There are many story lines to pursue as we ready ourselves for the second round of this year’s NHL playoffs. Do the Oilers really count as favourites entering the series against Vegas Golden Knights? Will Jack Eichel dominate? What about Kris Knoblauch and hard matching lines? Will we finally see it? Will the Oilers run the Glimmer Twins together? There are dozens more questions we could ask before the series.
What we do know today is that a phantom trip by Philip Broberg followed by an unfortunate high-sticking penalty by Mattias Janmark is not possible this time around. Gird your loins.
PLEASE AND THANKS
Once again the conversation turned angry yesterday. For many years now we have had this problem, and last night (again) I was the target of some of the rage. “Lowetide lets him post!” said one of the comments, and it reminded me that I should probably restate the issue, and my solution.
So, I can time out a poster, and do at times. The penalty is now one year, so that seems to have settled things in a more meaningful way. However, ANYONE who has been placed in the hell hole merely needs to make a new account and then begin posting again under a different name. Harper’s Hair came from Dashing Silver Fox and maybe next time it’s Handsome Pierre. Anyone can do it. I do not know of a way to avoid this issue.
So, with that understood, I have asked you to do is ignore the people who irritate you. Just don’t respond. You are capable of it.
I’m going to tell you that I’ve run this blog for 25 years, and delighted in your comments. I do not want to make this difficult for you. I invite input. If you have a solution to this problem I haven’t searched thoroughly, please pass it along.
If not, I would ask you refrain from making this personal. I will not accept your verbal abuse, in person or online.
KNOBLAUCH’S DEPLOYMENT
There will be much discussion about Kris Knoblauch’s decision in the coming series. At this point, more than 24 hours before Game 1 of Oilers-Vegas, I think we can agree on a few things.
Calvin Pickard starts, Stuart Skinner enters the series after the first loss.
The coaching staff will run Nurse-Bouchard, Walman-Klngberg and Kulak-Emberson until Troy Stecher and or Mattias Ekholm enter the lineup. Knoblauch and staff are laser focused on moving the puck out of the zone, and have invested heavily in that single event in each game (repeated dozens of times). If the Oilers can race back and grab the puck after a dump in from Vegas, move the puck expertly to an available Oilers stick, and exit the zone cleanly, music! That’s going to be difficult, but it is key to the series.
My guess is rolling four lines was pleasing to Knoblauch, so McDavid-Draisaitl will continue in this series. It may be the first time an Oilers coach decided to run the Glimmer Twins together at five-on-five while also having three capable lines behind the top unit. If it works, we will talk about this for years.
At noon today, the Lowdown hits the Sports 1440 airwaves. Rachel Doerrie, CTO of Betalytics and host of Puck Social will join us to talk about Oilers strategy versus Vegas, and the other quarterfinal series (some beginning tonight). We’ll chat with Jason Gregor about Kris Knoblauch’s thinking for the Vegas series, the physical nature we expect to see in Round 2, and the fact Canada is well represented in the quarterfinals this spring.
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.
Oilers meet Vegas, with McDavid-Draisaitl five-on-five on the table. Good idea?
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6332826/2025/05/05/oilers-mcdavid-draisaitl-nhl-playoffs-golden-knights/
I’d abide by “don’t fix what ain’t broke” after the first round and run them together to start the series.
However, in the 4 wins against LA 97-29 was just 1-1 at 5v5, and you need more offense from those two to justify keeping them together in my opinion. The whole point of loading up the first line is that it turns 5v5 minutes into a near-powerplay, and the Oilers will need more from that line at 5v5 than .25 goals per game and a 50/50 goal differential to beat Vegas.
If the team loses a game and that line doesn’t shell the opposition at 5v5, I’d be in favor of splitting them up and making LA pick their poison if they want to hard-match against Edmonton’s best players.
What worked against one team in one series won’t necessarily work against another team in a different series but its tough to make structural changes to the lines given how well the bottom 3 lines performed.
The 2nd line was literally the best in the first round according to MoneyPuck (expected numbers) and each of the bottom two lines were very effective and chipped in.
I have time to mix up the top 6 (swap Drai down) but can’t move off the current 2nd line.
We’ve seen the Oilers adjust deployment within series to their benefit time and time again.
I don’t disagree, but I just think it’s better to figure out what does/doesn’t work by running the lines that clicked and found chem against LA, and making adjustments from there, rather than trying to concoct an ideal “LV-specific” lineup and then making adjustments to that set-up after a period or so of work in G1.
Yeah I could see them returning to 92-29-33, and I agree I like what I’ve seen from 91-93-18, but then who does that leave as 97’s wingers? 21 and 90? 28 and 90? Not exactly giving 97 world-beaters, although I’d like to see Frederic get a look at some point.
53-97-21 is intriguing but I don’t think Jeff is coming out of the pressbox unless there’s an injury or a stinker of a game from one of 21/28/33/92…
With no bias who are you predicting to win this series? Please please predict Vegas to rout my Oilers.
Lol I don’t think my predictions have any causal effect on real world events. You do know I’m a fan of this team too, right?
McDavid-Brown have played 10:36 together this postseason and have a 69.56 xGF% (0-0 actual goals).
McDavid-Perry have played 45:16 together this postseason and have a 64.49 xGF% (4-2 goals).
McDavid-Frederic have played 3:40 together this postseason and have a 76.68 xGF% (0-0 goals).
McDavid hasn’t played with these guys as a trio, but if the goal is to overwhelm the Vegan’s depth the coach does seem to be a couple of decent options here.
Let’s say:
Frederic – McDavid – Brown
Podkolzin – Draisaitl – Arvidsson
Kane – Nugent-Hopkins – Hyman
Janmark – Henrique – Perry
Firing on all cylinders.
Yeah I like your thinking and this is pretty close to my ideal deployment (in theory, and assuming Skinner is out of the lineup). If Frederic’s feeling close to 100% and is skating well I’d swap Brown and Perry (13-19-28 have had good chem since last year’s playoffs), but I do like the look of this more than the current configuration.
I think at least starting the game with the current config makes the most because (1) I think there’s value to not over-thinking/over-coaching and the current lineup has found chem/good results recently, (2) it’s an easier baseline to adjust away from/tweak, and (3) rolling 97/29 together to start the game might enable them to get a goal or two early in G1 and get LV playing from behind.
I do worry a bit about LV’s ability to line-match when they’re at home if 97-29 are on the same line. Splitting them up will likely give one of their lines some clean(er) air, as well as the Nuge line.
Good problems to have with a forward group this deep!
If Perry can handle at least some time with Connor, you have to go with the guy that puts the puck in the net. Brown had a great series, but he is a weak finisher these days top 6. I like having Frederic and Brown in the bottom six so they can push against the Knits guys. I don’t want to see a short bench because they can’t tread water with a deep Vegas group
Their bottom 6 as of May 3 Daily Faceoff
Barbashev Roy Smith
Olofsson Howden Pearson
But you could be right here. Vegas is big down the middle, Eichel Hertl Roy Howden. I’m not sure Nuge can handle Hertl as 2C. Roy isn’t nearly as good
This is exactly right one line might dominate L.A but will be invisible say against Vegas and another line might have success. I said preseason I’m still saying it now that this is the best 4 lines since the mid eighties we can even ice a decent 5th line and 6th line with Savoie-Philip-Skinner-Kappy-Jones. To beat Vegas we’re about to find out what line is going to be the difference. Your guess is as good as mine.
I don’t like it, but if you outscore the Vegas top line and limit their pp (we all know they will get more pp time than us) we win the series
Leppanen (Finland) and Samanski (Fermany) will be playing in the Worlds.
Oh man. I forgot how grating Paul Maurice post-game conferences are. Sam Bennet is next level dirty. I don’t think vigilante justice is good but if the nhl doesn’t do something, I think it needs to happen.
That entire team is dirty. So many uncalled elbows and knees. Tkachuk even tried to take out Marner at the end of the game, repeatedly.
Chucky going after Marner at the end of the game… what a joke.
Such a clown. His dad was worse although he was a better player
If the oilers meet the leafs in the cup do all the games start at 7pm EST?
When was the last time the leafs had to play a western Canadian team at a regular time?
I think most would start at 6 eastern – I think all the games in the SCF did last year.
Ooops, 8 eastern (6 mountain).
The cup final has long been 8ET/6MT/5PST
How many goalies have Florida concussed this season? How many penalties? How many suspensions?
They are a dirty team and they are coached to play that way.
Colin Campbell is still executive vice president and director of hockey operations despite getting caught red handed back in 2010 trying to influence the officials about his son.Fast forward to today and his son just happens to be the Assistant general manager of…the Florida Panthers.
Here’s a question… with no pick until the 3rd Round and only 3 picks overall, do you take a goalie in the 3rd? Semyon Frolov is thought to be likely available when it is our turn to pick. Also, should Pyotr Andreyanov fall to us at that spot, do you bite then? Interested in your thoughts, as Andreyanov has my attention…
With only 3 picks, I look for more certainty that the player will sign, so I personally would stick to OHL and WHL players with these picks. Or Canadian USHL players.
Also with some good potential in G prospect ranks, I would look for a safe RHD or C prospect with the 3rd pick and C or D prospects with the others.
By that I mean a junior-aged C is more versatile than just a junior-aged winger, unless the winger shows some goal scoring-related skills or has great wheels.
Fair enough! I saw a summary of Andreyanov’s stats (a .941 SV% last year and was intrigued… I remember how much people were melting down when we didn’t jump on a goalie a couple of years ago who had a pretty intriguing profile…there were two of them Walsted and another guy whose name I cannot recall in the same draft year that everyone was agog about…
Any other impressions? I figure any one we take in the third is a project, so why not a goalie? I do see your point about a D though, likely a reasonably sized stay at home type with wheels…
How about Elijah Neuenschwander ? Swiss goalie
Florida looks terrible. Slow, unorganized. Barkov particularly looks addled. Appears Bad Bob is back.
Bennett and Turtle duchery will be ramped up now, but I don’t think it will matter.
I’ve never seen a Leafs team play this well positionlly without the puck then transition to offense with ease like this
That was game 1 (and I agree with your assessment).
Of course, game 2 could provide a 180 – we know Florida is a better team than they showed tonight.
With that said, it boggled me that the vast majority thought Florida would roll through the series – the Leafs won the division and were full value for that.
Their inside positioning and resistance to overpursuing without the puck is how I’d like to see the Oilers play, but they don’t seem to have enough players that are going to commit to that especially at the top end.
Or Knobber is ok with living with ghastly coverage breakdowns with little chance of recovery when they are all solely puck carrier focused
So Reilly scores and sets a new Leaf record for goals by a D man in the playoffs with 14. That sure doesn’t seem like very many considering Bouch has scored 4 already this year???? Guessing guy like Paul C has quite a few more than that. Leaf s have been in the NHL for a long time.
I had to look. All time play off goals by d-men:
Coffey is #1 with 59g.
Bouch is #43 with 17g.
Reilly is now #54 with 14g.
Only 8 guys over 30 goals. (Coffey, Potvin, Lidstrom, Bourque, MacInnis, Murphy, Park, Chelios)
All-time active d-men is also kinda neat.
Burns 24g
Letang 23g
Hedman 23g
Makar 22g
Carlson 20g
Doughty 19
Bouchard 17g
Burns and Carlson are still going, but that’s 3 first round exits; Makar, Hedman and Doughty. It’ll be interesting to see where he ends up.
The Oilers franchise record is 36, by Paul Coffey. Bouchard is next at 17, followed by Huddy (16), Gregg (13) and Smith (10).
Red Kelly is the all-time Leafs top goal scorer with 17, Morgan Rielly is 2nd with 14.
Among Original Six teams:
Detroit: Lidstrom, 54 goals
Boston: Bourque, 36 (Orr, 26)
Rangers: Leetch, 28
Montreal: Lapointe / Robinson, 25
Chicago: Seabrook, 20
Toronto: Kelly, 17
You’re right, Toronto has never had a marque offensive defenseman. That’s strange for a team with that long a history in the league.
>New York Governor Kathy Hochul sent a letter to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman expressing her disappointment in the League’s decision to cancel the 2026 NHL All-Star Weekend at UBS Arena on Long Island. A few hours later the New York Islanders jump 9 spots to take the # 1 overall draft pick in the lottery.
Nothing to see here folks…
Pretty difficult to rig a lottery ball draw on live nationwide TV.
Feels strange actually cheering for the Leafs… though I don’t expect them to win.
Hopefully they put up a good fight against those filthy rat Panthers.
Oh man. Townes…one of my absolute favourites just spent last week on nights in west texas/new mexico this line kept looping in my head lmao.
is there anyway we can tell how long i have been on lowetide. im shocked this is over 25 years old blog i didnt find this blog until 06 run and that feels so long ago. thanks for the years LT and i want to bless many more to come.
Jason Gregor
I haven’t seen any news about this on any websites so we may have to take this information with the grain of salt at the moment. If true, that would no doubt make their second line less formidable. If I recall, he torched us for multiple goals in at least one game.
Sure but I would note that SinBinVegas is quite reputable.
Wow not as big a blow as Ekholm but it’s close.
I was surprised to read that he was their leading goal scorer at 35 goals.
Blake made some gaffs as most GMs do, made some recoveries, but he wasn’t the problem in LA. Many teams get stuck in the gray and boring middle because of not having true top end talent, not being able to construct a balanced deep enough roster, retiring players instead of selling them to refresh, being in a division or conference with a juggernaut. The 80’s Oilers stymied a lot of dreams of really good teams during their tear, especially for those guys 3 hours south
You can’t overestimate what it means to have truly elite players or generational players. Especially if combined with a sharp GM and a good coach. I have said that I think Zito has been banging in Florida – he got that roster balanced and deep enough. But it remains he walked into having Barkov and maybe Ekblad and those are the parts you usually can’t fix, you draft those players. He put Turtle and Bennett etc around them and off they went. He built a team that plays like he wants top to bottom, has a coach that agrees, and it makes them hard to beat
There is a risk in not tanking if you let your team age out, you don’t draft high enough to get real impact players usually. The Preds have been stuck there forever. The Oilers were pre DoD. There is risk if you do tank if the draft isn’t good enough or you can’t build around the talent. There is risk for many teams that losing for a few years will jeopardize staying in business. But to the brave go the spoils
I keep hearing or reading the Oilers getting to game 7 as a justification for various points about players, coaches or whatever. What I saw was a large number of players struggling by eye and stats and some of the worst goaltending in the playoffs statistically (Yost has a piece up at TSN, Pick is only third worst so far!). Yost’s Oiler MVP last series was Connor M, utterly dominating against any King
https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/travis-yost-awarding-an-mvp-for-each-first-round-series-1.2300995
And that’s why they got so far last playoffs. Drai while healthy being outrageous and Bouch breaking records, Ekholm being quietly dominant. Three elite offensive players and another league top D that drove them there, despite many obstacles and often without consistent help, coaches struggling to find pairs especially that weren’t getting caved because the some of horses they had couldn’t handle it. A lot of folks don’t think they would have got by the Dys if Demko was healthy. We don’t know but I wouldn’t bet against the trio and Ek regardless
The Oilers success hinges on those three especially without Ekholm. Bouch had a rough start and the Oilers lost two games. Everyone plays a part in them winning to some degree of course, but most of what makes them great are a few amazing players. Al Arbour said as much when asked about his success during the Isle’s dynasty
Even if they manage to win it all this year, my point is that it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t make changes if Stan and Jeff think they can improve in areas. Because if they do get where they want it will be because Connor Leo and Bouch and hopefully Ek drove the bus home, and Stan’s additions moved the team forward enough and provided enough run support, not because of coaches (who aren’t doing anything outside of the box really so far) and most likely not goalies
The team’s progression on a graph would almost exactly follow the progression of the top player’s games maturing and adding Ek. Not much else. That’s also what happened the last time the team was great, had generational players, only that group figured it out much faster. Admittedly they had a lot more help in Slats and Co, even with the owner battling against them behind the scenes to stay afloat
I always think the Oilers will win, but it worries me that many thought they wouldn’t beat LA, and now I’m hearing from a lot of folks that they will handle the Knits in short order. I guess that’s a form of superstition, but I think it’s more from seeing a lot of playoffs and what happened over the years. Like last series I hope the good version shows up and puts the boots to them, they can but not a lot of room for error, and the Oilers can have trouble with that type of D system. Hopefully having more forwards now that will battle through to the scoring areas will change that
Heads on a swivel lads
I disagree with you on Blake. He had what HH called a generational prospect pool. And he blew it. That Fiala trade was a huge blunder
I don’t think he was great either. I was getting at where they are no GM can get them to being a Cup team. They can be a good team, but without a tank and luck at the draft it will be years before they can get ahead of us or Dallas, the Wild as they mature etc. Or if the Sharks and Ducks develop and build well they will pass the Kings. They don’t have elite players anymore even if a few good ones
Flames are in the same boat I think. Canucks
He did piss away significant assets.
You have to wonder how much of that was a result of a “win now” mandate from ownership.
Yeah I’m not yet sure who I think will win this series, but the fact the Oilers really only played 1 good complete game, and maybe 6-8 good periods combined, in the first round doesn’t fill me with overwhelming confidence that LV is cooked.
That being said, as we’ve seen and discussed before the ceiling for this team is as high, if not higher, than any other team in the postseason because of their stars.
Yes that’s what I was getting at. Such an advantage, if you can take advantage of it
Blake traded away a legit #1D in Brock Faber.
He was gifted Byfield and Faber…a quick retool on a platter, and he effed it up.
He didn’t move the dial forward for sure. I’m sure he’ll enjoy being in Colorado again. Stick guy
The durzi move was obscenely poor.
Remember justifying it at the time HH?
Remember that time the Oilers traded Michael Kesselring AND a 3rd round pick for Nick Bjugstad?
Who needs a young 6’5″ 215 right shot D anyway?
All teams make trades they later regret.
Take me down to the strawman city…
Sure. I don’t remember explicitly defending that deal like the general manager was some genius though.
24 year old RHD Coming off a 38 point season already 136 games into his NHL career for a 2nd round pick because they “had better places to spend money and have elite ready to take his place” (to paraphrase your defence regarding all things #kingsdominanceisnigh) is legit equivalent to prospect traded.
“Hey what’s that over there?!!” Away though.
LA we’re saying how they had changed the way they played and this year was going to be different against the Oilers. Turned out ‘different’ meant playing only 2/3rds of the team and regressing to playing exactly the same way. Sure, the challenge was a gaff, but you could see even in the first two games, the Oilers were learning to play with each other again. Once they found their range, it was difficult for the Kings. Our advantage is and always has been having more than one game breaker. Watching the Jets and Blues last night, if either team had one, it was over. These well coached, tight teams are great until they start losing, then they have big problems trying to change the way they play.
— it’s the exception that makes the rule.The Cup winner always has most of or all the following:
1) Superstars cluster that wins awards trophies
2) Won a Cup with the existing core +/-
3) gone deep into playoffs multiple years.
— Only Carolina and the Blues come to mind as teams that had little to none of the criteria above since expansion era.
— The Cup winner with little deviation always ticks 1-3
So here is my take on teams chances:
Highly unlikely based on precedence :
—Winnipeg Capitals Leafs : not advanced past first in last 5 years and in the case of Capitals aged out since last Cup 8 years ago
Maybe:
— Dallas + Carolina: have had some playoff success but not really cluster of superstars
Historical Cup winner profiles:
— FLA : won recently core intact
— Vegas : won recently core intact
— EDM: superstars cluster, gone deep
It would be surprising for those who are hockey historians, to see anyone other than FLA Vegas or Oil winning.
— Doesn’t mean it can’t happen but the precedence is very much skewed to those three, Leaf Nation notwithstanding: (unless they win this one then another).
— Going deep preferably with a cluster with individual trophy winners : that matters most
Don’t see the leafs getting past Florida but hope they at least cause some damage
The 2019 Blues were very competitive for a decade under Hitchcock…sort of like San Jose.
They had a legit #1D in Pieterangelo, and a deep D core. And although they had no superstars up front, they had a four line deep forward group. The coaching change and finding a goaltender who went on a historic run completed the mix.
— They didn’t make the playoffs the year before they won : that almost never happens. Teams go deep then they win the Cup. virtually always.
— The only other team I can recall who won Cup year after not making playoffs the year before is Carolina in last 40 years.
— Plus their cluster not world beaters. No individual scoring trophies or Vezinas.
—True prior they won a few rounds a few years before and decent. Since the Cup got out of 1st round once. Amongst the weakest Cup winners bottom-3 IMO. Not taking anything away : am awesome organization important to the NHL.
— They and Carolina amongst the “worst” rosters to have won a Cup
When a coach does something that we as fans disagree with, or think is a poor decision, we as fans are given two moves: rationalize why it’s a bad move, and what the better move is, OR, try to understand the move from the decision makers perspective. Both excellent ways to go.
Sometimes the groups who travel each way end up at odds with each other. To me it adds richness to the discussion, if they can each be nice.
That said, I know why one would NOT play Nurse with Bouchard. But why is KK doing it? What does he see?
I think he likes Nurse’s skating and ability to separate man from puck in the defensive zone and recover possession. When he’s playing well, he’s able to quickly get to the puck on dump-ins from the opposition, win 50-50 battles in the corner to recover possession, build some space once he has the puck and get the puck to Bouchard or a forward to start the transition up ice.
I believe he also values Nurse’s physicality and ability to box out/tie up sticks in front of the net. Clearing the net front is not one of Bouchard’s strong suits.
Without being reductive, the way the pairings are arranged now, you have a mix of “physical/separate man-from-puck” and “good outlet passer/ability to jump up on the rush/in the offensive zone” on each pairing, with at least one very good skater on each pairing.
That’s my best assessment of why KK/Coffey is doing what he’s doing, and the past 4 games it’s worked reasonably well.
How much autonomy does a defensive coach typically have in the NHL?
People crapping on Broberg yesterday: he was #3 in TOI for the Blues in round 1.
Hold up-I think today’s title is a Pancho and Lefty reference, right?
But which one? The Willie Nelson/Merle Haggard version? The Townes Van Zandt? Emmylou Harris’ take?
Wait-is this a personality test?
I didn’t realize Jesper Wallstedt posted well below the Mendoza line, a rancid .879 in 27 AHL games.
For full transparency he would’ve been my choice for the Oilers with their 1st round selection.
That 2021 draft had very little boom and lots of …
Still better than the alternative.
I’m wondering at what point would we see Stetcher.
He’s been pretty good in the regular season and the thought was that he was beating Emberson.
I can’t be certain but I think the lineup really values Emberson on the PK. I don’t know how much of that position is based on results (Does the puck go in less often on the PK when he’s on the ice) versus conventional “wisdom” (he’s big/physical/blocks shots).
I don’t know what the math says about the former, but the fact the Oilers started last series with Brown in the lineup over Klingberg and Dineen for his penalty killing “acumen” has me a bit concerned their decision making is explained by the latter.
He was clearly above Emberson on the depth chart on merit down the stretch but, at this point, I think Emberson is too valuable on the PK – they’ve already faded Walman off the PK the last few games in favor of Bouchard.
Is he actually too valuable on the PK though? I’m not sure what the underlying #s suggest.
And even if he is valuable – is the ~3:30 of PK TOI worth it when we lost out on another 10-13 minutes per night at 5v5 where Stetcher might be a better option?
I honestly don’t know the answer but I’d be interested in what the fancystats say about Emberson’s PK effectiveness relative to the rest of the Oilers options
I too question Emberson being any kind of improvement on Stetcher, whatever the game state. To me Stetch is more savvy, more reliable, better on exits, with points to Embers only for higher physicality (but not to the point of it being his calling card). Happy to trust KK on this but I’d be substituting Stetch first chance.
He was injured initially and even if he’s healthy enough to play most coaches don’t tinker with a 4 game winning lineup unless a injury happens or it’s a better match-up.
Probably would have been in the lineup in the first round except he got injured
MAF is retired but he’s going to play in the Worlds. What a guy!
Really need Brent Burns to play through the 26-27 season.
Dit Clapper played from 1927-28 to 1946-47;
Gordie Howe played from 1946-47 to 1979-80;
Mark Messier played from1979-80 to 2003-04;
Brent Burns played from 2003-04 to 2026-27???
I don’t think there is another way of mapping this out and I get a ton of pleasure thinking that 4 dudes could testify to the state of the NHL over the course of a full century. Yes, Gordie spent some time in the WHL but also there were lockouts and strikes and one year Dit Clapper played only six games so of course they aren’t witness to the totality of the game, but presumably:
An aged Clapper played against a rookie Howe; An aged Howe played against a rookie Messier; An aged Messier played against a rookie Burns.
2027 Brent Burns could speak to 1927 Dit Clapper through only two hockey translations.
Remember when 3/4 of this board claimed he was toast several years ago? Good times…
He’s literally the exact type that plays monster-length careers. Big, strong, versatile, determined.
No more “presumably”, these guys did play each other.
1) What an effort by WPG last night. The only time I really feel a tinge of nationalism/nativism is during the playoffs and I’m happy another Canadian team made it through to the next round. There were shots of some folks in the stands crying with joy after they tied it up. For a fanbase that had to watch their team leave and go without NHL hockey for ~20 years, to receive a new team and to build it into a contender, only to have it fall short time after time and for the last few seasons to crash out early – you can tell just how much seeing their team wins to them, in a way that it doesn’t, and can’t, mean that much to almost any U.S. fanbase.
2) Both WPG and DAL seemed to go through stretches of poor play all series but found something late. They’ll certainly need to make adjustments and improve but it’s a reminder that you don’t need to be perfect to win in the playoffs, you just need to be better than the opposition. Something I think that some critical Oilers fans (myself included) need to bear in mind.
3) As much as I want WPG to win, I think DAL wins their series. WPG needs their best skaters back in the lineup/healthy to win unless Hellebuyck can goalie the stars. Rantanen hasn’t looked comfortable/good all year until G7 against Colorado, and DAL is getting Robertson and Heiskanen back for R2
4) As much as I hate the Leafs I hope they beat Florida. I don’t see it happening though. I do think the winner of this series makes it to the SCF.
5) LT’s athletic article does a good job of surmising the coaching staff’s rationale with the deployment of the D pairings, but even if the Oilers wanted a fast-skater to dispossess the opposition of the puck in the D-zone, my vote would be for Kulak over Nurse on that pairing. I think Kulak is a better fit with Emberson than Nurse is, but Darnell’s propensity to take big risks at the worst time on a pairing that also features Evan Bouchard terrifies me. That being said, the math wasn’t as down on Nurse as the math was the past few games in the LA series, and maybe a few days off between games gives the player/staff time to work on ironing out some of the bad decisions we saw in R1.
6) I would still prefer a Nurse-Stetcher bottom pairing with Kulak-Bouchard, Walman-Klingberg, but the coaching staff values Emberson on the PK. I’d be curious what the math has to say about Emberson’s PK work and if there’s a disconnect between the eye test/conventional wisdom (big physical guy who eats pucks) versus the math (is he better or worse at keeping the puck out of the net on the PK than other available options?)
7) Re: PK – I like that they finally started using 97 on the PK in R1 and it makes sense to me why it was successful – he closes gaps incredibly quickly, can cover a lot of ground, and the PP always has to be careful because they’re always one bad bounce/bobbled puck away from a McDavid breakaway. While I understand some of the thinking behind not deploying him on the PK in the regular season (don’t want him injured blocking a shot in November), I don’t like the idea of asking players to do something they haven’t done all year for the first time in the playoffs. That being said, I hope 97 (and 29 for that matter) get looks on the PK for the rest of the playoffs. Even if they take the first 30 seconds, they should be rested for the first shift after the PK.
I like Nurse-Stetcher.
@walsha
Breaking News: Marc-Andre Fleury has accepted an invitation to go play for Team Canada at the World Championships.
He’s going to run it back one last time with Sid
Must watch TV.
If and when the team loses a game, the coaches may decide to switch to Skinner, but that decision would take into account how well Pickard plays in the loss and in any victories that occurred before it. If he has played well in the prior victories and also plays outstanding over even really well in a low scoring loss, maybe the team still rolls him out the next game. How much work he got in these games and their assessment of his fatigue are alos a consideration win or lose. While prior wins and losses are important factors in the decision on who to start, the coaches consider a lot of other factors as well.
Not going to happen as the Oilers with Captain Pickard win the next 12 games!
Janitor scores one goal in each of the next 12 earning the most unexpected Conn Smythe in league history.
Ever since I logged off of X for good (Can’t and won’t support Elon), I feel behind on all the hockey news. As a result, I completely missed the firestorm started by Rishaug’s “Skinner in the starter’s net” tweet.
In the past, this probably would have launched me into 24 hours of stress and anger! lol Instead, I read about the tweet about 30 mins ago, and now I read that it has been rectified with Pickard in the starter’s net this morning.
Probably some lesson here to be learned about social media and reactions. Fitting, given the topic of feeding trolls on the blog today.
All that to say, go with Pickard till he can’t go no mo’. Can’t wait till tomorrow.
“Can’t and won’t support Elon” is perhaps the best way to avoid feeding trolls (& energy vampires). Kudos to you.
I moved to Mastodon as my primary social media platform shortly after Musk bought Tw. Very little hockey news there, unfortunately. Still, there is a presence. And no trolls or energy vampires. It feels like Tw did, way back in 2009…
Thanks, I’ve wondered about Mastodon – I’ll check it out.
i ditched twr on holidays a couple years ago when I realized I’d spent an hour+ on it while sitting on a beautiful beach. Took a couple weeks to adjust to “losing” the headline convenience, but I do not miss it at all day to day. Now I just use the web version on trade deadline day and July 1
If you get there, like Tw, #tags are the ticket. For NHL hockey it’s currently #hnom (hockey night on mastodon), #nhl, #stanleycup
A small handful of Oilers fans there, including “Chad” who runs mstdn.ca out of Edmonton
Rishaug caused a bit of mayhem yesterday when he reported that Skinner was in the starters’ net yesterday – he was told by the coach not to read anything in to it.
Today, Rishaug reports that Pickard is in such starters’ net.
Rest of the lines/pairings look the same.
Breaking: Kings, GM Rob Blake agree to part ways
Its interesting – from what I read/heard, the organization offered Blake a contract during the season but he wanted to wait.
Kopitar and Doughty ageing out. Kempe free agent in a year. Byfield will be pretty good but hard to step into Kopitars shoes Clarke is gonna fall significantly short of the lofty expectations. Time to move on.
Feels like a reactive decision, and that LA needed to put some heads on some pikes after another first round exit. However, it’s not inaccurate to say that LA’s roster construction was exposed in the first round series, and that’s Blake’s cross to bear.
I think we’ll be better able to evaluate if this was a good or bad move once we see who his replacement is.
I wish I could find and share the article I read recently written by an Islanders writer who suggested keeping Hiller and replacing Blake with someone like Chiarelli.
The Oilers broke the Calgary Flames in 2022.
The Oilers broke the Vancouver Canucks in 2024.
The Oilers repeatedly broke the LA Kings and they’ve finally admitted it in 2025.
McDavid, Draisaitl & co are marching on a road of bones
Lol I think Vancouver broke themselves more than anything
Blake was pretty good at rebuilding a good team on the fly. Hard to best the Oilers, no shame in that
I have in the past been testy with the commentor mentioned, and after one of the previous versions of this debate decided to employ self control. I respond at times still, but if I want to disagree, with good intent I make a counterpoint, or joke or a smart ass comment if they are baiting, instead of an angry response
There are a couple of way out there folks we see from time to time, who I just ignore. There is no point debating with unreasonable people. HH isn’t that level to me
Sorry to hear about the comment section LT. As one of the last remaining people that have been here from the very start (first as toqueboy, now as Jfry), I really do miss the previous incarnation of comment’s section when it featured people like Mirtle, Dellow, Parkatti, Tulsky, PDO, Woodguy, Bruce etc who went out of their way to do video analysis, deep dives and counter an opinion with their own blog post trying to make sense of where all this analytics innovation was taking us. Hopefully you’re able to get everything ironed out. A lot of those early members have gone on to some really cool careers in analytics and hockey.
Who knows, maybe some of those people still linger among us under pseudonyms …
Frank Seravalli
@frank_seravalli
Personal news: My time @DailyFaceoff
is winding down. My decision. It’s been an incredible journey building a premier hockey media brand and I’m grateful for every second.
Like many in hockey, I’m a free agent on July 1 and can’t wait to dig in on my next ventures. Stay tuned.
LT, curious why you believe Pics will get the bench if he loses one match? Coach afforded Skinner a 2 game set before the hook; does Pickard not deserve the same? Thanks in advance.
I’m not LT, but my view is this: going into the playoffs Skinner was the starting goalie, at 26 has had 35 playoff starts including a run to the Finals last year. Pickard was a 31-year-old career backup with just 2 playoff starts. Why wouldn’t you give your starter a chance to bounce back? And a chance to come back when (if) the backup falters?
Thanks for the reply anyway! I am not arguing that he (Skinner) not be given the chance to come back when/if the backup falters, I am only curious as to why the hardline of 1 game and he’s gone. I would say that you are correct in that Pics WILL falter at some point, I just feel like he deserves the same grace period as Skinner no?
It would also seem like undue pressure on Pickard to be playing each game with the understanding that without perfection you are losing the net.
In the early days of HH, I sometimes thought that LT was using that name to get alternate discussions going. But HH started going way too far, so then I knew that it was not LT under a pseudonym – just a troll!
I have been guilty in the past of taking offense to a troll-response to one of my posts and then ‘got into it’ with him. Now, the last time I responded to HH was many, many days ago as I decided the last time (was it the last time or the time before that?) LT posted a reminder that we all should adhere to the blog requirements.
If there are no rebuttals to HH (et al), he (they) will not go away, but the threads will die on the vine.
I’m with you, I stopped replying to HH a looooong time ago, unless they were posting something innocuous like a link to Moneypuck’s playoff pool as an example.
I have enough stress in my work life, no need to add stress arguing with someone who shifts the goal posts quicker than McD moves the puck.
I’m sure they’ll be back with a new account name but we’d all do well to just ignore.
Edmonton will win this series if they are PATIENT for offence.
Obviously Vegas will be a much harder forechecking team. The forwards need to come back deep and provide support for quick plays up the wall and out. The chances will come in the Vegas zone, but they will give it all away and more if the Edmonton defence doesn’t have a quick out with support. Thats it, thats all. That’s the series.
I think they do it, by the way.
Well said. I agree that is huge for the series. I also feel special teams will be LARGE especially pp discrepancies if there are any (obvi). Watching the Blues/Jets last night this officiating won’t change or improve, I thought it was an embarrassment last night for the best league in the world, the officiating style (game management) lags large.
Entertaining back half of the game in Winnipeg last night. Snoozer for the first 50 minutes though.
Didn’t think either team looked prepared for Dallas. Maybe Winnipeg winning the series is good, and they can give Dallas a harder push and soften them up for the Pacific champs….But I don’t see them winning with that milk-toast effort.
STL was one of the teams I thought could pull off an upset in the first round, not so much because I thought they were a good team but because I felt WPG was a paper tiger
Missing Scheifle and Morrissey, and having Ehlers playing hurt, really hurts WPG. I think they’re toast unless one or both of those two comes back soon, and Ehlers gets healthy.
That being said, WPG showed a ton of resiliency and got the 1st-round-monkey off their back. Who knows, maybe Hellebuyck exorcised some demons and starts playing like a Vezina winner.
Dallas also went through stretches of looking fairly average against Colorado, really struggling with Colorado’s speed. Looks like they found something in G7 however.
In terms of toughest remaining teams in the west, I’d say LV > DAL > WPG
In fairness though St Louis did their best LA Kings impression last night and just held their breath. Did not work. Damn close though.
Literally 3 seconds away from round 2.
not sure any team has ever been that close to winning a series only to lose it in OT.
Yeah lol, it took two 6-on-5 goals to beat them and played a pretty great 57 minutes or so.
I read somewhere that Winnipeg managed to create just 2.5 expected goals at 5v5 in game 7 – in nearly 90 minutes of play. That’s not going to fly against Dallas.
All WIN needs is Good Helle between the pipes and they can be trouble for anybody. Tho DAL’s attack looking pretty potent, gotta say.
problem is they haven’t gotten a good Hellebuyck in net in the postseason since 2020-21
Anyone who watches What We Do in the Shadows knows Harper’s Hair is not a “troll”…
He is an Energy Vampire.
Seriously – people give HH way too much credit by calling him a troll.
He’s a bad poster with bad takes, which is even worse.
Trolls get amusement or entertainment from antagonizing other posters. They intentionally say ridiculous things to get a rise out of people for laughs.
But HH truly believes the stuff he posts and I have seen far too many instances of HH getting angry or posting late while drunk on this blog in defense of his beliefs. Trolls don’t really do that.
The guy wants to be seen as a critical thinker and an intellectual mind so badly but his takes always blow up in his face. Then throw in his weird obsessive hatred of the Oilers and you get someone who posts regularly on this blog desperately seeking recognition and validation for his bad takes. As if he is trying to get people to “see the light” by seeing how awful the Oilers are as he does.
If you don’t believe me, remember that HH once put in the effort to start his own hockey blog which failed. Trolls don’t do that kind of thing – far too much effort for little gain from a trolling perspective.
Good confirmation / elaboration. Well stated.
Um.
I’m not among those who reflexively condemn HH comments, some of which I appreciate, but…
lotta transparently facetious commentary from HH offered as bait. Much moving of the goalposts. All too deliberate for HH not to be a closely related offshoot of the troll clan imo.
Ego is a hell of a thing. If someone has a big ego and they are wrong, you see them deflect, move goal posts, use a lot of whataboutisms, are always wanting to be right, they get defensive and are very attention seeking.
All HH traits.
Imo, a bad poster with an ego =/= a troll.
I should point out that I’m just a regular human bartender.
I absolutely love that show.
To repeat:
Everyone knows Harpers Hair is a troll.
Everyone knows you don’t feed a troll.
Duh!
They have had Nurse/Bouch together in all skates but Nurse generally plays just as much, often more, with Kulak in the games. Last game Nurse played twice as much with Kulak as Bouchard.
I break out the minutes in The Athletic article posted above.
The Knights needed to load up Karlsson with Ekholm to deal with the Kaprizov/Boldy line. I presume they will need to do the same to deal with McDavid and Drai together. At least Elliote Friedman thinks the Oilers have better depth behind a load up line.
So that’s where the viking is!
The tricky thing for playing the Oilers is our ability to significantly shuffle the lines. Load up Mcdavid and Drai for a ridiculously hard matchup for even power v power. Or spread out the wealth where one of the top players in the game is on the ice for 2/3 of it
Skinner was 0-3 versus Vegas this year where as Pickard has only faced them once and has a victory under his belt to show for it. Vegas obviously has a read on Skinner beating him I believe 8 out of the last time 12 he’s faced them. I believe Vegas only facing Pickard once this favours him. No surprises will have a full scouting report on Hill this go around. I believe Pickard is playing better than Hill at the moment and getting a split is a absolute must.
This regular season, Oilers v Vegans:
Skinner 1 win (6-3), 2 losses (2-4; 0-1); Pickard 1 win (3-2).
Skinner v Vegans: .914
Pickard: .864
Hill v Oilers: .901 (one SO)
I actually never said that, if I was who you were referring to. I definitely never said that quote with your name in it that you put up there in quotation marks. Again, if it was me you were referring to, I apologize if that was your takeaway, I would never mean to offend you in your own barn.
I actually very much appreciate you acknowledging the challenge with limiting certain posters (however, as you point out, changing names and continuing the same tact should still be grounds for upholding the penalty).
However, for years we’ve been told not to feed the troll. I have finally made a conscious decision not to do so, and with that said, moving forward I now consider his uninvited responses to me as harassment, and that should not be tolerated either. We can agree to disagree, but I will not personally tolerate being told repeatedly how shitty my hockey team is and how nice and shiny everyone else’s is, on this site no less. If you choose to police that, I can understand and will leave, but as long as I am allowed on this site, I will make that view known. I don’t personally consider that unreasonable. I would think that my contributions over the past 20 years, which have not repeatedly crossed the line like the individual in questions, would be respected and welcomed here, but I could stand to be corrected. It’s your page, your rules.
My thoughts this morning were not a reaction to your post. You are free to post here and are a valued poster. I appreciate your thoughts on the issue.
Ok, that is encouraging to hear. I know it’s not easy to keep the peace on such blogs, and I do truly applaud you for your civility in the face of these matters
I was worried it was from incidents involving me. I tried to ignore, but was followed around, and it seemed like it was harassment.
Something possesses the poster formerly known as DSF. For want of a better term, and I am no expert, he has a demon. Or more accurately, a demon has him.
I thought your request yesterday — asking that poster to stop responding to your well-reasoned posting — was reasonable and clearly stated. Let’s watch and see exactly who or what has control over there under the bridge.
I do think that we should have space for reasoned criticism of the Oilers and that favorably comparing other teams to the Oilers isn’t necessarily reduced to calling the Oilers shitty.
I wasn’t posting last night and have no desire to go back and see the keyboard wars that transpired, but at times on this blog I feel that some posters (not thinking of you, just stating things generally) perceive at any criticism of the Oilers as “trolling” by “haters”, which is reductive and inhibits (in my opinion) good, critical discussion.
Not saying that He Who Shall Not Be Named is a paradigmatic example of good faith critical discussion, but just commenting generally.
I don’t think anyone here is against reasoned criticism against the team. This blog has critiqued management in a principled way for over 25 years and has set the benchmark on how to do it with balance and intellect.
When an individual is only on here to comment negatively about the subject of the blog (Oilers) and its supporters, while only commenting positively about other teams, a pattern emerges and no matter how reasoned it may sound, that individual is surely lacking in sincerity or kindness. No team is immune to mistakes and no GM is perfect, and some are clearly better than others. To acknowledge otherwise is delusional or vindictive. Social media is so toxic, and I just don’t have time for this BS anymore. It’s not productive or healthy.
Bummer you have to police the comments section LT… I’ve always done what you suggest, just ignore the bad apples here. It is difficult at times to refrain but can be done. I recall a post I got involved with, it was removed along with the entirety of the thread. I knew right away that it was over the line. As Denis Lemieux said best: “You do that, you go to the box, you know. Two minutes, by yourself, you know and you feel shame, you know. And then you get free.”
Now I hope it’s just clickbait, but why the hell am I reading about Skinner starting in net tomorrow, clearly this isn’t the way.
I can actually see a reason to put Skinner in for Game 2 if we win.
First, there is no pressure as you come away with a split. But if Pickard or the team fades in the second half of winning Game 1, it can be seen as giving Pickard a rest. It is one game, no pressure, and can build the confidence. Say the plan for Stu is 1 game, no matter the performance, with Pickard in for Game 3. So Stu can go in with less stress, perform well (he is normally better after long rests), and let some pucks hit him in case he is needed later in the series.
There is no way I put Skinner back in unless Pickard falters. Plus he’s had 4 days off so it’s not like he’s had been ridden hard
Play the hottest hand. No pro athlete should need coddling, just fairness. It should make Stu hungry to get back in, not psych him out
Name the last Goalie in the playoffs that was benched after winning 5 games in a row? If we win game 1 you go for the jugular with a steady eddy career back-up that is on a roll who I personally think he’s going to get better as the playoffs continue.
I think Josh Brown has a better chance of winning the Norris next year than Stu has of starting G2 if the Oilers win G1. I don’t think any playoff game is “no pressure”, and winning G2 is the difference between “halfway to the next round” and “tied-up and 3 games away from elimination”
Even if the Oilers lose G1 and Pickard gives up a few bad goals, I think there’s a decent chance I’d start him in G2 – see if he can show some more resiliency and bounce back, give him a vote of confidence. And it’s not like you’re assured that Stu’s going to be meaningfully better, even though he has a higher ceiling and has showed some resiliency of his own.
Also, if Stu’s going to enter into the series midway, I think it happening at home in G3 rather than on the road in G2 will put him in more of a position to succeed.
Obviously the primary goal is a split but I don’t think it would be “no pressure” for game 2, even if they won game 1.
I just want to thank LT for all the fine work he does.
Lets GO OILERS!
Agreed.
Getting way ahead of things but Winnipeg vs Edmonton in the WCF would be so good.
As for Holloway and Broberg… it was nice when they were Oilers, but now? I couldn’t give a Faulk (sorry LT if that’s stepping over the line) about the St. Louis Blues or what golf courses they are headed to. Lets Go Oilers.
Some concerns that we had with them as Oilers came to fruition – Holloway hurt and not available at the most key time, Broberg getting run repeatedly in yesterday’s game with no apparent ability to avoid it
IF they can push the Knights off of their horses, Jets Leafs. Imagine the chaos
I mean Broberg still had a pretty good series despite taking a lot of punishment. And the same criticism directed at Holloway could be directed at multiple players on the Oilers who came into the year with durability concerns.
The “at the most key time” thing isn’t really fair to levy at the player – it’s not like the timing of an injury is within the player’s control, and it’s just luck that Holloway’s happened at an unfortunate time.
I realize them both turning out to be bums who can’t play would certainly make losing them for peanuts easier to stomach, but we shouldn’t let that affect our assessment of them as players (unless we just want to cope lol)
Bro pretty instrumental in game six, I thought. And then I sighed.
I think they will both be good players. Holloway can’t control when he gets hurt no, but a young guy with a mounting injury history is a risky bet over time
I think it was Scott Reynolds years back that wrote an article about how the best predictor of future injury is past injury. And Bro is heading there if he can’t figure out how to avoid getting crushed six times a game
He is a weird player. But he has the Kris Russell in him and they outscore with him on the ice, as he did last playoffs despite getting crushed in shot metrics. I thought it was a mistake sitting him to lose the win in reg, unless he was hurt or something
I watched a fair bit of the Jets-Blues series and paid attention to Broberg. I realize this has a bit of a sour grapes angle, but I wasn’t blown away by his performance. I’d describe it as “ok”. I would have preferred the Oilers keep him, but at over $4 mill, I’m not convinced.
Did you notice that the opposition does not score (much at all) when Broberg is on the ice?
They didn’t in the playoffs last year against Dallas and Florida. They didn’t during the regular season this year. They didn’t at all in the playoffs this year, except for one PP goal against.
When Bouchard was a tire fire to start the season (before the Ekholm trade) with Ryan Murray and Brett Kulak, the tire fire stopped when he was paired with Broberg for the two months before Ekholm arrived.
Justin Faulk is a pretty good 2nd pair defenseman when paired with Broberg, and pretty much Justin Schultz when he is paired with anyone else.
Philip Broberg is going to be an elite defensive defensman with average offense.
He is a #3D already, at the end of his first full NHL season.
Who do you think is a better fit with Edmonton for another year Broberg or Walman?
I regret the missed opportunity of having a decade of Broberg and Bouchard as a D pair.
I think this misstates the decision to match Broberg’s offer sheet the Oilers were facing, it’s not as though this was the either-or decision Edmonton was faced with making. At the time I was supportive of trying to trade Kulak to open up cap space to match the offer sheet. “Broberg or Kulak+Emberson” is probably a better way of framing it, but it’s not perfect.
Given that^ framing, I think Kulak+Emberson was probably preferable to Broberg for just this year although I think it’s close, but Broberg > Kulak+Emberson is pretty clearly more value/impactful over the long run.
The die was cast after July 1 though, as there was so little room to maneuver up against the cap with all those NMCs.
Maybe, but not this playoffs🤭
Broberg was not on for a single 5v5 goal against in the series. He is indeed an elite defensive dman already.
As much as I like Broberg, it was a 7 game series against a team missing significant offensive contributors. Not enough to start declaring players elite defensive defensemen (or elite anything lol)
Jim Montgomery doesn’t seem to agree yet so far in Broberg’s young career. He likely gets there, perhaps not that far in the future. But an elite defensive defenseman wouldn’t be on the second pair for killing penalties and achieving below average results. Also, Montgomery chose not to play Broberg the last 4 minutes of the 3rd period, while clinging to a 3-1 lead that they ended up losing. He probably made that decision because Broberg had the arguably the worst results of any defensemen in the league at defending a lead late in games with the other team’s goalie pulled. In 20 minutes of being on ice holding a lead 5 v 6, Broberg was on for 7 goals against in the regular season. The handful of other defenders in that range (6-8 GA) played more than twice the minutes of Broberg 5 v 6.
Throw on top of that, in the series he had a PDO of 1.225 with an expected goal share of 43% so he wasn’t helping tilt the ice. Maybe he defends in a way that gives Binnington better reads, but there certainly appears to be some luck involved in the defensive end.
Broberg was on for a couple of goals against during the playoffs last year (at 5 on 5) but his expected goals was over 7 goal against.
Broberg ran alot of luck during the playoffs last season.
His expected goals against in the first round was 5.
Perhaps he is a part of his own luck if this continues.
I would love to have Broberg on the Oilers – he is a good defensive d-man that can transition the puck with his skating.
Long comment tail on this post, to which I’ll add simply that 4M ain’t what it used to be. We’re 10 years out from Mac T not being able to pay all his D men four shmill (and he was wrong even then). I make the investment and re-up reshuffle as needed.
If they can somehow manage to not gift goals and multiple Grade A’s such as odd man rushes I like their chances
But as we go the teams left are more able to make you pay for doing that. They are capable, will they?
Game 5 is the blueprint. Game 6 is not.
Game 6 will not get the job done