Pre-Game Talk: Final Game 4. Stu needs to come thru. Unlimited Pole responses.

[iCanada]

People acting like he's the only thing keeping this team from a Cup when the rest of the team was just as bad as Skinner yesterday. No goaltender was going to save that game. You win by outworking your opponent like we did to LA, Vegas, and Dallas. Not... whatever the f*** that poor excuse for a hockey game was.

The thing to also consider is that part of the reason the Panthers clown around is because they aren't afraid of our power play. If we potted a few more goals on our PP they would absolutely change some of their game plan.

If Skinner had a .970 like Bob, game is tied 1-1 after 60.

If he had league average .909 goaltending, game ends 2-1 after 60 minutes.

It also likely doesn't snowball into the fisticuffs, and we play a much more competitive second half of the game as we tried to tie it.

Instead - he let in 3 on less than 10 shots for the third consecutive game, after letting in one of the first two shots on goal for the third consecutive game.

 

[North]

The fact is this team can compete with the Panthers. The issue is they are not playing their game. They are letting Florida dictate how they play.

 

[K1984]

The fact is this team can compete with the Panthers. The issue is they are not playing their game. They are letting Florida dictate how they play.

Silly, ridiculous bullshit too.

This group should be veteran enough to know when they're embarrassing themselves chasing Marchand and Bennett's antics. Turn the other cheek for f*** sakes and flop when they inevitably come at you, it isn't that hard.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

If Skinner had a .970 like Bob, game is tied 1-1 after 60.

If he had league average .909 goaltending, game ends 2-1 after 60 minutes.

It also likely doesn't snowball into the fisticuffs, and we play a much more competitive second half of the game as we tried to tie it.

Instead - he let in 3 on less than 10 shots for the third consecutive game, after letting in one of the first two shots on goal for the third consecutive game.

We've played 5 games in Florida now in the playoffs over the past two seasons. We have scored more than one goal exactly once in those 5 games.

Also in regards to the bolded, that's a loss my friend. Different score, same result.

The game was over before the halfway point. I don't give them any credit for "trying" when the result was no longer in doubt. They had their miracle comeback against this team once this series and then proceeded to display to the Panthers that it's surprisingly easy to rattle us and make us take braindead penalties. If they come out with a similar effort next game then just award the Cup to the Panthers because it'll be clear to me they don't want it badly enough.

Expecting Skinner to be Bob is a pipe dream.

Expecting them to actually score on that team shouldn't be.

And before you or anyone else says it, no this isn't a defense of Skinner, this is taking the team to task for being poor in all areas of the ice, including the ones that don't involve the goalie.

 

[Bring Back Bucky]

Did I miss something? Didn’t he just throw like 3-4 punches with his gloves on? Tkachuk does that every scrum.. Walman tries the same shit and gets ejected and fined lol

f*** you NHL

Correction. The turtle does it every scrum in which he has someone to hide behind as soon as he does it.

 

[MessierThanThou]

Literally the save percentage historically for EBUGs all time in the NHL is .862.

That being said - I don't hate the guy or wish him harm. I don't condone any of that. In fact, I'm sure he's a great dude and I wish him and his family nothing but safety and success.

But this is championship level pro sports. If you're consistently 3 standard deviations worse than average, get the f*** off the ice.

If Skinner had a .970 like Bob, game is tied 1-1 after 60.

If he had league average .909 goaltending, game ends 2-1 after 60 minutes.

It also likely doesn't snowball into the fisticuffs, and we play a much more competitive second half of the game as we tried to tie it.

Instead - he let in 3 on less than 10 shots for the third consecutive game, after letting in one of the first two shots on goal for the third consecutive game.

Notice how iCanada uses a combination of stats, his own observations, and factual comparisons, while Keith and others who defend Skinner rain or shine rely entirely on conjecture and their own "trusted" opinions? It's because there are no numbers that vindicate Skinner's performance last night. These are toddlers arguing with adults.

 

[K1984]

We've played 5 games in Florida now in the playoffs over the past two seasons. We have scored more than one goal exactly once in those 5 games.

Also in regards to the bolded, that's a loss my friend. Different score, same result.

The game was over before the halfway point. I don't give them any credit for "trying" when the result was no longer in doubt. They had their miracle comeback against this team once this series and then proceeded to display to the Panthers that it's surprisingly easy to rattle us and make us take braindead penalties. If they come out with a similar effort next game then just award the Cup to the Panthers because it'll be clear to me they don't want it badly enough.

Expecting Skinner to be Bob is a pipe dream.

Expecting them to actually score on that team shouldn't be.

And before you or anyone else says it, no this isn't a defense of Skinner, this is taking the team to task for being poor in all areas of the ice, including the ones that don't involve the goalie.

The play from our best players last night was as rancid as Skinner's in the net.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

We've played 5 games in Florida now in the playoffs over the past two seasons. We have scored more than one goal exactly once in those 5 games.

Also in regards to the bolded, that's a loss my friend. Different score, same result.

The game was over before the halfway point. I don't give them any credit for "trying" when the result was no longer in doubt. They had their miracle comeback against this team once this series and then proceeded to display to the Panthers that it's surprisingly easy to rattle us and make us take braindead penalties. If they come out with a similar effort next game then just award the Cup to the Panthers because it'll be clear to me they don't want it badly enough.

Expecting Skinner to be Bob is a pipe dream.

Expecting them to actually score on that team shouldn't be.

And before you or anyone else says it, no this isn't a defense of Skinner, this is taking the team to task for being poor in all areas of the ice, including the ones that don't involve the goalie.

bottom line: their 10 million dollar players played better than ours

it's that simple

Draisaitl: ZERO shot taken
McDavid: no points
PP....0 for 3 in the 1st period

 

[OilerTyler]

If Skinner had a .970 like Bob, game is tied 1-1 after 60.

If he had league average .909 goaltending, game ends 2-1 after 60 minutes.

It also likely doesn't snowball into the fisticuffs, and we play a much more competitive second half of the game as we tried to tie it.

Instead - he let in 3 on less than 10 shots for the third consecutive game, after letting in one of the first two shots on goal for the third consecutive game.

The problem with posts like these is they completely ignore the play of the team in front of the goalies. Skinner isn’t as good of a goalie as Bobrovsky. Chances are he isn’t going to put up the same or better numbers than Bobrovsky when the team in front of him is getting absolutely dominated. I don’t think the Oilers even had five scoring chances last night.

Was Skinner good last night? No. The rest of the team was just as bad though. People need to stop ignoring that.

 

[iCanada]

We've played 5 games in Florida now in the playoffs over the past two seasons. We have scored more than one goal exactly once in those 5 games.

Also in regards to the bolded, that's a loss my friend. Different score, same result.

The game was over before the halfway point. I don't give them any credit for "trying" when the result was no longer in doubt. They had their miracle comeback against this team once this series and then proceeded to display to the Panthers that it's surprisingly easy to rattle us and make us take braindead penalties. If they come out with a similar effort next game then just award the Cup to the Panthers because it'll be clear to me they don't want it badly enough.

Expecting Skinner to be Bob is a pipe dream.

Expecting them to actually score on that team shouldn't be.

And before you or anyone else says it, no this isn't a defense of Skinner, this is taking the team to task for being poor in all areas of the ice, including the ones that don't involve the goalie.

I don't want or expect him to be Bob.

I want or expect him to not get beat like a rented f***ing mule against Florida.

In the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, he posted an .866 save percentage across three games in Florida, allowing 13 goals on 97 shots. The Fourth game isn't even officially on his record because he got pulled, and drops that to .842.

Yesterday he was pulled after conceding five goals on 23 shots, finishing with a .783 save percentage.

He'll tell you himself - it's his job to give us a chance to win. In 5 games in Florida he has not done that once.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

The play from our best players last night was as rancid as Skinner's in the net.

bottom line: their 10 million dollar players played better than ours

it's that simple

Draisaitl: ZERO shot taken
McDavid: no points
PP....0 for 3 in the 1st period

McDavid has yet to score in this series.

But because I know people will take that the wrong way, let me clarify that I'm not saying he's the reason we're losing. I'm stating a fact and also stating that he needs to start producing, especially at 5 on 5.

There can be more than one problem with this team.

 

[iCanada]

The problem with posts like these is they completely ignore the play of the team in front of the goalies. Skinner isn’t as good of a goalie as Bobrovsky. Chances are he isn’t going to put up the same or better numbers than Bobrovsky when the team in front of him is getting absolutely dominated. I don’t think the Oilers even had five scoring chances last night.

Was Skinner good last night? No. The rest of the team was just as bad though. People need to stop ignoring that.

Last night - the expected goals after Florida scored their 4th goal were 1.77 for Florida to 1.24 for Edmonton.

We weren't great last night - we need to be better - but the score heavily flattered the Panthers, and that's because our goaltending was significantly below par.

With league average goaltending, we should have been a shot away entering the third last night.

 

[Little Fury]

Little Gregory must have run to daddy.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

I don't want or expect him to be Bob.

I want or expect him to not get beat like a rented f***ing mule against Florida.

In the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, he posted an .866 save percentage across three games in Florida, allowing 13 goals on 97 shots. The Fourth game isn't even officially on his record because he got pulled, and drops that to .842.

Yesterday he was pulled after conceding five goals on 23 shots, finishing with a .783 save percentage.

He'll tell you himself - it's his job to give us a chance to win. In 5 games in Florida he has not done that once.

The team got beaten like a rented mule last night. Where's the stat for playing like horseshit? When the team plays poorly the goalie will tend to follow as well. Why is Corey Perry the only player to score on Bobrovsky the last 7 periods? Why has our 5 on 5 offense suddenly dried up? Why are we playing perimeter hockey?

If I told you before last night's game that the team would score exactly once what do you think the result would be?

 

[OilerTyler]

I don't want or expect him to be Bob.

I want or expect him to not get beat like a rented f***ing mule against Florida.

In the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, he posted an .866 save percentage across three games in Florida, allowing 13 goals on 97 shots. The Fourth game isn't even officially on his record because he got pulled, and drops that to .842.

Yesterday he was pulled after conceding five goals on 23 shots, finishing with a .783 save percentage.

He'll tell you himself - it's his job to give us a chance to win. In 5 games in Florida he has not done that once.

Are you forgetting game 7? He had a .905, a positive goals saved above expected and only let in two goals.

Oh wait, people STILL wanted to blame the entire loss entirely on him. The stats only matter when they are bad I guess.

The bar for our offence is so low. Only 7 goals in 5 games in Florida and people are saying Skinner is the one not giving the team a chance to win. These losses have been whole team efforts.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

We've played 5 games in Florida now in the playoffs over the past two seasons. We have scored more than one goal exactly once in those 5 games.

Also in regards to the bolded, that's a loss my friend. Different score, same result.

The game was over before the halfway point. I don't give them any credit for "trying" when the result was no longer in doubt. They had their miracle comeback against this team once this series and then proceeded to display to the Panthers that it's surprisingly easy to rattle us and make us take braindead penalties. If they come out with a similar effort next game then just award the Cup to the Panthers because it'll be clear to me they don't want it badly enough.

Expecting Skinner to be Bob is a pipe dream.

Expecting them to actually score on that team shouldn't be.

And before you or anyone else says it, no this isn't a defense of Skinner, this is taking the team to task for being poor in all areas of the ice, including the ones that don't involve the goalie.

You do have some points but you are failing to bring up that poor goaltending has a ripple effect on the entire game. Both teams play way different when that happens. I have no doubt in my mind that we score more goals in some of those games if we weren’t forced into catch up early.

That being said I agree Skinner was brutal last night but the team around him was no better.

 

[bone]

This whole defeatist mentality that Florida is just better than Edmonton is non sense. It took nearly three periods of overtime to get out of the first two games in a split.

In the first 23 minutes yesteday, that game was also a coin toss other than Skinner not making a couple makable saves while Bobrovski did. Then the team was chasing and got out of their games trying to chase down a 2 goal deficit against a really good team and let their emotions get the best of them. I don't see how this makes Edmonton a drastically inferior team, I see a team that lost focus for a game and got their asses handed to them which is a good reminder to stay focused and composed.

Edmonton is 4-1 in series that they've trailed 2-1 over the last four years. The Oilers are 26-7 in Games 4-7 over that same spane and 18-2 under Knoblach in Games 4-7.

In the last 21 Stanley Cup Finals 13 of the Stanley Cup winning teams lost Game 3 and 3 of last 4 of those teams lost really badly (5-1, 6-2 and 7-2) in Game 3. One of those teams that won big time also had Marchand on it also resulting in a 2-1 series lead at the time.

This is far from over. Win 1 Game on Thursday and you could suggest the Oilers are back in the driver's seat. Win 1 game. That's the mission. Complete it and this game is easily forgotten.

 

[K1984]

McDavid has yet to score in this series.

But because I know people will take that the wrong way, let me clarify that I'm not saying he's the reason we're losing. I'm stating a fact and also stating that he needs to start producing, especially at 5 on 5.

There can be more than one problem with this team.

I don't know if McDavid is being stubborn, just doesn't know what to do against them, or a bit of both.

The power play is rancid because he simply refuses to make quick plays low and to the net, with shooting being a complete non starter. 5v5 he can't generate anything because he's still trying to carry it over the line on the wall whilst in the middle of at least 3 Panthers. Even if he does manage to walk it in, he stops up looking for the trailer and just will not go low or to the net. Instantly turned over almost every time when he's taken out or the pass is picked off.

He has to simplify. Has to. This doesn't work. He needs to start chipping pucks in at the red line and winning races to get their D turned and to open up space in the slot. He needs to start getting to the middle and throwing pucks on net on the power play. The blind passes have to go completely.

There is no way to play the methodical, cycle, set up style that he prefers against this team. He's got to go back to the 2016-2021 era of his game that was primarily predicated on generating as much speed as possible through the middle and going to the net. This is not and will not be effective.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Last night - the expected goals after Florida scored their 4th goal were 1.77 for Florida to 1.24 for Edmonton.

We weren't great last night - we need to be better - but the score heavily flattered the Panthers, and that's because our goaltending was significantly below par.

With league average goaltending, we should have been a shot away entering the third last night.

except it didn't

Oilers went 0 for 3 on the PP in the first...how come they didn't score?

the Oilers gave up yet another breakaway to the hottest player on the Panthers....did the Panthers? no

people who watched the game know the Oilers were never in this game

 

[iCanada]

Are you forgetting game 7? He had a .905, a positive goals saved above expected and only let in two goals.

Oh wait, people STILL wanted to blame the entire loss entirely on him. The stats only matter when they are bad I guess.

The bar for our offence is so low. Only 7 goals in 5 games in Florida and people are saying Skinner is the one not giving the team a chance to win. These losses have been whole team efforts.

Oh ok, sorry - he gave us a chance in 3 out of 15 periods.

Great news - with 9 periods left in Florida - we can expect him to give us a chance in 2 of them before he falls off the rails and plays like a total sieve in the remaining 7 periods.

If we're lucky, that might get us one win.

You're right - no problem here! Carry on!

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Greer punching Ekholm 10x in the head isn’t worth a fine? But the Walman one is?

Can’t wait till papa Campbell is retired or no longer around.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

You do have some points but you are failing to bring up that poor goaltending has a ripple effect on the entire game. Both teams play way different when that happens. I have no doubt in my mind that we score more goals in some of those games if we weren’t forced into catch up early.

That being said I agree Skinner was brutal last night but the team around him was no better.

I understand that there's a ripple effect, but this is the SCF. You have to move past it. The Panthers got scored on in game 1 on basically the first shift off a brutal Bob rebound. They weren't rattled at all. Nor were they rattled when Arvidsson clapped a laugher past him to close the gap.

You can't play the way they did last night and expect to win no matter who the goalie is.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

You do have some points but you are failing to bring up that poor goaltending has a ripple effect on the entire game. Both teams play way different when that happens. I have no doubt in my mind that we score more goals in some of those games if we weren’t forced into catch up early.

both the Panthers and Oilers have comeback being down early in Games 1 and 2

this "they play differently" narrative is nonsense

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Oh ok, sorry - he gave us a chance in 3 out of 15 periods.

Great news - with 9 periods left in Florida - we can expect him to give us a chance in 2 of them before he falls off the rails and plays like a total sieve in the remaining 7 periods.

If we're lucky, that might get us one win.

You're right - no problem here! Carry on!

0, 1, 5, 1, 1 are the number of goals we have scored in Florida between the two playoffs.

But by all means keep excusing everyone else on the roster.

 

[MessierThanThou]

You do have some points but you are failing to bring up that poor goaltending has a ripple effect on the entire game. Both teams play way different when that happens. I have no doubt in my mind that we score more goals in some of those games if we weren’t forced into catch up early.

That being said I agree Skinner was brutal last night but the team around him was no better.

Keith will never blame Skinner. Period. If he does, it’s part of an ensemble with the majority of his criticism being directed at our best players and zilch about Stu. This is not a person arguing in good faith.