The Edmonton Oilers are the most dangerous team in hockey. For the opposition, and themselves.
We will find out much about this Oilers team tonight. Entering the series versus the Dallas Stars, this train was bound for glory. Through two periods, there were concerns (turnovers at the blue line is such a terrible way to give up goals) but the 3-1 lead looked legit from the cheap seats.
The Oilers looked like frauds in the third period. Folded like a cheap suit (and I’ve owned a few). Sucktastic. Confirmed fears for fans, gave hope to haters and exposed the holes in the roster.
Edmonton got spanked. Will there be pushback? Will this team stand and deliver? Will the coaching staff MacGyver a solution to the power play?
Can we please not fall in love with beautiful goals to the point that an alert team can fish for turnovers and get them? I love Leon Draisaitl as a player, and realize that elite skill players have the puck more often so it’s reasonable to expect more turnovers. However, he had four in Game 1 and the Stars have lines in the water at the blueline. Evan Bouchard and Connor Brown had three, so No. 29 wasn’t alone. It’s a thing that needs fixing.
The Oilers are going to take penalties. That’s a fact. You can’t build a meek team and win diddly in the NHL. The penalty kill is an apt name for the game state, since it actually ended the Oilers in Game 1. Perhaps the unit (and coaching staff) felt shame after Game 1, and will play a stronger game. I don’t think it can be worse.
I’ve said the all season this is a unique team. I’ve never seen a true SC contender with this high a ceiling and this low a floor. They are truly heaven and hell in the NHL. Hold on to your ass.
A busy show today, Lowdown hits at noon on Sports 1440. We’ll have feature guests Steve Lansky and Tyler Yaremchuk, to talk Oilers and Panthers (who are the modern Shero Flyers). We’ll chat CFL, MLB, NFL and of course NBA. Declan Krueger will have Declanations (top 5 list) at 12:40. Hold on to your ass! A big day in Oilers Nation.
They need a new wrinkle on the powerplay.
There’s a fresh skater with 373 career goals and who is described by the coach as a powerplay guy sitting there waiting…
Tonight’s game is a must if we’re winning this series.
Its a very important game, no doubt, but not any more of a must-win as when the same statement was made going in to game 2 vs. LA.
Dear Oilers… my text to my buddies after 2 periods in game 1:
“In control heading into the 3rd”… don’t make me look like an ass hat again please!
Sticks
UpDown!At the end of the 2nd I think I said here on this forum, something to the effect “Oilers playing well but not playing great. Both teams have the ability to improve.”
Oilers were the better team in game 1 just as Vegas was better in game 2 if we can duplicate game 1 we should be walking away with a split.
Chevy, Nill and Zito up for GM of the Year.
https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/winnipeg-jets-kevin-cheveldayoff-dallas-stars-jim-nill-florida-panthers-bill-zito-voted-finalists-jim-gregory-general-manager-of-year-award
NHL News
@PuckReportNHL
BREAKING: Russia has been ruled ineligible to participate in ice hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, pending official announcement.
The IIHF reportedly made the ruling today at the annual congress.
politics aside it’s just not the same without them.
Very tough on their players too.
A tenet of the Olympics, known as the Olympic Truce, has been observed since ancient Greece and is formally recognized by the United Nations. this truce and safety concerns is why the IOC excluded Russia from the Olympics. there’s little doubt the decision also a punitive response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
Agreed!
Not surprised. Not worth the headache. The security would be a nightmare and having hundreds of thousand of people protest each game would be hard on the players
— have a friend driving up from Calgary for game 3 he said he got a single tix for 4hund on stubhub…. That’s not too bad IMO
I am also driving up for game 3 on Sunday.
Bought a pair for a client and myself.
My son and I are driving to Edmonton to attend Games 3 & 6. We were 2-0 (game 6 round 2, game 6 SCF) in the building last year, so looking to keep it going!
The bottom two lines need some energy/tweaks. Henri is hit or miss (as he has been all season), Freddy hasn’t found a groove, Kane can get pouty, and Perry doesn’t impact games when not attached to McD/Drais.
Quit hitting our own players with point shots. Hit the net or at least make the other guys hurt
Geez they showed 2 replays where the shot beats Oettinger but our net front presence actually stooped it from going in.
Yeah, I saw that.
There’s no way around it that it sucks to be down 1-0 and all that comes with it. But the process in Game 1 was really good. We were full value for a 3-1 lead and honestly should have been 5-1 with our posts and scrambles around the net. We still played the third even aside from our PK which it’s even hard to pinpoint fault on any of the goals aside from the last one i.e. sometimes the puck doesn’t bounce your way.
The giveaway at the blue line for Seguin’s goal hurt but we got two goals from being comfortable playing at their blue line (Draisaitl and Bouchard) so I think we need to take some bad with the good here.
— it boils down to basic math : having to win 50% of games vs 4 of 6. Same as always
— Plus home ice advantage
Another huge factor is if the Dallas forward depth continues to be snake bitten.
Hintz, Robertson, Johnston, Duchene and Marchment are all performing below established levels of ability.
There were some signs they are waking up in the last game but if they don’t, the Stars will be in tough.
— Obviously big ask but if the Oil can play like they did for the first two periods for the whole game they are in good shape. They have done so in multiple games in both series this years playoffs
— That team play is there for the taking if they can execute.
— In those games they dont have to worry about Skinner
— Pretty sure the team knows they have a “proxy goalie” and the onus is on team play as Skinner won’t be bailing them out. :
— Better the Devil you know I suppose.
LFGOILERS!!!
So are the canes playing that poorly or is Florida just that good?
Because Florida seems unstoppable at this point.
The Leaves took them the 7.
Florida arguably has broken Brind’Amour’s man-to-man defense wide open, one of the few teams left that play pure man-to-man defense. They are luring Carolina D out to the blue line like Vegas forwards did against the Oilers two years ago.
Normal teams during the regular season cannot spend the time and adjust the tactics to break it, but contending teams with the time and players to attack the man-to-man in the playoffs seem to be able to crack it wide open.
The injury to Chatfield has not helped.
Coach confirms that Connor Brown will play.
Sounds like the issue is his foot from blocking a shot.
Elliotte Friedman
@FriedgeHNIC
Hearing Mathieu Darche will be GM of the Islanders
Does KK shuffle any players?
Morning skate has the same lines and pairings except Skinner in Brown’s spot (who is not on the ice).
I’d prefer Skinner (or Arvy) in Kapanen’s spot (with Drai) and Brown in Brown’s spot.
I prefer Arvi in for Kapanen and Brown in.
Do we know what Brown is dealing with, sickness?
I’ve read rumblings of a foot issue from blocking a shot.
Morning folks,
I briefly wrote about the PK yesterday, and one thing the Oilers have a hard time doing, is defending the PK when the attack goes to the quiet zone (zone from the goal line to the boards) or close to it. Everyone tries to adjust to it, then tries to adjust. The first goal was tricky as the pass went down lower than the traditional half boards, then quickly to the point. Janmark tries to cheat on the pass and then scrambles to get back into the house. Brown can’t get to the point and if you watch the shot on replay, you will see Janmark, Stecher, Nurse, and a Dallas player all in a nice tidy line my gym teacher could only dream about.
Tying goal, Robertson starts down low, quick pass to half boards, to the slot, to the point, quick over to Rantinen, top corner. 4 passes in 4 seconds, Rantinen takes 2 seconds to windup. That is a lot of puck movement in a short time and no time to adjust. End result is a puck that goes to a guy who doesn’t need a lot of space or time to shoot.
GWG. Bit of keystone cops moment, but the puck quickly goes from one side of the ice to the other, and the adjustment doesn’t happen and Duschene is left wide open, with time and space. It doesn’t help matters that Stecher was tripped as the play shifted and was left floundering, but once again, the shift and adjustment wasn’t quick enough. Bit of a lucky goal really.
My guess is that the Oilers PK got caught in a Negative Performance Spiral (NPS), and it just got worse on each PK. If I’m Coach Garlic, I call a timeout just before the second PK starts, or the third PK starts. Give yourself time to focus and get ready. I used to use two methods behind the bench with my players. First, was to get them to look up at the ceiling and ask them to count the lights in the Neutral zone and then put their head down. Some call it Cognitive Distraction and some call it Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Neither have been proven conclusively through research, but there’s something about it that gets the emotion out of the picture. If you want to try it, think of something really sad (like Dwayne Roloson’s injury in Game 1 in 06) and look at the floor, then look up and think the same thought. It might bring you to tears when you look at the floor, but very different when you look up.
Second method was the big snap as I call it. I used to get large rubber bands and have the players wear them on their non-dominant glove. If they had a bad shift, they’d come to the bench, take off one glove, close their eyes, hold the band away from the glove and concentrate fully on the snap of the band against the glove. You can use simple phrases like “leave it behind”, “It’s gone”, etc It was a technique I had learned from Dr Saul Miller, and it worked really well. It just allows a player to refocus and reset. Hockey is an emotional game and it moves fast. Sometimes you have to slow it down in your mind. But I digress as the bannock man is here and I need to get some work done.
Go Oilers Go!
Love this. The All Blacks would use a strategy called Red Head (high pressure, rage, etc.) vs Blue Head (clarity and being on task). At any point in time players could ask each other are you red or blue? Then bang centred and back to the game.
How could the All Blacks be red or blue?
It refers to the psychological state of a player. Are you redhead (angry frustrated looking for retaliation) or blue head (focused on the task at hand).
Of course, it was just my wacky sense of humor. No need for clarification.
Hello Neumann (it had to be said),
That is brilliant. I always get my players to come up with the phrases and then we remember it through the season. Just a cue and reminder. The red and blue is brilliant.
I like it, Negative Performance Spiral. So, all they need now is one of those Positive Performance Spirals (PPS).
You’ve got the other end of it. Some times nothing seems to go wrong and everything just clicks. I know the fancy stats folks don’t like the term hot streak, but the PPS is key as well.
That was great. Then you mentioned bannock and now I’m hungry!!
There’s a guy who goes around selling bannock every day. I probably spend way too much on it, but Friday is cinnamon sugar frybread day, so I had to indulge.
Full Arron Rodgers today. RELAX. Oilers win tonight and they have got a win in the opponent’s barn and all is good.
Absolutely! Both teams will be better tonight. Can’t wait to see the Oilers of the Vegas series show up tonight!
The first game of a seven-game series is just that, the first game. A win is obviously preferential, but as the saying goes you learn more in a loss. Edmonton has a better idea of how to proceed & Dallas figures they can win on special teams. Well, we’ll just see about that starting tonight.
Sure. Then again, a blown Game 1 of a playoff series is remembered forever. G1 2006 is an example.
Oh, my goodness, I forgot that one.
Were you old enough to recall that series?
Do you recall that series?
There were plenty of G1’s in 2006.
Roloson wins the Conn Smythe and Cup #6 Pickard was on his way as well. It’s starting to look like we are going to get jobbed of 2 Cups because of injury to our better goalie. We are going to need all hands on deck and every last ounce of energy to get by a so-so Dallas team. Meanwhile Florida will be kicking back laughing at how much of the gas tank will need because of a reset that’s needed game by game period by period.
That’s exactly the echo of history that I felt the other night – 2006 G1 SCF vs Carolina – comfortable well-earned lead, then the arse falls out fast, right down to the gong show winning goal. Oilers didn’t lose their goalie to injury this G1, though.
Here’s hoping G2 bucks that trend! (IIRC a 4-0 loss)
They will take penalties but they don’t have to take sill stick to the face penalties, in particular in the offensive zone. They were on the PK four times last game, should have been 2 times if they weren’t undisciplined.
For me, this is a bit harsh – Yes, they were undisciplined and the PK was terrible but, outside of the first 6 minutes, they were not getting dominated or anything and they were a Connor Brown bury away from OT.
Got to keep the faith.
UMass-Lowell is heading from the OHL (Barrie) to NCAA (UMass-Lowell).
I know there are still conversations around NHL teams holding rights for players drafted from the CHL that transfer to the NCAA – lets not forget, an NHL team only holds a CHL drafted player’s right for two years – its generally 4 for NCAA drafted players.
Oilers would have his rights through next season in any even (he was just drafted last June).
Good move for Wakely.
This means there’ll now be a trio of NAmateurs in NCAA next season (Wakely, Fischer, Berry), depending on draft selections and possible trades.
Good for Dalyn. I heard about this earlier in the week, there seems to be some resistance to signing a deal with the Oilers. However, that can change with a year or two in college.
Was on the road for last game and listened on the radio. Sounded like we were playing a pretty complete game until things unravelled in the third. Watched the game yesterday and it looked like we let off the gas and got unlucky.
I don’t think to many tactical changes need to be made but execution has to remain until the final whistle.
Block the shots or clear the lane for Skinner to see it. Take away the cross passes and Skinner will stop most 1v1 with the shooter.
If anything, I’d like to see the forwards get onto the forecheck harder. Start grinding their defence.
Honestly, I didn’t see much to be overly concerned about until we blinked and panicked on the pk.
We’re a veteran team. Act like it. Bad bounces and bad luck happen. Veterans should be able to put it behind them quickly and stop the bleeding.
We lost our heads for a bit. We’ll be better tonight.
What we saw in Wed was a continuation of each team in the first round – Stars cannot stay with the Oilers at 5 on 5.
Play this game at evens and win!
This ignores the giveaways. the five-on-five goal share (2-2 in Game 1), shots (23-22 Edmonton) and HDSC (9-8 Edmonton). The Oilers SHOULD outscore Dallas five-on-five comfortably, but immature play creeped into the game on Wednesday. DON’T play like Wednesday at five-on-five.
The Oilers hit 3 posts at 5 on 5 that don’t show up in the shot-share listed about. The Oilers were unfortunately not to be up 3 or 4 goals heading in to the third period.
I stand by my opinion of 5 on 5 play.
I agree with this LT. There is nothing in the counting stats or score that suggests the Oilers were steamrolling the Stars at 5v5. I don’t think the eye-test supports such a suggestion either.
As Leon stated, they need to play a more mature game. That starts with the turnovers at the O blue line.
Three power play goals for Dallas & only one for Edmonton. That’s the differential.
Dallas played a mature game only in the third period while Edmonton lost their maturity briefly in the third and lost the game.
Or can we just blame the refs for calling all those needless penalties on the Oilers. Hardy-har-har.
I would look at transition vs settled offense. DAL two goals in transition vs EDM two goals in settled. Turnovers lead to transition chances against. I feel confident KK will organize their zone entries better and adjust how they make switches (picks) high in the offensive zone.
GF in the last 4 games are 3-3-1-3.
Not enough. This can’t last and have them win the thing. Time to turn the dial up.
They can’t play run and gun with Skinner by collapsing defensively to baby Skinner they lose offence.
i go the opposite route. If you score 5 or 6, he can in fact be wildly inconsistent until Cal is ready. And Dallas’ D is brutal.
Trying to replicate the 1-0 win is a recipe for heartbreak.
Stoic Stu will be just fine.
Regardless of whether they win or lose. Which is honestly part of the problem.
I’ve encountered two types of “zen” athletes over the years. One type is zen because they’re so good and stable it just naturally became part of their personality. The other type is trying to adopt it to compensate for the fact that their performance swings wildly and that has negative consequences that they don’t know how to use to improve.
Rather obvious which type Stuart is.
Playing a strong defensive game is not babying Skinner, or any goalie; it is simply paying attention to details… moving the puck quickly but smartly, don’t lose coverage, backchecking as hard as gunning for offence, don’t turn the puck over at either blue line, let the goalie see the puck, get sticks in the lane, etc.
Oilers defend the best in the offensive zone
The PK on the road has been worse, I believe, but overall it has not been what it was last year. Making a way to make it work is critical. Also, helping Nurse to settle his game so that he can play the way he ended the season is pretty important too.
I think we see a much more complete game, with some line shuffling, heading into tonight.
Dare I dream for the 11-7?
GOilers!!
As with the last two series, the team that will beat the Oilers will be the Oilers. LA looked tougher than both Vegas and Dallas until their coach got spooked by an unlikely come back and changed tactics. I think KK knows that 3rd period was an anomaly and he tightens a few things and sticks with what worked for 40 minutes.
I don’t feel the Oil have played poorly that often these playoffs. There were a few periods against LA that were painful to watch, but otherwise we have seen considerably more ‘ceiling’ than ‘floor’.
The one exception is the PK. It is the only glaring issue. Delayed puck pursuit, failed clearances, poor slot coverage, below average goaltending, cross seam passes…
The third period was just a magnification of the PK. And one of the penalties (Perry) was during a great offensive shift.
Go Oil!
If Edmonton is allowed to just play their game, it’s no contest. As long as the officials allow the teams to play, the skill will take over.
Let the music play on.
Too many turnovers at the opponents blue line and too many guys hesitant to shoot and trying to pass the puck into an open net.
This is what I saw too. At the end of the first period I posted that the Oil were playing with fire with the turnovers just inside the O blue line. The Stars have clearly scouted this and game-planned for it. Now the Oilers need to adjust their tactics.