Post-Game Talk: Maddening Matinee

[Scrapin Ice]

LOL. There was quite a few positives!
And you know....Stuart stopped more than half...

 

[ThePhoenixx]

Any word from @Drivesaitl?

It's been a while.

 

[Whoshattenkirkshoes]

In 2020 when Tampa won the cup after the sweep they started slow, but then they woke the hell up and played solid hockey down the stretch. They changed how they played and they were committed all season long. Right now I haven't seen enough "good" games from the Oilers.

They better wake up down the stretch here......

 

[nally]

Is McDavid playing through an injury right now? When he took his turn raising the 4 Nations Cup, he barely lifted it up high, his left hand grip looked like he was using one finger and thumb (rather than a full grip), and when he handed it off to Makar, it was pretty awkward.

I think he was just embarrassed raising a cup like Stanley. How hard did he want to cheer. He won the game stuck it to the US...raising a cup like that felt awkward I'm sure

 

[oobga]

Not too much discussion about the Nuge but for a guy who is considered one of the "big five" how many times has he been a difference maker in Oiler games this season?

He has a kid now doesn’t he? He already played last year like hockey was the 4th most important thing on his mind. Now it’s 5th place. And it sucks because you know he doesn’t have another level to bring for playoffs either. This is the Nuge you get no matter the stakes.

 

[russ99]

This is player decision making and game management issue not necessarily a systems fail. It's hard to coach poor decisions under pressure and sadly recurring ones not under pressure. Strudwick on Got Yer Back today gives a good, tough love honest assessment of some of the small misreads happening with Bouchard (as one example of the small, critical moments when this team slips into poor decision making with high consequence situations).

I still believe this team needs another top 4 level Dman.

EDIT: Want to add I really like Bouchard. But he's happening a challenging year and facing a final development level up imo in which the league is now game planning against his lethal offensive toolkit. Pressure him and take away time and space to mitigate his weapon on the PP. We see some effect of this with zero PP goals, high shot volume with missed net and/or blocked shots. But this team collectively with own zone defending like today is a recipe for failure.

Seems to be a real lack of accountability, as long at the numbers look good going the other way, and that goes for many players, not just Bouchard.

 

[guymez]

Funny thing is, there were a few instances were they actually bothered to play, and they completely torched the Flyers during those bits.
The first stretch was from the equalizer to the end of the first period, the Flyers couldn't handle them at all. Then they fell asleep again coming out for period 2, got scored on twice, but came back and where once again in control, before one botched play put them behind again. Afterwards they never regained their footing.

The team-defense was a complete tire-fire. Peak Hasek would have had trouble getting a win out of this.
Maybe you can hope for your goalie to stop one or two of these goals against, to stop chances he shouldn't even have to face, much less a constant stream of them. Needless to say, Skinner couldn't be the one who the team needed yesterday, which would have been a world-beater. In the end, the loss isn't on him, not with the utter desaster that happened in front of him. The defensive effort was non-existant, and the offense disappeared completely at a time where it should have been the most urgent.

It probably couldn't hurt if the Oilers had another good option in net, and not just a decent backup as second option. But if a performance like yesterday happens in a playoff game, it doesn't matter who is in net, because that is a guaranteed loss.

Good post...I completely agree.
I wanted to emphasize the highlighted portion as well because I think thats part of what made the game so frustrating to watch. It wasnt like they just didnt have it in this game it was like they just decided that they didnt want it bad enough.