GDT: WCSF | V | "Engage!" | Oilers @ Canucks | 5.16.24 | 8:00PM | SN/CBC

[Drivesaitl]

Blowing leads due to incompetent team play is one thing, but that's not what has been happening in this series. Some teams go on long runs of having horseshoes up their ass, and the Nucks have been on that run the whole year. Remind me of the 2022 Flames that seemed to be down two goals every game going into the third only to constantly tie it late.

Game 1 - we didn't push near enough, but we were not really getting dunked on too badly either. In relative control defensively before the individual combo of Nurse and Skinner cost us the game.

Game 4 - we played very strong hockey the whole period and two random bounce shots went in. Nothing offside about how we played that period at all, shots just went in.

I'd be the loudest critic on here if we were playing incompetent hockey when leading, but we really aren't. Sometimes teams just have the hand of god on their shoulder when down goals, and that is the Nucks.

Disagree here. In game 4 after being aggressive to pucks all game and knocking pucks off the Oilers hung back with the 2 goal lead. They say they didn't but for a 10min segment of game there were two faults.

1) We weren't making legit plays out, we were just flying pucks to nowhere and then Nucks coming back.

2)Inside zone the Oilers stopped pressuring and for unknown reason started allowing Nucks to pass around perimeter and establish a lot of time in zone. There was no reason to do that and we played 10mins as if we were pk in our own zone. This included McD and Drai who were weak in own zone in third. Both goals Nucks got, in the ensuing play the Oilers were too tentative. In one sequence McD could very easily challenge a bobbled puck at point but instead collapsed back. its the wrong thing to do against Canucks.

Sure the Nucks played better in 3rd period but the Oilers allowed them more time and space to move the puck around. Nucks are too lucky a team to be allowing that.

Think about it this way. In the first period the Oilers were capable of defending 6mins of pk so well that Nucks had trouble even getting setup in our zone. That was dominance and it was had due to pressuring and limiting space and making zone entry more difficult. But the Oilers suddenly had reticense doing that even at 5on5 in third period. Mainly because they were playing more passive sets.

 

[NeverForget06]

The Nucks going with a bit of slower line up, suits me fine.

I think it will hurt them to have to break up that third line with Lindholm.

 

[PuckG]

The Nucks going with a bit of slower line up, suits me fine.

Gotta watch that Garland and Joshua on the third line. We can take um.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

I think it will hurt them to have to break up that third line with Lindholm.

Mikahev didn't score a ton, but I thought he was pretty effective, him coming out doesn't make them better, imo.

 

[ManofSteel55]

From my understanding Carrick is injured. We know Henrique is. Stetcher is a complete mystery though. Anyway forget Carrick play Samwise already

Stecher was only brought in as injury insurance. Depth, in case of injury. I expect even if we had an injury, Broberg gets the nod and Stecher watches.

Gotta watch that Garland and Joshua on the third line. We can take um.

Garland. Ugh. That guy always seems to get us. I'm almost more worried about him than about the top line. I do expect EP - Miller to be more effective than they have been offensively. I also still hope that McDavid's line can keep serving them their lunch in terms of possession and attacking zone time.

 

[LeonDraisaitl29]

Fallout 4 is a shit game and I'm tired of pretending it's not.

New Vegas is the best fallout imo

 

[Ritchie Valens]

Blowing leads due to incompetent team play is one thing, but that's not what has been happening in this series. Some teams go on long runs of having horseshoes up their ass, and the Nucks have been on that run the whole year. Remind me of the 2022 Flames that seemed to be down two goals every game going into the third only to constantly tie it late.

Game 1 - we didn't push near enough, but we were not really getting dunked on too badly either. In relative control defensively before the individual combo of Nurse and Skinner cost us the game.

Game 4 - we played very strong hockey the whole period and two random bounce shots went in. Nothing offside about how we played that period at all, shots just went in.

I'd be the loudest critic on here if we were playing incompetent hockey when leading, but we really aren't. Sometimes teams just have the hand of god on their shoulder when down goals, and that is the Nucks.

I do agree the Canucks have had some unbelievable puck luck but I refuse to believe that’s the majority of it. The funny bounce off the stanchion against LA…that’s an example of bad luck (or good luck for the Kings).

Bolded 1: By McDavid’s own admission in the post game interview, he said they tried to protect the lead. That’s a coaching fail. They do not have the defensive horses to just sit back and defend leads. Or had capable goaltending to stop the bleeding. That loss was not solely on Nurse and Skinner, but I’d blame Skinner more for some of those goals against. I blame the team for not running the Canucks out of the building like they did to the Oilers in game 1 of the season.

Bolded 2: Again, Vancouver just started throwing pucks at the net and got two lucky bounces. Both went off Nurse, so is that bad luck on Nurse’s part or is it a positioning thing with him? Regardless, Van has a relentless attack which needs to be countered.

Look all through the season in GDTs with how many “butt clenching time” posts there were when they let teams off the mat. Their own-zone play late in games with a lead isn’t just a playoff thing, it’s been an all-season thing. I don’t know if it’s an arrogance thing thinking “we’ve scored 4, we’ve got it in the bag” or what but they severely lack killer instinct.

 

[McHelpus]

The Nucks going with a bit of slower line up, suits me fine.

Tocchett switched everything up, for Canucks fans saying they are in a good position, these line up changes screams desperation.

 

[PositiveCashFlow]

The Nucks going with a bit of slower line up, suits me fine.

Canucks fans are saying these changes are for the better. Let's hope not

 

[EchoesoftheEighties]

Going to be at the watch party for this one and I'm hoping the oil give us a reason to party

 

[ManofSteel55]

Canucks fans are saying these changes are for the better. Let's hope not

One thing I have learned this series, is that most Canuck fans don't know their arse from their elbow when it comes to hockey. So. Many. Bandwagon. Fans.

Some are fine of course, but it seems that the vocal ones aren't the ones I care to converse with.

 

[bone]

Tocchett switched everything up, for Canucks fans saying they are in a good position, these line up changes screams desperation.

This series has been an interesting study. Before or after every game, there seems to be a narrative out of Vancouver that gets puts out there complete with soundbites from the team to push it whether it be embellishment, standard of call for cross checks, "league has a couple things to look at", "league protecting their investment", calling players passengers, etc. Tocchet is grinding his ass off trying to get as much out of this series either through the players or pushing narratives to hopefully get some advantage out of the calls.

Has there been anything other than the typical vanilla comments out of the Oilers dressing room other than around the swap to Pickard and one soundbite where Spector baited Draisaitl into a poorly worded snippet about "posts ain't good goaltending" in response to Spector directly asking if all the posts they were hitting being a product of good goaltending.

 

[Captain Fantastic]

Henrique part of today's skate. Hope he's in tonight

 

[Drivesaitl]

Mikahev didn't score a ton, but I thought he was pretty effective, him coming out doesn't make them better, imo.

Its conveniently being done as narrative that he could've been the problem in some line configs to Peteys MIA play. Basically the fans had been saying that, and that Petey should be back with Hoglander and Lindholm and the team going with that. Seems a convenient way to absolve Petey and give him some different help.

 

[ManofSteel55]

Henrique part of today's skate. Hope he's in tonight

If he can play a meaningful role, I hope so too. We've missed him in the top six.

This series has been an interesting study. Before or after every game, there seems to be a narrative out of Vancouver that gets puts out there complete with soundbites from the team to push it whether it be embellishment, standard of call for cross checks, "league has a couple things to look at", "league protecting their investment", calling players passengers, etc. Tocchet is grinding his ass off trying to get as much out of this series either through the players or pushing narratives to hopefully get some advantage out of the calls.

Has there been anything other than the typical vanilla comments out of the Oilers dressing room other than around the swap to Pickard and one soundbite where Spector baited Draisaitl into a poorly worded snippet about "posts ain't good goaltending" in response to Spector directly asking if all the posts they were hitting being a product of good goaltending.

Yeah, the spin out of Vancouver has been pretty ridiculous. Tocchet started it before the series even started, with the accusations that the Oilers get an unfair amount of powerplay time.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Looks like I was wrong about Carrick, interesting changes. I expect Holloway to move up through out the game, I wonder if this is a last push to get Foegele going.

Wait nevermind, of course there's guys who aren't skating, sorry about that.

Nice that Henrique looks to be a game time decision. I wonder if Carrick gets in.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

If he can play a meaningful role, I hope so too. We've missed him in the top six.


Yeah, the spin out of Vancouver has been pretty ridiculous. Tocchet started it before the series even started, with the accusations that the Oilers get an unfair amount of powerplay time.

What a f***ing clown, considering Vancouver was 5th in powerplays and the Oilers 19th but of course he’s doing his job to plant those seeds. LA was pretty undisciplined at times so yeah, they got a few more powerplays in round 1.

 

[ManofSteel55]

Looks like I was wrong about Carrick, interesting changes. I expect Holloway to move up through out the game, I wonder if this is a last push to get Foegele going.

He still may be banged up.

I also think they don't want to tinker with the personnel in the bottom six too much, because our PK has been so good. If Carrick goes in, Ryan comes out, and Derek Ryan is one of our best PK'ers.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Tocchett switched everything up, for Canucks fans saying they are in a good position, these line up changes screams desperation.

Not my take. Tocchet has been a master motivator with no hesitation to tap into their depth. Will say I think Petterssen's move up to Line 2 bad or good is going to be a key in this game.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

For game 6, we need an entire section in the power bowl doing this to Lindholm:

 

[94 Oil Drops]

Some are fine of course, but it seems that the vocal ones aren't the ones I care to converse with.

I lived in the lower mainland for a bit and there's a few friends I made there that are certainly cool Canuck fans. I may hate the team but I'm not going to pretend all of the fans are stupid.

I grew up with a couple of classmates that are diehard Canuck fans. They were sisters and the oldest was generally pretty respectful of the Oilers even when they were brutal for all those years. The younger sister was insufferable. She constantly laughed at the Oiler's misfortunes and was about as annoying as you could imagine. It's like each of those 2 girls represented both the nice side and the ugly side of Canucks fans. lol

All that being said, I hate the Vancouver social media troll legions (including a large number of them on the HF mains) and I wish nothing but the absolute worst for them and their team. Here's hoping we can make them feel real nervous at the end of the night.

 

[bone]

What a f***ing clown, considering Vancouver was 5th in powerplays and the Oilers 19th but of course he’s doing his job to plant those seeds. LA was pretty undisciplined at times so yeah, they got a few more powerplays in round 1.

And a large part of that came in Game 3 in a rout where LA just came unglued in the 3rd period.

I lived in the lower mainland for a bit and there's a few friends I made there that are certainly cool Canuck fans. I may hate the team but I'm not going to pretend all of the fans are stupid.

I grew up with a couple of classmates. They were sisters and the oldest was generally pretty respectful of the Oilers even when they were brutal for all those years. The younger sister was insufferable. She constantly laughed at the Oiler's misfortunes and was about as annoying as you could imagine. It's like each of those 2 girls represented both the nice side and the ugly side of Canucks fans. lol

All that being said, I hate the Vancouver social media troll legions (including a large number of them on the HF mains) and I wish nothing but the absolute worst for them and their team. He's hoping we can make them feel real nervous at the end of the night.

I'll keep saying to anyone willing to listen. Longterm dedicated Canucks are some of the best to talk hockey with. Unfortunately whenever the team is decent, they get drowned to by the chest beaters and whiners. Many of the good Canuck fans even hate those people.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[iCanada]

Canucks fans are saying these changes are for the better. Let's hope not

Eh, the changes to me suggest that the Canucks felt like they got bullied in game 4.

I feel like they got less speed and worse on ice results to get a little bit bigger in the bottom 6, and maybe give lil Petey a boost.

I feel pretty comfortable with their changes. Then breaking up that old third line is a mistake by then I think.

Canucks fans are saying these changes are for the better. Let's hope not

Eh, the changes to me suggest that the Canucks felt like they got bullied in game 4.

I feel like they got less speed and worse on ice results to get a little bit bigger in the bottom 6, and maybe give lil Petey a boost.

I feel pretty comfortable with their changes. Then breaking up that old third line is a mistake by then I think.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]