Post-Game Talk: Nurse Skinned the Oilers

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Yeh it’s friggin bad. His hockey Iq isn’t great in general, but it gets even worse in big games. I kept calling him sleepy and lacksadaisical tonight. I really think the big games, paralyzes his decision making. It’s tough to see and think we will survive these playoffs with him playing like that.

Nurse is often too aggressive and impulsive. This game he was strangely passive and tentative with shitty gap on easily defending situations that turned into goals not helped by a very poor game by Skinner. Compounding problems. Oil let a huge game get away against a shaky 3rd string organizational goaltender at the other end. Adding to the issue was the top 2 lines getting seal clubbed in the face-off draw and chasing the Canucks all game with not enough o-zone time.

 

[McAsuno]

It’s painful seeing this year in year out. Maybe even worse this year cause our 1st pair and 3rd pair get their jobs done. And the 2nd pair just ranks the team.

Yep. Just asking for 25/5 to be adequate defensively is like asking for a king's ransom. Biggest weakness in the last 2 playoffs, biggest weakness in the regular season, and biggest weakness once again for a 3rd consecutive playoff. Nurse tries to act like he's Makar out there sometimes and Ceci makes these stupid pinches more often than not. One of them stays man 2 man on an opposing player, and the other gets caught out of position leading to a goal. Both of them were main catalysts for goals against of that type tonight. They'll never learn. I'd rather see fricken Broberg play than see 25/5 be the main cause for goals against again.

 

[TheNumber4]

Nurse is often too aggressive and impulsive. This game he was strangely passive and tentative with shitty gap on easily defending situations that turned into goals not helped by a very poor game by Skinner. Compounding problems. Oil let a huge game get away against a shaky 3rd string organizational goaltender at the other end. Adding to the issue was the top 2 lines getting seal clubbed in the face-off draw and chasing the Canucks all game with not enough o-zone time.

Yeh he was a passive doormat all night. At his best, when he’s stepping up on plays and being proactive he can help us. As long as he picks his spots right. And some games in regular season he can do that all night long. But when big games happen, his game falls apart. Gotta be mental.

 

[TheNumber4]

Here is where we should remind ourselves that we lost a clown show of a Game 1 to the Flames too. And Kings. We’ll get it back and 3 more.

 

[Oilhawks]

Here is where we should remind ourselves that we lost a clown show of a Game 1 to the Flames too. And Kings. We’ll get it back and 3 more.

Oilers will be better and not take their foot off the gas like tonight. But Knoblauch needs to make some adjustments. Yes, it’s a road game and he doesn’t have last change but this isn’t the best configuration of the lineup.

I’d like to see something like this

Holloway - McDavid - Hyman
Nuge - Draisaitl - Kane
Foegele - McLeod - Perry
Janmark - Carrick - Brown

Ekholm - Bouchard
Kulak - Desharnais
Nurse - Stecher (third pairing minutes and matchups)

Skinner (yank him if he has a shaky start)

 

[TheNumber4]

Oilers will be better and not take their foot off the gas like tonight. But Knoblauch needs to make some adjustments. Yes, it’s a road game and he doesn’t have last change but this isn’t the best configuration of the lineup.

I’d like to see something like this

Holloway - McDavid - Hyman
Nuge - Draisaitl - Kane
Foegele - McLeod - Perry
Janmark - Carrick - Brown

Ekholm - Bouchard
Kulak - Desharnais
Nurse - Stecher (third pairing minutes and matchups)

Skinner (yank him if he has a shaky start)

Thankfully Knob did mention in his presser they played too passive. Which was very apparent. Also mentioned that areas to improve would be to push , get more zone time, force them to make mistakes.

I like Holloway as a top 6 wing way more than Janny. I’d make that move. Carrick too for the faceoffs and just being a bigger more althetic body.

Yeh and I think it’s time to move Nurse down a peg and experiment with Ceci entirely out. They’ve had their chance to show they are improved from playoffs past, they have not done that. And we can’t afford any more of their shitty play.

And yeh I don’t mind Pickard getting a chance, hell even start him. If the Nucks have a book on Stu, then throw this wrench at them. Avs lucked into that when we were getting to Kumeper and they had to switch to Francouz.

 

[M Ace]

Nurse forces garland wide, that puck doesnt even go in if Skinner isnt in net.,

I agree, one of the worst goaltending in this season. He was on his way to buy a hotdog. Behind his own net.....

 

[Dazed and Confused]

They can't go back to 25-5 next game.

Nurse is deservedly getting heat, but imo Ceci's lack of speed was the thing that kept putting them in bad situations. Goals 1 and 2 are examples there.

Unlike LA, Vancouver loves to fly the zone, and this is absolute poison for a pair that's horribad in transition. Despite playing together for 2 and a half years, they still have seemingly zero chemistry and constantly fail to hand off assignments.

Please just get Stecher in there. Nurse-Ceci and Kulak-Vinny handled LA's size well, but Vancouver's speed exposed them. Odd fact of the night: 4 dmen played under 20 min, so it looks like Knob and Coffee didn't like what they saw too.


Also while Janmark didn't do the worst job next to McDavid and Hyman, I still don't like it. You're robbing the bottom 6 of one of its key pieces to have them do a meh job in the top 6.

If you're not confident in Holloway, I'd still rather have Perry or Foegele in the top 6. Any word on Henrique?

 

[TheNumber4]

I agree, one of the worst goaltending in this season. He was on his way to buy a hotdog. Behind his own net.....

Thought his busy legs were bad on that goal. Chased out of the crease, which is fine with the angle Nurse gave Garland, but then he needlessly shuffled his legs exposing 5 hole. Stu blamed himself, said he lost his patience.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Oilers will be better and not take their foot off the gas like tonight. But Knoblauch needs to make some adjustments. Yes, it’s a road game and he doesn’t have last change but this isn’t the best configuration of the lineup.

I’d like to see something like this

Holloway - McDavid - Hyman
Nuge - Draisaitl - Kane
Foegele - McLeod - Perry
Janmark - Carrick - Brown

Ekholm - Bouchard
Kulak - Desharnais
Nurse - Stecher (third pairing minutes and matchups)

Skinner (yank him if he has a shaky start)

I think you nailed the defence, and I agree on Carrick. LA's size limited his impact, but I could see him being far more effective vs. a smaller Vancouver team.

 

[bobbythebrain]

They can't go back to 25-5 next game.

Nurse is deservedly getting heat, but imo Ceci's lack of speed was the thing that kept putting them in bad situations. Goals 1 and 2 are examples there.

Unlike LA, Vancouver loves to fly the zone, and this is absolute poison for a pair that's horribad in transition. Despite playing together for 2 and a half years, they still have seemingly zero chemistry and constantly fail to hand off assignments.

Please just get Stecher in there. Nurse-Ceci and Kulak-Vinny handled LA's size well, but Vancouver's speed exposed them. Odd fact of the night: 4 dmen played under 20 min, so it looks like Knob and Coffee didn't like what they saw too.


Also while Janmark didn't do the worst job next to McDavid and Hyman, I still don't like it. You're robbing the bottom 6 of one of its key pieces to have them do a meh job in the top 6.

If you're not confident in Holloway, I'd still rather have Perry or Foegele in the top 6. Any word on Henrique?

Disagree on Nurse. His hockey IQ is for crap. At one point thru the game the announcers praised Ekholm for reading a cycle and going behind the net early. Nurse NEVER does that. He chases the puck around the ice like Yakupov chased bees

He was easily the weakest link on that pair tonite. Dude has no clue how to buy time and make a clean pass or turn to see what's infront. He basically rims it around the boards EVERY chance he gets and is flatfooted EVERY time he gets it on the blueline.

He has ZERO hits that game. He is oblivious to what it takes to win hard games, and this is 3 playoffs and counting where he is literally one of the worst dmen on the ice and gets exposed. He no hockey IQ and is being paid and played like he does. He sucks!

 

[TheNumber4]

They can't go back to 25-5 next game.

Nurse is deservedly getting heat, but imo Ceci's lack of speed was the thing that kept putting them in bad situations. Goals 1 and 2 are examples there.

Unlike LA, Vancouver loves to fly the zone, and this is absolute poison for a pair that's horribad in transition. Despite playing together for 2 and a half years, they still have seemingly zero chemistry and constantly fail to hand off assignments.

Please just get Stecher in there. Nurse-Ceci and Kulak-Vinny handled LA's size well, but Vancouver's speed exposed them. Odd fact of the night: 4 dmen played under 20 min, so it looks like Knob and Coffee didn't like what they saw too.


Also while Janmark didn't do the worst job next to McDavid and Hyman, I still don't like it. You're robbing the bottom 6 of one of its key pieces to have them do a meh job in the top 6.

If you're not confident in Holloway, I'd still rather have Perry or Foegele in the top 6. Any word on Henrique?

Agreed. He’s not quick, he can hulk around at a good pace once he gets moving, but it’s his reaction time and recognition that’s so slow. Slow processor. A play is happening in front of him and it takes him that extra 2 split seconds to figure out how to respond and he’s behind the play.

Lol and yeh how is it that Nurse and Ceci have seemingly gained zero chemistry in their time together. I wanted to post that many times this game. Something about this pair just doesn’t work.

Also agreed on Janmark. Did not like that news pre game.

 

[Oilhawks]

What an absolute trash fanbase. I hope they burn the city down again. So embarrassing.

 

[TheNumber4]

Disagree on Nurse. His hockey IQ is for crap. At one point thru the game the announcers praised Ekholm for reading a cycle and going behind the net early. Nurse NEVER does that. He chases the puck around the ice like Yakupov chased bees

He was easily the weakest link on that pair tonite. Dude has no clue how to buy time and make a clean pass or turn to see what's infront. He basically rims it around the boards EVERY chance he gets and is flatfooted EVERY time he gets it on the blueline.

He has ZERO hits that game. He is oblivious to what it takes to win hard games, and this is 3 playoffs and counting where he is literally one of the worst dmen on the ice and gets exposed. He no hockey IQ and is being paid and played like he does. He sucks!

Zero hits is an interesting stat. Noticed on the Garland goal Nurse steps up on the pass receiver that eventually gives the puck to Garland for the goal. Nurse steps up and doesn’t lay a check, not a cross check or cross push. Looked like a set play by the Nucks to expose the Oilers neutral zone step ups. And it worked with Nurse not being aggressive and executing the step up, there should have been some discruption to the pass recover.

I did wonder if Nurse was playing in his mind “disciplined”. And avoiding risking penalties though.

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What an absolute trash fanbase. I hope they burn the city down again. So embarrassing.

I had forgotten how trash and dumb their fanbase was. It’s been a long time since the Sedin era. But now I remember now that they’ve jumped back on the bandwagon.

 

[Oilhawks]

Zero hits is an interesting stat. Noticed on the Garland goal Nurse steps up on the pass receiver that eventually gives the puck to Garland for the goal. Nurse steps up and doesn’t lay a check, not a cross check or cross push. Looked like a set play by the Nucks to expose the Oilers neutral zone step ups. And it worked with Nurse not being aggressive and executing the step up, there should have been some discruption to the pass recover.

I did wonder if Nurse was playing in his mind “disciplined”. And avoiding risking penalties though.


I had forgotten how trash and dumb their fanbase was. It’s been a long time since the Sedin era. But now I remember now that they’ve jumped back on the bandwagon.

I mean, every fanbase can be rough with opposing fans but you don’t really hear these stories with other teams. Dumbass fan fights (usually “fans” of the same team fighting each other), some drunken shit but this is straight up criminal garbage. I hope that loser fanbase goes another 50 years cupless. But knowing their brainless fanbase they’d still cling to that Millionaires win from 1915 looool

 

[TheNumber4]

Lol saw replay of the TNT boardcast. On 2GA Nurse boots Skinners paddle which deflects the puck into the net:

That’s 2 goals Nurse has booted in on Skinner in these short playoffs.

 

[Duder54]

I'm not looking past the EDM-VAN series yet of course, but either way, the Oilers absolutely need to find a way to improve their backend (defence and goaltending) this off-season.

 

[The Panther]

That penalty on Brown was such a 4-1 game management call. Probably not a big deal in the end but that shit drives me nuts.

Yep.

I don't mean to criticize Drai when he's been the team's MVP so far, but I wish he would become more Zen-like and stop engaging in stickwork with opponents. Every time he does so it ends badly for Edmonton. In game one, if he hadn't done the return chop on Zadorov, there was no 4 on 4. Then, there wouldn't have been the 4-3 goal. The Oilers suck defensively at 4 on 4 and cannot afford it if possible. Just don't retaliate.

Anyway, i stand by my prediction: Oilers in six or seven.

 

[Echodek]

I’m so sick of this storyline. This team continues to find ways to defeat themselves. Where’s the mature team that’s learned from similar losses? I’m sorry, but when the team starts to falter or when faced with the inevitable Vancouver pushback……make a freaking save!!!

 

[Stud Muffin]

We brought our D game to Vancouver last night and almost won, if that’s any consolation.

 

[Heavy Dee]

They can't go back to 25-5 next game.

Nurse is deservedly getting heat, but imo Ceci's lack of speed was the thing that kept putting them in bad situations. Goals 1 and 2 are examples there.

Unlike LA, Vancouver loves to fly the zone, and this is absolute poison for a pair that's horribad in transition. Despite playing together for 2 and a half years, they still have seemingly zero chemistry and constantly fail to hand off assignments.

Please just get Stecher in there. Nurse-Ceci and Kulak-Vinny handled LA's size well, but Vancouver's speed exposed them. Odd fact of the night: 4 dmen played under 20 min, so it looks like Knob and Coffee didn't like what they saw too.


Also while Janmark didn't do the worst job next to McDavid and Hyman, I still don't like it. You're robbing the bottom 6 of one of its key pieces to have them do a meh job in the top 6.

If you're not confident in Holloway, I'd still rather have Perry or Foegele in the top 6. Any word on Henrique?

Perry had been entire dogshit since the playoffs started.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

That still sucked, did we find out what's up with Drai?

 

[Zerotonine]

We looked pretty good for the first 8 or so minutes then just completely dissapeared

Van came out hard and were hitting everything.

Probably Skinner's worst game this year in the playoffs but van had some bounces. 4 out of the 5 goals litterally scored from the goal line. That can't happen and won't.

Would of like to see knoblach make some changes. Time out might of helped. 3 goals in 4 minutes amd surprisingly still no time-out to regroup

If we continue to score on r first PP opportunities we won't be getting one the rest of the night either....

Hopefully drai is alright. And McDavid looked horrible. 0 shots that won't Happen again

 

[Salvaged Ship]

0-5 against them? Maybe at some point I will come to the realization that the Oilers are not a better team just because we have star names. This is the same Oilers team as years past with these kind of games, teams that win the cup don’t lay eggs like this in the playoffs.

 

[Pass the Saitl Sauce]

Went to bed pissed off wake up pissed off