GDT: WCSF | GM 3 | Vancouver Canucks @ Edmonton Oilers | Sunday, May 12th | 6:30PM PST | SPAC

[I am toxic]

Don't have to win game 3 in oilytown. Just compete, hammer Drai, and force the oil to double shift McDavid's line.

Get the split in oilslickville, and it's a best of 3, perfectly fine for the underdog. Need to vent skinner more, that team will implode as badly as their fans will.

Were never going to win last night , the "officiating" fix was in. Still almost managed the win, which is shocking what a pretender the oil is.

Hopefully someone does up a ref stripe Jersey in oil colors to throw on the ice if Sutherland refs again this series.

 

[Tact]

Miller - Lindholm - Boeser
Joshua - Pettersson - Garland
Hoglander - Suter - Lafferty
PDG - Blueger - Mikheyev

The bottom 6 can be changed to anything that works. Aman for PDG can work as well to get another center down there.

Put Lindholm+Miller against McDrai

This is where having Tanev included in the Lindholm deal might have been a real difference. Could have went Hughes-Tanev to match McDavid.

 

[604]

Yep.

The loaded Drai-McDavid-Hyman line was essentially unstoppable. Canucks had no answer, and that was even after Tocc pivoted to basically all of his best forwards together as a checking line (we saw quite a bit of Petey - Miller - Boeser as a hard match in the 3rd).

The Soucy-Myers matchup pair certainly didn't work.

Agreed, Myers doesn’t work against McDavid.

Honestly using Petey and Boeser as wingers against him didn’t really work either. Isn’t this exact situation why we pay Mik so much?

 

[CanucksSayEh]

Mik and Hogs are at least a threat to score, PDG is just a warm body. We shouldn't be worried about defensive balance throughout the lineup vs a 1 line team.

 

[thecupismine]

If Sutherland refs the finals after last nights masterclass, I want to see the clips of how bad the other referees are to justify putting this guy in the games most prestigious event. Getting speared in the nuts and having it go "even" and missing a 4 minute high stick in the same game is yikes.

Very curious to see if the Oilers core 5 can (1) keep up that level of play, and (2) if they get tired with those kinds of minutes. Really hope Myers is ok, as bad as Cole has been this series I do not want to see Juulsen, going to be way too rusty and likely abused on the road.

Tocchet is right, Hogs likely needs a reset, but don't really know who you put in to replace him. No one on the 4th line is playing particularly well to move up other than Blueger, but you need him there to make sure the Oilers don't just send McDavid out and score every time we ice the 4th line.

Maybe PDG moves up? Puck has been a tire fire on his stick since he came back, he forechecks well and is decent in his own end, which I guess is pretty much exactly what Hogs is offensively at this point.

Coach is also right on the battle part. Everyone was in the fight game 1, yesterday not so much. Joshua in particular was not moving his feet well, and the d sometimes in their own zone during a line change would forget to skate, causing us to get hemmed in for another 2 minutes because the breakout was scuffed. This is the part I have the most faith in them fixing for next game.

Praying for the split so we can potentially see Demko late in this series. The goaltending edge is already there with Silovs, but Demko makes the edge a lot more pronounced.

 

[Nopefully]

Tocchet is right, Hogs likely needs a reset, but don't really know who you put in to replace him. No one on the 4th line is playing particularly well to move up other than Blueger, but you need him there to make sure the Oilers don't just send McDavid out and score every time we ice the 4th line

Maybe we should just ride the top 3 lines? AV did that back in the day.

 

[Leif Rohlin]

I do think Hughes-Hronek will have to be the adjustment as the new matchup pair. But with the series shifting to EDM, it will be pretty easy for Knoblauch to get away from it and maximize McDavid's shifts against the Canucks' other pairs.

We did see Tocchet pivot toward the Lotto Line as essentially a primary matchup line in the 3rd last night.

The issue with this alignment, which is probably their best way to slow down the Drai-McD-Hyman unit, is that the Canucks would be allocating all of their best players to the task of damage control. They're still going to need to play, create offense, and score and they're only going to have the Garland/Lindholm/Joshua unit to do so, given whatever combos of the remaining available forwards will be abjectly ineffective.

We won't get the matchup all the time but we should be able to get it a good portion of the time. If Knoblauch is having to deploy McDavid/Draisaitl strategically to keep them away from a matchup, that's already a small win for us.

May have to go with some makeshift lines/pairings for key faceoffs just to make sure guys like Miller/Lindholm/Hughes/Blueger are out there as much as possible in high-leverage situations.

One thing I noticed is the McDavid line was staying out for some pretty long shifts. That gives us the chance to make a quick change during the shift and get a better matchup, but also take advantage of having fresher legs on the ice.

 

[thecupismine]

Maybe we should just ride the top 3 lines? AV did that back in the day.

They likely will on the road, especially if they don't win game 3.

 

[Kryten]

No he wasn't? Myers was fine in game 1. He had the miscue on McDavid and some sloppy plays in game 2, yes. But I'm gonna ask you if you watched game 1 because Myers wasn't anywhere close to how bad Cole played.

Cole had some brainfarts in game 1 and all were costly between the opening penalty and 3 goals against. He was also good in transition and did lots of things right. Myers had the one costly play letting his check score a 1 on 3. The rest of the game he was trash, failing to clear, losing his check, taking himself out of plays and a couple close unforced penalty calls that were luckily not called. Just flailing wildly and was a negative near everytime the puck got near him. I watched the game 3 times and dont have anything nice to say about him

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

Need to find an answer for McDavid line or we are done. They are getting better.

Realistically speaking...we are going to concede at least 3 goals a game against their top line. We just don't have the depth or guys to stop this from occuring. Demko in peak form sure could be a difference but alas...

Team just needs to open things and pray they can outscore them.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Cole had some brainfarts in game 1 and all were costly between the opening penalty and 3 goals against. He was also good in transition and did lots of things right. Myers had the one costly play letting his check score a 1 on 3. The rest of the game he was trash, failing to clear, losing his check, taking himself out of plays and a couple close unforced penalty calls that were luckily not called. Just flailing wildly and was a negative near everytime the puck got near him. I watched the game 3 times and dont have anything nice to say about him

I think we had a few guys make some brain cramps last night - but Myers has probably been playing his best, most consistent hockey as a Canuck this year, and if he’s out for Game 3 it’s tough for us.

Juulsen has played some nice hockey for us this season, but sometimes takes a while to get going - he also had a tough go in his only playoff game to date. If he does draw in, I hope he’s settled and ready to play the simple game that he’s been successful with this year.

 

[sting101]

I know Tocchet is a lovable sort of stubborn, but I'd really like to see him switch something up and adapt to the new environment. If it is even remotely possible to contain McDrai, I think you need to optimize for it. Given what we've seen, this Edmonton team is riddled with vulnerability when McDrai isn't on the ice. Miller and Boeser need to be unleashed, they need to have possession and make plays, but they simply won't if McDavid is skating like the wind and Draisaitl is going unpressured.

Load up a skilled shutdown line. As much as Petey is struggling, he's playing pretty good defence and fundamentals. Lindholm has brought a surprising amount of intensity and he and Petey will provide dual faceoff options. Add in Mikheyev for his speed. He can't shoot worth a turd, but he's been good on defence, might as well use him for what he's worth.

Mikheyev-Pettersson-Lindholm, might stand a chance at mitigating McDrai enough to make a difference. That frees up Suter-Miller-Boeser, and Joshua-Blueger-Garland to do their best to turn the ice when McDrai are on the bench.

Problem - Oilers now have home ice and line change advantage. Well, fack.

I like it and was thinking the same....gets Hoglander back with Lafferty on the 4th line and also allows you to use the Blueger line in the shut down role also

Putting Miller vs RNH or McLoed is a match up i want.

Also would dress Podkolzin for PDG and give him a shot to play RW with Hoglander Lafferty Podkolzin. That could be a wild card 4th line

 

[VanJack]

The scary thing is that we really haven't seen the best of the Oilers PP, because the Canucks haven't taken a lot of minors.

But you know that sooner or later the Canucks parade to the penalty box will happen....just hope it isn't the next one.

 

[oceanchild]

I wouldn’t mind seeing petey play with miller and Boeser as I think he may be ready to break out. The Lindholm line can be line 2 and Suter - Bluger - Mik for line three. Hoglander can slide in to line 4 for a bit of offence and perhaps you play 3 centers for most of the night and Lafferty on the odd shift.

I wonder if they will go with Desmith. I have been curious about what it would take for a change to occur. He may come out and have a big game but if he doesn’t then you can go back to Silovs, but if they lose game 3 and you change in game 4 it’s a big risk. Not saying that Silovs has been bad, but Casey has played the oilers well.

We could have easily won game two and been up 2-0 on this overhyped Oilers team with an inexperienced third string goaltender. This series is very winnable and I think we can play better. Hopefully they play a perfect game tomorrow.

 

[sting101]

Unreal ...love the subtle burn

Zaddy needs to stay he gives us swagger and a rock that changes our teams chemistry. Even if he has lazy periods of play and obviously drops off his impact of this late season he's proven he's a gamer and confidently moving into his best years and it would be a shame to see that move on.
He loves it here also really hoping we find common ground in contract

 

[David71]

Might see some shuffles in Game 3.

good the team needs it. hogs or lafferty Out. pods in. cole out juulssn in.

Sounds like if Juulsen draws in, it may be for Myers, who got banged up last night.

yeah saw myers leave the first in pain.

 

[bossram]

Nucks will need to deploy two lines against them with the hope of wearing them down over the series If they are going to be playing close to 30 minutes a game on the same line.

They will need to, but that doesn't leave much/any quality left amongst the rest of their forwards to win the their matchups against EDM's Nuge and Mcleod lines.

 

[bossram]

Mik and Hogs are at least a threat to score, PDG is just a warm body. We shouldn't be worried about defensive balance throughout the lineup vs a 1 line team.

Define "threat".

Mik has like 1 goal in the last 60 games.

I think he is not a liability in the sense that he has the right defensive instincts, but there is literally never a time I see Mikheyev getting a scoring chance and think he's actually going to score.

Hoglander is working hard, but the playoff pace is too much for him. He can't make plays at this level.

 

[Misko]

Problem with Cole being this bad is that idk if I'd even want them to sit him because Juulsen is the next man up realistically and he didn't play well in his one game against Nashville. I'd probably feel even more stressed with Juulsen back there instead of Cole. There's flaws with each dman aside from Hughes, I think you gotta try to refocus them and otherwise ride out the bumps, because they're what we got.

 

[bossram]

Agreed, Myers doesn’t work against McDavid.

Honestly using Petey and Boeser as wingers against him didn’t really work either. Isn’t this exact situation why we pay Mik so much?

Ask Allvin.

I would be somewhat intrigued by like a Suter - Blueger - Mik line. Pure punt defensive utility, hopefully they could somewhat limit the McDavid line, and then that frees up Petey and Miller.

 

[bossram]

We won't get the matchup all the time but we should be able to get it a good portion of the time. If Knoblauch is having to deploy McDavid/Draisaitl strategically to keep them away from a matchup, that's already a small win for us.

May have to go with some makeshift lines/pairings for key faceoffs just to make sure guys like Miller/Lindholm/Hughes/Blueger are out there as much as possible in high-leverage situations.

One thing I noticed is the McDavid line was staying out for some pretty long shifts. That gives us the chance to make a quick change during the shift and get a better matchup, but also take advantage of having fresher legs on the ice.

There is no winning that matchup. The Petey-Miller-Boeser line also got roasted by them.

It's finding the best tradeoff. Should they allocate all their best resources toward damage control against the McDavid unit, or play lesser players against them and punt those shifts, but hopefully win the matchups elsewhere?

My thoughts are that something like a Suter - Blueger - Mik line could maybe limit the McDavid unit somewhat. But then you could free up the Lotto Line and Lindholm line to beat the Oilers' depth.

 

[crazychimp]

This is a pretty good breakdown of last game.

 

[aquaweenie]

Mik and Hogs are at least a threat to score, PDG is just a warm body. We shouldn't be worried about defensive balance throughout the lineup vs a 1 line team.

either we are are watching different games or I’ll have whatever you’re smoking

Problem with Cole being this bad is that idk if I'd even want them to sit him because Juulsen is the next man up realistically and he didn't play well in his one game against Nashville. I'd probably feel even more stressed with Juulsen back there instead of Cole. There's flaws with each dman aside from Hughes, I think you gotta try to refocus them and otherwise ride out the bumps, because they're what we got.

Juulsen would at least keep the oilers forwards honest coming across the blue line or in the corners

 

[JT Milker]

I’d probably hard match the Lindholm line against the McWiener line and free up the Miller and Pettersson lines (or the lotto line if they want) for more offensive deployment.

 

[Bertuzzzi44]

Took a look to see what the lines looked like when we hammered the Oilers in the regular season. Biggest take away Di Giuseppe 1st line, Hoglander 4th line.

Lines when we hammered Edmonton:

Di Giuseppe-Miller-Boeser
Kuzmeko-Pettersson-Garland
Joshua-Suter-Beauvillier
Hoglander-Lafferty-Studnicka

Hughes Hronek
Soucy Myers
Cole - Freidman/Hirose

The closest lineup would be:

Di Giuseppe-Miller-Boeser
Lindholm-Pettersson-Garland
Joshua-Suter-Blueger
Hoglander-Lafferty-Mikheyev

Lindholm replaces Kuzmenko (trade)
Blueger replaces Beauvillier (trade)
Mikheyev replaces Studnika (injury return)

Line 1: Exact Same
(Di Giuseppe was very effective to start the season, especially against the Oilers)

Line 2: Lindholm replaces Kuzmenko
(Lindholm over Kuz is an upgrade, he can take the draws, Garland and EP played great together, Kuz was the weak link)

Line 3: Blueger replaces Beauvillier (slight upgrade)

Line 4: Mikheyev replaces Studnika (slight upgrade)


A hybrid version to keep the 3rd line intact could be:

Di Giuseppe-Miller-Boeser
Sutter-Lindholm-Pettersson
Garland-Blueger-Joshua
Hoglander-Lafferty-Mikheyev


Why change what worked brilliantly?
Have Di Giuseppe on the Miller line
Have either Suter or Garland with EP
Play Hoglander on the 4th where he spent the majority of the regular season.