GDT: WCQF | G3 | “Welcome to Holloway” | Oilers @ Kings | 4.26.24 | 8:30PM | Staples Center | SN/CBC

[Soli]

Game Day: Friday April 26th 2024
Game Time: 8:30 PM
Location: Staples Center
Broadcast: SN / CBC

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PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS

GAME 1


GAME 2


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Adam Henrique - Connor McDavid - Zach Hyman
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Leon Draisaitl - Warren Foegele
Evander Kane - Ryan McLeod - Corey Perry
Dylan Holloway - Connor Carrick - Mattias Janmark

Mattias Ekholm - Evan Bouchard
Darnell Nurse - Cody Ceci
Brett Kulak - Vinny Desharnais

Stuart Skinner

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• Projected lineups based on previous game and cause I’m stealing the main board GDT.
  
  
• Just win.

Click to read more...

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Go get it. This team can beat the Kings, go out and show it.

 

[ToeMcDrag83]

No cinderella fluke stories. Be the better team that you can be, play the way you do when we're trailing without actually trailing, and finish these guys off. Take care of business.

 

[guymez]

The Draisaitl line got absolutely owned by the Kopitar line last game.
That simply cant happen again.

The team needs to tighten up defensively as well to have any chance at winning. The little things matter.
Im expecting a much more detailed game today.

 

[94 Oil Drops]

It's up to the Oilers to determine whether or not they want this series to be an upset or not. No more playing stupid. Beat them!

 

[yukoner88]

Let's do this!!

Oilers, you bring the game,
I'll bring the beer,
and we all shall have a cheer!

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

top 6 was quiet 5 on 5 last game, especially from the 2nd line

need more from them and less stupid mistake on the defensive side...oh and Skinner needs a BIG game

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Show No Mercy.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Show No Mercy.

And show them in more than words




...wait, I might have done this wrong.

 

[tiger_80]

Go get it. They team can beat the Kings, go out and show it.

f*** the LA bums who fancy themselves Kings.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

They better come out strong and take this game. If Skinner shits the bed early we need to bring Pickard in while there's enough runway to try to win the game.

 

[dssource]

Need to pay more attention to their defensive side of the game tonight and going forward. Last game was a bit of an eye opener, so I expect a much better performance tonight from everyone.

Oilers WILL win tonight!

 

[Drivesaitl]

@Lacaar

You raised some good questions in other thread that I couldn't respond to as thread is closed.

Regarding your concerns about McDrai EV play in the series it should be noted that both are reasonably good 200ft players and make good efforts across ice. Sometimes you're going to get outscored.

Thing is, I don't fault them as much for any imperfection in their games. They were raised here on a team that most of the time was paper thin support. For years if they weren't scoring most of the goals nobody was. This probably developed certain habits. They also never had a Kopitar type center or ROR or whoever to teach them the right way to play. Add some questionable and inconsistent and ever changing coaching to the mix and there hasn't been ideal modeling. Even getting Danault here as I wanted years ago could have helped transfer some knowledge and he's a rare individual that would be a voice in the room even among greats like McDrai.

As far Drai specifically theres been a gradual drop off in his EV game since he was MVP. Probably explained by age, mileage, and the amount of physical abuse he takes in seasons. We saw this with Mess here too. By 90, 91 Mess had become a player that due to pain and aging and just having played so much hockey he became a picking his spots player. Mess made passes that would have current fans concerned and they often enough ended up in goals the other way. Mess would also cheat shifts. If there were no openings or against a strong line his offensive jump would be limited to only certain shifts and opportunities. I'm afraid we're seeing that in this series. But frankly if his linemates or D on the great passes he makes were cashing at all there would be less concern.

 

[McAsuno]

 

[GMofOilers]

We got this just going to need to score 6 to win which we will

 

[soothsayer]

Going to need Skinner to play like an NHL goalie and a lot more urgency from everyone else. At their respective bests, the Oilers would dominate the Kings in a 4-game sweep. Hopefully the Oilers have finished huffing their own hype after game 1 and will get down to f***ing business tonight.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Wouldn’t be surprised to see mcdrai together

 

[9GWG9]

I figured they would make a switch in net. I guess we aren't panicking quite yet...

 

[McAsuno]

 

[Drivesaitl]

Next, regarding attribution. Oilers are not 1-1 in series due to lack of scoring. Before last nights games there were 3 Oilers. McD, Hyman, Drai in topten playoff production. The Oilers had scored 11 goals spread across two games. This should get you wins. McD, Drai, Hyman are running the show, and basically giving Kings all they can handle. Its incomplete also to just look at the EV contributions as these players are destroying LA on the PP and Drai is also critical in winning ownzone faceoffs when LA is on PP. The oilers are wrecking LA on special teams and these players are all around that.

Its time for two goal Skinner to make an entrance into the playoffs. Saving that, Pickard. Thats what will take the series. Having to score 5-6 goals to W every night might start to look more like 1982 again.

Get some stops, get a lead and LA are a completely different club. Let LA frontrun and you spend more energy trying to get the goals back (and make more mistakes) Critical in game 3 to initiate, start early, get the lead and get some stops. Get the crowd into this game and LA pumped and it could be trouble.

meh. There were moments where I even wondered if the Oilers subconsciously were doing some kind of cliff edge stuff to see what the resilience looked like. Not intentional, but I wonder if it just happened and that its congenital to this team that it needs huge urgency to get rolling. Not convinced this is just a great thing. Its the kind of thing that results in the Oilers always having more difficult than necessary seasons and more games played in playoffs.

 

[Messrules11]

Kane and Holloway need to be bumped up and Nuge and Foegele bumped down.
Just do it.

 

[GMofOilers]

We gotta get over Skinner letting in bad goals, that’s just the reality and won’t change. Go full offense cause one floater from the blue line that gets through has as good of a chance going in then a breakaway on not my fault.

Go score 7 a game and take it out of the equation, that’s the only way we can beat our own goaltending.

 

[Drivesaitl]

We got this just going to need to score 6 to win which we will

Scoring 6 is going to be harder without line matching and last change. Hard to say though. At times the Kings get away from their game when they play at home. Sometimes they open it up at home. One never knows what will go on in a game. Concerned that Byfield and Kempe are really starting to feel it right now. Byfield particularly was nervous in game 1 and got out of his element. By end of game 2 he was having a big imprint on game and got the critical OT assist. When Byfield gets on a roll he's hard to stop EV.

Probably needs to be remembered that only 5pts separated these teams and there were segments of season when Each was around being one of the best teams in league. Its not like in the East where Carolina and Florida are playing significantly weaker clubs.

Last comment but despite Kopitars play in game 2 being sound the Kings should put Byfield and PLD together and they should be getting all of the McD minutes. That would be interesting and it would also make McD particularly go up to that next level that he can. This would also mean Kopitar line gets that classic matchup with Drai line and those two love to compete against each other. I like that battle as well. But thats the thing. Kings can now control the matchups they want to get.

 

[bone]

Scoring 6 is going to be harder without line matching and last change. Hard to say though. At times the Kings get away from their game when they play at home. Sometimes they open it up at home. One never knows what will go on in a game. Concerned that Byfield and Kempe are really starting to feel it right now. Byfield particularly was nervous in game 1 and got out of his element. By end of game 2 he was having a big imprint on game and got the critical OT assist. When Byfield gets on a roll he's hard to stop EV.

Probably needs to be remembered that only 5pts separated these teams and there were segments of season when Each was around being one of the best teams in league. Its not like in the East where Carolina and Florida are playing significantly weaker clubs.

Last comment but despite Kopitars play in game 2 being sound the Kings should put Byfield and PLD together and they should be getting all of the McD minutes. That would be interesting and it would also make McD particularly go up to that next level that he can. This would also mean Kopitar line gets that classic matchup with Drai line and those two love to compete against each other. I like that battle as well. But thats the thing. Kings can now control the matchups they want to get.

While I don't like that LA can push their matchups, reality is that Knoblach didn't seem that concerned about chasing matchups anyways other than the occasional o-zone faceoff on an icing, so it may not be all that different here.

 

[Navx94]

If skinner lets In 2 early ones that should be the end of his night but I fully expect us to be all over them from the get go. We tend to play better on the road against the kings than at home for some reason.

Wouldn’t be surprised to see mcdrai together

Agreed that’s what worked for them on the road last few years.