Watched the game at a laundromat in Tokyo...
The Oilers certainly deserved to win, so justice was done in the end. Honestly, I think if they'd lost this one (which they were one shot away from doing) and had gone down 0 - 2 in the series, we're basically looking at the end of the McDrai era. At 0 - 2, the series is basically over, and another second-round elimination means players like Drai have no particular motivation to re-sign with Edmonton when he could cash-in with Philly or NYR, have less pressure, lower taxes, better weather, and shorter flights to Germany. This is a roundabout way of saying that I think A LOT is riding on the Oilers' team performance this playoff, besides just wins and losses for the fans.
So, a lot was at stake here, and the big guys delivered and won the game. The concerning part is that players like McLeod, Perry, and Foegele have done jack-squat offensively all playoffs. Well, Perry at least has had some close calls, but damn he is slow out there. McLeod and Foegele are, at the moment, playoff busts. They each had decent seasons (Foegele was great for periods in the second half of the year), but look completely lost out there on the attack. Derek Ryan is doing his best with limited ice-time, but this season it finally looks like age has caught up with him and he isn't contributing anything offensively either. Kane also isn't doing enough, though at least he scored twice against L.A. (one being a fluky bounce off his jersey).
McDavid, Drai, Bouch, and Eckholm all being on fire are enough, by themselves, for the Oilers to take maybe two games in this series. Add in a hot Hyman and we're talking maybe three games in the series. But those five guys alone are not winning the series. And even if the Oil do get the bounces and somehow squeak through to round three, they'll get swept again (as in '22) if the top guys are depended upon to do everything.
So, what I'm saying is, we need McLeod, Perry, Foegele, Kane, and Ryan to contribute offensively, or we lose to Vancouver. It's as simple as that. (I haven't mentioned young Holloway yet, as I think he looks good, generally, and has scored twice. But it would also be welcome if he'd score again.)
I have nothing to say about Skinner -- it is what it is. He was pencilled-in to be the back-up goalie last season and this season, and he got thrust into the starting role thanks to Campbell's crapping the bed. So, let's just cheer him on and hope he can get that A-game back. He had it for most of the season.
One point of dispute with the forum I'll make is that I don't get the hatred of Cody Ceci. While he has been pretty poor the past two or three games, overall I think he's had a good season again (as he did in 2021-22). While Nurse was God-awful in game one, I thought Ceci was just a bit below-par (he did score a goal, you know, which cancels any one defensive error he made). Frankly, there is a trend developing that whoever is partnered with Nurse suddenly looks bad. We've seen this countless times. Ceci is put in a tough spot as Nurse's partner. The fact that he has as many good games as he does (and he has a lot) is much to his credit, I think.
Finally, I will again punch the tires of Mattias Ekholm. Good God, that guy is a good player. Okay, he is getting older and can be a bit slow nowadays compared to 10 years ago or whatever, but he is also very Nick Lidstrom-like in knowing where to be on the ice and always having good position (i.e., the complete opposite of Nurse). Not only that, but he a point producer and has offensive jam, as we've seen in both playoff appearances now.
Did you guys know how Ekholm ranked in ES scoring this past season? He ranked 11th-best among all defencemen in ES scoring. That was higher than Dahlin, Karlsson, and Adam Fox.
Do you know how he ranked in plus/minus among all NHL defencemen this past season? He ranked third, at +44. That was higher than Quinn Hughes, Adam Fox, and countless others.
(In this tenure with Edmonton thus far, Ekholm is +72 in 100 RS games.)
When Ekholm was on the ice in game two, the shot on goal were 18 for the Oilers, 1 for Vancouver.
He is a bit too old and a bit too slow to be at A+ all the time nowadays, but I will say this: When Mattias Ekholm brings his 'A' game (which is most of the time), he is as good a defencemen as the Oiler have ever had in franchise history. I mean, he is up there with mid-1980s' Coffey and 2005-06 Pronger.
