Post-Game Talk: Skinner Does Dallas

[Bank Shot]

You have to give Skinner credit for the saves he made last night. I feel like in his shutout games, the Oilers have done a very good job at limiting dangerous chances though.

Last night had the breakaway and maybe 2-3 other grade A chances, but that was it. They did an excellent job of not giving shooters time and space, and they didn't let Dallas move the puck side to side much which is Skinner's biggest weakness.

 

[Mr Positive]

Walman coming out? Hahaha what? No, Walman is not coming out. It will be Stetcher.

What part of Stecher's game are you disappointed with?

 

[foshizzle]

I think they will slow play Ekholm until we are in trouble or until the final.

I assume Stetcher will come out when that happens. But we’re probably going to need him back at some point. Guys a gamer. Which is why the Emberson re-signing kind of surprised me. I mean its fine but he makes like twice of what Stetcher makes. I don’t think they expected Klingbergs play in the playoffs.

Stetcher will have a cap hit of 787K while Emberson will make 1.3M so not double, but your point stands regardless. Stetcher is a better player. I said it at the beginning of the season, don’t sleep on Stetcher. His metrics were good on a bad Arizona team where he played top 4 mins. He’s a little ball of hate. I don’t know who said it on the panel last game- but if Stetcher was 4 inches taller he’d be making 8M a year and be a top 2 d-man

 

[ahmedou]

Oilers Dog Fan

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

One thing I’ll just say: Stars fans on the mains are amongst the least friendly I’ve seen here. Kings fans were generally nice, the few Vegas fans were nice. Stars fans? Big nooooope.

I refuse to go to the mains, but some Dallas dick replied to one of my posts in here by pulling it into the mains. Thankfully I caught it last second and lightning edited it. The only fanbase that does dirty shit like that are Leafers.

 

[foshizzle]

If a cross check to the face of a player doesn't garner a suspension, how could the league possibly justify a suspension for a slash to the top of someone’s foot? Especially after it was reviewed by refs and determined it wasn't worthy of a 5 minute major.

The standard was set with that cross check. What an embarrassment the DOPS has become.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Dallas fans who want Nurse suspended for life including Dallas media version of Spector, Mark Lazarus, need to look at this.

 

[foshizzle]

What part of Stecher's game are you disappointed with?

None. I liked Stetecher before the season started. It’s isn’t about being disappointed about a players game- it is who gives you the best chance to win- and that’s Ekholm. Now let me throw it back to you- what do hate about Walman’s game?

 

[Mr Positive]

None. I liked Stetecher before the season started. It’s isn’t about being disappointed about a players game- it is who gives you the best chance to win- and that’s Ekholm. Now let me throw it back to you- what do hate about Walman’s game?

I love Walman's game. If we go with him, I support it. My only reasons why I believe Stecher may stick are
1- it maintains the balance of LD and RD (an underrated concern). Walman is the 4th ranked LD
2- Stecher has a positive effect on Nurse
3- the gap between Walman and Stecher is small and hard to gauge. This isn't Desharnais vs Broberg

Edit: so my point is that the default player to stay is Stecher and so the argument to be made is why Walman is worth sacrificing all that

 

[Mcnotloilersfan]

Sure there is a chance. Everyone has played well. Unless we go 11-7 the rest of the way, someone is coming out. Everyone is saying it's Stecher but isn't chemistry with Nurse important too? Stecher has been great. Are we pulling him out because of his size? Are we giving up on D balance just for the tiny gap in value between Stecher and Walman?

Honestly, the D has been so good that maybe we do go 11-7 right to the end. If not, I don't think we can argue that Walman isn't our 4th ranked LD

Most would argue he's been one of our best dmen on this run. Look at the minutes played... it's Stetcher coming out.

I do imagine for safety reasons, the first game will include 7 D in case Ekholm leaves injured in the 1st period again.

 

[The Panther]

Connor McDavid now has more career assists in the playoffs than Mario Lemieux... in 20 fewer games.

Let that sink in.

 

[The Panther]

Evan Bouchard was really good in game two.

By the way, Bouchard's 1.11 points-per-game in the playoffs is second-best in NHL history among defencemen.

 

[Mr Positive]

Most would argue he's been one of our best dmen on this run. Look at the minutes played... it's Stetcher coming out.

I do imagine for safety reasons, the first game will include 7 D in case Ekholm leaves injured in the 1st period again.

We even have a strategy for Ekholm. It's Heiskanen. His return was a great success for Dallas. They recognized that Heiskanen was not going to be at 100% right away. They went with 11-7 until Heiskanen could play 25 minutes a night. Our team even has experience with 11-7.

We cant just put him in. We were forced to do that with Walman and he started out pretty bad in the playoffs but has gotten better and better since then. Against this opponent, with the stakes what they are, Ekholm is a liability, but if we can endure his adjustment period it gives us a massive boost for the finals. So just bring Ekholm in with sheltered minutes. Go 11-7. Our current top 6 D have been amazing and can do it. Our forwards can take on some extra minutes for a few games

 

[Mr Positive]

Most would argue he's been one of our best dmen on this run. Look at the minutes played... it's Stetcher coming out.

I do imagine for safety reasons, the first game will include 7 D in case Ekholm leaves injured in the 1st period again.

Tbh even though I'm arguing for why Stecher may stay, the more I dig into it the more I think Stecher comes out. Or, maybe we stick with 11-7 the whole way. Walman is not your typical bottom pair D like how Dallas underplays their bottom guys. Our bottom pair is 2nd pair quality.

I could see the team sitting Stecher, with a wait and see approach. If it results in issues, like Kulak being burned on his off side (which happened last year in the WCF and SCF) then maybe they go back to Stecher

 

[foshizzle]

I love Walman's game. If we go with him, I support it. My only reasons why I believe Stecher may stick are
1- it maintains the balance of LD and RD (an underrated concern). Walman is the 4th ranked LD
2- Stecher has a positive effect on Nurse
3- the gap between Walman and Stecher is small and hard to gauge. This isn't Desharnais vs Broberg

Edit: so my point is that the default player to stay is Stecher and so the argument to be made is why Walman is worth sacrificing all that

I love Stetcher, but to say the gap between Walman and Stetcher is small is insane. Walman is a better d-man- in every facet. Walman also plays more minutes against tougher competition.

I agreed the RD-LD is ideal, but it isn’t prioritized over playing the best possible d-men. What you should be asking is will there be a drop off between Stetcher and Kulak playing RD- and is that drop off offset by the impact of Ekholm coming back.

My take- Kulak has played RD and looked great doing it at the beginning of the year. Hell, he was the oilers best dman the first half off the season. 2) Ekholm’s returning will have a much greater impact positively than whatever perceived loss there is of Kulak playing right D

I am still in shock that you believe Walman and Stetcher are equivalent players and Walman should be coming out.

 

[Drivesaitl]

You saying something like this is usually immediately followed by the player popping off on a three game multi goal scoring streak.

You think Hintz is gonna do that? I mock players that are so completely out of their game. Hintz is a good player, but he's one of those guys that strangely regressed during his prime. Its an odd thng, and last 5 games, and I've been watching, he's been garbage.

you know, aside from your predilection to find fault in my posts I don't actually influence the universe in any meaningful way. lol You sure like to get frustrated with my posts though.

Oilers win game:

Harpoon: < I must, must must find something wrong with Drives posting. Its imperative.>

try harder

 

[Mr Positive]

I love Stetcher, but to say the gap between Walman and Stetcher is small is insane. Walman is a better d-man- in every facet. Walman also plays more minutes against tougher competition.

I agreed the RD-LD is ideal, but it isn’t prioritized over playing the best possible d-men. What you should be asking is will there be a drop off between Stetcher and Kulak playing RD- and is that drop off offset by Ekholm coming back.

My take- Kulak has played RD and looked great doing it at the beginning of the year. Hell, he was the oilers best dman the first half off the season. 2) Ekholm’s returning will have a much greater impact positively than whatever perceived loss there is of Kulk playing right.

I am still in shock that you believe Walman and Stetcher are equivalent players and Walman should be coming out.

The main point you have there is the gap in talent. I'm starting to see that the gap is bigger than I assumed, especially with TOI. With TOI though, maybe could that be because we've been sitting on leads a lot this series?

 

[jesusbuiltmyhotrod]

Sure there is a chance. Everyone has played well. Unless we go 11-7 the rest of the way, someone is coming out. Everyone is saying it's Stecher but isn't chemistry with Nurse important too? Stecher has been great. Are we pulling him out because of his size? Are we giving up on D balance just for the tiny gap in value between Stecher and Walman?

Honestly, the D has been so good that maybe we do go 11-7 right to the end. If not, I don't think we can argue that Walman isn't our 4th ranked LD

There is a no chance lol. Walman has been a beast

 

[tiger_80]

Is Nuge's nickname on the team seriously "Nuggie"? That's what Brown just called him

I am glad it's not "Mikey."

 

[MessierII]

No chance Walman comes out. Not a chance

Yeah I had to do a double take on that one.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I'd say Stu gets credit for the breakaway saves because he played them positionally perfectly, coming out but not flopping as he backed in. I can't remember which breakaway it was where they said it was shot wide, but it was actually a save, although granted it looked like it came off the shaft of his stick.

But still, if Stu had let in a goal or two this game, like if certain pucks bounced differently, it still would have been a solid performance.

Oettinger was bailed out some times too, like that crossbar chance, where there was room for a goal there, and that puck that just rolled on the line and Heiskanen bailed out his goalie big time.

With all due respect its impossible to take everything away on a straight in breakaway. Thats why its the most dangerous play in hockey. On bad ice, and the ice was terrible last night a player should just pick the simple play. Pick a shot, on a clean break right up ice coming in straight in, all shot placements are available. You just pick one and make it as Seguin did.

What does occur with players however is Johnson is on such a low ebb that he's have some crisis in confidence in his game. He's playing awful hockey and is something like -15 in the playoffs. He's been abysmal after an outstanding rookie season.

One of the things about hockey is players even at this highest level get so in their head doubting, that suddenly good and effective players have stints where they just suddenly play badly. Make wrong decisions, question their moves. When its happening for players its they do rote things that they are good at and they keep to those strengths. When lacking confidence they do atypical things and struggle. I would say 2 stars not even getting a shot on goal on breakaways last night is more about that struggle.

Really if I'm a coach I would bagskate a guy that didn't even get a shot on net on a breakaway.

 

[Drivesaitl]

A tale of two teams:

Oilers directing everything at net. Knowing that in tightly marked games strange things can and will happen. But important to create many dangers by getting as many pucks towards net as possible. Everything in the Oilers playoff game in 2025 predicated on this. They've learned a lot on last few years.

Dallas on the other hand trying similar to Vegas to pass puck into net. Trying to make perfect plays through seams instead of just the obvious get the puck to net plays.

Dallas had more Ozone time in the game, but the Oilers were smarter with the puck, and the philosophy of just getting pucks to net area where danger happens.

All 3 Oilers goals last night, indeed the only 3 goals scored in the game are all broken plays that occured due to getting rebounds or deflections back and continuing to just push biscuit at net. Every goal.

Dallas: If we make 7 passes in a row maybe we'll score. lol. Dallas best chance was on a similar broken play rebound where Skinner made the stick save.


The interesting thing with Dallas is the death of them, every playoffs has been due to not figuring out to keep it simple as possible in playoffs, and especially on bad ice. Oilers are much better at that now.

 

[jesusbuiltmyhotrod]

What part of Stecher's game are you disappointed with?

Weird post? Who said he was disappointing? Ekholm being better does not mean anyone is disappointed in stretcher…. We have depth so eve.mn good players may need to sit

 

[Drivesaitl]

Is Nuge's nickname on the team seriously "Nuggie"? That's what Brown just called him

Its been Nugey for years in postgame interviews.

 

[rboomercat90]

We could have swept series 1-3 this year. Change my mind.

Stuart Skinner.