I give both him and Podkolzin credit on that Draisaitl goal. Podkolzin in particular was the last man back to break up Tampa's rush and yet him and Kapenen were still the first 2 guys behind Drai to get to Tampa's net somehow. Vasilevskiy having to try and chip the rebound away was because both other Oilers forwards beat the rest of his team to it.
You're right, it typically does the Oilers a disservice because chances like Draisaitl one-timers from the goal line don't count.
Like I said though Point only has that many goals this season because he's shooting a crazy 37%, clearlier outlier, clearly unsustainable. To me theres been a lot of dropoff in his play. If you didn't know his number or them calling his name he had nothing going tonight. Oilers would paper this guy in a playoff series. He has no answer to heavy teams defending him well and just taking him out. One of the reasons Tamps are first round exits every year recently.
I look at the 5 man unit that dominates possession. Ekholm Bouch McD Nuge Hyman. We replicate that and we are laughing.
Im curious to see how an Arvidsson...Kane...Drai line would look.
My read of Bob this year is that we want the RHD top 4, but the market is dictating us to settle on a LHD playing out of position. There’s just no one available that fits the mold perfectly. The best rumored available guys would be Mathesson or Provorov. Maybe it’s just a pipe dream, and I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again if EK65 ever hits the market at 50% you go all in.
Ahh I forgot to put Kane in that list. Yes, if he’s healthy and has his head on right, he could the the guy too. Personally I’m a little down on Kane but I realize the injuries may be biasing my view. So we have good potential to fill those spots on the roster, just got to hope that these guys find their game. I liked the small bit we saw of Arvie and Drai, I think they were building towards something there. I don’t mind JSkinner driving his own offence from the 3rd line. So if Kane-Drai-Arvie can click. That’s one part of solution done and figured out .
It’s possible EK65 is an overshoot. Maybe we don’t need elite skill, just good skill. But in our final Cup or Bust year before Drais contract kicks in, I think we have to consider the nuclear option. Winning a Cup will only get harder from this year out.
Agreed...and what would make the next few months really interesting is if the Pens start slipping in the standings.
If Ek-Bouch is the template. And it is for me. I see EK65 as our best chance to get there. I know people hate his defensive game, and they aren’t wrong. But people hate his defensive game in similar ways to how people hate Bouchs defensive game. They see “lazy”. They see “weak”. But watch an EK65 game, count bad defence plays to good offence plays, and you come out way ahead. This can’t work on a tire fire like San Jose or Pittsburgh and I suspect that’s why his analytics takes a hit. It can work behind a strong Team defensive concept like Knob hockey though.
