Pre-Game Talk: Edmonton vs Vegas

[Lacaar]

One thing that's actually crazy to think about is that McDavid and Draisitl didn't really contribute to much offensive results the last two games. Not saying they played poorly. They tilted the Ice but quite honestly butchered their scoring chances.

This series was won by the team more so than in the past I guess is what I'm saying. That's a good sign. Everyone talking about Vegas's depth when perhaps ours is being under rated now.

I'm still worried it will take too many games to adapt to the Vegas forecheck. But I'm encouraged by the depth scoring against L.A.

Can I please have some more Connor McBrown

 

[MikeS24]

I remember being up 3-1 and thinking we're cooked. We had no business being up that game. We were playing poorly and got what we deserved. Skinner didn't make up for it definitely... but I'm not sure Hasek was saving us that game.

What? we were not getting outplayed against VAN game 1. We were getting comfy and took that 3-1 lead. I don't even remember the final score.

Just remember Skinner letting in 2 absolute PATHETIC goals that should never go in lol. He lost us that game all on his own.

He let in at least 2 sh** goals from close tot he goal line from far out like the one Zadarov scored once or twice.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

I remember being up 3-1 and thinking we're cooked. We had no business being up that game. We were playing poorly and got what we deserved. Skinner didn't make up for it definitely... but I'm not sure Hasek was saving us that game.

It was a relatively even game with junk goaltending on both ends. With AHL player Silov slightly outplaying Skinner.

Hasek wins that game with ease.

 

[bone]

"We don't forget what happened 2 years ago" - McDavid

Discuss

I'm hoping the key difference in this series is that the team has more time to adjust to Hill than they did last time.

They were on the verge of breaking open the series in Game 3 until they literally broke Brossoit on an attempted save that injured him. Seeing how the team gradually gets to each goalie they face as the series goes deeper, it may be enough to close the gap that emerged last time.

That said, they can't allow Vegas to score 3 goals in a period 5 times in a 6 game series and expect to win. Win the shift after a goal for or goal against more often than not, and hopefully they see a different result.

 

[Lacaar]

What? we were not getting outplayed against VAN game 1. We were getting comfy and took that 3-1 lead. I don't even remember the final score.

Just remember Skinner letting in 2 absolute PATHETIC goals that should never go in lol. He lost us that game all on his own.

Not how I remember it. We got a power play goal, a nice goal, and absolute gifts from Shilov on goals 3 and 4.

We had all of 8 shots in period 2 and 3 combined for a total of 18.

They didn't play well sorry... Skinner included.

 

[Lacaar]

It was a relatively even game with junk goaltending on both ends. With AHL player Silov slightly outplaying Skinner.

Hasek wins that game with ease.

Looking back yes Hasek wins that game. Wow Skinner really shit some of those goals.

That being said the Oilers did NOT play well. They looked like shit from my recollection.
And looking at the game stats.. 18 shots. Sorry no team plays well and comes away with 18 shots on net.

 

[bone]

Didn't watch the Vegas series, but apparently they bled chances against. Hill had the worst expected save percentage in the playoffs, and played really well to keep them in it. The Oilers haven't exactly been flawless defensively. This one could get silly.

I didn't either, but the series summary page on NST doesn't look like a team that was threatened much in terms of the flow of play, but Minnesota had the better goaltending. Of course advanced stats and charts don't always paint an accurate picture. Diving into the details though, it looks very much like the biggest impact was the special teams as VGK PP was +4 (4 for-0 against) and PK only -1 (2 for -3 against)

 

[MikeS24]

even minny's last gdt

all yelling about the refs not calling anything on vegas

blood pressure going up this series

 

[popo]

Vegas loves to feed the slot, so if our centres are slow getting back or we get chasing in zone we are going to give up a lot of high quality chances. Agree that Knoblauch should be smart enough to adjust.

I thought we looked really sloppy in game 6. But after game 5 they were over confident and looking past the Kings. Everyone knew they were winning.
Best takeaway from game 6 was how clutch Pickard played. I don't care that he let in 4 goals, he made timely saves when we needed him to. I think the team confidence improved big time after that performance.

 

[Dirty Mind]

"We don't forget what happened 2 years ago" - McDavid

Discuss

Chills.

Get ‘em, McDrai.

Oilers in 5.

Unless they go back to Stu Skinner like some posters are suggestions. The scary thing is: I can see it.

They can’t go back to Skinner. Not after Pickard was in net for four straight wins. They just can’t. They’re not that dumb, right?

 

[bone]

Bet365 has game 1 on Sunday. They’re usually right so I’ll go with that.

I will say they have the eastern conference games starting on Tuesday so idk how valid it is.

I have no idea who Inoue or Cardenas are, but I can't see why they'd postpone that fight to get this game in when there's literally nothing else at T-Mobile until May 17th (Katy Perry).

If the second round starts Sunday, I bet the Sunday game will be Washington vs Carolina, since Washington's arena was already booked for Game 7 on Sunday the 4th, and both teams will have had at least 3 days off in between. Furthermore, Carolina has events booked on the 9th, 11th and 13th, meaning Games 3 and 4 have to be on the 8th, 10th or 12th. If the league wants things to move quickly, they may want to get Games 3 and 4 on the 8th and 10th, then allow the extra nights off for games 5, 6, and or 7.

So if Winnipeg wins tonight, I think it will be

Sunday - Wash/Car
Monday - Tor/Fla and VGK/Edm
Tuesday - Wash/Car and Central Division Final

If Winnipeg goes to Game 7 Sunday, They'll probably just start things up on the Monday and none of the potential rinks are booked Monday so they'll plan it based on the TV schedules, other than having the constraint that the Game 3 and 4 in Carolina will need to be played on the 10th and 12th.

Here's the list of all events I could find in potential arenas, excluding potential Denver Nuggets games if they win Game 7 and advance to the 2nd round.

 

[MessierII]

But we were up like 3-1 in game 1 I believe against the Cucks. Stuart Skinner decided to show up the last half of that game with some atrocious goals

Fair enough I couldn’t remember off hand how that game went. I was drinking obscene amounts that series.

 

[ConnorNova0929]

The one thing that gives me the most hope in this series is that we have a coach who will adjust when needed. Woodcroft was so stubborn two years ago when Eichel/Marchessault ate up the Oil and he refused to change anything.

Anyway, Go Oilers!!

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

even minny's last gdt

all yelling about the refs not calling anything on vegas

blood pressure going up this series

I do think Vegas is the leagues darling but I don’t think any team flirts with the penalty line as good as the Kings do.

 

[Da McBomb]

I have no idea who Inoue or Cardenas are, but I can't see why they'd postpone that fight to get this game in when there's literally nothing else at T-Mobile until May 17th (Katy Perry).

Naoya Inoue is probably the best pound for pound fighter right now... huge fan of his. Check him out and you won't be disappointed.

 

[Jumptheshark]

who ever wins this series is going to the finals

 

[Canovin]

who ever wins this series is going to the finals

Oilers just have to repeat game 5 twelve more times

 

[ManOfSteelI]

Looking back yes Hasek wins that game. Wow Skinner really shit some of those goals.

That being said the Oilers did NOT play well. They looked like shit from my recollection.
And looking at the game stats.. 18 shots. Sorry no team plays well and comes away with 18 shots on net.

Without looking back, I tend to recall that being their worst played game of the series. When they had the lead, it flattered their play up to that point.

 

[Dieseloil]

Team Buttman needs a shit kicking. Can’t play garbage the first 2 in this next series, we are against the whole league. Pound Eichel and Stone every chance you get.

 

[Da McBomb]

Curious how many Oiler fans will make the trek down to Vegas with so many Canadians now avoiding a trip down to the States with everything going on with Trump, tariffs and border issues. My friend just told me flights to Vegas this weekend are crazy expensive as well.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Oilers game 5 team will beat Vegas. Oilers game 6 team will not. Opposition coaching won't be a weakness, let alone a glaring weakness as it kneecapped LA. One round sample but Vegas playoff shooting at 9.4% is underperforming their X-Goals projection and regular season 11.0% shooting percentage.

Oil holy trinity McDavid, Draisaitl and Bouchard all delivering elite production and support scoring is delivering with team 12.8% shooting versus their terrible 9.9% regular season result which was well below their X-Goals projections. I anticipate the Oil leaning into their depth with splitting McDavid and Draisaitl to drive their own lines. These two teams have largely been even but when Vegas won it is in the margins with Oilers puck management mistakes getting buried by a good finishing team. Edmonton is a bigger, deeper team this playoff. Oil will win the series if they help their goaltending by mitigating their defensive mistakes. They also have to get into the high danger, home plate compete areas against Vegas big defense.

 

[OilerFanInLangley]

I don't think the Oilers can continue to fight uphill like they did against LA this series.

Some of their key players had injury troubles late in the year, and when they trail they just have to work 97 and 29 so hard for all 3 periods.

A bit of puck luck and a few key saves early in games could go a long way to this team continuing to get healthier and stronger instead of just grinding down our top payers.

Also, if the Oilers can get an early series lead, they won't feel like they need to rush Ekholm back. They say that he's "doubtful" for Rnd 2, but that sounds kinda like "if the Oil are down 3g-2, he might be available for G6".

IMO a healthy Ekholm is a must for a long playoff run, and it's possible to win 2 series without him, but not 4. I'm just praying for a healthy Ekholm for Rnds 3 & 4....

I don't think the Oilers have ever played a game with a healthy MacDavid, Draisaitl, Klingberg, Walman and Ekholm in the lineup... Those guys missed a lot of games near the end of the reg season.

If the Oil can have all those guys healthy for the last 2 Rnds, I think they're easily the best team in the NHL.

 

[Louis Cypher]

This is a different Vegas team from 2 years ago. Haven't been following them. Would you say better or worse or just different from last time?

 

[OilerFanInLangley]

I don't think the Oilers can continue to fight uphill like they did against LA this series.

Some of their key players had injury troubles late in the year, and when they trail they just have to work 97 and 29 so hard for all 3 periods.

A bit of puck luck and a few key saves early in games could go a long way to this team continuing to get healthier and stronger instead of just grinding down our top payers.

Sorry for quoting myself, but just further to that, here's the TOI for McDavid and Draisaitl:

McDavid avg 23:20 toi/gp Rnd 1, 4th among all forwards
Draisaitl avg 23:05 toi/gp Rnd 1, 6th among all forwards

Game 6
McDavid 21:05 toi, that would make him 24th among all forwards
Draisaitl 21:45 toi, that would make him 20th among all forwards

MacDavid spent 2 minutes less on ice in Game 6 than he did in game 1 (23:21). Ideally he plays a few 20-21 minute games against Vegas.

Ditto for Draisaitl. He has played injured in the playoffs the last couple of seasons, I'd love to see his minutes go down a bit, and a couple nice leads will do that.

 

[McShogun99]

If we beat Vegas and end up playing Winnipeg in the conference final we would have played the top 3 defensive teams in the league.