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

[K1984]

At some point, Skinners gonna have to bail out the team up front. In the end, it's his f***ing job.
The 5 up front arent always going to be perfect and its the goalies job to cover. The team could've used a few saves yesterday to stop the bleeding but even that a huge ask out of Skinner.

I mean how many times have we all asked for just league average goaltending...

To be honest, I thought he did a fair amount of that in stretches of Game 1 and 2 when we were getting leaned on. Here's the problem - we all know that Skinner's clock has about a 30-60 day timer on it at the very, very best where he's an acceptable goalie. And then when that timer goes, you can set another timer for him being shit for another 30-60 days before the cycle starts over again.

He's getting to the end of his 30-60 day window of good play here. I don't know if this is a situation where he can come back and play well, or if he's going into the doldrums for another 30-60 days and this time we don't have a game to throw away to find that out.

I *think* I would still start him if I were coaching, but would have him on a very, very short leash. There are tells in his game, and randomly running out of the net when there is a scramble is one of them. He should have come out then, because when he is in that mode there is no saving him. If he gives up a goofy one early we cannot wait around to see if there is one more, because there just will be.

 

[Yablo21]

Why the hell is everyone talking about goaltending, the games comes down to the skaters period. No goalie could have won that game yesterday. They were off from the beginning. They can't play like they did last game, they need to battle through, take all the cheap garbage and stay focused on defending and attacking when chances arise.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

The way to beat it is to do what they did against LA last year.

If you recall that's what LA's game plan was. Hard board fotechecks at the blueline

Once they started to flip it out higher or over, the dynamic changed

Thats one way to do it but it is also uncontrolled and allows a possible regroup by the opponent. Also LA didn’t play the aggressive 2-1-2 half court pressure forecheck that Florida does.

IMO it’s best to beat the Florida forecheck by the short interior pass to the low C or the relief valve pass to the opposite D and then quick interior to the curling C. You catch their D pressing down the wall this way and create odd man rushes up ice. Far better than just flicking it out over and over again.

It requires a lot of discipline by the C and the D have to make quick reads and reacts.

 

[Stoneman89]

View attachment 1048439

That might be fine mid-season, but in a tightly contested potential 7 games series, that inconsistency can be the kiss of death if you get even one more bad game than good game.

 

[NegativeNelly]

Why the hell is everyone talking about goaltending,

because when skinner is in net, he tends to plays badly at times causing his team to always play from behind. He lets in weak goals that are normally stopped by nearly all NHL goalies. His poor play has cost the team games. If you are a defenceman on the Oilers, imaging trying to play knowing that any mistake you make will end up in your net because Skinner probably won't save it. Only team he seems to beat is Dallas and nobody else. He is simply an inconsistent backup goalie at best. It appears florida has him figured out so why not go back to the undefeated guy who is not great, but at least consistent?

 

[Stoneman89]

Thats one way to do it but it is also uncontrolled and allows a possible regroup by the opponent. Also LA didn’t play the aggressive 2-1-2 half court pressure forecheck that Florida does.

IMO it’s best to beat the Florida forecheck by the short interior pass to the low C or the relief valve pass to the opposite D and then quick interior to the curling C. You catch their D pressing down the wall this way and create odd man rushes up ice. Far better than just flicking it out over and over again.

It requires a lot of discipline by the C and the D have to make quick reads and reacts.

Yup, Florida didn't change their style from last year, and in 3 games we beat that style and played them even in the 4th game, except they got one more save than us. The blueprint is there and well established. We just need to execute.

 

[frag2]

To be honest, I thought he did a fair amount of that in stretches of Game 1 and 2 when we were getting leaned on. Here's the problem - we all know that Skinner's clock has about a 30-60 day timer on it at the very, very best where he's an acceptable goalie. And then when that timer goes, you can set another timer for him being shit for another 30-60 days before the cycle starts over again.

He's getting to the end of his 30-60 day window of good play here. I don't know if this is a situation where he can come back and play well, or if he's going into the doldrums for another 30-60 days and this time we don't have a game to throw away to find that out.

I *think* I would still start him if I were coaching, but would have him on a very, very short leash. There are tells in his game, and randomly running out of the net when there is a scramble is one of them. He should have come out then, because when he is in that mode there is no saving him. If he gives up a goofy one early we cannot wait around to see if there is one more, because there just will be.

I mean that first goal...you could tell it was shit Skinner for the night. Guy just cant stay focused. Then every little movement he makes, you could sense he's unsure of himself

 

[K1984]

Another thing I noticed is we keep trying to force zone entries through their overload. If they are overloading the blue line we gotta start chipping it past them and doing the old dump and chase. Get it deep and force them all to turn around and skate all the way back behind the goal line to get the puck. That’s what wears a team over a game. It’s also led to McDavid and Draisaitl specifically taking so many unnecessary hits. I get wanted to enter with control but it’s not going to work 1 on 3. Get it deep.

This is the key to the entire series, even my wife knows that now I think after I was screaming "get it deep!" every single time I saw them sleep walk into a consortium of Panthers at their blue line, which was near every rush.

The worst part is if they do recognize that they're f***ed and need to move it - it's going East/West on a risky play high, not a dump and a race.

The Panthers are a better version of Vegas, but they're still a version of Vegas. If we don't turn pucks over at their blue line on entry, and get the puck out quickly (even if it isn't tape to tape!) they will have a hard time producing offence 5v5. The breakouts aren't fully in our control, but our zone entries are. We have to get the puck deep as a rule, even if it just ends up that they get it and we have 5 guys on the right side of the puck defending their breakout. The turnovers at their blue line will end the series fast even if other areas are cleaned up.

Another aside - tell this group that icing is ok in this series. The Panthers kill you on turnovers up the wall and at the point more than I've ever seen. A turnover almost guarantees you're scrambling for the next 20-30 seconds. If you're in trouble, just please, for the love of god, ice the god damn puck and try again. Ice it and we might win a draw, turn it over again and we're almost certain to give up at minimum one Grade A.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Oh, To Be 12 forever.

The grumpy pickle guy liked your post. He doesn’t have a sense of humor either.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

You think Hemsky was soft. Your opinion means nothing to me.

Also thinks Moog was better than Fuhr. Sacrilege.

 

[BobbytheBrain]

Thats one way to do it but it is also uncontrolled and allows a possible regroup by the opponent. Also LA didn’t play the aggressive 2-1-2 half court pressure forecheck that Florida does.

IMO it’s best to beat the Florida forecheck by the short interior pass to the low C or the relief valve pass to the opposite D and then quick interior to the curling C. You catch their D pressing down the wall this way and create odd man rushes up ice. Far better than just flicking it out over and over again.

It requires a lot of discipline by the C and the D have to make quick reads and reacts.

I don't disagree. That would work just fine, but that's not what's gonna happen imo.

Be prepared for alot more flips. Especially when Nurse is on the ice

 

[MessierThanThou]

To be honest, I thought he did a fair amount of that in stretches of Game 1 and 2 when we were getting leaned on. Here's the problem - we all know that Skinner's clock has about a 30-60 day timer on it at the very, very best where he's an acceptable goalie. And then when that timer goes, you can set another timer for him being shit for another 30-60 days before the cycle starts over again.

He's getting to the end of his 30-60 day window of good play here. I don't know if this is a situation where he can come back and play well, or if he's going into the doldrums for another 30-60 days and this time we don't have a game to throw away to find that out.

I *think* I would still start him if I were coaching, but would have him on a very, very short leash. There are tells in his game, and randomly running out of the net when there is a scramble is one of them. He should have come out then, because when he is in that mode there is no saving him. If he gives up a goofy one early we cannot wait around to see if there is one more, because there just will be.

Really good point about his 30-60 day timer.

The decision to start him is really tough because you know he can play much better, his Game Four record is nuts, and he is capable of bouncing back…but that timer you mentioned may also be up, and he has just had two consecutive bad games. Do you want to gamble on him in Game 4, knowing we could be down 3-1? Furthermore, Pickard is a steadier hand, just with a lower ceiling. Not a decision I envy Knoblauch having to make.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

I don't disagree. That would work just fine, but that's not what's gonna happen imo.

Be prepared for alot more flips. Especially when Nurse is on the ice

We flipped it out a lot in Game 1 and the F were pretty successful at retrievals and pressured their D when they weren’t. Either way they need to change the breakout or they are done.

 

[frag2]

Really good point about his 30-60 day timer.

The decision to start him is really tough because you know he can play much better, his Game Four record is nuts, and he is capable of bouncing back…but that timer you mentioned may also be up, and he has just had two consecutive bad games. Do you want to gamble on him in Game 4, knowing we could be down 3-1? Furthermore, Pickard is a steadier hand, just with a lower ceiling. Not a decision I envy Knoblauch having to make.

He'll just check with Trusty Dusty

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

I mean that first goal...you could tell it was shit Skinner for the night. Guy just cant stay focused. Then every little movement he makes, you could sense he's unsure of himself

Knob needs to learn to make the quick pull when Shit Skinner shows up. 1 goal, or two. No more. Get him out of there way before 5.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Hopefully they learned their lesson.

 

[bone]

Why the hell is everyone talking about goaltending, the games comes down to the skaters period. No goalie could have won that game yesterday. They were off from the beginning. They can't play like they did last game, they need to battle through, take all the cheap garbage and stay focused on defending and attacking when chances arise.

While this is reasonable looking at the game as a whole, its the timing of the goals which allowed Florida to execute a game plan they are much better at executing with a lead. Specifically the 2nd shot of the game going in and the first shot going in after the team closed the gap to 2-1. Both are ones where he could have made a save and if he does, it probably changes how the play goes from there.

Plain and simply the team wasn't good enough, but neither was he and specifically the timing of his poorest moments were the type that were particularly impactful to how the teams played.

For what it's worth I'd play him again Thursday in hopes there's something real to this whole Game 4 mystique he and the team seem to have and feed off each other to play well. But if he lets in 2 of the first 6 or 7 shots again, I'd probably bring in Pickard, and definitely would if its 3 of the first 10 shots again.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Bowman or Katz or someone needs to be pn the phone today, harranging the league about the officiating and threatening to call a press conference.

If 'gamesmanship' is all cool and fun and we're going to decide the Cup based on it, then start playing the game.

NHL doesn’t give a crap. They won’t change a thing.

 

[oobga]

Hopefully they learned their lesson.

If only Darnell was ever actually a key part of the solution for how this team looks its best. Please give Nurse his best babysitter in Stecher next game Knob.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

100% - but who do you even put there. We dont really have anyone with enough skill to manage that half wall. Maybe if Skinner draws in but other then that..

Maybe Kane?

 

[OilerFanInLangley]

Listen - if you're save percentage is .855 - you're playing like garbage, and your play could be easily replicated by any piece of shit goaltender you can find on the street.

TBH, I think that the .855% flatters him, because I bet that his sv% on the first 5 shots of the game is much worse than that. It seems like the Oilers are down early, on bad GA, in about 45% of the games that he plays.

I could just be imagining things, but he seems to be a good goalie if he stops the first 5 shots he faces.

If we just look at the first 5 shots in the 6 games that he lost in the playoffs, so 30 in total, I bet that he allowed close to 12 goals. For a .900 sv% he could only allow 3 over that many shots, I bet that he's close to 4x that many goals.

 

[MessierThanThou]

Knob needs to learn to make the quick pull when Shit Skinner shows up. 1 goal, or two. No more. Get him out of there way before 5.

Yup, I just hope he doesn’t pull him out of fear of being compared to DeBoer. The more I think about it, the more I think they should just start the guy who is undefeated. We shouldn’t gamble on Stu when he’s just shown us that he’s still capable of a complete collapse.

 

[iCanada]

TBH, I think that the .855% flatters him, because I bet that his sv% on the first 5 shots of the game is much worse than that. It seems like the Oilers are down early, on bad GA, in about 45% of the games that he plays.

I could just be imagining things, but he seems to be a good goalie if he stops the first 5 shots he faces.

If we just look at the first 5 shots in the 6 games that he lost in the playoffs, so 30 in total, I bet that he allowed close to 12 goals. For a .900 sv% he could only allow 3 over that many shots, I bet that he's close to 4x that many goals.

100% - Always feel like last 10 shots of the game when he loses are stat padding bs.

 

[bone]

Yup, I just hope he doesn’t pull him out of fear of being compared to DeBoer. The more I think about it, the more I think they should just start the guy who is undefeated. We shouldn’t gamble on Stu when he’s just shown us that he’s still capable of a complete collapse.

The issue with DeBoer was never the pull it was the spectacle he created with the pull and then doubling down with comments in the post-game. Secondly, Skinner isn't the team's $8M a year franchise goalie.

 

[Navx94]

Pickard will finish the playoffs 9-0. Our best hasn’t shown up yet but it will as long as knob makes the right choice.