The Edmonton Oilers lost the first game of an already epic series against Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday night. Vegas played an outstanding game, one doubts the Golden Knights can play better. The Oilers took some time to get going, but showed their quality and in fact had a chance to win the game in the third period.
Jay Woodcroft is a master of adjustments and tweaks, that’s going to be the story of game two. What needs fixing? I’m afraid you already know.
THE ATHLETIC!
- New DNB: Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl’s 4-goal outburst doesn’t mask Game 1 disappointment
- Lowetide: 6 keys to Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft’s playoff success
- DNB: Why Oilers’ Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl combo is the ultimate luxury: ‘It’s magic’
- Lowetide: Why the Oilers beat the Kings — and can beat the Golden Knights
- Lowetide: 6 biggest AHL Bakersfield Condors stories from 2022-23 season
- DNB: Oilers move on to Round 2 after Kailer Yamamoto’s goal rescues them from Stuart Skinner’s blooper
- Lowetide: What’s Oilers prospect Dylan Holloway’s future NHL role?
- Lowetide: Is Oilers’ Kailer Yamamoto playing his final games for Edmonton?
- DNB: Oilers’ Game 5 win had Jay Woodcroft’s coaching instincts all over it
- Lowetide: Oilers should stay the course no matter what happens against Kings
- DNB: How Zach Hyman capped Oilers’ season-saving comeback
- Lowetide: Oilers’ forward-heavy pipeline suggests defence-driven 2023 NHL Draft
- DNB: Oilers need secondary scoring to get back into series
- Lowetide: Key early Oilers vs. Kings matchups that are impacting the series
- DNB: Oilers’ playoff excitement, expectations have already given way to Game 1 pain again
- Lowetide: How winning the Stanley Cup would change the Oilers organization
- DNB: Connor McDavid, the NHL’s best player, has ‘freed his mind’: Will an Oilers Stanley Cup follow?
- Lowetide: Stock up or down for every Oilers prospect in the system
- Lowetide: Oilers top 20 prospects, winter 2022
GOALIE AND DEFENSE
Mattias Ekholm played well, had two assists and a great chance that was deflected in the slot by a Vegas defender. I think his simple defensive game is the template against Vegas. Uncertain Edmonton has enough defenders who can move the puck through the layers of Golden Knights forechecking, but he is one. Evan Bouchard was in no man’s land on the Chandler Stephenson goal. He needs to tighten it up. Brilliant passing on the power play, he had two assists, drew two penalties and took some punishment on the night. He is absolutely a big part of the solution. This pairing went 11-12 shots, 2-0 goals and 51 percent expected goal share on the night. Played an equal amount versus the Stephenson and Eichel lines, if we see hard line-pairing matches in this series it will be in Edmonton.
Darnell Nurse put himself out of position on the Amadio goal and never did recover. He had seven shots on goal and a HDSC, skated miles. I liked his game overall, he can match anything physical the aggressive Vegas forecheckers bring. Punished Mark Stone several times, that may become a story in this series. Cody Ceci battled hard and won some of them, he did not impact the game with the puck on his stick despite several touches. In 12:51 together five-on-five, this duo went 0-1 goals, 5-5 shots and a 44 percent expected goal share. Most common center was Nuge (7:42), still waters (4-2 shots, 66 percent expected goals) with that unit on the ice.
Brett Kulak had a takeaway, took a penalty, and was mostly low-event on the evening. He played with the two youngsters mostly, going 1-1 shots (no goals) in 4:04 with Philip Broberg and 0-4 shots (0-1 goals) with Vincent Desharnais. Desharnais botched the pass on the first goal against, passing up the middle is death. He would have been in peril passing it along the wall, too, so his choices were eat it or do the Kris Russell ‘hit the clock’ play. He struggled in the game defensively and didn’t post a crooked number in any category. Broberg was better, and that may be the path moving forward. I will say that Jay Woodcroft has shown great faith and trust in Desharnais, so it isn’t certain Broberg moves up the depth chart.
Stuart Skinner didn’t have good position on the Amadio goal, a shot from there (and on the short side) should be stopped by the goalie. I don’t think the other goals were on him specifically, but you’d like a save on one of them and he appeared to get enough on the Stephenson shot (although that thing was labeled). Skinner received a Calder Trophy nomination yesterday, that’s an impressive honour and I do hope it changes the minds of those who don’t see him as a real solution. Skinner is a big part of this team’s future.
FORWARDS
Leon Draisaitl posted a game for the ages, but said postgame he wasn’t going to be able to enjoy it. Fair. Nevertheless, he was absolute fire and now has 11 goals through seven games in this postseason. There’s building a Conn Smythe resume and then there’s whatever the hell Leon is doing. Six of his goals have come at five-on-five. Connor McDavid had a strong game, he had piles of chances and made brilliant passes and contested plays all over the ice. Clearly not 100 percent, but he is working his ass off. What a great hockey player. Zach Hyman got the call for third man on the line, and I thought he played well. A deft pass to Draisaitl on 29’s second goal was the highlight, but he had a couple of HDSC’s of his own and played a physical game. This line went 8-6 shots, 2-0 goals with a 66 percent expected goal share in 10:21. They were the only combination to exceed five minutes together, expect we’ll see them again in Game 2.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was on the ice for 20:18, was credited with a hit and won four of eight in the dot. Clearly not himself, he was errant in passing on the power play and it cost the team. Just one assist in 102 minutes at five-on-five, I suspect there’s an injury. Years and years of watching player performance fall off a cliff tell me this is true. He’s not touching the puck at all five-on-five, that shouldn’t happen to RNH until he’s 40. I know some of you think he just doesn’t care, or hasn’t joined the series, or maybe he’s thinking of the Kentucky Derby. He isn’t right. I’ve watched him for a dozen years. I’ll die on this hill.
Evander Kane had one shot, one HDSC, took a penalty and drew one on the same play, made a couple of nice passes but no finish on the other end. I thought he was the best player on this line. Kailer Yamamoto had a HDSC, blocked a couple of shots and made some good passes. His last few games have been inspired compared to the rest of his season. Encouraging.
Warren Foegele worked hard, had good intent, but the puck danced on him and there were a couple of giveaways. Ryan McLeod had a couple of good looks (including a 10-bell chance) but couldn’t get it done. I love his speed and expect this player will have a big role in this series. Nick Bjugstad was on a line with these two for three minutes and it worked like a hot-damn. Two shots, took a penalty, some major faceoffs (9-6) and has two goals in the playoffs. Wish there were a way to sign him to a value deal. Klim Kostin had one shot, a HDSC and skated miles but mostly in chase mode and he was late for the sky on a couple of big plays. Mattias Janmark was doing good works early but hit his head and looked woozy.
CALM YOUR TITS!
Based on the comments section and my twitter timeline, it’s time we had a chat. Last night, Vegas played as well as I’ve seen them in one forever. Aggressive, crisp passing, impressive shooting. The Oilers had entire lines that didn’t play well, but they have more to give. I think Jay Woodcroft will tweak the lines, and may well move Broberg ahead of Desharnais for this series. Derek Ryan, an important player, may be back for the second game.
I think this is a mature Oilers team, there’s no need for panic. The club hadn’t lost in regulation for a month of Sundays. Yet, the team loses one game and the whole damn place goes crazy twice, and it’s once for the Devil and once for Christ.
I believe the only worry is injury. Kane and Hyman are coming on, and McDavid is finding a way to impact the series. I know the lack of a real second line means Woodcroft must split Draisaitl and McDavid, but four goals is four goals. So, yeah.
LOWETIDE AND JAMIESON
A busy show, 10-2 TSN1260. We’ll spend lots of time on the game and update you on injuries, tactics and anything else that comes our way. I think there’s plenty to discuss. 10-1260 text, @Lowetide on twitter. See you on the radio!
I thought Gallant had 2 years left on his salary, if that’s the case no way he goes to Calgary.
Holy crap Toronto Maple Leaf fans really are the worst.
An entitlement based on nothing. Complete incoherence.
From joyous to ungrateful to spiteful in a matter of days.
“Let them have this!” Ok: You let a spoiled child have something they don’t deserve and this is how they respond: Sid Seixeiro, Steve Dangle with SCREEDS after game 2. Angry at the team, at the players. No experience winning breeds no understanding of how to win, of what it takes. NO respect for their opponent! They really ARE acting like winning a series entitles them to the Finals. The whole culture is pathetic. Sorry LT the fan base doesn’t deserve happiness, full disagree.
Continuing no round 2 wins in the Cap era to go with no Cup wins in the expansion era. Bite me Leafs.
The antidote to that is what happens around here. And even here some don’t like it when others call flaws out about the roster or players
But seeing the team for what it actually is stops koolaid drinking. Which is all the TO media does until the flaws get exposed, again. Then the other things you described happen
They seem to only act on absolutes. Makes sense in some respects. All they have known for the most part is NOT winning – so winning one thing to them means they ought to win the whole thing. In this sense they have a counter-intuitive notion that winning actually isn’t that hard, but in fact it is doled out by some random generator, and when you’re number comes up its your turn. They never had a superstar so they thought Mathews was their number coming up. But this isn’t how it works and they refuse to (don’t know how to) look internally.
Its a Toronto pathology.
They have no sense of what Giannis was saying re the Bucks in basketball. They have no sense of process.
Am I the only person with tremendous feels for Jonathan Huberdeau right now…?
Yup
That should do it. The dreaded three gal lead.
So hard to cheer against the Krak. They’re the Little Engine That Could. Much more so than Vegas in their expansion/mass killing year, despite the emotion behind that event. But they cannot be allowed past the Conference Finals.
Man watching true play driving complementary players like Nylander and Verhaeghe create scoring chance after scoring chance makes me really reflect on Nuge. He’s got one even strength point and it’s not bad luck. He’s got 3hdSC according to natural stat trick this entire playoffs. Nylander has 15 and Verhaeghe has 12.
I’ve suggested the injuries to Nuge and McDavid might be too much and I was told I shouldn’t make up injuries so I’ll stop.
I guess I’ll suggest that if McDavid continues to be a power play merchant only (same HD scoring chances as Derek Ryan) and Nuge remains on par with someone named MacKenzie MacEarchern, we might be in trouble.
I think they’re injured too, so keep on rockin’ in the free world. McDavid has the knee from Doughty so that’s on the record. As for Nuge? Don’t know, maybe he has the flu, but something is sure as hell up and it isn’t that he doesn’t care or isn’t trying hard enough.
If these injuries are real, the repeated use of 11-7 makes zero sense, as was demonstrated aptly last night.
not sure why there is a notion a double shift can’t occur with 12 forwards.
I think you have to ask yourself “could Connor McDavid play 20 minutes a night with an injury that reduced his effectiveness, but allowed him to impact the game greatly?” and go from there. I think we’re seeing it. Many do not. It’s all good. I’m not arguing with anyone, just stating my opinion based on observation. We don’t have to have a winner and a loser in a discussion.
The most injured regular line-up player is Kane. No one else is as injured, does anyone doubt that? And no one else has as big an excuse for fulfillment of their potential. Everyone is hurt at this time of year. Nuge’s play is on him unless I hear differently—and I am more than willing to have my opinion informed after the playoffs when we know more—but right now, for me, if you’re practising with the team, you need to accomplish things on the ice.
And honest question…. is Nuge giving as much as Kane, right now?
Nuge isn’t touching the puck right now, and when he does, he misses Evan Bouchard on the power play and the puck goes into the neutral zone. Why is that? Does he just not care?
Connor can help himself by being smarter. He’s trying to will the puck into the net. He needs to be more strategic and if he’s getting attention set up the guy who is free. Leon is being smarter and doing some different things. Probably because he was being so predictable it was as getting shut down more often
And stop skating into coverage Connor. Start shooting top shelf again like how he got his scoring mojo going. He’s going low again too often. Same as Nuggie
Nuge. I was concerned with the long deal even if lowish. He’s a fair weather type and a PP specialist. Non physical and has trouble with bigger players. He is talented enough to play wherever, handy. Great attitude. He hasn’t been the two way player he was in a long while. It’s a big issue, his handiness is gone if he’s not strong defensively. He scored a ton but now is invisible. Fair weather
Unless he is significantly injured, in which case he should be out because he’s currently useless, as he said himself he’s got to do something. Being a complete non factor isn’t acceptable for any player on a contending team
Bobrovsky with 6-7 Excellent saves now that’s real Goaltending covering the lower half of the net moving his head constantly. He would not allow himself to be screened looking like Kiprusoff. If your going to win a Cup you need to steal games by your backstop.
I agree he looks great. I think the Leafs do too and think they could come back and win this.
Does Woody shake things up and gives the Vegas shooters a different look by starting Mr. Campbell?
After one loss not on his goalie’s ass? Highly unlikely.
It was believed Dubas was on thin ice if they lost in the first round. Did the Leafs save his job or is he still in peril if they lose bad to Florida?
High skill and lots of flaws on that roster. He hasn’t dealt with the lack of jam in his skill group. It hurts them every playoffs. That he has such a wonky D Corp. Name brand old guys that while able to do something great on occasion don’t carry weight throughout most games, at F and D, some highly paid. He bet on Murray. Whom he GM’d before. Acquired the fLames former top pairing – name brand – even though they don’t play together and Kneeordano is done. It would cost many GMs their gig
The TML reman without a win beyond the first round since 2004.
Leafs lose both at home. That’s gonna leave a mark.
Man, the odds of the cup coming back to Canada are lo-o-o-ng now
Helluva shot block by Tkachuk.
Leafs have to bury one of those. Cats keep given them chances and they will.
Anyone going to place a bet on the pony named “Skinner” this Kentucky Derby? 20-1.
https://www.kentuckyderby.com/horses
Maybe Nuge. I can see Ryan taking over for Eddie Olczyk once he retires.
Oh, yeah, pretty sure Nuge will be watching. Just a nice coincidence to see that name in the field and our Skinner in his own horse race for a trophy. Much better odds though.
Can’t remember the last time I bet on the ponies. I think it was the Grand National when I was in the UK, to tell you the truth. Not that I was in attendance or anything, laying a GN wager is a cultural thing there.
If you ever want to see utter chaos in a horse race, watch Grand National replays. There’s nothing like it here.
It’s a bizarre race full of chaos the race last forever any horse can win. If there was a horse named Soup in the derby tomorrow I would put a C-Note across the board. Somebody should ask Nuge who he bet on instead of the same boring questions with the same robotic replys of getting the puck’s in deep and winning the board battles. I’m sticking with Mage coming out of the 8 hole.
Tkachuk might be a dirtbag but Bennett is pure filth.
The Calgarida Flamethers.
Ex Flame Lomberg is hurt and I would also take him on my team.
Bunting can dish it out he sure can’t take it he’s flopping all over the place.
What Bieksa was saying there about dealing with the Cats’ forecheck applies to the Oilers too. Oh and then MacLean sorta goes there.
But yeah, skaters have got to help out the Dmen. Have to backcheck with the forecheckers if they’re coming into your zone hard, get in their way.
Lots of chatter on the interwebs about Desharnais.
I haven’t had time to check, but I’m curious about his road / home splits for the playoffs? Anyone have time to dig this up? I’d image maybe he should sit for road games.
Currently Desharnais has a whopping 5.34 GA/60.
Wooguy’s on the case too, I see.
https://twitter.com/Woodguy55/status/1654116017055100928
I guess WG covered it with ‘being PDO’d, but’… But, one might fairly wonder whether Desharnais’ GA/60 might begin to catch up to his 2.13 xGA/60 at some point.
We are talking about not quite 79 minutes of TOI after all. And that 79 minutes is on the heels of 400 regular season minutes at 1.79 GA/60 (2.42 xGA/60). Oh well.
In playoff hockey, you have to make quick decision based upon small sample sizes. The alternative is to not make a decision and inaction can lead to being eliminated. There’s no time for regression.
I think that the deer in the headlights per sixty is driving the GA/60. Apparently WG thinks so to. Your opinion may differ.
As a side note, my presumption was partially correct.
On the road, he’s 8.62 ga/60 (2.95 xga/60) vs at home 5.34 ga/60 (2.13 xga/60)
Yeah, you and WG may be right. There’s likely an element of that.
The home road splits fit as well, but we are talking about 7 total goals here though. The noise in those numbers is deafening.
Desharnais’ road on ice SV% is .737. Marginally better than if the opposition was taking a shootout on the 19 shots against that have happened with him on the ice (.670-ish).
You do need to make decisions quickly in the playoffs, but the risk is on both sides.
Often inaction is the right move, and over reacting can also lead to being eliminated. A lot of folks questioning the quick decision to play Swayman game 7, for instance.
That’s quite a difference between starting goalie and seldom played 3rd pairing defender. I don’t follow Boston, but wasn’t Ullmark injured?
In fairness, the currently available alternatives are fairly bleak to upgrade our 3 RD. What do we have for choices? Broberg, Kemp, Demers, Dineen, or Niemo? Play 5 defensemen?
LT has that great saying about the absence of alternatives clarifies the mind or something.
On the surface, Broberg’s results are vastly superior, but he’s getting a push in terms of on they fly and zone starts (even though I’ve brought up the zone start debate previously). Also Broberg doesn’t PK these playoffs.
Woodcroft has painted himself into a corner with Desharnais.
I don’t follow Boston closely either. I’ve heard second guessing of the decision not to start Ullmark but not that he was injured.
In any case, surely you can appreciate that over-reacting to a small sample size can be just as damaging as not acting decisively based on a small sample size.
And in this case, yes, the alternatives are basically Broberg. Period. He did play 3 more minutes at 5v5, and 1:30 more overall, in game 1 for what that’s worth.
You are right that Woodcroft has painted himself in a corner on this. And I agree he should take some flack if the Oilers bow out early with 3RD being a main factor. Of course there’s a flip side to that as well (if they add a 3RD the Oilers don’t draft until the 5th round, or Bjugstad never becomes an Oiler, and maybe the theoretical 3RD isn’t any better than what’s here).
I’m not a fan of on ice SV% other than to say a player is in front of a bad goalie
This is not the case currently or for months. To me the players on the ice affect the SV%. Especially on the Oilers who are prone to huge breakdowns
Strong team D leads to goalies looking good. Erratic team D impacts their positional play and mental game. Erratic goalies impact team D. Skinner isn’t erratic he just prone to weak starts and improving play as a game progresses
Vinny has earned his OI SV%. Along with the forwards he got scored on with playing a sloppy game
As I said to Ryan, Skinner’s SV% has been barely better than if he was in a shootout the entire time Desharnais was on the ice (road games) this playoffs.
You can’t convince me that Desharnais earned that on ice SV%. He’s made mistakes for sure, but there’s a big chunk of luck in those numbers.
Luck always. But he is an AHL vet NHL rookie who is getting pummelled when there is no quarter
It’s more than big mistakes, it’s being part of pushing play down (or up depending on the game) the ice every shift. Giving up little. That’s how teams win Cups. He’s not alone in it, but he seems in over his head more each game. As playoffs heat up and it’s the same team every game and the opponents get better, weakness gets exposed
I also said the forwards were in that as well. They have been inconsistent in supporting D zone and breakouts
Maybe because the way to break the Kings was stretch passes and moving the puck up quickly. That plays into old habits of jail breaks and not coming back deep or hard enough
So?
He’s also making a lot of good plays according to those same numbers. Sitting him is unlikely to be the correct long-term response.
This is a journey, not a repetition of the same snapshot over and over.
Is it Autumn? Because the Leafs are falling.
Important PP to start the period for Florida. Scoring on that won’t be the nail in the coffin but will make it pretty tough for the Leafs. Historically teams that lose the first two on home ice don’t fare too well (no surprise there). I see HH also gave them the kiss of death below too, so that can’t help.
Someone is going to plaster O’Reilly.
You could call to many men on the ice every 2nd line-change but let’s nail the Oilers in the last minute of a 1 Goal game.
There were SEVEN players players on the ice.
Those always 7 players on a line change as long as they don’t play the puck.
Yep – it was a chintzy call. Those kind of changes happen all the time, and neither of the players going off the ice, or the ones coming on had touched the puck.
I would not hang the coaches, but I will point out that the number one place where Oilers can improve is defensive coverage.
They still like zone over man to man, that’s ok, but we see wingers stop at top of the circle like they have hit an invisible field. Thier assignment is clearly to take the d shot away.
Contrast this to a large movement aversion NHL where wingers are collapsing to the slot. Allowing the d shot but taking away slot shot and clogging lanes.
Where they can really get better is actually taking their man and his stick. It works much better than standing close to him but focused on puck and preventative stick work.
I mention the coaches as the lapses have been often and repeatable, uncorrected.
It’s pretty clear that these players aren’t great at what they are supposed to do
No easy goals against and puck management are king especially in the playoffs. I don’t like stifling creativity but there’s a balance
I think you nailed it. The Oilers can score 3 goals a game that’s a gift.
To keep winning games they can try to score another two goals or they can work on prevention.
That word balance keeps coming up.
Moneypuck now with Carolina the favourites to win the cup.
https://moneypuck.com/predictions.htm
Not sure they can with their two best offensive weapons on the shelf.
At the risk of conjuring your HH fabeld “kiss of death,” who’s your pick to win the cup this year?
Called the first round perfectly 🤩
Calling the cup winner this year (after cleaning up with Colorado last season) is difficult with Boston on the sidelines.
I’m leaning toward Toronto but this may be a year in which a goaltender steals a cup.
Dallas and Seattle fit that bill thus far and both those teams and Vegas have tremendous depth…Vegas without the goaltending.
If I had to make a decision right this minute, I would go with Toronto and Dallas in the cup final with Oettinger deciding the outcome.
If it’s difficult to call the Cup winner with Boston out then you must not have picked Florida in round 1.
Actually I did with Bergeron ailing but the Boston loss changed the outlook for the rest of the EC.
Toronto’s not looking great at the minute.
Panthers are a fun team to watch.
I haven’t had the chance to watch the Panthers unfortunately. Every time I check the scoreboard, they seem like the Oilers in terms of penalty differential. They might be even worse than we are at getting power play opportunities.
Yep they are and Tkachuk is a beast but who knows about their goaltending.
I followed the MoneyPuck model all season. It’s explicitly designed to assume that goalie is voodoo—aka unmodelable inside the box—and is therefore best approximated by regression to league average, to a first order. To a second order, stable goalering does wonders for defensive structure, and that definitely shows up in the “against” columns six ways from Sunday, so it’s not like the goalie situation has no impact.
The model also completely ignores transactions, such as the trade deadline, LTIR, and high ankle sprains. It has a powerful recency bias (within a linear framework determined by extensive best-fit) so it does catch up to those transactions sooner than one might expect. I would say it had incorporated 80% of the Ekholm bump after about three to four weeks of fresh game results. On the other side, the Rangers never got any love from that model, because too much Shesterkin. MoneyPuck: Oh, whatever. All goalies pull their cup on one egg at a time.
$64,000 question: Is an asset on the shelf a bigger or smaller problem than an asset that ought to be on the shelf, but isn’t?
*cough* Ullmark *cough*
There’s some uplift to the coefficient of terra firma in the formal status of a player actually being on the shelf, but not as much as one might naively suppose.
Who knew we would miss a 36 year-old Derek Ryan so much he’s having a fantastic post season. Whatever line Ryan is on he’s always around the puck like it gravitates to him. Anyhow his calming presence will be welcomed back next game if he’s ready to go. Not a word about Janmark in-between periods from the panel disgracefull in my books.
The first 24 hours and then the first 7 days are the critical time periods when grading concussions. There would not have been much to say about it last night, as we all saw him skate off the ice with assistance.
He earned a mention by being a player in the NHL. Janmark has logged almost 500 games. For all we know this could be his last game. The look in his eyes were pretty dim. I thought Beiska would mention him being a good soldier and hopefully he returns. I wouldn’t put it past Sportsnet not to discuss obvious head injuries unless forced into it. As long as Cabbie gets his 5 minutes a night peddling gambling to the younger generation.
The gambling ads truly disgusting….
6-12 year-olds getting these gambling ads rammed down their throats by famous actors and legend Hockey players. Gambling will be the new smoking or drinking.
The thing that gets me is how greedy are the owners? While most teams do community things, which is an extension of their alleged concerns, how is that balanced with the league now promoting gambling to an audience flush with children?
Might as well do vaping and booze and dating sites. Why not all 7 deadlies? What a behind the scenes doc that would make for the league. Crush the F1 series. Even more money.
How about make your league more compelling and impactful to all sports fans and make more that way – doing business better? I’ll stop
He’s one of the few that plays right, game in and out
I will be surprised if Vinnie sits next game. Considering psychology, and how Jay deploys it, he will be in the line-up next game. I think Jay will step him down–if required–and reduce minutes before full-on HSing him. In 11-7 he has that option always available.
Seaweed bounced back like a bed of coral after his last bad game and he will be given the opportunity to do so again. As a rook, he’s allowed learning moments and he’s facing targetin, so they’re going to happen. We see this targgeting all the time in the playoffs and I doubt it is coming as any surprise to the coaching staff. And, as I indicated above, if necessary, they can always pull the ripcord and roll Bro out there in his place.
But some adjustment will be made in the in-between time. I think he could use more minutes with either Nurse or Ekholm as a vet crutch, and since one would want to play the shit out of Bouchard, Nurse seems the more likely candidate.
Woodcroft is a big believer in second chances and redemption. There might not be a theme more important for humanity considering how prominently it shows up in humanity’s wisdom narratives. I’m pretty sure we’re going to see such a narrative, in the small and individual, play out multiple times over these playoffs. See Skinner, Stu & Yamamoto, Kailer.
Remove adversity and doubt and struggle and redemption…. and we would stop watching.
Showing confidence in a player to bounce back is how a coach builds that players into a better one.
That being said, I know Yamo scored the series winner and all, but so far he looks a day late and a dollar short on the forecheck. Even when he gets there, he’s not heavy enough to knock guys off the puck. He has a good stick, but it’s too short to be effective. I don’t understand why he’s playing more than Kostin, Foegele, McLeod and even Bjugstad.
Woody is being stubborn on Yamo … there are more effective forwards on the roster, who are being under-utilized.
You realize that Yamamoto has not been playing more than those players recently, right? I guess you do not.
In the last 3 games Woodcroft has played him fewer minutes than every one of those guys except for Kostin.
In fairness, Yamamoto did play more than all of the player he mentioned last game.
Missed that. Yes, fair enough.
You don’t think Woodcroft has made adjustments when it comes to Yamamoto? He scored the series winner from the 4th line. He’s not lining up against Byfield this series and Jay has to see what he can get accomplished in this matchup. I think it would behoove any coach to do so. He knows this player very well so I personally am not going to second-guess his handling of Yams. If he struggles, like in the first series, we will see his ice time reduced. Which is as it was and as it should be, right?
Indeed was speaking about last night – there was no reason for Yamo to get so much ice time last night. He was properly slotted in the game 7 against LA on the 4rth line getting 10 minutes of ice.
I was happy for the guy when he scored, but let’s not oversell things. That was a fluky throw-it-on-the net and hope for a miracle type of shot that he scored on. Otherwise, he been visible for all the wrong reasons these playoffs.
We are not going to win many games with 5 GA. The offence is powerful – no worries there, but asking 6 or more goals on a nightly basis will not win the championship.
RIP Petr Klima.
Rest in peace, Petr Klima. My little brother’s favorite player growing up along with Bill Ranford. Loved watching Klima and his number 85 on the ice. A Stanley Cup champion.
I don’t think we can be too upset about last night’s game. Desharnais (x2), Mcleod, and Kostin all played a key role (or lack thereof) in allowing GA. Unfortunately they went in with their fly undone and the youth showing. The Knights clearly scouted extensively. The positive is we played terribly and still almost tied it up at the end. That’s the key.
One thing I am a little upset about is the blinders Woody seems to have for Vinny. He looked overwhelmed in the Kings series and appears to be an even worse match-up for the Knights. They hard targeted him and it paid off. IMO it’s time for the big man to sit. Broberg has better numbers in less minutes and passes miles better. Vinny is just plain bad under forechecking pressure. Broberg was mentioned as the scratch prior to the game last night had they gone 12/6, but I really hope last night changes Woody’s perspective on that. 0-2 goals in under 7 min is ghastly. Yet Yamo, Kane, and Ceci also wearing the 0-2 goat horns, so only one problem child among many 🙂
Last though, Mcdavid injured or not was trying to do too much last night. Why skate it into the slot 1v3 when the 3 Knights will just immediately collapse on you? That happened 3-4 times last night and resulted in an instant loss of possession and no shot. The captain needs to play smarter and cut down on his turnovers. I would not agree that he had a good game, although he did impact it more positively than negatively. Thankfully we have Drai!!!
Woody has homework to do but I think they take G2 and come home with the split. Mcdavid has 2 whole days to stew about his performance, which bodes well for us. I’m certain he was unsatisfied with his game and will be better in G2.
McDavid now rocking 5 straight multi-point games. Standards are high around here.
Also failure to mention his apples on those Drai snipes.
Tough crowd, tough crowd.
True. Still, you want each player at their best in the playoffs. Everybody. McDavid to Ryan.
100%!
I’m not convinced Broberg will be better than Desharnais. Still lots of mistakes just different ones
Annealed glass handle with care near boards.
That game reminded me of game 1 against Calgary last year where the Oilers were adjusting to a new forecheck. Thought Skinner was fine last night. The Oilers need to clean up the turnovers and bad reads to start with. The Vinny giveaway was brutal to start the game. He needs to go high off the glass 50 percent of the time with this kind of pressure. Like LT said, he has limits at this level. Holland not getting an experienced right handed D man at the deadline may come back to bite him. The Nurse read on the second goal was also brutal and I didn’t like his game for the most part. Around mid game Broberg had the puck in his corner on his backhand (playing his offside) and was attempting to get the puck up the ice. All 3 forwards flew the zone and the puck never made it past the Vegas point man. It resulted in a good Vegas chance but Skinner made the save. Its this kind of garbage play that the Oilers need to clean up. Not sure if McDavid and Nuge are hurt but Stone is coming off of back surgery and looks really uncomfortable. No excuses.
“No excuses.” That’s what Patton said while he pistol-whipped PTSD victims with his pearl revolver. It was a useful PR move under the circumstance, to stiffen the spine of American GIs everywhere for a hard, hard march through the infested hedgerows. Mission accomplished.
Darryl Sutter has used this same playbook for his entire coaching career. For a while it gets results. Then it gets even more results. Finally, with enough patient turns of the bamboo screw, that notorious playoff slacker, Tkachuk, asks out. Excellent! Your purge is successful. Time to rub your hands in glee, Mr Burns style.
While we’re in full burn on “no excuses”, and with Desharnais a little suspect for the second series in a row, how about we ring up Klefbom, who hasn’t formally retired yet. From what I hear, he baked out over minor joint pain. The nerve of that guy! What’s with that? Come on! Arthritis is 90% mental! Which is almost as mental as PTSD.
In the regular season, Kostin scored 11 goals in 564 minutes at 5v5, a rate of 1.17 G/60. Seven of them were scored during the 167 minutes he spent with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, a rate of 2.51 G/60. I think they would form the basis for an effective 3rd line, irrespective of whether the dynamic duo play together or not.
I owe this blog an apology. Yesterday, I neglected to put my 1 1/2 yr old twins in their Oilers jerseys. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I then failed to dress them in their Oilers PJ’s last night. They were 2-0 when I did that, so I can’t help but feel entirely responsible for the loss. I’ll get my game back for tomorrow. Or um, Saturday I guess?
For shame! Please enjoy all fatherly duties, however do not neglect you Oiler-fan duties.
Thank you in advance.
Twin 18 month olds in Oilers PJ’s? OMG, please post a picture ASAP.
Also forgot to do the Oilers cheer ahead of gametime with my two little kids. This is what won them games 5 and 6 in LA. Will be ready for Saturday.
We accept your apology
1 1/2 yr old twins!? Bless you sir, you are forgiven, I only have one and forget all sorts of things now.
My 2 year old refuses to fall asleep until 9:30 to 10, despite music, mood lighting and multiple bedtime stories Games are half over by then. Don’t know how you manage two of them at the same time.
Solid game by the Knights and lackluster by the Oilers for the most part. Knights game ready to play – quick, fast on the forecheck, great stickwork. The Oilers were stuck in sand and at times looked like their minds were there too.
The Oilers have to outscore their defensive mistakes. That’s just the way this team is. Real tough to do when there were so many defensive mistakes and so many forwards MIA.
Let’s hope its not injuries and it was just an off-night that doesn’t repeat itself.
Oilers have VGK right where they want them – overconfident and vulnerable.
VGK probably played at their max level. Oilers played at 50%. Game was tied in the 3rd.
LB will be the new Markstrom in a week – destroyed by the Oil.
No need to panic, the Oilers got this. Leon wins the Smythe. GOG
First time caller, long time lurker…
why are the Oilers so risk adverse to making safe plays in the D zone? Last night was just another night of seemingly unforced errors. Yes, the Knights are quite aggressive. However, there were many failed zone exits with giveaways and ill advised passes into coverage. It just feeds the Vegas transition.
What will Woody do?
Do we know when, where and how McDavid, RNH, Kane and Hyman were injured? Did I miss anyone?
Ceci
Doughty had that knee-on-knee hit on McDavid.
I understand that they’re playing two completely different teams with play styles on completely different ends of the spectrum with many days off in between but from my vantage point on my couch I feel like they should be able to get their game together quick enough they don’t need to drop the first game of every series.
I haven’t decided if this is a bigger criticism of the team or myself, but I’m going to post anyways.
As long as we see second half of the season Oilers more often than first half I feel fine. Mostly…. Kind’ve.
Fun Morning after take.
Oilers are playing way too little hockey. NHL scheduling has never created as lax as schedule as the Oilers have had the last two weeks short of holiday and mandatory CBA week. Just stupid how much time off there’s been.
Get back to a normal schedule and they will start rolling.
I thought Foegele was really good on the PK breaking up the plays essentially by himself.
Hey, where’s OP at? Haven’t seen a post for awhile, did I miss something?
I haven’t seen a post of his since probably game 1? Not even sure he posted then.
RE OP I always wondered how a guy who claimed to have such a demanding job could post at the daily volume he did. Didn’t seem tenable to me. When I get slammed at work, I can drop off this board for days.
I used to post the most when I was working my most stressful, demanding and time consuming job. I’d take a quick break every hour or so for 5-10 mins and post and get my mind off work for a bit. Kept me fresh and productive for the other 50+ mins in the hour. Way moreso than if I tried to just grind 3-4 hours straight of work.
Brains all work differently.
He got yelled at for repetitive posting so took his stick and puck and went home.
he’s posting some over at the athletic
To my eye Oilers D gave up too many grade A chances to win a series. Skinner is a rookie goaltender and I have about as much confidence as you can for a rookie goaltender. As usual he made some great saves and let in some easy ones.
Rookie Goaltenders to have made it to the Stanley Cup Finals since basically expansion.
1.Ken Dryden 1970-71
2.Ron Grahame 1977-78
3.Pete Peeters 1979-80
4.Don Beaupre 1980-81
5.Mike Vernon 1985-86
6.Patrick Roy 1985-86
7.Ron Hextall 1986-87
8.Manny Fernandez 1999-0
9.Cam Ward 2005-06
10.Cory Schneider 2010-11
11.Andrei Vasilevskiy 2014-15
12.Matt Murray 2015-16
13.Juuse Saros 2016-17
14.Matt Murray 2016-17
15.Jordan Binnington 2018-19
16.Jake Oettinger 2019-20
Some great goalies on that list. Skinner at this point of his early career doesn’t give me confidence game to game.
Me neither maybe we need another 18 minutes without a shot by the opposition to start the game if that’s even possible.
quite a feat by Murray to win 2 Stanleys as a rookie
I can’t see that happening again but never say never.
This anti-Yamo and critical-Nuge commentary is getting tired. Y’all realize there just aren’t superior options at those positions, right? They aren’t going to learn their way out of their weakness today and Dylan Holloway is a 4th liner and he’s definitely not a top 6 guy.
Argue deployment. The roster composition is not going to change unless injury.
This is panic. Stop. Breathe. Step off the ledge.
So what is your deployment comment on MIA RNH?
Use him at wing with Leon or McDavid.
Does that work if he is shying away form board battles?
When recommending people on ledges step off the ledge, it is important to include the direction you’re recommending they step. 😛
I leave it to them to decide. 🤭
Step off the ledge which way?
Vinny was talked about even prior to game 1 last night.
I keep reading about our coaches ‘adjustments’ and there are 2 key areas that continue to fester.
Again, not necessarily saying Broberg ( as an example) would not have
challenges as well.
Bieksa corectly called it out last night- self harm.
can you quote what Bieksa said? Missed it
After sleeping on it I have to say my concern level is far below where it was after going down 2-1 to LA. Vegas did play well, however they don’t look unbeatable. This does not feel like the Avalanche series from last year which looked like a mountain to climb after game one, and proved to be. Brossoit looks very beatable, I think if the Oilers keep channeling pucks to the net and banging away in close this is all going to work out fine.
Defence wise LT’s article from yesterday was extremely prophetic. Ceci has to be banged up, he’s not playing well at all. By the third period Nurse was looking better with the Kulak and short Vincent pairing stints than he did with Ceci. Despite the Amadio goal issues, I think Nurse played a solid game. Ekholm and Bouchard were great again even with a goal against. Hopefully the extra day off works to help Ceci heal up and then all will be well. Beyond that LT’s pair Nurse-Kulak together might be the best option for a 2nd pair. Issue is that leaves a mix of Broberg/Ceci/Desharnais at the bottom end.
Still, over the last two playoff runs we kind of have a habit of losing game 1s of series and then making adjustments and coming back stronger.
Ryan being out really sucked – hopefully he heals up/gets well soon.
There’s no way I’m playing Yams or even Hyman at this point more then Kostin. There’s zero reason for Kostin to be so low on ice time while having to watch Hyman who doesn’t seem to have his head into it, or Yams which is a little engine that could but is clearly at his limit and is what he is.
Well there was the initial giveaway and subsequent failure to cover on the 5th goal last night.
Also that Kostin had the worst on ice numbers of any Oiler in game 1.
Zero reason other than that though.
And some of the best analytics numbers for the team in the playoffs overall Kostin does.
Great small sample size argument. Add to that it is difficult to have good on ice numbers when you are stuck playing on a line with Yamamoto.
You mean like game 6 vs. LA where they were 2-0 goals and had a 77% xGF together?
I have no objection to Kostin playing more, but I also don’t think he should be playing over basically all the other Oiler wingers as some seemingly do.
There are legitimate issues playing into how much TOI Woodcroft is giving him (reliability, penalties).
Those touting his analytics should also remember his on ice numbers from the regular season (everything aside from actual goals) were among the worst on the team.
I suspect the coaches have realized that there are diminishing returns with increased ice-time for Kostin.
You mean in theory? Because this has not been tried, let alone established, in practice. Pure speculation with no basis in fact.
Perhaps you misspelled Yamamoto? If so, please disregard.
It’s not just 1 game though is it?
Eakins said 80%of the game is played within 3 ft of the boards.
Playoff hockey along the wall and RNH and Yams have nearly no shot at puck recovery or puck protection.
As Godot points out- what Kailer is doing here is nit new.
Adjustments needed to be made a while ago.
RNH paired with Yams is a. – HARD no
I don’t disagree with what you’re saying but I’m not sure I can handle a new dose of Dallas Eakins quotes. I’ve chopped enough wood for one lifetime.
What was HNIC thinking? “Hey, you know what would be great for the panel? A guy with the face of a sociopath and the personality of a paint can.”
True…..was surprised to see him there.
Did not detect a lot of chemistry ( I could be wrong) with Bieksa either
I really like Bieksa this postseason. Eakins went on a mini rant about the Oilers body language breeding negativity. Sound familiar? Bieksa completely disagreed saying the reactions were evidence of the players being disappointed in their own play and “self regulating” to hold themselves to a higher standard. I watched closely and Eakins gave him a bit of a death stare afterward. lol It was an interesting moment but overall I find Eakins very stiff and dry as a tv pundit. Hrudey sucks as well imo. Completely generic commentary. It would be terrific if they could find a great fit for the 4th chair.
Bieksa has been on fire this year….
Hated Bieksa as a ‘nuck, but he’s great on that panel.
He can break down a play, I find him to be objective, he’s witty and isn’t shy about giving the other panelists the gears.
He still has the stench of beached whale clinging to him from his days with the Dys, but he’s the best.
I think the addition of a coach on the panel has been great. Both Eakins and Lalonde prior have added great insight. He added alot of insight into the drafting of Draisaitl. Calm your bag of tits.
Is this Andrew Ference?
Yeah, it is one game. They lost the first game against the LAK’s too. It’s a seven game series lest you forget.
Bieksa reminds me of basically every dude I ever played hockey with – hated him when he was on the Dys and Ducks, but he’s the best hockey analyst to come along since Ferraro.
Honestly, I think Eakins could be a really solid analyst – we’re very biased here, cause he was an awful coach here, and the stink of those McTavish/Chiarelli years is also on him as well. I didn’t want to like him … basically went into listening to the intermission show with an immediate strong dislike of him on the panel … again, I’m admittedly biased.
Things is he’s actually a pretty articulate guy. I enjoyed his bit about 80% of the game being played along the boards, and the part after when he stated that as an NHL coach he had that particular bit of information “brought to him.” So far, he’s been more informative than the “insiders”, in that he hasn’t resorted to “hot take” click bait-type of material to generate interesting things to say.
I was pleasantly surprise … best thing I can say about last night’s game, besides Leon being a goal-scoring beast.
NHL Gs are like NFL QBs. They get too much credit when the team wins and too much blame when the team loses.
He had a great game but the questionable ones he let in were early and affected much of the rest of the game.
Who had a “great” game?
Draisaitl?
Calm Your Tits is now one of my favourite sayings.
👀👀👀
If I had tits, I wouldn’t be calming them…
This year EDM beat VEG with the centres three (or two) and solid efforts up and down the roster. + slightly sharper play from Stu. Rinse Wash Repeat?
Peter Klima…..RIP.
Not a good sign …
RIP Klima. Somewhere in my mom’s house on VCR is the full recording of your game of glory. It was fun seeing you during your brief second tour as an Oiler.
Amongst forwards, Yamamoto has the worst plus/minus in three of the last four playoff years, and was 2nd worst in the other (Kassian “saved” him). In one season it was a multiple tie for the worst.
Over the last four seasons in total, his plus/minus in the playoffs amongst forwards is the worst by a lot.
There are too many plays where he is watching and does not impact the play defensively. I first noticed it in the Chicago series, and it has not improved since then.
He could have made an impact on the first goal against last night, and chose to watch, letting not one, but two Vegas Knights beat him to the home plate in front of Skinner.
He is death by a thousand cuts. One seeing eye shot does not change that. There has been no improvement over four seasons into the optionality with which he defends in the D-zone.
There is a certain stubbornness on this player that I don’t understand. He can’t physically compete with typical NHL players which results in players beating him to ice/pucks.
Hollaway could be considerably more effective given his skating and size. And he has played 50 games in the NHL i.e. not a raw rookie.
Pulj would look good in the bottom six right about now…