Evan Bouchard photo by Bruce McCurdy
If a hockey goal can be seductive, Evan Bouchard’s late-game winner on Tuesday night was sex on a stick. It was a massive goal and will be responsible for everything that comes after. Bouchard is taking over this series, and in doing so is turning the Glimmer Twins into the hockey world’s best power trio. Call it the McDavid Rush, the McDraiBouch Experience or The Rolling Bone Skates, no matter the name these three men are sensational spring 2024.
THE NUMBERS
There are so many story lines in these names and numbers the mind can barely capture all of them. Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch made some decisions before this game that could have been bold negative bullet points on his resume forever. From this vantage point, all of them seem to have worked out.
Calvin Pickard was rock solid, made some big and important stops, and received solid support from the men in front of him. It’s an easy choice to run him out there for Game 5. You know, goalies of Pickard’s age and experience can weave a successful NHL career from moments just like last night. It’s never too late for goaltenders. Don’t believe me? Spend a few hours reading up on Johnny Bower. I’m not saying Pickard=Bower, but the ridiculousness of goaltending (one spot per team!) randomness sometimes authors this kind of result.
Evan Bouchard is money, money, money in any situation. If he didn’t exist they would have had to invent him. That goal scored last night was everything. Vancouver will not give up and their Conn Smythe candidate (JT Miller) is an absolute nightmare for Edmonton in this series. Bouchard is scoring 2.43 pts-60 (2-5-7 in nine games) at five-on-five with a 12-5 (71 percent) goal share in the discipline. Music! He is 1-6-7 (11.45 pts-60) on the power play. Amazingly, 11.45 pts-60 on the Oilers PP gets you No. 5 on the list!! Among first PP unit members, he ranks third behind Draisaitl (18.12) and McDavid (17.89).
Leon Draisaitl is outta sight nowadays, the big man is playing the Beliveau role at this time. I don’t really know what to say, beyond the fact he held his own with Dylan Holloway and Evander Kane as his wingers. LD took on the JT Miller line five-on-five, even in shots and 1-0 in goals. Fantastic.
Connor McDavid enjoyed a strong night, 1-0 goals at five-on-five and picked up a power-play point. I think we’ll see the best of McDavid (plus Hyman) in Vancouver for Game 5.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored a huge goal, Dylan Holloway had two HDSC and (for me) Ryan McLeod showed good things without being rewarded. I’d run the same roster back, Nurse-Desharnais looked good to me and Kulak plays well with anyone.
Kris Knoblauch should be damn happy with his decisions today. He looks like Scotty Bowman this morning.
Today at noon, two hours of ‘Knoblauch is a genius’ discussions will commence. If I could will a victory the night before Bruce McCurdy appears on the show, I’d do it every time. The brilliant McCurdy, from the Cult of Hockey at the Edmonton Journal, will join us today and we’ll also have another guest (probably Canucks) and Dunkin’ with Declan. You can reach me at Lowetide on twitter, in the comments section or on the Sports 1440 text line at 1.833.401.1440 directly. Question: Would you like to see an updated 2024 Lowetide draft list later this week?
NEW for The Athletic: Is Cody Ceci playing his final games with the Oilers?
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5491475/2024/05/15/cody-ceci-oilers-contract/
YES!
What you gonna do with him? Still has a year left and I doubt you can give him away
If the Oilers win it all, then it will be easy to move a ‘veteran defenseman with Stanley Cup pedigree’. GM’s eat that shit up all the time.
Yup. Even deep would do it and he’s RS
To Washington for Dowd.
A rebuilding team can absorb his contract. Ceci can regale the players with stories of playing in the playoffs with 29, 97, and 2.
SLC has zero NHL D under contract.
They might take him…for a price.
He’d be a good addition for the right team and is not expensive. Right shot, big, not a pylon like some at his price point, lots of experience, team guy, just not what the Oilers need at this point. If a Gm wants to and can’t move him that’s not on the player IMO
$3.25M is pretty pricy for a third pairing D.
Weak bait, even for you.
G.M’s use this new thing called analytics now.
But there’s still room for the old eye test guys like you.
Sure, but it’s a relative bargain compared to paying $9.25m for one, right 😉
Ha!
$4.125M Anthony Beauvillier fetched a 5th round pick twice this year and plays a less rare position. Had 8 points less than Ceci this year as a forward. Same number of goals. I don’t think Ceci has negative value.
Beauvillier was a salary dump and 5th round picks are less valuable than pocket lint.
Take a look at NHL rosters and see how many teams are paying over $3 million for a 3rd pairing defenseman in his 30’s.
It’s not a long list.
His deployment would depend on the team
They do have 3 RFAs including Durzi.
But yeah, they would probably be a perfect destination. They could flip him at the deadline, possibly with salary retained, for a pick.
The Oilers are not going to pay assets to move Cody Ceci.
what about asset? singular? 5th round.
Then they may be stuck with him.
Very few teams need a shaky 3rd pairing D at $3.25M.
Considering Ceci has played over 15 min per game at 5 on 5 for 10 straight seasons (one season was 14:49), its pretty clear that coaches around the national hockey league value him more than that.
You keep saying “3rd pairing D” as if it were fact.
It’s not. Ceci’s last 7 NHL coaches on 4 NHL teams over a span of 8 NHL seasons have all played him in their top-4.
There is always a market for top-4 RHD who have low AAV, low risk contracts in the NHL.
The Oilers have 3 d that are really struggling.
Ceci leads the pack with a 23% goal share at 5v5 (over 100 min played)
Nurse is 3rd at 28.6%
Both Ceci and Nurse are getting lit up at 4 ga/60 at 5v5.
Desharnais is tied for 5th at 33.3%
Really, the only positive is that Walker is tied for 5th at 33.3%, so maybe we didn’t miss out on that trade.
For me, Nurse has played well. I’m always hesitant to use playoff totals as a hammer. Sample size matters. I agree that Ceci and Desharnais have had their moments, but I do think Nurse is doing a good job much of the time.
Summarizing!
Portland lost 4-2 and were swept. Stefan was held soupless and finished with 7+9 in 18 playoff games to conclude his junior career.
That wraps up another season of tracking.
Prospecting takes a break until September.
Of course, there will be periodic updates as necessary (entry and import drafts, transactions, other noteworthy items, etc.).
Heartfelt thanks for your intrepid prospect reporting this year, Tarkus.
Maybe next year there will be a few more rural prairie hamlets founded to keep the colourful tour alive!
So, I guess the breaking out through the middle of the ice is a thing of the past? After that spell months ago where they were intercepted frequently at the blueline?
If Holloway gives us that game every game, well, that would be huge
Hooboy – Oettinger with some brutal GA in their loss tonight, Skinneresque and then some. Who’s Dallas’ backup?
I was thinking about our series against Colorado when they won the cup.
Francouz played, I think because of other injuries.
Those right-handed goalers are weird to shoot against. It’s almost like a pitcher who can throw a good change up.
There’s not many around, but it would be nice to have one in the org.
https://www.capfriendly.com/browse/free-agents/2025/caphit/all/goalies/all/desc/right?stats-season=2024
Brandon Bussi would be interesting.
https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=195617
Watched the last few minutes of the first period of MJ-Portland. Warriors lead 1-0 after 20, but the Hawks will be on the PP to start the second. Stefan plays on both special teams.
Moose Jaw iced a five-man PP unit that was all RH shots. Dunno that I’ve ever seen that before.
Game is on TSN 3+5.
BTW, London smoked Oshawa once again, this time 7-1 to sweep the series. Outscored Oshawa 31-9 in doing so. Unbelievable. They join Drummondville and Saginaw (host team) in the Memorial Cup.
I seem to recall the Florida Panthers doing an all-rightie PP last year. It’s pretty rare, but not unheard of.
Yes, I think Florida and London Knights themselves during the Bouchard and Boqvist year are the recent ones I can think of.
The Utah Gentlemen
The Utah Filibusters
The Utah Rough Riders
or The Utah Avalanche
Oprah Utah
Uma Utah
The Utah Gerrymanderers
When the nhl gave TNT the partial nhl tv contract I was skeptical. But they’ve done a great job. Lundquist breakdown of RVH and how much he hates it and really highlights skinner using it on the Zadorov goal
anyway here is the athletics take on Lundquists take on RVH
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5493020/2024/05/15/nhl-goalies-lundqvist-rvh/?source=user_shared_articleAn NHL goaltending ‘pandemic’: Is a hot trend handing the edge to shooters?
Saros also got burned overusing it these playoffs
Thisbsite helped me understand it a bit better, discusses when to use it shows some good analysis on pitfalls etc.
https://goaliecoaches.com/rvh-goalies-execute-use/
Great article! I didn’t see Hank’s breakdown, so this is the first time I’ve understood the issue with the “RVH”.
According to the article, main weakness is open area in the corner of the net and improper seal along the post. Says not to use it when the puck is further than 1 or 2 stick lengths from the goal. Sure seems to sum up the Zadorov goal and why Skinner got scored on.
I like it when analysts can highlight things that help me understand the game. Wish we saw more of that on literally any other hockey broadcast.
Imagine if Kelly Hrudey had even 1/10th of that sort of analysis for goalies. God I can’t stand him… seems like maybe a nice guy but man he doesn’t give anything of interest
They are excellent, I agree
Pickard did his job. And did it well.
He provided a solid game from the back up. He provided rest and reset for Skinner. That’s the job. By playing and contributing he also brought the team together.
I would go back to Skinner, and I think KK will as well, and know that you have a good back up ready to go. Team game.
I mean perhaps the idea going forward is to split the time? To some extent?
Is it possible that Skinner has difficulty against Vancouver specifically? Does a goalie sometimes match up to specific styles well or not well?
We know Skinner got a rest. But did he get an effective reset? Do you want to chance going down 3-2 to find out? If KK goes back to Skinner and he dumps another game, do you immediately pull him for game 6 and 7? I feel like that would be even mentally damaging for a guy who was already pretty emotional about getting pulled for game 3.
I can’t see kk going back to skinner tomorrow.
It’s Pickard net now the boys are rallying around him game 5 is huge.
I agree its his net FOR now but Skinner will be back in after any “meh” to poor game for Picks (unless he’s gone a heater, then he’ll have leash). If the Oilers win 7-5 tomorrow and there were a couple soft ones, I think Skinner is back in for game 6.
If the Oilers win 3-1, its likely Picks for game 6.
I dunno I think if the oilers win he’s staying in, at least for this series
This is almost certainly what’s going to happen.
Man there is so much “all or nothing,” black and white. Skinner has been drafted and developed by the team. He had a very solid regular season after some initial wobble even if its high event. He’s learning to be an NHL starter. Playoff pressure snuck into his head a tad but whatever. He’s 25, signed at a very reasonable deal and has miles left to go in the story he’s writing.
Coach K also seems like a coach and not an angry dad who enjoys screaming and punishing everyone. You want that crap go become a Philly fan until Torts gets punted in December.
Lets go Avs!
I’m definitely hoping for best vs best and then all the rest (without potential lightning in bottle goalie either way) than deeper than the rest with exactly that kind of goalie
Sweet!
I have to say the deployment of the defence by our coach this year has been amazing imo. A dominating top pair and then pretty much equal time for the bottom four. This is a winning formula. Keep it up coach !!
Since watching this years playoff’s who is taking Hughes over Boosh in a redraft of 2018?
Not me !!
Kind of amazing there hasn’t been more conversation about this in the media. I haven’t seen Hughs dangerous this series (knock on wood), but not sure about the underlying numbers. At least HNIC crew has been giving Bouch a lot of accolades, though. He has been truly incredible.
One thing that I noticed while watching some clips, is that, while Hughes is a great player, he never gets involved in puck battles. He lets someone else do the battle, then stands off and fishes for the puck. I realize he is a smurf, but his compete level makes highlander look like Ryan Smyth.
I did that wrong.
Here you go:
https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1790805596758765877?t=gAvavAk-8HviRPYg82wMVA&s=19
No love for skinner in that celley
Sergei Bouchardov.
Thanks
Evan Almighty is a straight up G.
The guy is an absolute gamer at key moments of games. How long have the Oilers been waiting for a homegrown #1 stud dman?
And yes, I have watched the game winner about 300 times today.
Since Klefbom!
Kelf was never a #1, not even close to enough offense…
He would sit in the ozone with his skates on the blue line and be content….
If Klefbom had not had his career impacted by injuries, he likely would have been a legit #1 D. He played most of his career with a bum shoulder.
He was captain and led Sweden to its only world junior championship and was the top defenseman in the tournament. Top top defenseman in the tournament often goes on to be a legit #1 typ D in the NHL>
Since Pronger.
Draft list preferred after round three if we get past Vancouver for me please! Don’t want to distract from the task at hand… driving the Canucks before us and hearing the lamentations of their women.
Why are folks acting surprised about Calvin? He is NINETH in the NHL reg season in 5×5 sv%, out of a list of 61 tenders with over 1,000 minutes. That’s a .925 sv percent.
Skinner is 35th.
https://www.naturalstattrick.com/playerteams.php?fromseason=20232024&thruseason=20232024&stype=2&sit=5v5&score=all&stdoi=g&rate=n&team=ALL&pos=S&loc=B&toi=1000&gpfilt=none&fd=&td=&tgp=410&lines=single&draftteam=ALL
While that is a nice stat, some context is important in that he generally (though not always) was matched against weaker teams.
Also Picard didnt have as many (any?) Games in that aweful first 15 games.
I’m not surprised he played well but, of course, there is alot of missing context from that stat, right?
I think there are numbers out there that show he didn’t do well against the “better teams”, he didn’t face to the top teams with regularity, was never fighting fatigue, etc., etc.
Great/solid job last night and I look for a repeat tomorrow.
Skinner’s struggles highlight a major issue for hockey in Canada right now. Canadian goaltenders are mostly bad. The best goalies are coming out of Europe.
My theory is this has been caused by the rise of elite travelling teams from a young age. 30 years ago, until the bantam level, every team had one goalie. Goalies would play 50-80 games per year, and get every shot in practice.
Now, you see teams of 7 year olds playing 2 goalies, splitting the load. They are getting half the games, half the shots.
Pickard is 7 years older than Skinner. As far as size and technical foundation goes, Skinner is a better goaltender. Yet Pickard just seems to play intuitively out there. Skinner is locked into a robotic style. If the game happens to go outside of a certain structure, he doesn’t know what to do. Not just him, the same can be said of most Canadian goalies in his age group.
My hypothesis is Pickard saw a lot more pucks at an earlier age, thus his puck handling and hockey IQ are better because of it. Or maybe this is just a dumb theory. Either way, Hockey Canada needs to figure it out.
After house league in ’86, I never played for a team with fewer than two goalies. Maybe 50 years ago?
In Edmonton up until at least the late nineties, 2 goalie tandems started in Bantam at 13 years old.
I actually dont buy it for one reason: Game time is not when kids get better. Kids get better in practice.
How many shots does a player take in a game, how many in practice? Same applies for goalies right? Shouldn’t both goalies get loads of reps in practice?
And then having two goalies doubles the talent pool?
Then again, what do i know?
I played minor hockey in the 80’s…starting in Peewee our rep team had two goalies…that would have been around mid 80’s I think. And we were a small town (Vegreville.)
The puck moves on Bouchard’s stick
The puck moves and he stays calm
The puck moves off Bouchard’s stick
The puck moves and now it’s a bomb
Anyone else ever sit back and wonder, what Bouchard could have become if he hadn’t been sitting around that one season eating pickled pork hocks and stoned wheat crackers at the hotel in Dixonville?
Is 15 points in 9 games in the playoffs not enough for you? Enjoy the now not the what if imo.
Sarcasm.
Not everyone gets it.
And not everyone can do it.
I heard it was reruns of Knots Landing in a Motel 6
Tippett and Woody were to worried about their jobs to develop a young point magnet D in Bouchard. We lost 2 years of prime Bouchard because of it. Piss poor asset management it finally took Coffey to get Evan back on the rails to stardom.
He would have become a bomb diffuser. And not break a sweat.
would make a good assassin
4 games.
Totals – 14 goals each.
5v5 – 8-7 Van
4v4 – 2-1 Van
PP – 5-3 Edm (opportunities 12-10 Van)
6v5 – 1-1
Tighter than a duck’s ass, sheesh.
I don’t want to know how you knew that.
hahahaha
I know you don’t want to mess with chemistry but I would insert Gagner for game 6. I have no doubt he’ll spark the bottom 6 and hit the scoresheet. It’s time to give fly by Foegele a night off.
I would suggest that each of Carrick and Erne would be inserted before Gagner – Sam struggled as a Condor down the stretch.
This is playoff hockey a whole different kettle of fish. A fresh Sam who’ll go to the paint is needed. Come on Kris shake up the bottom 6 and let’s get this party started with a win on Thursday.
Yup, playoff hockey – faster and nastier, neither of which benefit him and his game. He does have those 11 games of playoff experience from a decade ago.
Sam is playing the 2023 Devon Shore role.
I for one would like to see Kostin back in Edmonton. Wonder if there is a deal to be done with Sharks????
Would need a third team involved as the Sharks have used up ALL three of their retained salary slots for next season and Kostin at $2MM is a non-starter unless they are taking Campbell back….
Campbell for Kostin? Now we’re talking
Rick Dhaliwal
@DhaliwalSports
Hearing Demko making big strides, lets see where he is in 2-3 days.
I have been saying saying game 6-7 a possibility for a while.
Patrick Johnston
@risingaction
‘I think everyone is in play in the Stanley Cup playoffs’ – Rick Tocchet on the Lekkerimaki option
Happy for you
I think this may be good news for the Oilers. Silovs has played well
It is very risky.
I like our chances against the rookie as the series goes longer.
Kid probably hasn’t started 5 in 9 since junior… if ever.
He might make one game and if he does he will be rusty as hell. Coming off a 1-2 month injury
When Perry had the stick to Boeser face and the dumbfounded look he had sums up the Canucks franchise history.
That was pretty harsh, Perry must think he’s mentally vulnerable
Perry has a sense of humor alright. I couldn’t believe how he kept a straight face.
That didn’t come across to me like a joke. After what they did to Connor, Perry was doing exactly what many called for in going after their stars. He didn’t actually, but that was a threat right in the face of their best scorer. It was a cross check to the face threat, not stay out of the scrum he wouldn’t go into anyways. Boesser knows what that was about
The Old Timer sits down in the cowboy bar, pulls out a bowie knife and lays it on the table. Nervous laughter from everyone except the Old Timer and the one guy that he is staring at.
Yup, and Boeser knows Perry is crazy enough, and low enough in the depth chart to actually do it.
You’re working from the assumption Boeser actually cared.
Looked to me he was about to yawn.
I figure that if Perry did that to me, with that stone cold unblinking face, I’d either break down giggling (“don’t kill me Grandpa”) or soil myself an’d have nightmares. Probably both.
> NEW for The Athletic: Is Cody Ceci playing his final games with the Oilers?
Maybe… probably.
Warren Foegele definitely is though. Pretty sure.
You could probably add Perry, Henrique, Carrick, Gagner and Brown to that list. Maybe Ryan? Vinny will depend on his salary expectation but he he is back.
Ryan is signed for next year….
I would be OK with Ryan coming back. Just not sure he is a guy who can play 82 anymore.
I love the fact there is a U of A Golden Bear on the Oilers.
The Oilers have always needed one to win a Cup (Dr. Randy Gregg).
Calvin Pickard has been earning at or near league-minimum for his entire career.
Last night he definitively secured himself an NHL backup role for next season, and is tending toward the most lucrative contract of his life.
At just over $6M in career earnings, it’s quite possible his prime earnings years as a pro athlete are still ahead of him.
Every win he gets from here on probably puts $500k onto the TCV of his next deal.
Not sure one game leads to hitting pay dirt.
There are 72 free agent goaltenders this offseason.
https://www.capfriendly.com/browse/free-agents/2025/caphit/all/goalies?stats-season=2024
Definitely a buyer’s market.
Safe to say Pickard has outperformed a great many of them this season.
He’s had a good body of work and is team-first.
Increasingly, teams are spending less on goaltending especially backups.
It’s difficult to find many teams spending more than $1 million on them.
There’s 54 goalies with a cap hit of $1.5 million or more right now. I’m not sure your cutoff for backup goalie is in line with the rest of the world. You wouldn’t happen to making things up just to be disagreeable would you?
How many of those are 32 year old career backups?
Let’s look at the teams still in the playoffs.
COL Justis Annunen $775K
DAL Scott Wedgwood $1M
VAN Casey DeSmith $1.8M
CAR Pyotr Kotchetkov $2M
FLA Anthony Stolarz $1.1M
NYR Jonathan Quick $825K
BOS Jeremy Swayman $3.475
BOS is an outlier since Swayman grabbed the net from Ullmark and his $5M cap hit and hasn’t let it go.
The Bruins reportedly tried to trade Ullmark most of the season but no other team bit.
I expect they will dispose of him in the offseason and go cheaper at backup.
Casey DeSmith is also a 32 year old UFA and I’m pretty sure Silovs will be Vancouver’s back up next season. He’s RFA with a current cap hit of $775K.
Seems very likely the best Pickard could hope for is a one way deal in the $1-$1.5M range.
If/when the Oilers get rid of Campbell it might well be the Oilers that do that but I’m pretty sure it won’t be a long tern contract and certainly wouldn’t be higher tyhan Skinner’s $2.6M cap hit.
**observes moved goalposts**
Him? NEVER!
It depends on what he does with the ball he’s been given. He looked cool as a cucumber and for Hrudey to say otherwise was him trolling.
Yeah but how many of them are any good
— The games are too late for me to watch in the six. Watch highlights in the morning, after reading this blog first in the morning. It’s an unconventional but enjoyable way to follow the playoffs.
— It’s been a ride reading the comment section in here though. And waking up at night and checking score.
— If team and/or Pickard sh$t the bed yesterday: it was that close to the end of this era of the Oilers I believe.
— I still believe it’s a Cup appearance or bust for resigning Drai.
— What an amazing season to date.
It has been. I’m not sure what they do bcs they need another top 9 C that has some offense. It’s not Nuge and hasn’t been according to 3 coaches. McL is helpful but not it. If they want to load up they need L2 to be able to get something done
Scary of a thought that is, my buddy and I were saying the same thing. I do think Drai sticks around if we’re competitive in round 3, but if we’re bounced by the Canucks we may as well thank the hockey gods for the McDrai combo and get thinking about how the hell we’re going to retool this back into a team without them.
— and really couldn’t blame Drai for leaving if they don’t advance IMO.
— I was “certain” he was a goner after the start of season.
— will save a bunch of posts for off-season but this has been remarkable season on so many levels.
— here we are with a 32 year min wage after thought on his 6th NHL team 5th AHL team as the guy management had for KK to save their playoffs.
— Just as many predicted !!!
I too thought that goaltending was this team’s achilles heel. Goaltending is everything in the playoffs, and we didn’t have one with a track record.
But what else should we have done? Who was available at the trade deadline?
The NHL is a hard league to win in. This is our seventh playoff series in three years. That’s better than most teams.
Roli was late to the party as well, when we talk about older goalies making impact. Same goes for Tim Thomas.
Picks earned the next start.
I firmly believe Skinner cannot and will not be thrown away (we have more competent management and the alternatives are limited thanks to cap space and Campbell). Last round he shut out a team in a game when the xGF% was ~25%. There’s a goalie there.
We also don’t need to create a controversy when there shouldn’t be one. May we be so lucky as to have a time where we have a 1A and 1B to go to.
Prospectfinale?
Indeed, the last man skating among NAmateurs could see his season end this night. James Stefan and the Hawks of Winter are in a 3-0 series hole with tonight’s game (and the next if necessary) in the Friendly City. Can Portland force Game 5 Friday, or will their season reach its end?
These and other questions will be answered once the puck drops at 8 p.m. Rosyth time.
One more thought: all three league finals have been surprisingly lopsided. Drummondville has already swept their way to the Q title, while London can do likewise in the O tonight, scoring 24 (!!) goals in the three games this far.
If you have the eyes to see, you may enjoy the televisual feast of Game 4 upon TSN 3/5.
London had an insane comeback. I was hoping for a good series as lopsided ones aren’t always fun, in a sense. Just ridiculous. But that game was fun.
Sportsnet has not updated the Playoff Stats as of this moment. It almost seemed like they were updating in real time as Matthews chased 70 goals. I guess as the TMLs are out, there is no point.
Points: Leon – 20 (1st) / McDavid – 18 (2nd) / Bouch – 15 (3rd)
Goals: Hyman – 9 (1st) / Leon – 8 (3rd) / Nikushkin is tied for 1st but suspended
GWG: Bouch – tied for 2nd
Assists: Glimmer triplets – 1,2 and 3
+/-: Bouch tied for 1st
Penalty Minutes: PLD, that playoff warrior, still tied for 3rd!
Hyman and Hopkins are both 2 points back from making the top 5 all Oilers.
Once again, ESPN has been rocking it in that department.
Remember when Bouchard couldn’t get a regular spot on the third pair, because we had Bear.
Remember when Broberg couldn’t get a regular spot on the third pair, because we have Kulak and Vinny.
Coffey knew Bouchard had the goods and needed to be put in a position to succeed. The game is slowing down for Evan at both ends of the rink now. He’s even developing a mean streak including face washes. Ekholm has been a wonderful partner and mentor.
It’s been truly amazing and delightful to watch Bouchard evolve to this. I too am enjoying his feisty side. I’d like to think Keith influenced him some as well.
And Ekholm, well, always thought he was good. I had no idea he had this whole package.
I’d put Kulak beside Nurse with Broberg beside Desh.
This is exactly what I would do as well, but the time for this experiment was during the regular season in my opinion.
The final games of the season would have been a good chance to try out some variations on the defence.
Agreed, rare misstep by the coach.
Just put Broberg with Nurse. This was obvious six months ago.
Bouchard wasn’t the same player back when he was competing with Bear for a spot. Plus there was no Ekholm to help develop him. Revisionist history, perhaps?
Ek gave Bouch the room and time to figure his NHL game figured out, Keith also certainly helped
Keith was at the game in his Oiler silks last night.
Kassian dropped by on Sunday.
Klim was over in Round 1.
Simply check the current NHL playoff standings and every one of the players in the top 50 of the NHL today you move mountains to keep together that’s your core;
Darnell Nurse suddenly appears in trade considerations how about Doughty for a steep discount on Doughty’s salary? Drew Doughty might not have a lot left on the other hand he might have more in a reduced role in a top NHL defence like Bouchard Ekholm Doughty.
Nurse meanwhile gets to go to LAK and there he will be free to develop as he’s already an incredibly mobile hockey player.
Toss in Quick? lol
Why would the NYR throw in Quick?
Kane’r is a menace who mugged Filip Hronek and left him for dead.
That was the shift of the season; initiated with that thunderous hit.
I love that Knobby is pushing buttons and pulling levers so much. Past coaches would just stick with plan A and run it right into the ground. This guy is coaching!!
And I’ve come to realize that in every game I’ve stayed up for this round (Atlantic Time Zone), the Oilers lost, while the ones I went to bed before puck-drop, they won. So much so, that I went to bed after the first period of game 3 (down 3-1), and woke up to see they outscored Vancouver 2-1 after I went to bed.
So I don’t want to take all the credit, but I was asleep an hour before the game started last night. You’re welcome!
If you can’t sleep and need someone to count sheep for you give me a shout. No blue screens an hour before game time and no coffee after 12.
Because it’s the Cup.
Because it’s the cup!
Thank you kind Sir! It is not like hockey players, or fans, are superstitious or anything like that. Keep on doing what you are doing!
Note: Oilers win the series Saturday GM6 at home with a probably 8PM MST start time.
Great to see Nuge score last night. If there is a Stanley Cup winning goal one day I would like to see him score it. Shout out to Evan Bouchard who is playing unreal. Don’t even notice him in his zone because he moves the puck out so quickly. Great game from Pickard who brought his 905sv% to the table. I run with him to the end of the series for sure but that’s me. Leon is playing amazing. If you told me that he was going to play like this in the playoffs I would have put the Oilers as a favorite to win. Unfortunately there has been a drop off from other players to counteract this.
Hearing lots of rumours that the Oilers offered Ceci and a 1st for Tanev. I think that trade may have pushed the Oilers over the top but sounds like Calgary wasn’t dealing with the Oilers. Watching the game its clear that the Oilers lose puck possession when Ceci handles the puck. He keeps going to his backhand along the boards and it usually results in a turnover. If the Oilers can figure out a way to give his minutes to someone else I think it could help the team. Easier said than done but to me his spot is the next position that needs an upgrade. First one was goaltending and a change has been an improvement.
I think a big part of it was the flames didn’t want the term on Ceci’s contract back. I’m sure there was likely an Oilers premium as well.
How is nobody talking about this team’s complete inability to close out a game? Blowing that 2 goal lead was not even shocking because I fully expected it.
This team cannot go into a defensive shell. It’s not them. Their best defensive shell is having the puck deep in Van end and cycling for shift after shift. Physical (not running around) intensity and backchecking like demons, and not giving up possession so easily. There’s a balance, and they are close, but they need to not 100% sit back with a lead. They are incapable of executing for a period at a time.
Methinks this team is still a work in progress; ironically far better than for example a San Jose Sharks Joe Thornton regular season dynasty playoff flops, because the team that keeps learning continues to improve.
I think it is more the complete inability of Nurse, Ceci and Deharnais to make a good outlet pass to start the transition.
That’s what I saw yesterday
Also the latter two seem to be uncomfortable with the pace of play
It seemed apparent to me that as soon as the Oil stopped hitting everyone in sight and pressuring the puck, the Ca@#$%s took advantage of the free time and space and started their comeback. For me, the key is to keep them worrying about getting punished every time they touch the puck and forcing them to make hasty decisions that often result in turnovers. HIT EVERYTHING.
Even Mcleod hit someone.
lol the first one deflected of Desh into the slot and then deflected off Nurse into the net. Lucky bounce. Then very lucky on a 6 on 5 off another body.
They pushed after to win and outscored 5v5 and have allowed the least High Danger chances against of anyone in the playoffs.
Tough crowd, although a single dzone draw win would’ve sealed the deal. As our host says, those Nucks refuse to die.
Silovs has single handedly kept this series relevant.
Yes, and Boeser/Miller too. It should have been 3 or 4 zip halfway through the 3rd
I think that the problem is that they’re playing against another excellent NHL team. Vancouver fans are going ‘why can’t we close them out?’ after watching Bouchard scoring with 40 seconds left in the game. Hockey is a game played at high speed with a bouncy puck on ice. Many things can and do happen to affect the outcome of any hockey game.
They have closed out 6 of 9 games this postseason. Not always in the fashion our hearts can take. Some of the closer calls have been due to puck luck and/or goaltending on either side. Limiting opponent to 8 shots in the 3rd while up 2-0 generally yields success
I heartily concur. The Old School thinking of going in a defensive shell to protect a lead is harder to do in today’s NHL with more mobile and better puck moving defences than in eons past. To my mind, the best defense is offensive pressure and a possession game. They won’t score if they don’t have the puck, and are less likely to score if they have to shoot their energy load just to get the puck back. Forecheck, backcheck, paycheck as my Pappy used to say*
*My Pappy didn’t say this, but he could have if he was a hockey fan. Poetic licence for dramatic effect.
Is it just me or do the Oil need to get pucks higher on Silovs, he seems to cover the down low well but hasn’t been tested as much top half of the net.
Was thinking the same thing after watching it last night. Silovs is good down low like most butterfly goalies. When you’re in tight though, it can be difficult to elevate.
He can do the splits effortlessly like a 12 year-old Nadia Comaneci.
I think that’s literally every tender in the league, no?
Yes! Which is why I mention it. Nuge had a yawning left side so fine, and he had lots of mustard on that shot. But to me their finishing woes (xGF% always quite ahead of GF%) is related to not having a lot of natural shooting scorers
Except Bouch, what a beauty
Not skinner
Very much hoping for a Colorado win tonight!
Yep in triple OT
The Avs just don’t have the horses this year.
The Nichushkin stuff aside they were a very top heavy team and Middlestadt/Colton are more support guys than drivers.
Its a testament to just how bad the Jets were that the Avs were able to run them over in Round 1.
Good riddance to another 1 season dynasty.
Keeping McDraisaitl together you imagine both want to try it for at least another 3-4 seasons.
Losing two top-6 forwards in Nikushkin and Landeskog to drugs and injury has really hurt the team.
Welcoming the Avs to what the Oilers went through when they lost their top 2 LD, Klefbom and the Shin-Pad Assasin himself (Andrej Sekera).
It will take years for them to recover if neither player returns.
Drugs, overtly correct but, from a higher level, its disease he’s been lost to…..
I legitimately feel we can’t play Ceci on the road here……
Nurse is equally culpable, and weighs the cap space down like a giant albatross at sea in a whaling ship.
Seriously, how about if next season they give Nurse to Ekholm for 15-20 games? Nurse needs the calming defence partner, not someone that he has to cover for. Because Nurse has big problems playing that role.
I’m still convinced Nurse has all the makings of a varsity athlete.
Kinda ruins your argument when you disregard that Ekholm and Nurse both play left side.
Oh we can. Someone needs to be on the lookout and yell ‘CAR’.
Pickard or Skinner game # 5?
Pickard – go with the hot hand!
Pickard, he’s earned it.
Skinner!? Why not Jack Campbell? lol
Pickard has the hot seat for as long as he thrives. He only has to win another 10 games.
Well, we COULD try Rodrigue…
Win & you’re in.
If you have to ask the question…
Been traveling since Friday, not much time to post, mixed with demon liquor and the Game 3 loss I couldn’t muster the energy for comment.
Anyway before it gets lost in the ether I wanted to say that your Blood on the Streets post on Monday, for me was perhaps the best game summary I’ve ever read from you LT. It was some of your best material from what I witnessed first hand and I didn’t want it to go unnoticed. You were spot on in every detail in my opinion.
Thanks for everything you do good sir!
Onto Game 5!
Extremely happy with the effort, last night. I don’t get to say that enough.
I was most impressed by the guys trying to disrupt every shot attempt. There were very few uncontested shots. Even if a player got by or they were a step behind they still worked hard to get contact or a stick somewhere to make it harder on the shooters. Big difference, to me, from most games of this series.
Personally, I think this was a product of two things. The first is they refused to give up. They found a way to dig a little deeper and that’s what teams need to do to win championships. The second was that they knew we were playing our backup and knew that they absolutely had to help as much as possible.
No disrespect to Picks. He played a helluva game and made the save he had to, but, we sure seem to play better defensively when we know when can’t just “rely” on the goalie(Skinner) to bail us out.
Also, I think their goalie stuffed a bunch of horseshoes somewhere cuz he’s been good but also lucky as hell. The save with the puck under his skate seemed practically impossible. 4 or more posts last game. When I saw the goal go through him on Evans’s Glorious Goal I thought to myself “that’s it! The end of the heater for this kid!”.
I don’t think that they’re so much more comfortable with Skinner in net. He’s not Hasek.
I’ve always liked the Kulak-Ceci pairing, but always worried about running it with only Des as an option for Nurse’s pairing especially given the role Nurse plays (suggesting breaking up Ekholm-Bouch should be met with a public flogging). But Vinny has really developed a great deal this whole year and I don’t worry about him at all anymore. Which is quite impressive for a guy with only about 100 NHL games under his belt (though I know he’s no kid).
Yeah, the Canucks love the Ceci – Kulak pairing as well.
Ceci was terrible last night. And has been getting crushed this playoff.
Unsure how KK plans to hide him in Vancouver.
I truly believe we have to insert Stecher for way more speed…..granted he lacks the physical component.
Hide him with Foegele in the press box!
Ha!
He’s not as big but he’s more aggressive. And the Canucks F group isn’t big overall
And he’s an ex-Canuck, so extra motivation. Stecher is quicker than Ceci which is important in this series.
and 5 inches shorter and 30 pounds lighter which, to some/many, is also important in this series.
I think Broberg comes in before Stecher, no matter which way and replaced d-man shoots.
The Canucks need high end to elite goaltending to win the series
Oilers just need competent goaltending. I’m glad Pickard got the opportunity. He played well. Took care of what he needed to take care of
If we believe in the fancies this series is way more lopsided in favor of the Oilers than last series. The score effects argument is a saw off with games 1 and 3.
The eye test matches that as well. Silvos is making some bigly saves but the Nucks are getting caved whether its 5v5 or All Strengths. The Oilers xGF has been running north of 65% since Game 1.
https://naturalstattrick.com/games.php?fromseason=20232024&thruseason=20232024&stype=3&sit=all&loc=B&team=EDM&team2=All&rate=n
Silovs has been frustratingly good. That last one was a weak one though. I wonder if that will rattle his confidence going forward.
I don’t get why everyone figures that goal was weak. He was totally screened on the shot.
Apparently, Tocchet figured there was about four or five mistakes on the play. That’s a lot of mistakes on one single play. It was a gimme. LOL.
More traffic in front if you want to solve the goalie.
Leon was the best player on the ice last night.
Almost makes me think he can centre his own line.
No need to over think things KK.
Seriously the top 2 are killing the NHL playoffs. Add Bouchard and now it’s the current top 3.
Sooo turns out starting Calvin and splitting the Super Line wasn’t the End of Days?
Vindication for those of us who called for such things.
McLeod is wrestling with his mind right now. I counted four shot attempts and TWO things that resembled hits. Alas I also counted three dzone turnovers/failed clears, two of which led to sequences of pain. But you know… I’ll take that if it some way, some how, unlocks a bit of offense away from Drai or McD. That line is going to score this series. Its getting close. Kane in a similar vein. I see a few lost board battles in the dzone and a 4 min offensive zone penalty, which could have been 5 and a game if his stick was a few inches to the left. Then he drops a massive hit and causes chaos with 45 seconds left. Always on a knife edge that guy. Love it. So glad Holland signed him even if he’s hard to slot for the coach.
Evan Bouchard is sooo much better than Noah Dobson 😉
Final thing. For comparison sake. Heiskanen -4, Makar -3
Hopefully Nill and MacFarland can get a D partner for those two that patch over their obvious and clear deficiencies on defense. Its a shame they give back more than they create (tongue firmly planted in cheek).
pounding gavel in response
I’ve been saying it ever since I was watching him play live for the London Knights. Much better than what the detractors pick on. Observe his version of the Russell Reset and how he scans the entire ice and player layout before directing the course of play.
Speaking of Dobson or Bouchard, 2018 may go down as one of the greatest drafts for defensemen of all time. Dahlin, Q. Hughes, Dobson, Bouchard, Boqvist, KA. Miller, Sandin, Durzi + who else knows who might still surprise after it’s all said and done. So much talent there.
That’s a killer class of dmen yup. Long careers in the works for all of em.
How could you forget the great Ty “passed Bouchard like a house on the side of the road” Smith
Speeding to make his commercial flight to the AHL (and soon to the Swiss league).
All the elite defensemen show themselves early don’t ya know!
As recently as Bouchard’s Draft+3 (3 years ago), he was seen as a failed prospect. I don’t think I’m exaggerating. Maybe even more recently than that. I recall seeing a list of “Top 50” prospects that didn’t even list him, while praising Dobson and Ty Smith to the skies. Seriously, the mockery and criticism that the Oilers got for the Bouchard pick was wild. I’d like to see some of those writers acknowledge what they got wrong.
Anyone who watched him when he was with the Knights should have seen the wicked skill set, near perfect size, wonderful skating and the progression of putting that all together as a wonderful development path.
His first season was a tricky one with the COVID rules and where the Oilers were at that time. The Oilers were working through a RHD group that contained Larsson, Bear and Barrie already on the roster. Credit to Mgmt for giving Bear the shot. He was drafted and developed by the team and flushing him prior to that season to make room for Bouchard would have been a major departure from established practice.
I think we sometimes forget just how much turnover happened after that season. But it opened the door for our man Bouch and lordy has he grabbed the reigns and taken off.
At CoH Bouchard was rated as Oilers #1 prospect 4 summers in a row. That’s too long at the fair by half, but today the question is did we actually get one right? Or did we actually get four right?
McLeod had his best game in a while last night. 3 official hits, way more physically engaged, rang the crossbar on an open look in the first (though nobody seemed to notice).
And for all those “sequences of pain”, Vancouver mustered ONE shot during his 13 minutes at 5v5.
Yup I agree wholeheartedly. He was buzzing in the best way and making himself more of threat. The turnovers were noticeable strictly because they happen so infrequently. Not mad or even upset. The line scrambled and limited the damage as you noted.
How dare you undermine narratives with logic and evidence, Bruce?
Next thing you’re going to say is the Canucks second goal went in off Dakota Joshua’s skate and not Darnell Nurse’s skate. Get it together Bruce.
I don’t see how anyone can complain about McLeod’s game last night. He had a good game.
What would Heiskanen and Makar be playing in Bouchard’s spot? In a five man unit with McDavid and Ekholm, and often with Draisaitl too.
I’d still take Heiskanen over any D in the league. He is young enough, if I were starting a team from scratch, I would take him.
All three young men are good players.
Makar is playing in Bouchard’s spot… he gets primo minutes with two guys perennially scoring 100 points a season and he gets all the top PP time. He’s been oddly bad away from MacKinnon all season. Like everyone on the Avs actually.
Heiskanen gets the same treatment in Dallas. Top forwards, first pairing. Alas he could not hack the defensive role, maybe he’s hurt I dunno. They went out and got Tanev to create a shutdown pairing cause they needed to shelter him away from top comp defensively.
Makar played apx 70% of his 5 on 5 time with BOTH MacKinnon and Rantanen and Bouch had better numbers across the board.
Makar also got killed when he played without those guys whereas Bouch still have very good numbers across the board when not with McDavid and/or Drai.
I’m not saying Bouchard is better than Makar but he had a better season.
Not to say the Kings were nothing but they were nothing compared to this. If there’s an early playoff ‘hump’ the Canucks are IT, and if Oil can continue to elevate and overcome then I think they got what it takes to go the distance.
What a win WADDA win. Impressed with both teams. Nucks have depth that’s gone unrecognized to this point, and goaltending down to their eighth stringer. Good opponents make for great victories. Let’s keep ‘em coming!
See, this is what concerns me. We’re barely even with a Canucks team that is down to a third-string goalie – and who is playing like a third-string goalie. Yes, we played a good game last night and deserved to win. But imagine if Vancouver had Demko in net right now? We’d probably be talking about whether or not Draisaitl was going to re-sign.
No, no and no! Who cares who the Dyes have in net. The Glimmer Triplets would light him up as well.
Silovs has been excellent in net. Demko would need to be at the top of his game to match Silovs’ performance
Uh…we must be watching the games differently. To my eye, Silovs has been as bad or worse than Skinner. I highly doubt Demko lets in the Bouchard goal last night, and (as somebody else posted below) maybe not the RNH goal either.
Silovs has provided very good goaltending
I was surprised to see he only has .907. He has made some timely stops for the Canucks. He robbed McDavid on the powerplay.
I think he’s been both bad and good. I think if a few of the 10+ posts went in then these are very different games and the narrative is quite different. He got away with the stick and leg grab of Ryan. He got lucky with a few other plays, like The Glove. He’s also had a lot of luck with his defenders (both poor, avec Ian Cole, and good with the others who are stick checking and clogging up the middle like madmen).
If Kane keeps his momentum and lets the collision with Silovs happen, then it also becomes a very different series.
The stick grab on Ryan was a great defensive play & would have been a great penalty. As it turned out, it was even better than that. Theft with a clean getaway in broad daylight.
Very differently.
According to Money Puck, of goaltenders who have made a minimum of 7 games this spring, Silovs is ranked 4th in goals saved above expected at +3. Skinner? Dead last at -4.6.
To say Silovs has played like a third stringer is puzzling and the stats don’t support that whatsoever.
I was going to post something similar. Silovs is, objectively, the 4th best remaining goalie after Swayman, Shesterkin and Oettinger – that’s elite company.
The Dy’s braintrust (term used loosely) may want to look at packaging Demko for a stud forward while he’s still in Vezina territory
I tried to approach last night a bit differently from a mental health point of view. I decided I wouldn’t really respond one way or another until the third because either they will need to hold a lead or mount a comeback and both will be exhausting. This is what I have learned from many years of Mario Kart. All that matters is the third lap. In the end, and I mean THE END, it worked!
Everyone hear or read what coach said about Holloway last night?
He was asked if he would keep him on the 2nd line and coach went farther and said he doesn’t see a reason to not give Holloway even more responsibility.
He then went on to say that next game is on the road and not having last change will go in to his decision making. I guess we’ll see but I think the lines will stay the same to start the game.
Holloway looked excellent yesterday. His forchecking comes as advertised, but I’ve been impressed with his ability to make plays through traffic and create some havoc for the other team.
He also made an outstanding defensive play to get a stick on an űberdangerous slot shot & tip it into the netting.
By my eye, Holloway is the #6 forward in the top six. Keep those 6 guys together.
Nuge, McDavid, Hyman,Holloway,Leon & Kane.
I enjoy the fourth line (Janmark-Ryan-Brown) But would like to see more from the third line. Not sold on Perry as a fit with Foegele & MacLeod, although he does have a certain flare about him. But he needs to produce more scoring and less posing for the camera.
Team McSaitlchard puck yea