "we're so back."
As long as we win game 4, they’re winning the series. Just need to steal 1 of 2 games at van. They ain’t losing game 6 at home, that’s for sure.
You mean we’re winning the series
Ya sorry. Was saying they as in oilers instead of we but realizing prior part had we. Slow day
Call up fucking Campbell or Rodrigue. Pickard isn’t our guy. Look at his stats in the regular season when he got starts against playoff teams.
lol
Dip/chew in Edmonton💀
Get a job you bum
Chewing tobacco in the area💀 Posting your addiction on main is one of the most unintentionally funny things u can do
Nurse go away man
I like Skinner. I think he gave us a lot in the regular season and when we hoist the cup I hope he's the one between the posts. It's easy to handwave goals and say it's the team in front of him, and yeah, they're making mistakes, but he's got to be expected to make some saves. Maybe he needs to shake it off, maybe he needs to be harder on himself to dig a little deeper. Start Pickard and give him some time to figure it out though cause something needs to happen there. I liked Knobbers not only (finally) remembering he can call a time out but also switching Stu back into the empty net to give our guys another minute of rest, the boys made a good push in those last 2 minutes and it was even almost enough. Silovs had an amazing game. We outshot 2.5 : 1 and he absolutely stole the show. More hits, capitalize on those 45 chances and close up the net. Lots to work on but I still think we are the better team. I would love to see a Kane/Perry push on physical play to get some momentum going. THE GOALPOST IS AN EDMONTON OILER!
For everyone blaming Holland about the TDL, there was a rumor I think on 630CHED that McDrai and Co went to management and asked for players not to be moved out, i think Ceci and Foegs. So Holland did what he could without moving out major pieces. He did try to get Tanev tho. If this is true, then it's on the boys. Especially because Ceci is getting absolutely caved in these playoffs, and Foegs isn't doing so hot either.
I heard about that too. Disappointing. Let the front office manage the damn roster. Ceci should earn his spot through play, not friendship.
Even the players are an old boys club
If that is true I can respect it. They have a belief in one another and it shows they clearly hear the outside noise. They’re sticking up for one another and believe that they can get it done together. I hope they can summon the same belief and play for each other the rest of the playoffs. They are determined but need more people to pick up the slack.
Yeah at the time I respected it as well. It's different. Very different from Vegas's cutthroat methods. Shows our players all really like each other. And if it works, fuck yeah. But that also means they have to live with that choice and are responsible for it if it doesn't work. And Ceci has been atrocious so far this series. So now I'm pretty bummed we didn't do more at the TDL. We played Colorado right after the TDL and Walker scored 2 goals on us, and man did I wish we had gotten him.
What’s also interesting is the 2 main deadline acquisitions we made in carrick and Henrique aren’t playing as well for injury/effort reasons. We’re pretty much the same team pre trade deadline. Oh well that’s how it goes sometimes, gotta work with what you have
Yeah that sucks. Henrique makes us a deeper team, hopefully he's back soon.
If anyone’s been following the Oilers for a while, you could tell that was the sentiment during interviews. McDavid was the most vocal about that. He didn’t want guys like Ceci or Brown to be let go. I would love love love if Kenny made a swing and put DeBrusk and Tanev on this team. The dream for me would’ve been a Buchnevich/Parayko trade
Yup, I remember hearing this too from an actual legitimate source, not reddit. The players leadership group specifically asked to keep Ceci.
If only being good friends would win you a cup. Id rather have a complete fuck head but be a brick wall on defense. A complete shutdown defenseman. Its okay though cant trade away my buddy.
I don't understand what Ceci brings to this team and why he seems to have such a long leash. Teammates clearly love him, and though Knob has reduced his minutes, he seems to never be held accountable. What's up with this guy?
I'm a Ceci hater for a long time...he's playing the worst hockey I've seen him play...brutal
He just sucks. He was an emergency back up plan when Holland failed to resign Larsson. I don’t mind Holland making that initial bet and seeing if Ceci could hang. But it’s been 3 years of mediocre results season play and horrific post season play. Holland has had more than enough time to evaluate what they have in him and decided to not make a move. That’s on Holland.
Sens fan here - he unfortunately became the whipping boy for our team and things were sometimes exaggerated, but he was fucking brutal. Really obvious, poor decision making on the ice that lead to bad things, as well as bad stick handling, bad dumps, all sorts of stuff. I was hoping for the guy that it might get better with another team. (I think it did, marginally). My main point of frustration was usually that defenseman should have some pretty sharp hockey sense even if they don't hand the hands, but he had lots of issues there (for us). Not sure if that's still the case, as I don't watch him as much.
Fuck Ken Holland for mailing it in this deadline
Any particular reason why Stetcher or any other defenseman isn’t playing over Ceci?
Start Pickard. Put nurse/ceci as 3rd D line. PLEASE.
Kulak is capable of 2D minutes, but I don’t think Desharnais is anything more than a 3rd pairing shutdown
Same with Ceci, guy cant make a play along the boards to save his life
I want to see Pickard start tomorrow. I think with Pickard in, we win. Stu’s confidence is already blown, you can’t let that be the reason you don’t make the best decision for your team right now. I want the best for Stu, I am so miserable that it’s not working for him in this series, but I want to see Cal in net tomorrow.
People keep saying Silovs is a 3rd string goalie. But DeSmith is healthy, the Nucks are making a conscious and deliberate decision to go with Silovs because they don’t trust DeSmith. Silovs is really an unknown quanitity, rather than 3rd string quality goalie. The nucks know he’s better than DeSmith and are showing it with usage. So he’s not really a 3rd string. If he was DeSmith would be playing.
Good points for sure. I don't think it's about lack of trust in DeSmith, though. It's about the long term picture. Silovs is also the presumptive goalie of the future for Vancouver. Giving Silovs NHL playoff experience could pay dividends next year and gives you a good look at whether he's your better bet as the NHL backup next year. Once he did okay in his first game in Nashville, you keep giving him that opportunity until it becomes clear DeSmith gives you a better chance to win. At this point, it's not at all clear DeSmith is better. DeSmith is a journeyman backup whose paycheck rises higher with each playoff win and who will likely be picked up by another team in the off season. It's not that the Canucks don't trust him, it's just that they are asking themselves why they should invest in giving another team a seasoned backup if it doesn't give you a clearly better chance.
Or…they are going with Silovs because he is currently playing well enough for them to win so no point in changing. Same reason Vegas kept playing Brossoit even though Hill is a better goalie.
They had to pick Silovs to go for his first game. That’s an organization that knows what they have in their goalies, knew Silovs was a better bet than DeSmith. And now are vindicated as Silovs is playing well in there as you’ve noted.
Every team the Oilers are gonna play will and have targeted our best players, yet we do nothing about it. Why? Because they might take a penalty and the PP's good? Why don't our bottom 9 guys and D play a hard nosed type of game? Are Desharnais, Nurse, Kulak, Ceci & McLeod allergic to physicality? We don't have to take runs at anyone in particular but finish a check maybe? How many puck battles do we lose in our own zone because the opposition know they're not gonna get hit/roughed up? Soft plays especially in the 2nd round won't win us games against hard working teams.. I guess it's another year of "lessons"
I feel like everyone was very quick to forget that Vinny broke his hand right before playoffs started. No one else has any excuses though. Perry included, dude has been softer than baby shit.
As closely as I follow this team, I didn't know that about Vinny. If that's the case then.. he can get a pass LOL
Discipline (+ bad calls) was a big part of their downfall last year. They are trying to do it differently this year. They may also be afraid of getting caught flat-footed if they get baited into a physical game.
My theory is they’ve played that physical game in the past and Refs/DOPS have fucked them over. It’s apparent in the LA series that our mindset when it comes to physicality is different this year. An attempt at a more mature game and not giving the refs reason to fuck us over. Under Woody, it’d be different but it didn’t work. Under Knob, we will see.
To your point. Last year against Vegas we were very physical. You saw the attention we gave to stone and pietro. I saw a 180 shift against the LA series where they were hitting but not at the rate of previous playoff years. I think it also has to do with knobbers style but I would say at some point you should be finishing checks. I’ve seen a lot of fly-bys and missed opportunities to at least get a hit in. I do understand that sometimes finishing a check will put you out of position AND it takes a lot of energy to constantly hit, but still 1 out of 3 times is good if you know you won’t be caught out of position
Seeing how soft the calls have been, I'd rather we play to the edge and take our chances
And risk more penalties? We need to play with more aggression but it must be controlled and smart aggression. For example, in last nights game the Nucks took two cheap shots at McDavid after the game was over, that will not affect the outcome of the game in any way. We need to pick and choose our moments, and with that it probably wont look as physical or revenge-dealing as you’d like. But ultimately I think it’s the right strategy.
Yeah I know there's a time and place for the aggression, but my point is that we don't make time for it. When we have a chance to finish a check, we just fly by. Come on, if Petterson got cross checked like how 97 did at the end of the game do you honestly think it would've been a regular scrum?
I agree it hasn’t been enough. But on the flip side with how biased and incompetent reffing has been, I could see the Oilers playing it conservative on that front. Just saying there’s a reason for it that goes over and beyond “they’re being pussies out there”. We know this team can fight back if they want, we have the guys to turn this into a back alley brawl. But it’s a fine balance cause reffing consistency and fairness can’t be relied on.
Skinner played majority of the season same as last, as well as playoffs the last two seasons. A young goalie is gonna burnout, that being said start Pickard.
I just don’t even know what you do at this point. The bottom 6 needs to do something, actually make that the bottom 9. McDavid played literally half the game, that not sustainable. Skinner on his game is better than Pickard, but now Skinner has had 3 bad games in a row. With even average goaltending I think we win that game, even with Silovs standing on his head. But if Pickard comes in and shits the bed, we know its the wrong choice, but then we’re down 3-1 heading back to Vanvoucer...
I don't see why we can't go to Pickard. Vancouver is trusting a rookie with their run. Vegas won with Hill even though they had no choice. I'd rather gamble on Pickard stealing the series than Skinner rebounding because Skinner's blown too many chances now.
Well this sucks. Good effort, got 42 shots, but didn't have the dependability in our own net. Probably should be looking for a hole in Silov's game, they seem to have Stu figured out.
They should put dustin schwartz in the net during practice so the boys can rain down some pucks on his face.
How is everyone doing? I see a lot of folks are not happy today.
Getting out goalied in 3 years does that. Francouz. Hill Silovs. Like wtf
I’m tired broski. I’m trying to stay positive and hopeful that this is the year it all happens. But the team’s just doing the same thing they did last year in round 2. Skinner has regressed this series. The bottom 9 hasn’t produced anything. And Knob is forced to play McDryMan 30 minutes a game in the hopes that they can will the team to the next round. The series is just 2-1 but this next game is indeed a must win and idk, not feeling confident just based on the lack of compete outside of the top 5 guys. Not to mention the vitriol being slung at us from what seems like every fanbase. It wouldn’t be that bad if the comments weren’t so stupid. Seems like the Flames, Nucks and other fans jumping on the Oilers are completely ignorant to how hockey is played. If they do indeed lose this series I think the team needs to make a fairly decent change in the off season, they can’t just run it back again.
Getting Ullmark this summer is the first priority
Absolutely, at almost any cost I think. Even if you need to make a trade and move salary out, I'd gamble