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

[bucks_oil]

Need to put both Kane and Perry in there. And stop to always look for Drais one timer.....Bochard and McDavid needs to shoot the puck constantly not always look for the perfect pass!

Imagine you have a team with one of the best point shots in the league (if not all time).

And that same team has the best skater and PP zone entry guy in the history of the game.

And you don't shoot because there is a chance if it doesn't go in that you might have to recover it from your own zone? This is why we talk ourselves out of shooting? We are afraid we might have to gain the zone with speed again and set up another howitzer?

 

[Canovin]

I'm not sure what McDavid's thought process are anymore when he doesn't shoot. Kulikov throws a muffin on net and it bounces off Bouchard and in. Can't expect to score only on pretty plays. It's the finals.

 

[Salvaged Ship]

I don’t care what past numbers say, I just don’t buy because a guy has been good in game 4’s you put him out there just because its a game 4. It’s hockey, the game 4 thing is purely coincidence. Pickard is 1-0 in game 4 starts this year, there you go. Skinner gets out of position like no other goalie I have ever seen, when he is struggling he can’t see pucks until they are past him. The guy does friggin bellyflops and snow angels on the ice.

It’s pretty much an automatic goal on a breakaway, the one they didn’t score on was because of an errant shot that missed the net.

This game is do or die, go with the best you have geez….

 

[foshizzle]

Now put in Skinner and take out Kapanen whose not played well in this series or Brown whose been completely ineffective since returning from injury.

But then how will they complain about lack of depth scoring?

 

[Canovin]

I don’t care what past numbers say, I just don’t buy because a guy has been good in game 4’s you put him out there just because its a game 4. It’s hockey, the game 4 thing is purely coincidence. Pickard is 1-0 in game 4 starts this year, there you go. Skinner gets out of position like no other goalie I have ever seen, when he is struggling he can’t see pucks until they are past him. The guy does friggin bellyflops and snow angels on the ice.

It’s pretty much an automatic goal on a breakaway, the one they didn’t score on was because of an errant shot that missed the net.

This game is do or die, go with the best you have geez….

Play Pickard because he's 6-0 and the boys play better when he's in net. Factor in the Oilers bringing in fresh bodies like Stecher and Jeff Skinner, it'll help. The Panthers are also banged up

 

[Nunymare]

Picard probably not going in. Stu is money in Game 4.

Hopefully the lineup change is Klingberg out.

 

[MessierThanThou]

I don’t care what past numbers say, I just don’t buy because a guy has been good in game 4’s you put him out there just because its a game 4. It’s hockey, the game 4 thing is purely coincidence. Pickard is 1-0 in game 4 starts this year, there you go. Skinner gets out of position like no other goalie I have ever seen, when he is struggling he can’t see pucks until they are past him. The guy does friggin bellyflops and snow angels on the ice.

It’s pretty much an automatic goal on a breakaway, the one they didn’t score on was because of an errant shot that missed the net.

This game is do or die, go with the best you have geez….

Exactly. Roster decisions should not be made for superstitious reasons. Hell, Florida was like 30-0 after leading in the 2nd and even that came to an end. Skinner playing well in Game 4 is no guarantee with this current downtrend of his. When he's playing as bad as he did in the last game, there's almost zero chance we can win...and even in last year's finals he strung together three consecutive poor performances to help put us down 0-3 (and the same people blaming our offense to deflect from that fact in the last game did the same thing then lol).

Play Pickard because he's 6-0 and the boys play better when he's in net. Factor in the Oilers bringing in fresh bodies like Stecher and Jeff Skinner, it'll help. The Panthers are also banged up

Yeah, Stecher and Skinner should've been in the last game to capitalize on having fresh bodies after two OT games.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

You clearly missed something . Tkachuk was unable to defend himself and Walman fed him 3-4 punches right to the chops.

Obviously I am thrilled this happened and Walman likely does not give a shit about $5000, but you cannot just speed bag a guys face and not expect to get fined.

That said, the Ekholm situation should have resulted in a fine as well.

What about Frederic being tackled by an official and letting Bennett get in multiple punches as he’s being held

 

[MessierThanThou]

Yeah, just a coincidence folks.

"Derrr Pickard has a bad save percentage 2"

 

[Canovin]

Need to see this from Walman

 

[Canovin]

You clearly missed something . Tkachuk was unable to defend himself and Walman fed him 3-4 punches right to the chops.

Obviously I am thrilled this happened and Walman likely does not give a shit about $5000, but you cannot just speed bag a guys face and not expect to get fined.

That said, the Ekholm situation should have resulted in a fine as well.

Those are like grazing shots. The ground and pound Frederic took from Bennett while the refs was holding him were much more severe.

 

[Balakay14]

If the team actually runs back the exact same lines, I don't know what they're thinking.

Stetcher needs to come in to help try and stabilize Nurse. I'd like J Skinner in to help provide some 5 on 5 scoring chance creation, as that's been horrible in Florida outside of game 5 last year. And I don't think Perry should be on the top line, or at least not regularly. He's just too slow at this point which means the McDavid line is almost always one and done in the O-zone, and likewise, if there is a turnover, he's too slow to get back to help out on the coverage.

 

[MessierThanThou]

Amazing that the same couple individuals on here actually believe goaltending could have won us the last game.

For the love of gawd, please just go back to playng your PS4 hockey.

Leave the actual hockey talk to the rest of us

Are you sure Skinner didn't stop those "4 guaranteed goals in OT" in your PS4 game? Because it sure didn't happen in Game 2 like you claimed.

 

[NegativeNelly]

Stu is money in Game 4.

Against Dallas maybe, but I fully expect him to fall flat on his face again.

 

[NeverForget06]

Ekholm Bouch
Nurse Stech
Walman Kulak

Only thing to be done at this point. Klingberg is getting eaten alive and Stech is a battler.

For me the biggest issue in Game 3 was our powerplay. Florida mostly neutralized it. If they aren't scared to take penalties against us then we are in trouble

 

[BeranekAndNeck]

Stecher is coming in four games too late but better late than never I guess. Klingberg deserved a seat as the Dallas series wore on and there was no reason to start him in the SCF.

 

[BlackDogg]

 

[Shizuka]

Leaving Skinner in net is.. some kind of choice. The Jekyll and Hyde nature of his game is just such a risk, and when he's awful it completely sucks the life out of that team, and shatters their collective, fragile psyche. They end up with a death grip on their sticks, they play tentatively, knowing that any mistake could well cost them. It is absolutely crucial to win game 4.. so tossing the dice on a gamble on which version of him will show up is anxiety inducing.

That being said, the team was awful with passengers all around, Bouchard excluded. Top two were AWOL. Not a single spark from anyone in the lineup further down. We'll likely know within the first 5 minutes if they are ready for it or not. Whether they play a focused, detailed game, if they are winning the board battles, races for pucks, dominating the puck possession, dictating the pace of play, covering off their D zone assignments properly or caught puck watching and chasing.. if a crucial save is made, or not.. Absolutely cannot falter here. If they lose, unlike last year I expect them to collapse under the weight of expectations and get finished off in short order. So they had better f***ing bring it tomorrow, every last man including the coaches.

Glad to hear Klingberg is allegedly out. He has been a complete detriment this series, caving under the extreme forecheck pressure the most out of the entire D core. Let the Nurse whisperer hopefully course correct and do his thing. Also, if Nuge is this affected by injury and running at 50%.. what is the point in keeping him in? Not taking face offs presumably because of a hand injury, which is also likely hurting his ability to shoot properly, handle the puck, receive and dish out passes.. what's the point then? PK has been awful, and he's one of the primaries on it. That being said, who else can you plug in? For whatever reason they really, really don't trust Skinner very much. He's not especially reliable defensively, he doesn't PK, doesn't take draws.. I don't know man, some really tough calls to make.

 

[BobbytheBrain]

1st goal on the 1st shot. It definitely would have change the start of the game.

2nd shot. And no it wouldn't have. Their system was neutralized

 

[McJadeddog]

Ekholm Bouch
Nurse Stech
Walman Kulak

Only thing to be done at this point. Klingberg is getting eaten alive and Stech is a battler.

For me the biggest issue in Game 3 was our powerplay. Florida mostly neutralized it. If they aren't scared to take penalties against us then we are in trouble

I think they keep Kulak on this normal side and move Walman over to the right. Walman has often said he is okay on his offside and Kulak has often said he wasn't.

 

[Zerotonine]

Picard probably not going in. Stu is money in Game 4.

This is it. Skinners stats in game 4 are too good not to start him even if it's in a short leash.

But if he loses and gets lit up it's his last game as an oiler

Line up change has to be stetcher.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Yeah, just a coincidence folks.

"Derrr Pickard has a bad save percentage 2"

they literally average almost 5 goals a game with Pickard in net
less than 3.5 with Skinner in net

 

[Canovin]

2nd shot. And no it wouldn't have. Their system was neutralized

You let in a goal this early, it's going to change the way the players play. Also the refs calling penalty on anything the Oilers do didn't help either. Guys can't play their game

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Against Dallas maybe, but I fully expect him to fall flat on his face again.

and Vegas

 

[Zerotonine]

Amazing that the same couple individuals on here actually believe goaltending could have won us the last game.

For the love of gawd, please just go back to playng your PS4 hockey.

Leave the actual hockey talk to the rest of us

No it wouldn't of. But you ever notice how quick the team folds once they seen what Skinner has shown up for the game? Just saying..