GDT: WCF | I | "The Fault In their Stars" | Oilers @ Stars | 5.23.24 | 6:30PM | SN/CBC

[OilerTyler]

I worry about Skinner. Someone posted (I’m too lazy to check) that Skinner has the same number of games over .900 save% in the playoffs as he has been pulled. Man that’s scary

Meh, .900 is just an arbitrary number. He was under .900 in game one against LA because of some fluke goals in garbage time. He was under .900 in game 5 against LA because of a fluke bounce off of a stanchion. He played well in both of those games. It doesn't really mean anything.

 

[Satire]

Run Modano through the boards opening shift.

Hopefully Marchant can get a clutch goal out of the penalty box again!

 

[tiger_80]

Giving all the Oilers some Toddy Marchant power and Skinner some Cujo powers. Let's do this boys.

Cujo power to Skinner, and mojo power to Brown. Won't be able to get it up though. lol.

 

[TheNumber4]

Hopefully the power grid in Texas holds up tonight for some great ice. McDrai will work their magic on clean ice.

 

[Zubov2156]

I can't wait to watch a game where a section of idiots in Dallas are standing for live play or the glass banger idiot that doesnt understand when to do it.

I cant stand that "spectacle" glass banger guy he's a camera hog and an idiot . He does not represent the savvy Dallas hockey fans that support our team. The "standing thing" has always been present since the team came here in 93. Usually does not happen till the last 3-5 minutes on the 3rd or OT though. Go Stars!

 

[Perfect_Drug]

I never said that they were a perfect team with no vulnerabilities.
There no doubt though that they will be by far the best team the Oiler shave faced in these playoffs.

There is a reason why they beat Vegas and made short work of Colorado and thats not because they are mediocre in any respect.

I appreciate the optimism and I do think that the Oilers can win this series. The difference for me though is that this will be the toughest test by far for the Oilers.
This isnt a perferable matchup IMO.

I guess I just have a little more respect for the quality of the Dallas roster and their coaching which will be a step above what the Oilers have faced so far in Tocchet and Hiller.

The thing I realise more and more these days, is an absolute love-fest for depth, and an absolute disregard for elite talent. Especially in the media, and online discussions.

Then I hear absolute horseshit takes like "Depth wins Championships".
Like.. no it does NOT.

Cup winners usually have several players that can win hardware. Selkes, Art Ross, Rockets, Vezinas etc. They tend to have MacKinnons, Makars, Kucherovs, and Crosby.

Teams like the Stars are similar to the Trotz era Islanders.
Sure they can get far, but they don't have gamebreakers.

 

[Broberg Speed]

If the Oilers have the will I have no doubt they'll win tonight and win the series.

 

[CornKicker]

I think that's video is missing how well Dallas stops players dead when they try to skate the puck into the neutral zone. The Avs are a bit different in that they usually set up those Mac rushes with a pass into the neutral zone. The Oilers(and mainly McDavid) rely more on winding it up in their zone and skating it through. That's going to be the big test for Knob. The Stars' bread and butter is throwing layers at skaters through the neutral zone and disrupting straight lines.

How well Knob and McDavid adjust will probably decide the series, IMO.

I don't have much faith in the Oilers depth in this one. Guys like McLeod and Foegele are basically rush only players that discombobulate the second they're forced east-west. The Stars are going to feast on that.

agree with you but LA and Van prided themselves on clogging the neutral zone and the oilers made that look easy. Knob understands the adjustments to make but more importantly the players have the skill to execute.

MacKinnon got plenty of speed through the neutral zone, he just didn't have the hands or vision to do anything with the puck once he got the zone.

McDavid is a much different kind of beast.

This is McDavid vs a 1-3-1. He simply doesn't need the space that MacKinnon seems to need.

this is why bouchard is so valuable, he can slow wind his time up ice and hit someone in stride and eliminate this rudimentary neutral zone lock

 

[WaitingForUser]

Or Darian Hatcher.....

Or zubov or hull or modano

 

[guymez]

The thing I realise more and more these days, is an absolute love-fest for depth, and an absolute disregard for elite talent.

Then I hear absolute horseshit takes like "Depth wins Championships".
Like.. no it does NOT.

Cup winners usually have several players that can win hardware. Selkes, Art Ross, Rockets, Vezinas etc.


Teams like the Stars are similar to the Trotz era Islanders.
Sure they can get far, but they don't have gamebreakers to win it.

I have no idea how you gleamed from my post that I am disregarding elite talent.
I said nothing of the sort that even implies that.

What I am saying is that matchups matter and if the Oilers think that they can win this series with no depth scoring and just run McDavid and Draisaitl then they will lose IMO.

When you get this far into the NHL playoffs depth (ie the quality of the overall team) matters. Thats a large part of why Vegas dispatched this team last season. They did that even though the Oilers had better elite talent.
So the distinction here is that I am not discounting elite talent at all. What I am discounting is that a team can win the Cup riding elite talent and not getting contributions from their depth.
AT worst I think the Oilers will have to match the Stars at 5x5. That means the 3rd line especially has to step up becuse they just werent good enough in the Van or the LA series.
If that happens I think that the Oilers can win this series on special teams.
That assumes of course that Skinner gets his shit together.

The Stars defensive system is good IMO but it isnt perfect. When it does breakdown they have a world class goalie to clean up the mess.
This team doesnt have that.

This is going to be a very tough series IMO.

 

[TheNumber4]

Rewatched Avs Stars last night. Stars give up plenty. We execute and overwhelm with our speed and we can put games away with offence only.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Personally I'd throw the pk stats right out the window. Oilers played two teams that didn't even have a PP. Teams that could hardly even gain zone. Stars had to pk against significantly better PP's. This stat will even out a bit in this series.

Oilers better not feel their way into this series. Imperative that they take game 1 with Hintz out and in every series Dallas get better after the first two games. Dallas have been machines on the road. Minimum that we get a split in Dallas.

Hintz out, while a blow, he's been oddly quiet in playoffs this season. Used to be Robertson that had trouble elevating in playoffs. Now Its Roope. Stars young players Johnson and Stankoven have sure crashed the party.

Heiskanen playing really well. Someone I like watching is Harley. Man this guy can skate miles.

Best playoffs in awhile for Benn and Seguin.

Things to look for from Stars is well developed transition game and everybody buying into it. When theres a mistake players really prepared to cover for it. Stars can get out fast they leave coverage behind. This results in either odd man rushes or them finding open ice to make a play. Excellent passing club on days that they are on.

The achilles Heel of Stars is their breakout and transition is not simple. Lots of passes and when off it turns to shit. Stars also pass own zone in transition more than I think is ideal and the Oilers are the best offensive zone puck stripping team on the planet. This will be where the series is contested. If Oilers get to a lot of pucks in Stars end they can take over. If Dallas get clean breakouts its trouble.

 

[K1984]

The thing I realise more and more these days, is an absolute love-fest for depth, and an absolute disregard for elite talent. Especially in the media, and online discussions.

Then I hear absolute horseshit takes like "Depth wins Championships".
Like.. no it does NOT.

Cup winners usually have several players that can win hardware. Selkes, Art Ross, Rockets, Vezinas etc. They tend to have MacKinnons, Makars, Kucherovs, and Crosby.

Teams like the Stars are similar to the Trotz era Islanders.
Sure they can get far, but they don't have gamebreakers.

I'm completely with you here.

This was the narrative around the Flames up until they imploded again this year was just how deep and (my personal favourite) balanced they were in every position year after year. Then when the bullets started flying it was apparent that a lot of that vaunted depth was irrelevant.

These series come down to which team's elite line can outplay the other team's elite line, who wins the special team battle, and who gets the better goaltending. A slight mismatch on the third line is very, very far down the list of things to worry about.

 

[Juxta Position]

Or zubov or hull or modano

So many bad memories of those teams....the grumpy old men line (Kirk Muller, John MacLean, Mike Keane) that destroyed the Oilers in 2001. such a frustrating time.

 

[KCC]

Meh, .900 is just an arbitrary number. He was under .900 in game one against LA because of some fluke goals in garbage time. He was under .900 in game 5 against LA because of a fluke bounce off of a stanchion. He played well in both of those games. It doesn't really mean anything.

And then he went back to shaky ass skinner against Vancouver just like against Vegas last year. It should have been a sweep and he made it draw out much longer. Dallas is like Vegas last year. Skinner needs to step up and play the games of his life moving forward or this will be a sweep. He’s a #1. It’s time he plays like it.

 

[guymez]

I'm completely with you here.

This was the narrative around the Flames up until they imploded again this year was just how deep and (my personal favourite) balanced they were in every position year after year. Then when the bullets started flying it was apparent that a lot of that vaunted depth was irrelevant.

These series come down to which team's elite line can outplay the other team's elite line, who wins the special team battle, and who gets the better goaltending. A slight mismatch on the third line is very, very far down the list of things to worry about.

That sure didnt seem to work against Vegas last year.

 

[Shizuka]

Kinda coming into this one with no real expectations honestly. Dallas is an excellent team depth wise and can get production from anywhere in their lineup. Our top end guys eclipse theirs for sure. They have a tremendous D in Heiskanen who can skate with McDavid stride for stride. Looking forward to it even if I am a pessimist and expect the Oilers to remain dialed in and ready to play tonight.

Go get this win tonight and give yourselves a fighting chance to start.

 

[Zerotonine]

I can't fking believe we are about to go into the western conference finals with desharnais as a 4th dman holy fk

 

[WaitingForUser]

So many bad memories of those teams....the grumpy old men line (Kirk Muller, John MacLean, Mike Keane) that destroyed the Oilers in 2001. such a frustrating time.

So true how poetic would it be to beat the Stars to reach the finals

 

[OilerTyler]

And then he went back to shaky ass skinner against Vancouver just like against Vegas last year. It should have been a sweep and he made it draw out much longer. Dallas is like Vegas last year. Skinner needs to step up and play the games of his life moving forward or this will be a sweep. He’s a #1. It’s time he plays like it.

Well the good news is he looked a lot better in games 6 and 7. Held Vancouver to 3 goals when they had an expected goals of 5.51. Hopefully he can keep it going.

 

[TheNumber4]

The thing I realise more and more these days, is an absolute love-fest for depth, and an absolute disregard for elite talent. Especially in the media, and online discussions.

Then I hear absolute horseshit takes like "Depth wins Championships".
Like.. no it does NOT.

Cup winners usually have several players that can win hardware. Selkes, Art Ross, Rockets, Vezinas etc. They tend to have MacKinnons, Makars, Kucherovs, and Crosby.

Teams like the Stars are similar to the Trotz era Islanders.
Sure they can get far, but they don't have gamebreakers.

Well f***in said. I swear the “depth” narrative is just to coddle fans jealous they’ve never had a 1st overall. Which is alot of fans in this League.

And it’s just easy and lazy talking points for media. The depth and balance narrative to make analysts down south sound like they know their hockey.

Depth did f*** all for Vancouver when McDraiBouch, real superstars wanted to take over games.

 

[Cloned]

I can't fking believe we are about to go into the western conference finals with desharnais as a 4th dman holy fk

He’s a 4D based on his play this year.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Rewatched Avs Stars last night. Stars give up plenty. We execute and overwhelm with our speed and we can put games away with offence only.

Keep in mind though the Stars played that AV's series on very limited rest. They had one day off and then start a new series. It was a joke and favored the AV's. Stars are better rested now having had their first reasonable break of playoffs. The whole AV's series the Stars were trying to find their legs.

For the Oilers other keys will be how hurt are McD, Hyman, Kane, Ekholm. We don't know extent, and our forward group particularly have had some trouble scoring of late. Defensively Dallas are tons better than the Nucks are. Leons shot is again off. Not sure whats up with that but hopefully he and our PP will get it back. We really need the continued pace of guys like Holloway in this series. As I mentioned Oilers could make the Stars transition game vulnerable in own end with a strong forecheck. Not sure what strategies the coaches will employ. Oilers would want to be aggressive in Ozone stripping pucks but then again that leaves vulnerability on back end.

Suspect both clubs play tactically based on score. Even though its been hard to keep leads in playoffs.

 

[Broberg Speed]

If they play hard and smart the Oilers will win.

Obviously a game one victory is crucial for the hf fanbase who grossly overestimate the Stars.

 

[Broberg Speed]

Keep in mind though the Stars played that AV's series on very limited rest. They had one day off and then start a new series. It was a joke and favored the AV's. Stars are better rested now having had their first reasonable break of playoffs. The whole AV's series the Stars were trying to find their legs.

For the Oilers other keys will be how hurt are McD, Hyman, Kane, Ekholm. We don't know extent, and our forward group particularly have had some trouble scoring of late. Defensively Dallas are tons better than the Nucks are. Leons shot is again off. Not sure whats up with that but hopefully he and our PP will get it back. We really need the continued pace of guys like Holloway in this series. As I mentioned Oilers could make the Stars transition game vulnerable in own end with a strong forecheck. Not sure what strategies the coaches will employ. Oilers would want to be aggressive in Ozone stripping pucks but then again that leaves vulnerability on back end.

Suspect both clubs play tactically based on score. Even though its been hard to keep leads in playoffs.

maybe you should switch up your allegiances before they drop the puck