Pre-Game Talk: Edmonton vs Vegas

[Jimmi McJenkins]

So I would consider some roster changes for game 1, I know that the Knights have size, but they aren't as quick and I think the Oilers can go this route and have success, they are small changes.

McDavid - Draisaitl - Perry
Kane - Nuge - Hyman
Frederic - Henrique - Brown
Podkolzin - Janmark - Skinner

Kulak - Bouchard
Walman - Klingberg
Nurse - Stetcher

Pickard
Rodrigue

I think the freshness of Skinner and Stetcher would help and I think having a 3rd pair of Nurse and Stetcher would be better.

 

[Shanahanigans]

Every single one of our lines was above 50% goals and 50% expected goals in the Kings series. I don’t think that has happened ever in the Mcdrai era. Particularly, Bruce Curlock on OilersNation noted that since being put together, the Frederic-Henrique-Brown line dominated the Kuzmenko-Kopitar-Kempe line both in chances and goals. A real 3rd line, and the emergence of a healthy Kane and Klingberg improves this team’s chances of making it back to the final dramatically. Oilers are legit.

 

[bone]

Minny's main writer "Michael Russo" or whatever was bitching about the refs on Twitter every game lol. Vegas was legit getting away with a TON

Even though I doubt he's wrong, Russo crys almost every game about the refs, so he's not much to gauge it on.

 

[Dirk Dangler]

 

[bone]

Sooner or Later the Oilers are going to have to slay the slow series start demon that has become the culture of this team if they want to win the cup.

That being said they'll likely prove me wrong before proving me right.

This team just plays the first 3 games of a series like it's regular season for the most part. Can't find their game until they're down. They don't do well will breaks. They're like the Borg.... you get a few shots before they adapt.

The last 2 years game 1 of the second round has been an absolute stinker of a performance.

This is what I'll be watching for. When I see a team that takes the bull by the horns game 1.... then I'll believe. A team that shows it is just as desperate in the first 3 games over the last 4..... Until then.. I'm just going to enjoy the roller coaster ride knowing eventually they'll run out of track.

Last year's Game 1 actually wasn't that bad. We were up 4-1 until Skinner shit his pants. Our most common issue in Game 1 isn't the team showing up offensively, it's usually poor defense or shitty goaltending (even through the Mike Smith years).

 

[bone]

It seems like last year they almost figured the at out. Played well against LA, Dallas and Florida in game 1’s but were stoned by Bobrovsky. The only true no show was against the schmucks.

And even in the Nucks game they had a 4-1 lead, but Skinner couldn't keep them to 3 goals on 24 shots.

 

[McHelpus]

Kapanen's speed will do wonders against this very slow Vegas team. We need to beat them with speed. I don't think this a series for Perry.

 

[bone]

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

13 different players with at least one goal.
9 players with at least two goals
4 with at least three goals

The only players without a single point were Emberson and Josh Brown but between the two of them only 1 goal was scored against them at 5 on 5 (granted Brown had like 2 minutes of 5 on 5). So they at least generally did their job in not hurting the team.

That was a full team series win.

 

[bone]

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.

I don't watch much fighting events, so it wasn't a comment about him as much as I don't really know any fighters.

 

[jesusbuiltmyhotrod]

Sooner or Later the Oilers are going to have to slay the slow series start demon that has become the culture of this team if they want to win the cup.

That being said they'll likely prove me wrong before proving me right.

This team just plays the first 3 games of a series like it's regular season for the most part. Can't find their game until they're down. They don't do well will breaks. They're like the Borg.... you get a few shots before they adapt.

The last 2 years game 1 of the second round has been an absolute stinker of a performance.

This is what I'll be watching for. When I see a team that takes the bull by the horns game 1.... then I'll believe. A team that shows it is just as desperate in the first 3 games over the last 4..... Until then.. I'm just going to enjoy the roller coaster ride knowing eventually they'll run out of track.

It’s not a coach issue it’s a culture issue with the core players . We have had a lot of different coaches. It’s so frustrating

 

[jesusbuiltmyhotrod]

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.

That scares me because quite frankly our stars were often not committed to defending all the time last series.

 

[Stoneman89]

In 2018 my daughter took me to the Pavillion in Boston to see him for Mother's Day. Joe Walsh opened for him. Both were very good. A gospel group sang along with him for a couple of tunes. Saw him years ago opening for Tom Petty also.

View attachment 1028075

View attachment 1028076

Well I'm a-standin' on the corner in Winslow, Arizona
With such a fine sight to see
It's a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford
Slowin' down to take a look at me
Come on baby, don't say maybe
I've got to know if your sweet love is gonna save me
We may lose and we may win
But we will never be here again
Open up I'm climbin' in to take it easy

 

[Duke74]

Hope Kane or Nurse pay back that bitch Peetrashelo.

 

[Duke74]

This should be a dandy of a series. Our special teams needs to be firing on all cylinders.

Especially the PK.

 

[K1984]

Make those Vegas defenseman turn and retrieve pucks in the corners while sending in Kane, Frederic, Brown and Hyman like heat seaking missiles to make their lives extra difficult.

What we learned in 2023 is they don't like getting hit, Pietrangelo particularly.

So we better be f***ing hammering them.

 

[jukon]

NHL's best vs NHL's favourite.

 

[soothsayer]

Kapanen's speed will do wonders against this very slow Vegas team. We need to beat them with speed. I don't think this a series for Perry.

I think this is exactly the series for Perry. Vegas destroys teams that play perimeter hockey. You gotta get inside the fortress they build around their net, and there may be no better guy on the team at doing that than Corey Perry. I am looking forward to seeing him get inside their kitchen and bang around with their defense, maybe draw some timely penalties (lol who am I kidding on that front).

 

[MessierII]

So I would consider some roster changes for game 1, I know that the Knights have size, but they aren't as quick and I think the Oilers can go this route and have success, they are small changes.

McDavid - Draisaitl - Perry
Kane - Nuge - Hyman
Frederic - Henrique - Brown
Podkolzin - Janmark - Skinner

Kulak - Bouchard
Walman - Klingberg
Nurse - Stetcher

Pickard
Rodrigue

I think the freshness of Skinner and Stetcher would help and I think having a 3rd pair of Nurse and Stetcher would be better.

I wouldn’t swap anyone out but I would split Connor and Leon again at least to start. They ended up struggling to score themselves 5 on 5 last series and had to load up a super line. If we split them up and can find success early we could create a match up nightmare.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Hope Kane or Nurse pay back that bitch Peetrashelo.

Don't sell Frederic short, I suspect he'll be a huge pain in the ass for the Knights.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

I wouldn’t swap anyone out but I would split Connor and Leon again at least to start. They ended up struggling to score themselves 5 on 5 last series and had to load up a super line. If we split them up and can find success early we could create a match up nightmare.

I don't mind that idea, but I worry Leon is too banged up to center his own line.

 

[bone]

Interesting looking at Vegas' defense as it's basically the exact same group as last with only one substitution, being Hanifin for Martinez.

For guys like Pietrangelo, he's two years older and now 35 so he may have less gas, but Hanifin should have more gas than Martinez did as a 35 year old that season. The others except McNabb (34) are still in their 20s so likely as good if not better than that year. It's going to be a tough group to break down.

Forward wise, out is Amadio, Blueger, Carrier, Marchessault, and Stephenson. In is Dorofeyev, Hertl, Olofson, Pearson and Saad. So I think that's a slight improvement as well.

Fortunately, our forwards are quite a bit stronger/deeper than the group from 2023, with outgoing being Foegele, Yamamoto, McLeod, Ryan, Bjugstad, and Kostin being replaced by Perry, Arvidsson, Podkozhin, Henrique, Frederic, Brown,

Defense and goaltending is largely similar in its question marks, except that I'd be surprised to see Emberson or Stetcher play as badly as Desharnais did that series.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

So I would consider some roster changes for game 1, I know that the Knights have size, but they aren't as quick and I think the Oilers can go this route and have success, they are small changes.

McDavid - Draisaitl - Perry
Kane - Nuge - Hyman
Frederic - Henrique - Brown
Podkolzin - Janmark - Skinner

Kulak - Bouchard
Walman - Klingberg
Nurse - Stetcher

Pickard
Rodrigue

I think the freshness of Skinner and Stetcher would help and I think having a 3rd pair of Nurse and Stetcher would be better.

Emberson has been lights out on the PK at 100% IIRC and size on the backend will be needed with Vegas’ forecheck and heavy forwards down low and to clear the crease so I keep Emberson in.

Same rational with Podkolzin over Skinner only the reverse needing his size and tenacity down low in the Vegas zone and he’s also on the PK.

 

[soothsayer]

Emberson has been lights out on the PK at 100% IIRC and size on the backend will be needed with Vegas’ forecheck and heavy forwards down low and to clear the crease so I keep Emberson in.

Same rational with Podkolzin over Skinner only the reverse needing his size and tenacity down low in the Vegas zone and he’s also on the PK.

I was confused by your comment about Emberson being a guy who can clear the crease. I just looked it up and see that he's 6'2. The hell? I thought he was in the 5'10 - 6'0 range.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

I was confused by your comment about Emberson being a guy who can clear the crease. I just looked it up and see that he's 6'2. The hell? I thought he was in the 5'10 - 6'0 range.

He’s a fair sized dude and is solid as a brick shithouse too. The guy is jacked.

 

[bone]

I was confused by your comment about Emberson being a guy who can clear the crease. I just looked it up and see that he's 6'2. The hell? I thought he was in the 5'10 - 6'0 range.

He's a weird one. He looks small out there, but isn't. Opposite of Leon who looks bigger out there than he measures out to be.