I believe the Edmonton Oilers will win the Stanley Cup on Monday, June 24. We’ll call it early summer. I see everyone is mad at Stuart Skinner today, the pairing of Darnell Nurse-Cody Ceci and coach Kris Knoblauch. For me, the question isn’t ‘why is Knoblauch so arrogant, doesn’t he know putting Nurse-Ceci together is a mistake?’ it is ‘what circumstances led to this decision?’ and one suspects it’s injury or Brett Kulak’s being uncomfortable playing RH side. Any road, Philip Broberg’s emergence is absolute music and a major story for this organization. Relax. Breathe. The Oilers are in good position this morning, as long as everyone stays healthy.
LET’S TALK
I picked the Oilers in seven games, am confident this team has what it takes. I’m not certain about injuries but failing that I will tell you this Oilers crew looks like a winner. Edmonton enjoyed 18 high-danger chances from nine different players. Now, NST is sometimes quick to hand out HD’s (like Oprah, you get a HDSC and YOU get a HDSC!) but it felt like the Oilers were getting good looks all down the line.
Connor McDavid was flying, six shots, four HDSC and a 54 percent expected goal share. Adam Henrique, 84 percent expected goals, Leon Draisaitl 72 percent, Nuge 48 percent.
Nurse-Ceci were 0-2 goals in the game, and I see lots of rage toward coach Knoblauch. I’d be more interested in why he did it. I also believe he will check down to Nurse-something and it might be Philip Broberg. WHY this organization faded the idea all damn year is worth pondering.
I thought Stuart Skinner delivered a game that was within reasonable expectations and gave his team a chance to win.
I think this team could have won the game. They should call it goalie, give the newcomers to the sport better clues.
I think this series comes down to McDavid-Draisaitl-Bouchard and their ability to solve Bob. I believe in the Glimmer Twins and Mick Taylor.
Last cup winners, Vegas, Colorado, Tampa Tampa, do kids grow up in these cities even play hockey? Somethings not right.
https://x.com/hockeyanalysis/status/1799899396512899099
Armchair GM, Free agency search and Transactions
Brobosky!
You are back on the case
Lots of chatter on X and with Knoblauch quote on the Athletic.
In a small sample size, do you run with xGF% or actual GF% in making roster decisions?
Any coach should watch tape and see who is messing up if they can’t see it real time
Stats are aggregate not situational
Knobby knows Oiler fans know stats and was deflecting, he protects his players
What are we going to tell Corey?
because he’s not helping much that I can see. Breakouts, boardwork, netfront, backcheck.
And McLeod has his hands full with his own game, he cannot drag Perry along.
One thing I had noticed on the two failed breakaway attempts…
First, the deke to the backhand move used by Nuge and Henrique, that’s the first move I ever learned playing hockey growing up. It doesn’t beat peewee goalies very often.
I think both were thinking 5 hole as Oettinger had a huge one moving right to left across the crease. Goalie Bob had the 5 hole completely closed as he moved side to side. It was unreal.
I thought nige had some 5 hole. But i didnt go back and check.
No 5 hole goals this playoffs. I think we should make it our mission to score 5 hole. Abandon all reason and get a 5 hole goal. Perhaps Perry could assist with that.
I would prefer a faked shot or deke to get him down and roof it
5 hole or around are tough options. Unless you have the opportunity to get the goalie moving to open the 5 hole. Hasn’t worked much for them when they try it. Just take the easy option on a butterfly goalie
And don’t hit him in the face unless on purpose
Gretz thought they were going to the wrong side as well
Nuge was slashed on the wrist but it was missed. It forced him into that attempt.
I don’t think he was scoring regardless the way he went in
Centre depth: McDavid, Draisaitl, Henrique, Nugent-Hopkins, McLeod, Carrick, Janmark, Ryan, Ganger. Seems pretty effing deep to me. Possibly deeper at centre than any other team.
Amazing how the pundits confuse low crest factor and shallow waters with shiny bottoms for “depth”. Louder isn’t better. Barkov would be a 3C on the Oil. Truth is with the Oil at Centre, you can’t see the effing bottom.
Ponce de Léon’s failure has resulted in Paul Narcissus Maurice staring at his own reflection. This will be his last cup loss and his failure is going to echo for a while.
Which brings me to a serious question:
Do you run 11/7 and swap out the struggling D in real time? With all that depth at Centre, I don’t see why not. Out of the 11 you choose, there’s probably 6 to double shift at 4C.
(Hunter, is that positive enough?)
Now it’s all about minimizing bleeding, there is no player management necessary outside of excessive TOI
I don’t like 11/7 but the biggest issue is at D
Make it so
Play whatever 2/3 RD is best and the other is a cowboy (riding pine) or special teams
https://x.com/NHL_Sid/status/1799645573445771492
https://x.com/NHL_Sid/status/1799836446226006251
Ekholm – Bouchard
Nurse – Broberg
Kulak – Desharnais
That’s how I’d run it as well.
Lot’s of differing opinions today, but I’m sure we can agree that the People’s Front of Judea are a bunch of splitters!
I don’t mind them, personally.
It’s the Judea People’s front causing all the public discourse.
Haha
What’s the possible motivation behind the WSH purchase of CapFriendly?
I can’t square that circle.
Not my thoughts, but seems like a reasonable explanation:
Huh.
That’s a pretty penny purchase to be purely petty.
The pending death of Capfrienly due too the Capital’s purchasing it sucks.
The NHL publishes garbage, fans innovate and add to the game, NHL owners seek advantage and remove innovation from the public.
Backward ass league.
How can it be cost effective for the league to have 32 teams each paying for replicating this service? The NHL should have bought it and provided it as a service for all 32 teams, the media, and the public.
100%. Course it makes too much sense, so there’s no chance the NHL would do that.
They would have screwed it up and that’s a guarantee
Yeah. This actually pisses me off!!!!
Vic Ferrari didn’t want to have the coding done I guess
Any team can do it if the want to spend
I am personally thrilled for Hart Levine and Puckpedia.
For those that don’t know, while Hart lives in California now, he’s from Edmonton and his family remains there (our mothers are friends).
Great for him for sure. An excellent site
Desharnais has to be inserted for the next game regardless, before it becomes an absolute must win scenario.
He has sat long enough. He has to replay to retai optionality.
That’s not a thing in the finals. Play the players that give you the best chance of winning. A cup of coffee in November on the road in Buffalo is a big difference from literally the last games for all the marbles.
If you believe that Big Des gives us the best chance, then great, I can see your argument although I don’t agree. But playing a player just because he might get rusty is not the way.
Broberg was awfully rusty, and he seems to be OK nonetheless.
Disagree to disagree? He stepped in big. And looked good.
— how many first shot goals has skinner let in this playoffs? At least 4, maybe 5?
— fun to watch. Thought the production value on CBC/Sportsnet very mediocre
McDavid and Hyman started the game without their defensive switch on. If one wants Skinner to stop the first shot, the forwards should start the game on time.
If you don’t have faith in your Goalie to make a save or two especially the first shot of the game then this series is over.
Backchecking isn’t dependant on having faith. The goalie isn’t meant to be the saviour.
No, he is the saver.
Bobby says “beat me!”
I do not blame Skinner on either goal but would not the quality of first shot Bob faced (I think the Hyman shot was the first, could be wrong).
Yeah, Hyman shot it right at Bob’s face, which happened to be at the right place at the right time.
The shot on Stu was completely different and the shooter decided to put the shot somewhere other than straight at the goalie.
Yep, first shot was high danger, and it’s not on Skinner.
I asked this in the game day thread today, but understandably lost there: I’m stumped on how was it the right play to vacate the middle. Yes, McDavid was too low in Florida zone, and that lead to the rush. But if the D stayed in the middle, it’s not a GA: Nurse stays with Barkov, there’s not much of a chance on net (McDavid was catching up, and could take Reinhart along boards; Ceci stays in middle…then no open slot for Verhaeghe, and if Verhaeghe stayed closer to blueline, Hyman was there, for any passes to a trailer from Reinhart).
If the concern was Barkov picking Nurse to give Reinhart a path to the net, McDavid was right there (Reinhart had slowed and McDavid was gaining ground).
Somebody care to explain how it was correct execution by Nurse?
I’m not hanging the game on Nurse (they were goalied, it happens). Just disagreeing with godot’s assertion that Nurse had nothing to do with either GA.
https://oilersnation.com/news/edmonton-oilers-vs-florida-panthers-game-1-a-tactical-review
Thanks Ryan (and Diablo below). I should have checked Bruce Curlock’s analysis earlier. I thought maybe I was missing something. Appears not. Thanks for your time.
Both shots were saveable and also acceptable GA on the goalie
Miles better than previous administrations.
Bieksa also hung that goal on Nurse. It was his decision to leave the middle of the ice that turned a 3-on-2 into a 2-on-1. Nurse just doesn’t have that sense of where the danger is coming from that great d-men have. Call it poise or whatever, but he just doesn’t have it.
The media often is criticized for the questions they don’t asked the coaching staff and, of course many blasting the media for not asking coach about the Nurse/Ceci pairing last night – vitriol from some even.
Today, Mark Spector, he the receipt of more vitriol than any other, asked the exact question.
Coach gave a non-answer and mentioned expected goals being different from actual goals.
He also said they are not afraid to try experimenting with new things in the playoffs in response to the possibility of Broberg with Nurse.
Glad it was asked, though the xGF% for the pair this playoff run is awful: 34.4% at 5v5 (from NST). As Woodguy pointed out before Dallas series, the difference between expected and actual is there for Nurse with Desharnais.
Course the team would have their own numbers…
I had a similar view of the game. Oilers were playing mostly fine. They got a lot of chances on net, but didn’t put the puck where it needed to be.
Suspect those shooters will watch some tape and decide to break their “shoot low” habits.
IMO the finger pointing at Nurse and Skinner is simply because people are too afraid of pointing fingers where they probably should be.
And where should those fingers be pointed?
The depth narrative is fascinating. We had Kane, Foegle, Brown, Henrique and McLeod in the bottom six last night. This is clearly better than anything Florida has, and Dallas too. Their best bottom six player is Tarasenko and he’s been awful all playoffs. I took him in my draft. Ugh. Yet the talking heads keep questioning our depth.
Warren Foegele
GF 3 / GA 11
Had a couple of shifts last night at his own blue line where he was determined- not- to get the puck out of his own end.
If we don’t win the cup Foggy, Ceci and Nurse will have played key roles…
I agree with you though that the Panthers Depth seems over hyped….
Foegele needs a seat McLeod and Perry are close as well. Insert Carrick if healthy and Ryan as well You can’t have passengers when all the attention is on Connor, Leon and Bouchard. Janmark is playing like a man possessed he’s going to score a big Goal or 2 before this series is concluded.
That’s kind of the thing – Warren Foegle scored 18 goals at 5 on 5 this season and he only played a third or 2/5 of his time with Drai. Having this player on the third line, let alone the fourth line, SHOULD be a major plus – but he’s just not getting the job done.
Mcdavid actually pulled a Foegle on the first goal against last night. A moment where he turned the wrong way in offensive zone not sensing danger quickly enough. It cost them. Mcdavid will learn from this. Foegle keeps repeating these sorts of errors as well as giving the puck up in neutral zone. He made a pass across our blue line last night and then went off on a change. Completely oblivious. I thought Oilers fortunes turned in Dallas series when Des and Foegle were taken out. And also turned in Van series when Foegle saw no more time in top 6. Better against Florida to put in guys that are physical AND responsible. Ryan and Carrick would be miles better than Warren!
Tarasenko
GF 9 / GA 4
Luostarinen Lundell and Tarasenko (plus Stenlund) are better than anything the Oiler have.
I would take them and two plugs over what the Oilers have.
What game were you watching?
I have watched more than one game.
Small rant… with questions for feedback…
I will admit to not watching many Cup finals in the last several years, and if I do, it’s certainly not the pre-game or player announcements. Is it normal for the Stanley Cup to be entered into the building and displayed for game 1? I’ve never heard of it, and personally I thought it was distasteful. That trophy should be in a vault until it’s an elimination game.
Second, I’ve been wanting to mention this for awhile, does anyone else get annoyed when the home team kills a penalty and they play a sound chime/clip over the arena speakers to announce to the home team (and fans) that the penalty is over? I’m not sure the origin of this, but my first memory is the Avs with the Super Mario clip. The Panthers are using some cash register sound. I gotta say it annoys the hell out of me and I’m not sure it should be allowed.
I remember the first year Rogers Place opened and the Penguins were visiting. There was some fancy lights on the centre ice circle, most likely the Oilers symbol and Crosby literally stopped the faceoff, told the referee that it was distracting him from the draw, and boom… never saw that light display again.
I’m not a fan of this technology used, let’s just hear the goalie clapping his stick for the final 5 seconds and be done with these in game sounds. If not, let’s roll Metallica The Four Horseman for 25 seconds after we kill a penalty in honour of our kill.
End rant… thoughts?
I never miss the SCF, & dont recall the Cup ever being on display before Game 1. I found it unnerving, i wonder if the players did too.
i dont share your grievance with the penalty ending sound effects, the Super Mario one always makes me laugh.
I was just listening to 32 Thoughts and both Marek and Friedman liked having the cup out for game but Friedman thinks that should be enough, put it away until presentation, whereas Marek thinks it should be displayed all series.
In any event, and I didn’t notice this last night, but they did say the players on the ice all kind of like moved away from it – noone wanted to get even close to it.
I agree with all of this and to add to the rant.
There is a team, I cannot remember who right now, but every time an opposing forward crosses the blue line, there is a loud whistle. Someone hoping the opposition slows or strops for offside. Probably hairball’s idea.
L.A.
Broberg is looking like the 3rd best defender on the squad.
With Broberg looking like the 3rd best defender and the notion he’s not suited for the right side.
Broberg/Nurse, put Nurse on his offside and allow Broberg to help the team as best possible. Nurse seems to be at his best uncomfortable and heavily scrutinized.
Broberg was playing the offside last night. Played the most minutes in his career. He has played there 25%-33% of his professional career.
I was quite impressed with him and happy for him.
Last night was the Panther’s worst defensive game of the playoffs so far. They gave up the most shots, high danger shots and xga of their postseason so far.
It was also their worst offensive game. They had their fewest shots, high danger shots and xgf of the postseason.
The Panthers wake up feeling guilty, knowing they got lucky and stole one. Recent series show that the Panthers tend to have so-so first games but come out strong in game 2. .
I don’t love the thought of the Oilers believing they were good enough but got goalied. They need to be even better, because the Panthers surely will be.
It’ll be interesting to see how Game 2 goes. I’m probably wrong, but I’m not sure Florida can play any better, but they will play harder doing their thing. The Oilers are the best team they have faced when playing their possession game. I hope the Oilers don’t have any lapses and bring the same again with some better finish and some traffic
Coach said exactly that after the game last night.
Glass half full or glass half empty?
Oilers deserved better, but Panthers probably feel like they put in a B or C grade effort and still won.
Either way, Edmonton can play with them.
No need to load up McDrai — the focus has to be on finding Draisaitl ideal linemates.
Perry has done very little during his top 6 minutes aside from game 5. He should be used here and there, not every night.
McLeod and Holloway would be an interesting combo with Draisaitl.
Broberg — WOW. Really assertive last night with the puck. A few confident rushes and some great outlets. Did not seem fazed by the physical forecheck.
Definitely glass half full in my case.
The Oilers were goalied in Game 1. That doesn’t mean they can’t score, just that it didn’t happen in Game 1.
With everything that’s happened this year, there’s plenty of reasons to think the Oilers will in fact be better in Game 2:
Lastly, I can’t imagine the Oilers would relax after being shutout.
The Oilers carried play in Game 1, and that wasn’t peak Oilers. I’m looking forward to their response Monday night!
So many pucks went through Bob’s crease without hitting a skate or an errant stick and finding the back of the net. Lots of shots from the point, that didn’t somehow get tipped and force Bob to make a more challenging save.
The Panthers played with horseshoes up their butts and rabbits feet in their jock last night.
We’re at the place where I hope they aren’t second best in any game per OP’s commnet. There are only 6 max games left, and the Panthers while being a pain to play aren’t a better team. No time for mulligans now
They made the final again and kudos, but I think the eastern teams were over hyped. Or perhaps too injured, because I haven’t seen anything that impressive out of any of them these playoffs. The Canes lack something as usual, Toronto did Leafs playoffs, Caps done, Isles not that good
For who the Panthers faced Tampa is not what they were, Boston doesn’t have enough, Rangers have a lot of good players but aren’t a strong playoff team in my estimation and probably goalie driven. I think the western bracket was harder and had the better teams
I can see why the Panthers won a lot reg season when teams aren’t game planning, with their style, but they don’t seem like a juggernaut team as Tampa was, or the Avs when they won, even Vegas last season. They play hard and are opportunistic finishers, and they set scoring chances up well in front. They obviously have some good players, but nobody elite
I hope the guys can dial it in and play like that each game until they win, because it’s there for the taking. I think they have already beaten better teams
Good post.
I’d also note that Tampa and the Rags have smaller defenses. Boston’s isn’t too small but they’re younger and their big guys don’t always play large. That setup favors the Cats forecheck. It can make them look more physical than they are.
The Cats aren’t a heavy team either. Dirty as anything though. If Bennett keeps it up Mr Perry could make his contribution ending that, he has nothing to lose
I think is unreasonable, if not arrogant, to think that any team in the Stanley Cup Final is just going to have the play taken too them for the better part of 60, game after game, short exceptional circumstances. Similar to how I think its unreasonable to expect the players to go bar down and in on essentially every decent scoring chance.
While I think, like the Stars, the Panthers were being talked up too much and ultimately over-rated, and the Oilers are right there, I fully expect this series to have many momentum swings and back and forths and think its reasonable to suggest the Oilers are going to need their goalie to be the main reason for at least one win if they are going to get four.
I take it you didn’t watch the SCF last year?
https://www.naturalstattrick.com/games.php?fromseason=20222023&thruseason=20222023&stype=3&sit=all&loc=B&team=FLA&team2=VGK&rate=n
“barring exceptional circumstance” which is numerous high end players on the opposition team barely able to play and being shadows of themselves.
Thanks for the compliment
Yes it is reasonable to suggest they need Skinner at his best, and he may have to steal a win, I don’t think that it’s a requirement to win 4 however
We have seen this team dominate 3 good teams when they are into it. I don’t see the Panthers as any better than those teams. Given the short duration here I hope they keep the pressure on and play their game well
Its trolling to wave away four breakaways and a few single man in the slot chances as not grade A isn’t it?
That was a preview, not an outlier. Don’t try and fight what your eyes saw. This is the best opponent matchup since the first round without a doubt. Vancouver had better players, better defense and a better system for their players. Dallas had better players. L.A. could at least draw on priors to try and slow things down and to fight back. The Oilers will switch it up on the Cats before they realise what’s happening. Florida is overwhelmed.
I’m with LT, it’s hard not to be confident after what we saw last night.
Well, I am the resident skeptic and I was down voted for pointing out Panthers 3rd pairing D were OEL and Kulikov.
( OEL was comically slow years ago , hence why Canucks bought him out)
Kulikov is Kulikov and is on his 9th team for a reason.
Add to that Ekblad agility vs McDavid and I like the matchup a lot.
But, coach has to point the 12 gauge away from his his own foot
( Ceci / Nurse)
For sure. I keep thinking that with a better D or two they would be crushing teams, but because Stecher is out there are no easy decisions. Thankfully the Panthers D only has one good pair
The issue with the Oilers D is Des and Ceci are not very good and none of the LHD can play RHD particularly well. It’s a pickle.
”not very good” yet they are in the Stanley cup finals with 32 straight penalty kills and both Ceci and Desharnais playing a huge part in that.
Nobody remembers who loses the Stanley Cup final.
i.e. Making it to the Hillary Step means eff all.
We can say last night was a lost opportunity where the Oilers generally controlled the game and were the better team but lost. Whether one thinks Bob stole it or not, I think we can agree that he had a major impact on the game.
At some point in this series, the Oilers will need Skinner to be a major reason the Oilers win a game when they are the second best team.
We know he can do it.
There’s only one thing that matters and that’s hoisting the Cup. I’ve never wanted a player to prove me wrong this bad.
The Oilers played a great game, but the Panthers created the best 2 chances and buried them both. I can’t imagine blaming Skinner for either. I agree with some of the comments here that Bob was great, but didn’t face a lot of 5 alarm chances. Oilers were gripping sticks tight, not getting bounces etc. Both Henrique and Nuge were trying to go backhand shelf and got stick lifted (well, Nuge got slashed, but not likely a slash that’s going to get called in round 4)
This series was always going 6 games minimum, and if anything last night made me more confident that the Oilers can take it. Play 4 more games just like that and they probably win it in 5.
Kris Knoblauch knows more about deploying a hockey team than me.If he thinks that Ceci and Nurse leads to more of the shot domination, and that the freebie passes through the slot are anomalies that aren’t likely to happen again once let alone twice in a game, I’ll believe him. I also believe Broberg has emerged in a way that gives him more flexibility. Broberg looks so much more confident than he did in last year’s playoffs. He’s physical, and he wants the puck on his stick. He can anchor a second pairing right now to my eye.
There seem to be different tiers emerging for the defence which I see as:
Ekholm Bouchard
Broberg
Kulak
Nurse Ceci Desharnais Stetcher
I’m also confident in KK’s ability to shuffle through the bottom group to get something more effective if that’s the path forward.
Nurse Broberg
Kulak Desharnais
I can see why Bobo is hot and cold. He’s very athletic and moves east-west exceptionally well, but he’s all over the place. He flops around constantly and his puck handling skills are awful. Maybe he stones the Oil all series and delivers an historic goalie performance, but I can also see him going behind the net and passing the puck to an Oiler for a wide open look. He got very lucky that didn’t happen last night.
I counted 2.5 turnovers when he went out to play it too.
Mike Smith 2.0 baby!
Mike Keenan didn’t believe Dominic Hasek could be a reliable goaltender, so he traded him to Buffalo for peanuts.
I was worried that they would start tentative and Panthers would be the better team with their forecheck. Instead we showed that our forecheck is even more deadly than their forecheck and they just don’t have the horses
Bob had a great game but I think Hyman had it right post game — no goalie can stop everything, and it’s also about the bounces. Sometimes they don’t go your way.
I have my doubts Bob intended to save the 1st shot of the game with his helmet. There was 2 or 3 other high danger chances that could have also easily found the net, but for puck luck.
The stats sites are suggesting this may have been the best goalie performance against expected goals of the entire playoffs. It’s very rare for such an outlier not to reflect some puck luck, even if the goalie is playing lights out. I saw a decent amount of it last night.
The good guys dominated the game. If we’re even at 90% of last nights game tomorrow, we very likely get the split.
Also, not for nothing, but McDavid and gang look the healthiest they’ve been all playoffs.
Travis Yost re-posted this last night….originally he sent it in May
Travis Yost
@travisyost
Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci are not a credible pairing against playoff competition.
To salvage Edmonton’s season, Kris Knoblauch must split this duo, for good..
https://tsn.ca/nhl/travis-yost-darnell-nurse-cody-ceci-pairing-remains-a-major-problem-for-edmonton-oilers-1.2120093
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GNeXWjAaMAIZy9A?format=jpg&name=small
This was obvious since the lost last year to Vegas. Some people have been on a soapbox screaming this to everyone 24/7 every effing day since September.
I know everyone is saying that Edmonton needs to do adjustments, but really Florida needs to. Gonna be hard for them to win when 90% of the time they would lose the game
Coach you have two options
Nurse Broberg
Kulak Ceci
or
Nurse Kulak
Broberg Ceci.
Nurse Ceci doesn’t work
i wonder how long before Broberg passes Nurse on the depth chart?
It became instantly awkward for Nurse when Ekholm arrived because fans got to compare and contrast in real time.
Getting more so now with Broberg’s play
Ekholm doesn’t have to play with Ceci.
True, but what happened to your usual scorn for Bouchard in his own end? Have you come around that Bouchard is good?
I have always compared Bouchard to Hall of Famer Larry Murphy.
Yes, I still scorn Bouchard’s defending. And I fully endorse keeping his defending to a minimum by playing him with McDavid.
Ha, by next years playoffs, or at latest the year after. Also this is important, because eventually he will need to replace Ekholm as our 1LD.
He’s already better at hockey at the core of it. We’ll see what coaches do
Go back to what worked until it doesn’t
Nurse-Kulak
Broberg-Ceci.
I think you go Nurse-Brobeg and Kulak Descharnais. Ceci can sit for a game or two or three.
Nurse-Kulak didn’t really work in game 6.
Bruce has given us the numbers are reminded us that the eye test also showed Kulak well below his established levels in that game.
In my view, Broberg passed Nurse on the depth chart as soon as he stepped on the ice against Dallas. Nurse has been devolving; Broberg has been emerging. The only thing Nurse does better is hitting. At every other facet of paying defence, he is inferior. Period. It is not close.
Nurse Broberg
Kulak Desharnais
I have not come across anger at Skinner…..but the non-Oiler hockey base has universally recognized Cody Ceci and Nurse.
What this pair is doing in the playoffs is getting attention far and wide across the NHL.
The Oilers have now been outscored 12-4 at 5v5 this postseason with Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci on ice together (2-0 tonight)
Cody Ceci and Darnell Nurse have became famous.
The question is….will someone above Knoblauch let him know this.
It was just one of those games where no matter what you do the puck is not going into the net. No need to panic or worry and these Oilers are definitely not doing that.
The Hockey Gods gave on June 2nd, the Hockey Gods took on June 8th.
^^^ this post by Funnybird.
No need to panic. The Oilers played quite well. Go back to the D parings that won the Stars series and start shoot up high where grandma stores her cookies!
Can’t wait for Monday evening!
Shot choice will get you every time.
They rushed their decisions. That was all it took.
Lock in, shoot high, and that’s a 5-1 W.
Bring the intensity but with more focus next game, and they are fine.
The coach not playing Nurse-Ceci, whatever the reason for it (there is no reason good enough to justify doing that), would also help of course.
Goalie Bob is a butterfly goalie…..
Multiple attempts to try to score along the ice is certainly a choice….
NST had the all situations expected goals as 3.66-1.85 for the good guys. MoneyPuck had all situations expected goals as 5.61-1.88 for Edmonton. So in this case, if anything, it looks like NST is understating the Oilers dominance last night
I thought Stuart Skinner delivered a game that was within reasonable expectations and gave his team a chance to win.
Pretty much all metrics I’ve seen have the expected goals against right around 2.
Stu was fine.
Bob stole the game, doesn’t mean Stu wasn’t fine.
Apologies, missed the quote here and too late to edit – sorry, not intentional.
Yeah, I don’t get anyone being mad at Skinner today who actually saw those goals and didn’t just look at the save % afterward.
NST was that one platform that had the game the closest from what I’ve seen – Moneypuck for example, was WAY more lopsided in favor of the Oilers.
They did say prior to the game they felt that, while Kulak was OK on his right side, they thought it limited him and limited his positive impact.
I think that was the reason and I think they’ve seen Nurse/Ceci work in the past and were not sure about Broberg with Nurse on his off-side.
It seems Nurse/Ceci, while having worked in the past, is simply not working now and, yes, it may need to be Nurse/Broberg and it might be real and it might be spectacular because Philip Broberg is trending to be just that!
Broberg looked very good on the right side yesterday. Unexpectedly good. He has learned how to protect himself along the boards. He pivots so well and his agility on skates make him a double-sided D. Kulak looks much more composed on the left side.
Nurse Ceci should have been ended after the loss to Vegas last year.
Ceci was not effing good enough making the status quo far too risky if one want to win the Cup.
Who would be injured to the extent that the winning line-up had to change? They just had a week off. I’m not buying that explanation. Seems every time something doesn’t come up roses people are rushing to blame an unknown injury.
I would hope “Kulak being uncomfortable playing RH side” would not influence the decision. Quite frankly, who cares if that is what Kulak thinks. He and the team were successful with Kulak as RD with Nurse and that is all that should matter.
Coach KK has had the magic touch, but this decision didn’t pan out for Game 1. Now let’s see what he does for Game 2.
I’ve not looked at the fancies from game 6, but I do wonder – especially after hearing it in the pre-game on CHED that a reason they did move Kulak back over was because he was uncomfortable on the right side and they looked at the that game and decided it was time to try something else.
I also admit I would not mind seeing Broberg w/Nurse.
Kulak had a 5v5 Corsi of +4/-27 in Game 6.
By eye he had a poor game with numerous turnovers. It may have been the most noticeably bad game he’s played during his time as an Oiler.
Thanks for posting this.
I was hoping for a rope-a-dope 1st period where they role 4 lines in low event hockey. When they came out with jump with Hyman having a grade A chance stopped by Bob and then Florida scoring on 1st shot Skinner is so deflating and sets the tone for the whole game. By the final 10 minutes Connor and Leon look like they’ve been through a meat grinder where as fly-by Foegele and McLeod were on a Sunday picnic.
For those not aware, Ray Ferraro – the best colour commentator in the NHL, is on the ABC/ESPN feed. It is worth flipping channels for.
Completely agreed that Ferraro is the best. It was great to finally hear his analysis again during an Oilers game.
Ferraro’s the goods, for sure, but I miss having the TNT crew available for every Oilers game. The rest of the ESPN people don’t do a lot for me.
We used to go camping as an extended family group. There were kids everywhere having fun. But then there was one instigator, one little shitbird who had to antagonize and wreck things for the other kids. When in trouble he hid behind moms skirts, who insisted he be welcomed.
Thing is, the instigator was never removed, and kids started hating camping. Shitbird hasn’t changed to this day.
On this blog his name is Harpers Hair.
You personally take pleasure in stepping on other people’s enjoyment. To antagonize them and poke them in the eye.
If this was work you would be out the door for harassment. If it was a camping group or a team locker room, we would sort you out.
You and your contributions are not welcome here as far as I’m concerned. This is a place for Oilers fans, a wonderful place to enjoy. Why do you need to be in here after a Stanley Cup finals loss to purposefully antagonize?
Your ways are cowardly and disrespectful to the group. I back my own contributions off because I get angry every time I read your shit.
As it seems to have a mother figure here, thus, it will be up to you to self regulate. Don’t post after a loss. Don’t post antagonistic. Let the blog be the place of enjoyment we want it to be.
HH has a demon. It feeds here on our attention.
I’ve accepted the fact that like Herpes, he’s never going away.
So I read his posts using different voices.
Sometimes it’s the two old guys from the balcony from the Muppets.
Sometimes it’s Bill Murray from Caddyshack, specifically the scene where he is washing the golf balls.
I just wish posters would stop taking his bait and stop replying to him.
He’s annoying enough that I stop reading the site when he gets particularly bad, but then feel that is his goal and he wins.
He’s a magpie… Squawks, eats trash and lays turds. And flies away and hides when confronted. Gutless puke. Internet version of Tkachuk.
You are far to kind in your assessment.
Deeply damaged individual. Likely narcissist, with deep personal trauma. Small man syndrome. Likely his family and friends, if he has any, can’t stand tolerate him. Likely, he takes abuse from those aforementioned, and comes here to try and feel better about himself.
Yep, he’s not really a troll. He isn’t driven by pure attention, he has a very specific and powerful hatred for the Oilers that he cannot shake; it fully controls him.
He has no choice but to try to make others hate and look down on the Oilers unless he gets proper mental health treatment.
Narcissistic psychopaths do something similar in response to sleights to their ego. I don’t think it is that though, as he is generally able to control his response when people embarrass him here. Not sure what his diagnosis is (I’m not a psychiatrist), but he definitely has a mental disorder that has pure control over him—and has for years.
What a sad life to be stuck this way for over a decade.
I am genuinely sad for the old man that this is all he seems to have as an enjoyment in his life. I hope he finds people in his life to have actual relationships with or discovers a real purpose in his life beyond logging into a blog everyday.
Yes. After the game he pulled his usual of commenting after a loss (his other usual is ghosting after a win). I read one comment and it was all I needed to just remember it’s best to ignore him.
I do think he has something to add when he’s not being a dink. He’s gotten snarky with my stuff which doesn’t bother me a bit because I’m hear to learn and enjoy this community.
That he chooses to be this way is his choice. Better to ignore and not feed him when he trolls.
If everyone were to ignore his posts, don’t respond, don’t downvote he would go away because of lack of attention. And if he doesn’t go away, ignoring him is still the best way since he won’t be banned.
Most of my message board interaction is done on the Global & Mail site. They have a pretty good moderation model. If a poster is just interested in ad hominem personal attacks or trolling or is egregiously off topic, the comment(s) don’t pass muster and never see the light of day. It’s not perfect because nothing by humans is but the result by and large is an adult, civil dialogue that augments one’s perspectives on the issues of the day.
One of the greatest strengths of this board imo is also one of its greatest weaknesses. Posters are very familiar with each other and unfortunately familiarity can breed contempt. The obvious solution to a poster like HH is to simply ignore him and not let him live rent free in your head. But for some reason, the Internet makes this difficult. We know certain posters irritate us and ignoring them would be better for our happiness and mental health, but much like the car crash on the side of the road we can’t look away. This is not the path to happiness particularly when the team that drew you here originally is 4 wins away from the holy grail.
You can’t change others. You can only change yourself. And when you realize this, you are one step closer to true happiness. This is one of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned in life and it is also one of the hardest ones to practically apply on a daily basis. Difficult people are put in our path to challenge us and make us better.
Jmo. Your milieage will vary.
Per Meagan Chayka:
Sergei Bobrovsky! (@JayOnSC voice)
+4.23 GSAx (best in single game by any goalie in 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs)
13 saves vs Scoring Chances (including 6 chances off the rush)
19 saves vs Slot Shots (his most in any single game this season – regular season or playoffs)
14 saves vs Inner Slot Shots (including 3 vs Connor McDavid, 2 vs Leon Draisaitl)
____________
Oilers do need to beat down, execute and finish better but I think we can be clear here, this was a goalie steal.
I don’t agree. A goalie making the saves he should is expected, even if we don’t have one that consistently does that. The shot quality was poor, the breakaways were poorly executed, the D couldn’t get any good ones through or on net, an easier night for Bob
That’s not what the data, nor many eyes say. That was a great goalie performance.
I think the Oilers had great chances, but did not have great puck placement. Bob was as good as he needed to be (good great? Idk), but lets get those pucks into better places
He played well for sure, but when it goes to a ‘steal’ I didn’t see that. And haven’t these playoffs. I point it out because some folks like to create narratives that grow big legs. Which is fine except it often derails discussion from actual issues
With the ‘got goalied’ narrative that starts every time they lose a game they control, it deflects attention away from that they were not sharp offensively, which was the actual problem, not Bob. The PP didn’t come through, Connor and Leon were forcing things and that usually causes other problems like dangerous turnovers, and not using their teammates enough
Another narrative that comes up when I comment about such things is that they have the top point producers, etc. That’s great, but when you score matters as well, and they got skunked in a Stanley Cup finals game. They have issues with finishing quite regularly despite having the players they do
They will have to sort that out and get consistent traffic, get plays in front and create better chances and finish them to win the series. Bob may not make it easy but he’s not Tretiak. It’s about what the Oilers will do more than the Panthers to me, I know they can and hope they do
Avoiding narratives is why we use the evidence.
The numbers speak to the goalie doing much more than “making the saves he should be expected” – in fact, the very first stat provides that info.
I know, Nuge and Henrique didn’t get the puck up on breakaways so that means the goalie was just OK and not a big part of the win.
You can have that opinion, is CLEARLY a minority opinion, doesn’t seem backed up by eye test or stats, but its yours and that’s OK.
This is more condescending than just saying he’s wrong.
I can’t say its wrong – its an opinion.
I can say that its the minority opinion (from what I’ve read and heard) and I can say its not backed up by numbers, including numbers that analyze shot quality (and on various different platforms that do that) and I can certainly point those things out.
I don’t see shot quality stats as very helpful. Shots into pads and chest aren’t difficult saves. They also didn’t get him moving much. Not much traffic. That lowers percentages a lot even if the shots are from HD areas
He played well because he made all the saves, but to me that’s it
Was the Hyman shot on the first shift in to his pads? What about the breakaways from Henrique and Nuge? What about the McDavid backhand upstairs that the goalie forced over the net?
Both breakaways were in the pads. They need to create dangerous chances throughout the game, there are usually a couple of better chances every game, but that doesn’t negate the point
they didnt just stuff shots into his pads, Bob had to go right across the net to get his pad in the right spot on both. Those were good dekes but better saves.
Bob was outstanding last night, credit where due.
Yes I agree he played well. They still could have got a few past him but weren’t sharp enough, so I don’t get to the point that he stole the game is all
Yes, they were “in the pads” because the goalie made a very good save off a very good move by each.
Just because the majority think a goalie stopping relatively easy shots against equals a dominant performance doesn’t mean the minority is wrong. The eye test for me and apparently 90s fan didn’t say Bob did anything unusual
This narrative that ignores how the Oilers struggle often to create actual HDSC at 5v5 always pops up when it costs games. I’ve seen goalies steal games and that wasn’t one. The top net was open all game, not many picks went there. The D didn’t get many quality shots on net
I haven’t seen in a while a goalie steal a game against us, I have seen poor finishing on multiple chances and lopsided puck possession leading to little on the score board
With Connor and Leon it could be injury. But not all of them
The breakaways all had missed penalties on them.
Yes but if you want a Cup you have to score on good chances regardless
Florida had fewer and cashed two
And on occasion, the goalie has input on those chances.
BTW, even the Oilers Cup winning teams failed to convert some chances and lost a few games along the way.
The Oilers looked great in Game 1. Especially on different ice in a new building after a week off. I’d be more worried if the chances weren’t there. I’m looking forward to Game 2!
Agreed! It’s not over yet
This is the truth. There were swats to the hands clearly on 2 and marginally on the 3rd clean look. They may all have intended to get those pucks up but the sticks distracted.
Darnell wouldn’t have gotten away with a single one of those.
Not great chances? They had 3 breakaways. What planet are you on?
Those breakaways do not include Hyman all alone early and McDavid net front staring at the goalie (where he went too high – likely due to Bob’s previous low denials through the game).
That’s sort of how I thought we would lose one game to the Rangers.
Captain Obvious since September (really since the loss to Vegas). “Play Broberg with Nurse.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FQO1fj1MJU
Nurse has the worst GF% on the team. And Broberg’s fancies are a dog’s breakfast. Especially his time playing RHD.
Single mistakes are killers without run support. Having said that, Dallas fans were all:
https://youtu.be/qAeVlwRuP6Q?si=Lx5xwWTz7WGIm_Hr
I believe Maurice has more changes to make than we do. I believe he’s been around long enough to know when he got lucky…
We played very well. I would appear that Florida shithoused their way to the finals. I will say one more thing: If I’m a new fan tuning in, that was a disgrace of a game. The scrums, and yes maybe I’m biased, were terrible. The ref shouting three times to Tkachuk to stop punching someone in the head with his gloves on and receiving no penalty. The strange free pass Sam Bennett has in the post season and Barkov “great defensive play” made possible by endless slashing to the gloves. If this is the advert, what’s the product?
Agreed. Turtle had Connor in a head lock and was yelled at to let him go multiple times. Simple solution, blow the whistle for roughing. It wasn’t anything to do with the game, just being a prick. What other league lets goofs harass the best players? Of which Turtle is not one
For a Stanley cup playoff game, I thought the game was well reffed. No bitches here.
Other than the no goal call in Brown ‘just because.’ Dude couldn’t even see where the puck was from where he was locking down that no goal call. Just reflexive Deny Oilersism I guess.
Maurice won four games like that against the Oilers in the playoffs.
It is now up to five.
One expects means reversion, but it might also might be the opening scene of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.
Not something I normally advocate, but after watching Bennett try to do to 97 what he did to Marchand, I’d very much enjoy seeing him blindsided with a vicious elbow and left in a pool of his own blood, teeth, and feces. And Turtle is still a gutless puke. But we knew that….
No, they should not get distracted by Bennett’s nonsense. Check him hard and legally when you get the chance. There will be chances. Do not attempt to injure players. Do not become what you despise.
99.9% of the time I am in full agreement with you. This is the 0.1%…
If the refs/dept of safety (Ha!) won’t do their jobs, frontier justice is all a guy like Bennett will comprehend. Players have always policed themselves when the refs failed to do so.
Ultimately, Bennett has no basic respect for his fellow players. Why should he be given any quarter in return? Live by the sword, die by the sword/Fight fire with fire/He puts one yours in the hospital, you put him in the morgue etc. Pick your cliche…
I’ve often wondered why the NHLPA allows their members to cannibalize themselves… Why would they allow one member of the union to repeatedly attempt to injure others? Matt Cooke was another notorious example. He eventually cleaned up his act after the league made it clear that his predatory hits wouldn’t be tolerated any longer, which just reinforced that his actions were always intentional and malicious, just as Bennett’s are now.
While this would give me a malevolent satisfaction, there’s no honour in this kind of hockey.
Again, not a course of action I would normally endorse…. However, I would argue that there is honour in defending yourself and your teammates, especially if the officials won’t enforce the rules. Bullies need to be punched in the mouth (or elbowed, in this case). They often bugger off after that.
Corey Perry could become an all-time legend here….
No anger here. Oilers played a fantastic game. They just couldn’t find the twine (bar down on every shot boys!) Repeat that effort every game from here on in and it would be a miracle if FLA were able to withstand it.
All I could think of during the game and since:
“If it keeps on rainin’, the levee’s gonna break…”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwiTs60VoTM
No no no. This one . . .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH-_9cwdLug
Oil played a great game. A bit more traffic in the blue paint and elevation of the puck on key chances and it’s a different result.
“Stats are for losers”
~Craig Simpson – Round 3 Game 6
Yes we won every major stat to the game, won the eye test yet lost the game… Oilers can be better and they will.
Game 2 is now a must win, and they will, take the split with home ice and get back to Canada for the next two.
I feel a lot better about the 2024 SCF Game 1 loss than I did about the 2006 SCF Game 1 loss.