Post-Game Talk: Well we knew it would be a slog

[MikeS24]

Our bottom 6 is getting throttled. Podkolzin alone was on the ice for almost 35% of their quality chances against. Henrique line is awful. McDrai and Kane are playing well for forwards. The rest are invisible at best. Kapanen is getting chances but bleeding more and can’t finish.

Nurse and Kulak are getting shit on top. So we have 2 bad lines and an awful pairing. And our stars can barely overcome that playing the best they have played all year.

Our 3rd line got destroyed last year

 

[CycloneSweep]

One thing that has made me feel better. Since the NHL merged with the WHA there has been…
2 other cup rematches in back to back win and no team has lost twice. The other thing…in that same time span is no team has lost back to back even with a different opponent.

 

[WaitingForUser]

I’d love to see that angle from a bit earlier in the play to see how the hell the puck bounced out to Lundell like that

It hit the stanchen. This is what I was saying last night 9/10 that puck either makes it all the way down the ice or at least to the blue line. It was two lucky bounces that ended that game. First the puck stopped dead right in front of lundell and then as Leon is tying up Marchand his stick props skinners up just enough for the puck to squeak through. One mistake and two lucky breaks and it’s game over.

 

[RevengeOfTheDrai]

I don't defer solely to the counts on HDSC. I find that they are imperfectly defined and don't really capture it. By my view Bobo was forced to make 10 stops harder than anything Skinner made a stop on. This happens invariably in the matchup, and why we should go with Pickard.

Both teams are so good they will get their highest quality chances. We need a goalie that can make stops on some of those. Clear as that.

As Oilers fans we have he bad luck of having Stu Skinner as our starter still in 2025.

I’m not sure I can blame a goalie if the game goes into second overtime. Bob probably saves that OT breakaway, but we could always try preventing giving said breakaway to a 37 year old in the first place. Bob faced harder shots in OT, but he’s a 10M cap hit so it’s expected of him to do better. I blame the offense creating nothing for the last 39 minutes of regulation.

 

[guymez]

Can't be the long change. Edmonton dominated OT1 in both games with the long change. To me it's just a lull of sloppy breakouts, lost board battles, and the inevitability that the Panthers are going to have some strong pushes just like the Oilers have absolutely hemmed the Panthers in for large parts of 4 or 5 periods through 2 games.

2 days off will be nice for them. Both teams playing with everything they have.

Still like the Oilers chances a lot. Feel like we had more high danger chances in both games just going off watching it live. Haven't actually looked at the stats, but Oilers have had chances to put up 7 or 8 on Bob in both games. Credit to him for making some big stops, but also discredit to the Oilers on not getting the puck up on at least 10 grade A cross ice chances through 2 games. Both Bouchard and Perry had uncontested looks last game with Bob sliding across only covering the bottom half and both missed their spot with an eternity to pick it. Need some better execution on those ones.

Yeah considering how high the intenisty level is it's not unusual for a team to have these drop offs.
Probably to be expected and I guess the best case scenario is that the team is able to manage these dropoffs best they can so they can minimize the damage.
Keeping the Cats to the perimeter as much as possible when they do push seems reasonable enough.

Then the boys have to be sharp when their time comes to push..

These teams are so close that might well be one of the more important aspects of this series...which team can manage the pushes against the best and which team can execute the best when they are in the midst of their push.

 

[MessierThanThou]

Skinner has been unreal and it took one goal the fans don't comprehend to melt.

Go rewatch that game, and count the brain dead decisions by Oilers. Skinner kept it close. Our best players made some terrible decisions that lead to goals.

Our best players kept it close by either scoring goals or setting them up to actually get us into OT. Skinner had a rough game, it happens, and let in a goal that you clearly can't comprehend was actually bad and should be stopped by 99% of goalies.

Nobody is saying Skinner is terrible or shouldn't play again in the series. It's just that some posters here have the ability to recognize when he's playing well, which he mostly has, and when he's not...which was last night.

It's quite a take to blame our best players for goals that are supposedly unstoppable by any goalie...even when they trickle off a stick...

 

[redgrant]

I’m not sure I can blame a goalie if the game goes into second overtime. Bob probably saves that OT breakaway, but we could always try preventing giving said breakaway to a 37 year old in the first place. Bob faced harder shots in OT, but he’s a 10M cap hit so it’s expected of him to do better. I blame the offense creating nothing for the last 39 minutes of regulation.

This is a positive piece as well. Edmonton has had the better chances. Bob has done some highway robbery.

Theyre not going to be lucky forever. It's a matter of time til weariness and fatigue sets in going 3 lines. Reminds me a bit of the game in LA where Hiller just was hoping to absorb all the shooting and get lucky.

 

[Mav3rick07]

This is a positive piece as well. Edmonton has had the better chances. Bob has done some highway robbery.

Theyre not going to be lucky forever. It's a matter of time til weariness and fatigue sets in going 3 lines. Reminds me a bit of the game in LA where Hiller just was hoping to absorb all the shooting and get lucky.

The main difference is that Florida now has 2 days off in-between games where the Kings only had one.

 

[Whoshattenkirkshoes]

I know you don't care about numbers but this is for other people who are open to actually finding out what the problem is. Weird how Kulak went from looking elite with Bouch to struggling with Nurse.

I agree with that. Kulak on the right is the problem

 

[Whoshattenkirkshoes]

It's astonishing that you claim to get paid to watch hockey and constantly getting absurdly wrong

IMO it's more astonishing you wear a bumblebee suit to games with tight spandex

 

[Drivesaitl]

I’m not sure I can blame a goalie if the game goes into second overtime. Bob probably saves that OT breakaway, but we could always try preventing giving said breakaway to a 37 year old in the first place. Bob faced harder shots in OT, but he’s a 10M cap hit so it’s expected of him to do better. I blame the offense creating nothing for the last 39 minutes of regulation.

See, this is back to the mindset that we're blaming one of the best offenses in the world and one that got 4 goals last game, which should be enough to win a home playoff game. Its this notion of just outscoring Skinner again. Goals aren't easy in the Final. Among the two best clubs in the league.

Plus when its said "Creating nothing" its misleading. You mean not finishing. the Oilers created and had many scoring chances. Bob just happens to be a very good goalie and the Panthers can defend.

Theres mental gymnastics going on to fault the offense again.

Hockey is a game of chaos. Inevitably breaks, errors, bounces etc occur and we're playing opponent that tries to set traps, tries to spring players and sometimes that tactic works just like many times the tactics we deploy offensively work.

The Oilers are the best team in the league at suppressing grade A chances and yet for some reason it often settles to the area of blame. We all know why too. Because the Oilers are expected to negate almost every scoring chance always because Fred Skinner is in net. Look at the sheer desperation of Drai trying to come back on that play because he's conditioned to know he's not getting that stop.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Florida isn’t playing their 4th line much which some will think is a benefit to the Oilers however they do that because they can play their third line a bunch. Panthers you could say are built to go further cause they are keeping up with the Oilers and tied in the series and Barkov and Tkachuk are invisible. So you could say that they have time to show up and that should benefit them.

However Edmonton has shown the last few years and even last playoffs against Florida that they get better the longer a series goes.

Florida also aren't redlining any forwards like we chronically do with McD and Drai. McD played the most minutes of any player in the game and 5more minutes than any Panther forward.

Looking at deployment also depends on what you,re looking at. For instance even though 2 Panthers had the least minutes in the game theres only 3 Panthers that played less than 20mins. The Oilers had 6 forwards, twice as many, with less than 20 mins in a game that went near 100mins. What this means is the Oilers were not rolling lines regularly. The bottomsix wasn't getting a ton of minutes.

The good news though is our D are getting balanced minutes. Again thats a strength in our lineup that we roll D pairs.

 

[CycloneSweep]

Florida also aren't redlining any forwards like we chronically do with McD and Drai. McD played the most minutes of any player in the game and 5more minutes than any Panther forward.

Looking at deployment also depends on what you,re looking at. For instance even though 2 Panthers had the least minutes in the game theres only 3 Panthers that played less than 20mins. The Oilers had 6 forwards, twice as many, with less than 20 mins in a game that went near 100mins. What this means is the Oilers were not rolling lines regularly. The bottomsix wasn't getting a ton of minutes.

The good news though is our D are getting balanced minutes. Again thats a strength in our lineup that we roll D pairs.

Our d are better prepared to handle it for sure. Our forwards not so much. Our depth is mostly guys playing above their regular level, stepping up. Their depth is a 2nd 2nd line and a regular 4th line. I give our d the advantage and their forwards, at least at the depth and ability to go long in a series way.

 

[MessierThanThou]

See, this is back to the mindset that we're blaming one of the best offenses in the world and one that got 4 goals last game, which should be enough to win a home playoff game. Its this notion of just outscoring Skinner again. Goals aren't easy in the Final. Among the two best clubs in the league.

Plus when its said "Creating nothing" its misleading. You mean not finishing. the Oilers created and had many scoring chances. Bob just happens to be a very good goalie and the Panthers can defend.

Theres mental gymnastics going on to fault the offense again.

Hockey is a game of chaos. Inevitably breaks, errors, bounces etc occur and we're playing opponent that tries to set traps, tries to spring players and sometimes that tactic works just like many times the tactics we deploy offensively work.

The Oilers are the best team in the league at suppressing grade A chances and yet for some reason it often settles to the area of blame. We all know why too. Because the Oilers are expected to negate almost every scoring chance always because Fred Skinner is in net. Look at the sheer desperation of Drai trying to come back on that play because he's conditioned to know he's not getting that stop.

Apparently notching two and three points in a game is more of a disappointment than letting in a blooper reel goal off a puck that slipped off a stick.

Anyone who thinks McDrai and Bouchard didn’t do enough to win and should be blamed for the loss are either stupid, not fans, or both. They are the three leading scorers of the playoffs and have most assuredly shown up in this series.

You’d think we’re the Leafs with how many simpletons on here blame McDrai for not showing up… The only players in league history who have “shown up” more in the playoffs are Wayne and Mario you f***ing idiots.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Apparently notching two and three points in a game is more of a disappointment than letting in a blooper reel goal off a puck that slipped off a stick.

Anyone who thinks McDrai and Bouchard didn’t score enough to win and should be blamed for the loss are either stupid, not fans, or both. They are the three leading scorers of the playoffs and have most assuredly shown up in this series.

You’d think we’re the Leafs with how many simpletons on here blame McDrai for not showing up… I mean the only two players in league history who have “shown up” more in the playoffs are Wayne and Mario you f***ing idiots.

Yeah. Its mind numbing. Blame the very players, McD, Drai, Booch that got us here and are leading the playoffs in production. Produce more you hacks!

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Like I said this is the mental gymnastics that occur to absolve Skinner.
Fact of the matter is without Hyman we have about 5 forwards that can produce appreciably and one of those is Cory Perry who is over performing. This was never a deep forward lineup in terms of production. We could use some more saves.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Our d are better prepared to handle it for sure. Our forwards not so much. Our depth is mostly guys playing above their regular level, stepping up. Their depth is a 2nd 2nd line and a regular 4th line. I give our d the advantage and their forwards, at least at the depth and ability to go long in a series way.

So many of our 1M buck forwards are doing even much more than could reasonably be expected. Connor Brown has cooled off since getting hurt, Hyman is gone, we're deferring to even Perry and Arvid to try to get critical production. Even Kapanen has had a key role getting over 20mins first game. We're getting threadbare at forwards that are going. Pods has dropped off, had a questionable game 2 and only 12mins and one hit. In fairness could be a case of emptied tank. He's been a warrior.

Still, Nosek outhit Podz 8-1 in game 2 and the players have similar roles.

 

[guymez]

For those following along. Down 20% after that game.

Makes total sense.
Not only did the Oilers lose home ice advantage (last change advantage) but they now need to win 3 of 5 games against Florida. Tough task but very doable considering the quality of this team.

I also really dont think home ice is that much of an advantage.
Floridas record is worse at home.
My one concern is the Oilers PK on the road although we havnt really seen what it looks like with Ekholm in the lineup (and up to game speed) and thats a big deal. By far the teams best PK dman so we shall see.

From a general Oilers pespective this team usually brings its best stuff when the odds are against them.

It would have been interesting to see the Moneypuck line after game 2 of the LA series.
I think we are going to see a complete 60 minute game from the boys in game 3.
If we dont see that then my level of concern will go up because I'll be left wondering if their tank is getting empty.

 

[guymez]

Apparently notching two and three points in a game is more of a disappointment than letting in a blooper reel goal off a puck that slipped off a stick.

Anyone who thinks McDrai and Bouchard didn’t do enough to win and should be blamed for the loss are either stupid, not fans, or both. They are the three leading scorers of the playoffs and have most assuredly shown up in this series.

You’d think we’re the Leafs with how many simpletons on here blame McDrai for not showing up… The only players in league history who have “shown up” more in the playoffs are Wayne and Mario you f***ing idiots.

I havent read every post in this thread but what I have read doesnt suggest that anyone is saying that Bouchard or McDrai cost them the game.

I will however say that mistake by Bouchard on the game winning goal simply cant happen again.
Overall this team simply cant be giving up as many breakaways to Florida.
That is not championship caliber team defence and it has to be cleaned up starting in game 3.

 

[Shanahanigans]

I havent read every post in this thread but what I have read doesnt suggest that anyone is saying that Bouchard or McDrai cost them the game.

I will however say that mistake by Bouchard on the game winning goal simply cant happen again.
Overall this team simply cant be giving up as many breakaways to Florida.
That is not championship caliber team defence and it has to be cleaned up starting in game 3.

I legit don’t understand how people blame Bouchard on the game winning goal. Oilers had full possession in the zone, Ekholm misses the net, and 99 times out of 100 that puck hugs the glass and Bouchard is in the perfect position to keep the puck in. He’s in his position at the right point. The puck bounced weird and died right on a Panthers stick, and Marchand was cheating for offense (as he does). On the backcheck, he sees that Drai is closer to Marchand and so he slows up to take any potential rebound. That goal was a bad bounce, but if anyone would get blamed, Ekholm can’t miss the net from there, and you’d like a save. But Bouch was positioned perfectly.

 

[MessierThanThou]

Yeah. Its mind numbing. Blame the very players, McD, Drai, Booch that got us here and are leading the playoffs in production. Produce more you hacks!

NHL Stats

The official source for NHL Stats including skaters, goalies, teams stats and more.

www.nhl.com

Like I said this is the mental gymnastics that occur to absolve Skinner.
Fact of the matter is without Hyman we have about 5 forwards that can produce appreciably and one of those is Cory Perry who is over performing. This was never a deep forward lineup in terms of production. We could use some more saves.

They can't even admit when Skinner has a rough night or is even the second-best goalie in a game. These are the same people who still think the team in front of Skinner is completely to blame for his rough start to the playoffs and that he's been this good the entire time. Did the team improve in front of him? Sure. But they still won six straight immediately after he was relieved...

Look, Bobrovsky is a first-ballot HOF goalie with two Vezinas. Skinner was barely a league starter on most nights this season. So I'm pleasantly surprised with Stu's improvement in the playoffs, and there's zero doubt that he played really well in at least six of his wins. When he has a good game, we win. Every time.

That said, I'm not expecting him to steal games, but he got lucky with Marchand flubbing on that shot...yet still let that in. That can't happen. It doesn't mean it's the end of the world and that Stu hasn't been good enough to give us a chance, but that mistake is Stu's and Stu's alone. Denying the severity of that mistake and his culpability in it is peak delusion and idiocy. The difference between us winning and losing that game was Bob outplaying Stu.

But mistakes happens. He's human, NOT Bob, and has never played this much hockey in such a short amount of time before. You can still admit Stu f***ed up and not be calling for his head.

 

[MessierThanThou]

I havent read every post in this thread but what I have read doesnt suggest that anyone is saying that Bouchard or McDrai cost them the game.

I will however say that mistake by Bouchard on the game winning goal simply cant happen again.
Overall this team simply cant be giving up as many breakaways to Florida.
That is not championship caliber team defence and it has to be cleaned up starting in game 3.

I mean...you seem to be blaming Bouchard in this reply and putting none of the blame on Skinner. Marchand flubbed the shot and Skinner got lucky...yet still let that trickle through.

And this was the comment I was referring to, which I replied to just a couple posts above yours:

"Go rewatch that game, and count the brain dead decisions by Oilers. Skinner kept it close. Our best players made some terrible decisions that lead to goals."

I legit don’t understand how people blame Bouchard on the game winning goal. Oilers had full possession in the zone, Ekholm misses the net, and 99 times out of 100 that puck hugs the glass and Bouchard is in the perfect position to keep the puck in. He’s in his position at the right point. The puck bounced weird and died right on a Panthers stick, and Marchand was cheating for offense (as he does). On the backcheck, he sees that Drai is closer to Marchand and so he slows up to take any potential rebound. That goal was a bad bounce, but if anyone would get blamed, Ekholm can’t miss the net from there, and you’d like a save. But Bouch was positioned perfectly.

Because these same people spent all season throwing Bouchard under the bus to defend Skinner. It's second nature to them now. They're as wrong now as they were then.

Again, don't want to sound like I'm bashing Stu, I genuinely believe he's improved and I'm far more confident in him than at any point ever, but his mistake was easily the costliest one in that game. Not sure why it scares people to admit that.

 

[guymez]

I mean...you seem to be blaming Bouchard in this reply and putting none of the blame on Skinner. Marchand flubbed the shot and Skinner got lucky...yet still let that trickle through.

And this was the comment I was referring to, which I replied to just a couple posts above yours:

"Go rewatch that game, and count the brain dead decisions by Oilers. Skinner kept it close. Our best players made some terrible decisions that lead to goals."

Watch the shot in slow motion....Marchand's stick hits Skinners stick and the puck goes underneath.
Just a very unlucky goal.

So in any event....I am not blaming Bouchard for the loss but he was directly at fault on that play.
That stuff has to be cleaned up. Full stop.

 

[McFlyingV]

I’m not sure I can blame a goalie if the game goes into second overtime. Bob probably saves that OT breakaway, but we could always try preventing giving said breakaway to a 37 year old in the first place. Bob faced harder shots in OT, but he’s a 10M cap hit so it’s expected of him to do better. I blame the offense creating nothing for the last 39 minutes of regulation.

Edit misread your post as first 39 minutes!

Oilers created fine in the 3rd imo, but the last 15 minutes of the 2nd period was quite bad.

 

[guymez]

I legit don’t understand how people blame Bouchard on the game winning goal. Oilers had full possession in the zone, Ekholm misses the net, and 99 times out of 100 that puck hugs the glass and Bouchard is in the perfect position to keep the puck in. He’s in his position at the right point. The puck bounced weird and died right on a Panthers stick, and Marchand was cheating for offense (as he does). On the backcheck, he sees that Drai is closer to Marchand and so he slows up to take any potential rebound. That goal was a bad bounce, but if anyone would get blamed, Ekholm can’t miss the net from there, and you’d like a save. But Bouch was positioned perfectly.

I get what you are saying but Bouchard simply cant let Marchand get behind him.
If you arent sure as a player then being conservative is always the right choice.
That is especially true when the coaches have outlined that Florida likes to cheat and anticiapte the play which is exactly what Marchand did.

Also...Drai did everything he could (kudos to him) on that play and disrupted the play enoug IMO. As I said though Marchands stick (after he fanned) ended up hitting Skinners stick and lifting it just enough to allow the puck to sneak under. Very unlucky.

The issue for me is that the team defence simply cant allow that many breakaways in a SCF game. The team defence has to be much tighter in that regard.
How many breakways did the Oilers have in that game?

 

[MessierThanThou]

Watch the shot in slow motion....Marchand's stick hits Skinners stick and the puck goes underneath.
Just a very unlucky goal.

So in any event....I am not blaming Bouchard for the loss but he was directly at fault on that play.
That stuff has to be cleaned up. Full stop.

OK, so they banged sticks...there was plenty of time to stop it. That took an eternity to get through.