Pre-Game Talk: The Only Series We’ve Ever Known: Oilers @ Kings

[Arpeggio]

In kind of a weird way, the way this season has gone may give the Oilers a bit of a leg up in the playoffs this year. In previous seasons it always seemed like there were milestones being chased, guys playing all the way up to the end of the season. This year the last 5 games feel like preseason to me. Nuge is clearly playing just to stay fresh, same with McDavid. If Draisaitl plays game 82 as rumoured then I think think we can be reasonably confident that those three at least are 100%, and are just playing enough to stay fresh for game 1.

Ekholm out hurts, but I think they'll overcome that loss to beat the Kings. I've liked our defence lately.

 

[bone]

This is all very unpredictable. It's pretty easy to be down on Edmonton's chances because of the injuries and the feeling that they've lost too often down the strecth, but the reality is that despite all the adversity post 4 Nations, the team is currently on a 10-4-1 run. This despite at least one of McDavid and Draisaitl being out of the lineup the last 12 games, and 2 of RNH, McDavid and Dria for all but 3 of the last 11 games.

Over that span, they are undefeated if one of McDavid or Draisaitl are in the lineup and finishes the game. Granted it wasn't a murderers row of competition, but the team is actually playing pretty well down the stretch despite the adversity and even pulled out some nice victories against the good teams they did play.

All that said, this year's LA team may be the strongest they've faced and if their strong home record can carry over to the post season (where they've been brutal at home in the playoffs since their last cup) it will be tough. Ultimately, if everyone returns besides Ekholm as we've been hearing, Edmonton should be able to win if goaltending and defense can at least prevent taking on water, but that's a pretty big if.

 

[FlameChampion]

I suspect that Ekholm is only guy who is really injured at this point. Which is a huge loss obviously.

Frederic will likely play. But with high ankle sprain, hard to say how effective he will be.

I think Kane will be playing regardless of whatever Spec is saying. Hes a complete wildcard.

 

[soothsayer]

We need a couple weeks before playoffs start to get healthy enough to ice a lineup

We aren’t getting out of round 1 this year

It has been an strange game of "what is injury and what is loan management" lately. Frederic, Kane, and Ekholm are obviously injured. But would anyone be shocked if Draisaitl, Hyman, and Walman blew the doors off LA in game 1? I wouldn't be.

 

[Duke74]

I guess I'm ok with McDavid sitting out. Don't want Kings players taking runs at him, and lord knows if given the chance they will.

Probably a smart move. We're well beyond the individual accomplishments at this point.

 

[soothsayer]

I suspect that Ekholm is only guy who is really injured at this point. Which is a huge loss obviously.

Frederic will likely play. But with high ankle sprain, hard to say how effective he will be.

I think Kane will be playing regardless of whatever Spec is saying. Hes a complete wildcard.

It sounds like Frederic hasn't even skated since he re-injured himself. I've put that guy out of mind for the playoffs, and if he comes back it's a bonus. What a mess his acquisition has been so far--total failure on Bowman and the rest of his Enron buddies.

 

[Duke74]

We need a couple weeks before playoffs start to get healthy enough to ice a lineup

We aren’t getting out of round 1 this year

I think most of the players are being sat for precautionary reasons at this point. Otherwise, why would McDavid be sitting?

 

[FlameChampion]

It sounds like Frederic hasn't even skated since he re-injured himself. I've put that guy out of mind for the playoffs, and if he comes back it's a bonus. What a mess his acquisition has been so far--total failure on Bowman and the rest of his Enron buddies.

Ah I didn’t know he hasn’t skated. I still think he will play but yeah I’m unfortunately not expecting much.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Technically the game has "meaning" tonight but we're still unlikely to pass LA. I'd rather we rest who we can.

 

[bone]

In kind of a weird way, the way this season has gone may give the Oilers a bit of a leg up in the playoffs this year. In previous seasons it always seemed like there were milestones being chased, guys playing all the way up to the end of the season. This year the last 5 games feel like preseason to me. Nuge is clearly playing just to stay fresh, same with McDavid. If Draisaitl plays game 82 as rumoured then I think think we can be reasonably confident that those three at least are 100%, and are just playing enough to stay fresh for game 1.

Ekholm out hurts, but I think they'll overcome that loss to beat the Kings. I've liked our defence lately.

I'm not sure how this would be legal. They likely burned through the LTIR relief by moving Philp from emergency to regular callup, plus adding Ryan and Dineen. So where's the $2M in LTIR relief to add these guys as none of the injured players would qualify for LTIR since they all played Game 73 or later.

 

[Zerotonine]

I want to see who’s actually playing before I vote in the pole. Heart says Edm. Head says LA right now. A lot depends on home ice too.

I don’t sports bet - what do those numbers mean?

View attachment 1012798

Means edmonton is favored

If you bet 100 bucks on la you get back 220 total

If you bet 100 bucks on edmonton you get back 175 bucks total

 

[K1984]

A glass half full view of Ekholm is we've been effectively missing him the entire year, whether he's in the lineup or not.

I don't know whether it was completely injury induced or not, but he has not played well since the start. It isn't like prior years where we have a guy playing 25+ minutes at an elite level that is just gone. This time we have redundancies to more or less replace his minutes that we didn't have before.

This isn't to discount the fact that losing him is a blow regardless, but we don't rely on him as the anchor as much anymore as we did in prior years. Nurse and Kulak stepping up has helped that along with the addition of Walman.

 

[bone]

Technically the game has "meaning" tonight but we're still unlikely to pass LA. I'd rather we rest who we can.

For sure. LA just needs one win out of three games with games still to go vs. Seattle and Calgary. Seattle has done well as spoiler and it is their last game of the season, so there was still a little chance especially on a back to back situation, but odds are Calgary is done after tomorrow night so that last one in LA would be an easy win if they needed it.

 

[MessierThanThou]

Apologies for sharing Gregor's tweet as I don't imagine many of us are fans, but he's the only one I heard say that McDavid is resting tonight and that there's nothing to be concerned about, which is the best news of the day for anyone who feared a possible injury/re-injury. I am a bit concerned about Stecher though. Any word on what's going on there?

 

[McHelpus]

Just watched the Kane interview. He says he's ready for game 1.

 

[Arpeggio]

For sure. LA just needs one win out of three games with games still to go vs. Seattle and Calgary. Seattle has done well as spoiler and it is their last game of the season, so there was still a little chance especially on a back to back situation, but odds are Calgary is done after tomorrow night so that last one in LA would be an easy win if they needed it.

Doesn't Calgary just need one of Minnesota or St. Louis to lose? Anaheim and Utah are frisky I mean odds are they'll lose but both teams have won some big games against playoff contenders recently.

I can't see LA losing both, but I feel like Calgary might still have a shot.

 

[FlameChampion]

Just watched the Kane interview. He says he's ready for game 1.

Gary going to send our next year’s first round pick to Calgary now

 

[Duke74]

Apologies for sharing Gregor's tweet as I don't imagine many of us are fans, but he's the only one I heard say that McDavid is resting tonight and that there's nothing to be concerned about, which is the best news of the day for anyone who feared a possible injury/re-injury. I am a bit concerned about Stecher though. Any word on what's going on there?

I'm a little concerned that Draisaitl's timeline keeps getting extended. Initially, Knob said he'd be back "well before the playoffs." Then, yesterday, a Wednesday return was the "worst case scenario." Now, Wednesday is a maybe. Will he even be ready for Game 1 of the playoffs? And if so, will he be 100%? I have a hard time trusting anything this organization says regarding injuries.

 

[bone]

Doesn't Calgary just need one of Minnesota or St. Louis to lose? Anaheim and Utah are frisky I mean odds are they'll lose but both teams have won some big games against playoff contenders recently.

I can't see LA losing both, but I feel like Calgary might still have a shot.

They do, but they also have to beat Vegas.

I'm not ruling out Calgary by any means, but it's still a big hill to climb. Ironically though perhaps Edmonton taking a knee today vs. LA improves Calgary's chances at making it.

 

[soothsayer]

I'm a little concerned that Draisaitl's timeline keeps getting extended. Initially, Knob said he'd be back "well before the playoffs." Then, yesterday, a Wednesday return was the "worst case scenario." Now, Wednesday is a maybe. Will he even be ready for Game 1 of the playoffs? And if so, will he be 100%? I have a hard time trusting anything this organization says regarding injuries.

I honestly think they are load managing with Draisaitl at this point. And the way McDavid has come flying back, looking better than ever, after a similar sort of injury storyline as Draisaitl's makes me even more convinced that that's the case.

 

[Mr Positive]

I know we are walking wounded but I still say we have the big edge on LA. We got to the Finals last year. At full health we are a true top contender. LA is not. LA does have a chance to beat us this year but it's just because of the injuries.

McDavid looks great. Draisaitl is looking good in practices. As long as Nurse or Walman can approximate what Ekholm was, LA can't match our game breaking ability

 

[bellagiobob]

I'm a little concerned that Draisaitl's timeline keeps getting extended. Initially, Knob said he'd be back "well before the playoffs." Then, yesterday, a Wednesday return was the "worst case scenario." Now, Wednesday is a maybe. Will he even be ready for Game 1 of the playoffs? And if so, will he be 100%? I have a hard time trusting anything this organization says regarding injuries.

At this point I think it’s safe to assume that every injured player won’t be 100% when returning. Hopefully most of them are 90%+ though.

 

[CycloneSweep]

This is all very unpredictable. It's pretty easy to be down on Edmonton's chances because of the injuries and the feeling that they've lost too often down the strecth, but the reality is that despite all the adversity post 4 Nations, the team is currently on a 10-4-1 run. This despite at least one of McDavid and Draisaitl being out of the lineup the last 12 games, and 2 of RNH, McDavid and Dria for all but 3 of the last 11 games.

Over that span, they are undefeated if one of McDavid or Draisaitl are in the lineup and finishes the game. Granted it wasn't a murderers row of competition, but the team is actually playing pretty well down the stretch despite the adversity and even pulled out some nice victories against the good teams they did play.

All that said, this year's LA team may be the strongest they've faced and if their strong home record can carry over to the post season (where they've been brutal at home in the playoffs since their last cup) it will be tough. Ultimately, if everyone returns besides Ekholm as we've been hearing, Edmonton should be able to win if goaltending and defense can at least prevent taking on water, but that's a pretty big if.

True. They are 3-2-1 against playoff teams in that span. Which isn’t great but it’s bad either way

The big question for this team is going to be health and how they are going to fit in guys as they get healthy. That and how Frederic and Kane will even play. Frederic has zero chemistry with anyone and Kane has missed an entire regular season.

The defence can do well but going in with our #1 guy already hurt means we can’t afford a single top 4 injury during the playoffs which is hard.

 

[CycloneSweep]

I know we are walking wounded but I still say we have the big edge on LA. We got to the Finals last year. At full health we are a true top contender. LA is not. LA does have a chance to beat us this year but it's just because of the injuries.

McDavid looks great. Draisaitl is looking good in practices. As long as Nurse or Walman can approximate what Ekholm was, LA can't match our game breaking ability

I believe you are right. The X Factor is La has an elite goalie this year, we have below replacement level goaltending.
Kuemper can absolutely steal a series and has won a cup so he knows what it takes. So it’s less so us having to outplay LA but more outplay our own goaltending.

 

[bone]

I believe you are right. The X Factor is La has an elite goalie this year, we have below replacement level goaltending.
Kuemper can absolutely steal a series and has won a cup so he knows what it takes. So it’s less so us having to outplay LA but more outplay our own goaltending.

I'm still not buying Kuemper being elite. Goalie stats always seem to improve when they go to LA. Is he better than last year's duo, probably, but I'm not sure the gap between him in the prior two years is that much and looking at his cup win, it wasn't because of him being a major factor as he basically had the same stats Skinner had in last year's playoffs.

If LA makes it over the hump vs. Edmonton this year, I'd bet it's moreso likely that Clarke had a good first playoff appearance and that Byfield finally showed up for a playoff series