As we prepare to enter Game 2 of the Oilers-Kings series, Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch is focused on getting Evander Kane and others into the lineup. There’s danger here, and we saw some of that in Game 1. Several Oilers took 20+ minutes of game action to get the wheels turning at a competitive rate. I think it’s worth mentioning. Knoblauch is a young coach, and his lack of urgency is a worry.
The Oilers are likely to dress Evander Kane tonight, with Jeff Skinner sitting. If Kane is at his rugged, first-shot scorer best, with the speed we expect from him, then inserting him into the lineup is a good idea. However, if he’s rusty, and I think that’s a reasonable bet, the Oilers run the risk of having another game where at least one player is trying to get up to speed. Back in October, I wrote the following:
When we talk about the rugged soul of the Oilers, it’s really about protecting Connor McDavid. Two things. First, it’s impossible. The NHL is a vicious game. It just is. You can’t police the game completely and McDavid is going to be a target this fall, winter and spring. The only way to avoid it is use him only on power plays. Not going to happen.
Second point. McDavid decided long ago the NHL wasn’t going to call the game straight up, so he took the initiative and began cross checking, slashing, hooking, knocking players over, et cetera. Leon Draisaitl is a true bully. It’s rare to see an NHL player exact a price for sins real or imagined so often. When Leon retires from hockey, all outstanding invoices will have been paid in full, and then some.
If you’re worried about McDavid and Draisaitl, I get it. However, you can’t wrap them in bubble and you can’t compromise your roster in the name of the sacred bleeding Jesus heart of the rugged soul of the ‘these assholes are being mean to my boy’ brigade. NO. ONE. IS. LISTENING.
So, Oilers management and coaching have to decide if they want to win the Stanley Cup or play men who are devoted to keeping the sacred heart of the rugged soul of Oilers physical hockey at Curt Brackenbury levels. It’s a simple choice. The Oilers can make the other team bleed.
All it costs is goals.
The Oilers dressed Josh Brown in Game 1, then faded him heavily (he played 4:54) when things went sideways early.
Evander Kane is a more substantial player. I wrote today about his impact in the 2022 series against the Kings, and if Knoblauch is chasing that with the belief it’s there, music! However, this series could be halfway done by midnight, and I get the feeling the Oilers are mending uniforms as the cannon balls land nearby. Is there urgency on the Edmonton side? There should be. And chasing hits is a bad way. I can see a way to place Kane into tonight’s lineup. I’m not at all sure Skinner is the guy to fade. We wait.
It’ll be a big show devoted to Game 2 Oilers-Kings today on Sports 1440, beginning at noon. Our feature guest is Kevin McCurdy, I’ll ask him about Kane, Brown and the optimal defensive pairings based on available players. We’ll chat NHL playoffs out of town, NFL draft, Blue Jays and more! I’m at Lowetide on twitter, in the comments section here and on the Sports 1440 text line at 1.833.401.1440 directly. We can be heard at sports1440.ca; iHeartRadio, Radioplayer Canada, it’s available post-show on apple and spotify, and we tweet it out on X.
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Off season tasks
Do we keep the coach?
No
• Look to move Nugent-Hopkins and/or Hyman while they still hold a bit of value.
Two D making more than $9 million who play at Nurse/Bouchard levels would be a fatal mistake.
Spittin’ Chiclets
@spittinchiclets
Bouchard let Byfield walk in like he was one of the guys kid out for a skate at practice
The assumption all season long was that Bouch would buckle down and stop avoiding contact when the playoffs started.
Someone should tell Bouch that the playoffs have started, and that the games are no longer contact optional.
Only positives were I thought 91 and 36 looked good. 93 clearly can’t impact at 2C, maybe go back to what worked
93/97/18 (or 91)
92/29/91 (or 18)
53/19/33 (no choice on 19 unfortunately)
13/Philp/90 (moving 90 up as needed)
I wish we had some speedy AHL PK/bottom 6 to insert. Really miss McCleod and Foegele for speed and PK.
Maybe try 91 net front on PP, or go for two units that have a chance and move 93 to 2nd unit and 53 to first for two shooting options. D usage probably the same, and hope 25/2 improve.
And Pickard starts. Skinner seemed more concerned with showing the LA crowd that he wasn’t phased than stopping pucks. I haven’t seen that in the NHL before. He wasn’t going to win them the game but I think this puts him 2 games over .500 on the season. Not his year.
This team gave up on their goalie earlier this season. Baffled the management and coaching staff didn’t see, especially after game 1.
As a Skinner defender, that should be his last moment as an Edmonton Oiler. It has to have been his antics that got him pulled. I possibly understand why he may have laughed to try and give himself some levity, but my God, what a terrible look.
Henrique is so unbelievably washed. Another year at 3 mil is looking like a colossal mistake. Frederic can’t move. Kane, as could be predicted, was a ghost. A player of his skillset cannot just jump right back into it.
This is as bleak a showing as I’ve ever seen. Very, very little to hold on to after this one.
Oilers in 6.
Agree with all of this but I thought 91 was fine. Doesn’t have the puck skills back, but managed possession, hit the LA defence, crashed the net. Not sure we had a better winger (damning with faint praise but still)
Oilers win game three in a blowout
Might be better if they win game 4 in a blowout, after they win game 3.
do we have to give Calgary a draft pick for having Kane in the lineup tonight? Is is better to let Bouchard get offer sheeted?
all seriousness though, Oilers look old, slow, tired, and not very motivated to find any intensity. Can’t get a stop, can’t kill a PP, coach making many poor lineup decisions. No way you start a goalie who gave up 6 in the last game in so few shots. Oilers are fumbling and bumbling right now and I have much doubt. It’s been a rough season and the Oilers just look cooked.
im ok with that, but next season they need to take a long summer off, refund their mojo, get rid of old and tired, and bring in some youth. Starting in net.
Well, this is usually where I drag out my Brother Bluto line, “Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbour!”, but it seems pretty bleak right now.
I used to get so wound up in Oilers playoffs games and say something really stupid, mainly out of frustration. The Winnipeg series was the apex of my fanatic behaviour. One thing that gave me a new perspective was getting back behind the bench after a prolonged absence.
Who do I coach? U-13 girls recreational, and we play in a boys league. It’s a long ways from the AAA rep, regional, and provincial teams I used to coach before, but when one of your players calls you Dad at home (never at the rink), you pick up the whistle and get back into a world you never knew the last time you stepped behind the bench (I have to take a course on cyber bullying?). The focus changes and you realize that the main goals are to keep it fun and keep the girls playing for life. You quickly realize that you just don’tr have the talent to take down the boys and there are highlights (winning Most Sportsmanlike Team two seasons in a row), and you marvel at how much the players improve over the season.
Where does that leave me tonight? The Oilers simply don’t have the talent to compete and it has been compounded by a rash of injuries that have been difficult to overcome. On top of that a majority of players have been on a downward slide this season, and it tempers your expectations. The season has had Murphy’s Law in full effect and the days of a 16 game winning streak and Game 7 seem so far away. You wonder when it will all happen again or if it will happen again?
However, experience has shown me that for whatever inexplicable reason, this team may turn it around and start playing like gangbusters and never make a mistake again. That is what I’m hoping for. As crazy as that sounds, it is what I believe in my heart.
Go Oilers Go!!
Load up McDrai
Just feed RNH and Henrique ( lines 2 & 3)
RNH
CF : 37%
SF : 40%
GF 0 / GA 1
No way Byfield or Danault can match up.
Doesn’t matter how good 97 and 29 are. Every other shift in the D zone invokes the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme.
Truly baffled by Skinner laughing there with the crowd during the bronx cheer. Not sure if he is aware that might have been his last game action moments in the jersey.
Something has not been right with this team since the 4 nations break. It wouldn’t surprise me if out of the blue Connor gets dealt to his preferred destination this Summer.
Wouldn’t blame him, he wants to win bad. Last year might turn out to be the only chance he’ll have in Oilers silks. All other years have been a shitshow of bad management.
The success has come in spite of bad management because we’ve had McDrai in their prime. We’ve wasted a generational talent thus far.
How is Dallas doing with their devastating injuries?
No Heiskanen
No Robertson
Seguin making a difference since returning from hip surgery
Nuge back to L1 and Drai to C2?
Yep. No other choice at this point
RNH-McD-Hyman
Kane-Draisaitl-X
And I don’t really give a shit about the rest, because its a dog’s breakfast after that.
Savoie, Philp, J Skinner would be nice injection of speed and skill in the bottom 6. They can’t be any worse penalty killers than we have currently. Arvidsson and Perry. Who needs centers? Man, this team is f**ed
35 year old Adam Henrique as 3C…..fascinating
It seems the Kings were ready for the McDrai load up.
Did Skinner ask to come out that was the strangest netminding change I’ve ever seen.
The coach is literally so indecisive he needed a commercial break.
Knoblauch sure seems to be getting out coached. It’s never a good look when the moves that look bad at the outset turn out bad in the game:
Putting Henrique right back out there after he takes an absolutely selfish penalty with the game still in reach should be added to the list
Just a brutal effort. Again. Regardless that we were with in one, when they pushed we flubbed. Doesn’t matter who is in net. Our defence is absolutely terrible and our pk worse.
This game is either the death knell of this iteration of our team or the kick they need to claw their way back into this.
Next game is the tell. I would never count out out team with Connor and Leon playing but, man, that was one of the worst games in the defensive zone I’ve ever seen.
Countdown to ‘ injured’ or ‘ sick’ post incoming….
Anyone else think Skinner got pulled when he did because the leadership didn’t find his little antics amusing? A silly little glove-pause to get a reaction from the fans and then just cackling away down 5-2.
Id bet good money either KK lost his shit or more likely 97/29 said “get this clown out of here”.
Grow up Stu.
The L.A crowd broke him.
He got pulled because his goaltending is amusing.
Hyman
CF : 42%
SF: 30%
GF 0 / GA 3
Wake up
Kuemper barely had to break a sweat.
Oilers need a major overhaul this offseason, but have too many NMCs. 😑
Not sure how they can bring back to life the PP and PK from last year, but that has to be tops of the top-do list. injuries knee-capped this team before they even started the playoffs, and the terrible special teams and deployment decisions have only sealed their fates.
Coaching/lineup decisions is DOD bad this year. What a demoralizing turnaround from a coach that looked like a genius last year. Astounding bad decisions all season and worse is the fact that they hid injury status all year from the fans. Nearly as bad as the government. Can’t trust a thing they are saying in public.
Now they have to win two games at home, then win in LA, go back home and win it in six.
Not good for a team that doesn’t like to come home for days off. Big blunder staying in California for 14 days. Boys still on the beach. No time for a hockey game. Surfing or whatever.
I’ve watched or listened to every playoff game since game 1 against the Flyers. That was probably the most pathetic last 10 minutes I’ve seen they should be embarrassed.
Packed it right up and went home.
And the coach sits there staring at nothing.
Well next game should be interesting…….No idea what to expect but obviously you can’t start S Skinner. No real moves you can make on D unless you want to put Brown in and be even slower. Fredericks has to come out as he is obviously injured. Get Philip and J Skinner back in. I think team is paying a price for playing a partial line up for last 6 weeks and thinking they could flip the switch once playoffs arrive.
Direct result of poor coaching decisions. I don’t care if the coach is listening to influencers. It’s just very poor judgement and it’s been going on the entire 82 games schedule. This is not since the last 6 weeks. It’s been all year and it needs to be called out as such.
What’s Coach MacTavish doing over the next few weeks?
Gauranteed he dresses the best lineup available and plays the lines in the combinations that they did last year, but we can’t do that cause we would have to forfeit a 3rd round pick to Calgary.
Also Wes McCauley is the most bent ref in the league … what a joke this game was.
5/10 on the PK.
0/5 on the PP.
This is the difference.
Goaltending
Nope. PP of McDavid, Drai, Bouchard and 2 others is unbelievably bad
Back to NFL draft tomkorow Go lions
10-18 was coal to NG pwr conversion ( Sheerness) with homeland research. New Nuke sub surface coating wear test in pipes, Transmission & Distribution Special metals cores/parts degradation analysis during solar flaring 12’
60 yrs my 16yr old son “Dad u did not have a normal life”
Hmm! Yeah he was right!
Did Equip/ Bid design Nat oilwell Edm client Gasprom (Medvedev Rus #3). VsvHaliburtin ( Chenney Ore VO) When hevwas in EDM meant to ask about RUS league.
Dad has passed. So ok to mention. 1 of Dads CIA contacts said RUS staged an event w/ Ref of Red Army & Flyers. Suposedly Ended his career? A check shows going from Cup finals to Admin in NHL office that sumner.
More third hand than usuall direct from Soarce.
Ricki – glad to have you kicking around – but in readable English my man. Please!
97. That’s about the percentage of the Oilers’ roster that is either injured or underperforming.
Jack and Louie are gross the way they keep talking up LA, too. I’ll watch ESPN if I want to hear this nonsense. I mean, I guess, in their defense, the Oilers are terrible… but I would actually rather than commiserate with us than just keep talking about the Kings.
Whatever. I’m just mad at everything. Sorry. Hahahahaha. Sigh. Goodnight, friends.
Both need to be gone along with Skinner
“This team is built for the playoffs”
What a load of BS
Not a chance they win this series they aren’t even in it.
Bouchard and Skinner for Swayman.
Bouchard and Skinner for Dobson and Sorokin. I’m 100% against paying Bouchard north of 8+ million … he sucks at defending as much as Skinner sucks at tracking the puck.
I would do this. Skinner has had a tough year but he still has value. Hopefully Bowman has a better summer than Jackson did last year.
Literally zero damage inflicted on the Kings at the end.
If these guys are going to give up they should just get it over with. Disgusting.
Clearly you don’t have the eagle eyes of Wes, or you would have seen the vicious cross checks of Podkolzin. Truly vengeful.
This team needs a shake-up fire K.K dress Rodrique.
I sincerely hope this is the last time I see Skinner in the Oilers net. Bowman’s number one priority should be ship him out for a legit goalie … or a bag of pucks.
I didn’t post this after game 1 but I wondered if Kuemper would let 5 get past him again. I didn’t think so at the time…
Did he really get tested? Yes, he made a few good saves, but so did Skinner. Problem being Skinner couldn’t bail out the horrendous defence being played in front of him. I don’t think the Oilers played with the same net front play when they got desperate in this game as they did last game.
Hopefully he gets tested on the road.
I had a bunch of things to say, but decided it’s not worth it anymore. I love the Oilers but…
Misconduct for a slash? One ordinary slash? The refs are arresting Podkolzin for a succulent Chinese meal!?
I don’t think McCauley has ever gotten through a whole game without handing at least one out. Seriously.
Zero pushback or bruises for the Kings by the B squad. Typical.
This veteran Oilers team looks very frustrated.
Actually they look like shit. Old, tired, and hurt. No motivation except to get home to their own beds and take the summer off. The winning competitiveness has vanished.
Absolute Wes McCauley masterclass tonight.
The Kings are so in the heads of every oiler except 97/29 it’s laughable. This veteran, experienced, poised team is playing with the resilience and focus of a junior hockey team.
Has a coach ever been fired during the playoffs? KK making a case to be the first
Oh look, Wes MisConduct strikes again.
Wes can kiss my damn ass.
Eff off.
Oilers so slow on PK.