Post-Game Talk: Oilers outplayed, only McDavid and Hyman show up

[Missing smitty]

Than take out Russel put in foegele for Ryan and Holloway for Russel. Nuge getting shifted on for not being able to drag around Derek Ryan and Archibald.

Maybe Nuge should win a face off or 2, then he wouldn't need Ryan stapled to him.

 

[Canovin]

Play Holloway, Malone and Niemo. They don't shy away from physicality

 

[CycloneSweep]

This really isn't isolated to the Oilers. Didn't teams who score 1st in the opening round win 90%+ of the games? I know at one point it was like 17-1.

I was just looking at it and it seems to be like 2/3 of the games are won by the team that scored first.

Florida - Wash
2-4 when scoring first

Tampa - Toronto
6-1

Car-Bost
5-2

New York - Pitts
3-4

Col Nash
4-0

St Louis - Minnesota
6-0

Calgary - Dallas
5-2

Edmonton - LA
7-0

36-13

 

[GhostfaceWu]

Maybe Nuge should win a face off or 2, then he wouldn't need Ryan stapled to him.

Yea Ryan's definitely carrying nuge,...lol

 

[Stoneman89]

Bouchard, Smith, Koskinen, Nurse and RNH with poor games.

Was it the system or the personnel that was the problem?

 

[Stoneman89]

Tough game all around. Completely outplayed by the hated Flamers, and they manhandled us physically.

Smith was terrible, Markstrom was bad, and I never want to see Koskinen in our net again (hopefully).

McDavid was awesome, but there were a ton of passengers last night. Kane has by far his worst game as an Oiler.

Nuge, McLeod and Bouchard are going to need to get their big boy pants on and muck in there.

Nurse is going to need to play like he actually gives a shit.

Not sure what Puljujarvi does out there, other than seemingly run around like a chicken with his head cutoff. I know some people are going to continue to say that his underlying stats are wonderful, so he doesn't need to provide any goals or points, but that argument is really starting to wear thin.

 

[Missing smitty]

Yea Ryan's definitely carrying nuge,...lol

You may want to check for face off stats. There is a reason Ryan has been with him....

 

[Chabot84]

Edmonton would really benefit from playing a style that clogs up the neutral zone and keeps shots to the outside. Then we could protect our goalies.. and protect our defenseman and slow Calgary down and capitalize on the turnovers with odd man rushes. It’s boring hockey but I think the Oilers can win that way. Play similar to how the Sens did against the Pens in the ECF I think it was 2017

 

[Magnum23]

Play Holloway, Malone and Niemo. They don't shy away from physicality

I agree, Niemo and Malone would definitely put fake tough guys (Thachuk, Backlund, Lindholm) in there place.

 

[belair]

Maybe Nuge should win a face off or 2, then he wouldn't need Ryan stapled to him.

Going back to Foegele/RNH/Ryan seems like an obvious option for Game 2.

I'm fine with elevating Kassian into the top six at times. We need to get guys into the game.

We score six goals last night and there are only six guys on the scoresheet.

 

[Magnum23]

Edmonton also needs to use thier speed and skill to their advantage. Once our offense is clicking not many teams in the league have the talent to match.

Also not letting 3 easy goals in early helps as well!

 

[Captain Fantastic]

Anyone else watch Drai's post-game interview? Guy looks like he lost 20lbs and is pale as a ghost. He may still be battling something else aside from his lower body injury. Felt bad for the guy. Should have limited minutes looking the way he does. Win or lose this series, there's a human element to be considered. While I don't blame him for wanting to play as much as possible and he's probably stubborn about it, if he still laboring in game 2, you reduce his minutes significantly for game 3. PP , faceoffs and wherever else you can slide him in. Never mind first line minutes.
Who can replace those minutes? No one.. but the team has to find a way to push through this. I expect call-ups for game 3 if the team craps the bed again in game 2. No third chances for 3rd and 4th line passengers. Malone, Holloway, Niemalinen, Perlini...they'll be nervous but very motivated especially after losing to Stockton (Flames AHL affiliate) in the playoffs. AHL players but so what when some of our bottom forwards are playing that way ..inject some energy, toughness and enthusiasm into the lineup. That's my game 3 plan.

 

[belair]

I don't know much about Holloway, is he physical? I'm trying to understand why so many are hoping he plays.

Because he's an uncertainty. I can only imagine how much this board would overreact if he came in for a game, played 7 minutes and contributed little offense in sheltered minutes.

I don't see Woodcroft going to him because he doesn't know the player well. How do you deploy a rookie in a playoff game with absolutely no gauge of where his game is at that level?

 

[Canovin]

Because he's an uncertainty. I can only imagine how much this board would overreact if he came in for a game, played 7 minutes and contributed little offense in sheltered minutes.

I don't see Woodcroft going to him because he doesn't know the player well. How do you deploy a rookie in a playoff game with absolutely no gauge of where his game is at that level?

Easy. All you have to do is watch Pulju in the playoffs and say to yourself, can't get much worse than that

 

[midnightcopper]

I understand that it's just been announced that the cause of the Game 1 collapse was a "ticker problem". This is the best cure for a "ticker problem"...

 

[elmeroil]

Because he's an uncertainty. I can only imagine how much this board would overreact if he came in for a game, played 7 minutes and contributed little offense in sheltered minutes.

I don't see Woodcroft going to him because he doesn't know the player well. How do you deploy a rookie in a playoff game with absolutely no gauge of where his game is at that level?

Yeah I was wondering that too, looked at his stats it's not like he lit up the AHL or the playoffs. Solid first year numbers but is he really going to make a difference? I would give Nemo a game and tell him to hit even harder than he already does.

If Smith blows it tomorrow I'd start Skinner game 3 and send Koskinen to the PB for good.

 

[McShogun99]

Seems silly that this needs to be stated. But apparently needs to be stated. This is the worst game the Oilers will see from Markstrom. He'll probably settle in now.

Technically it should be but Markstrom seems to play poorly against us. Last night was probably the worst he's played against us during his career and I doubt we get .786 SP Markstrom again this series.

 

[rboomercat90]

Can you imagine if hf existed in the 80's? Is Cam Neely better than Gretzky? The advanced stats say yes!

I still remember the Hockey Digest article where Stan Fischler broke down how Michel Goulet was a better player than Mark Messier.

 

[SnooPac]

Thought this was pretty funny after the second Hyman goal. These two clearly didn't like each other.

 

[redgrant]

I don't know much about Holloway, is he physical? I'm trying to understand why so many are hoping he plays.

Yeah he seems to be. Went to Cali and watched a few games this year. Would say hes physical in the sense of soemone like Jesse. He wants to lay guys out but isnt the best at it. The effort certainly is there.

 

[McShogun99]

Anyone else watch Drai's post-game interview? Guy looks like he lost 20lbs and is pale as a ghost. He may still be battling something else aside from his lower body injury. Felt bad for the guy. Should have limited minutes looking the way he does. Win or lose this series, there's a human element to be considered. While I don't blame him for wanting to play as much as possible and he's probably stubborn about it, if he still laboring in game 2, you reduce his minutes significantly for game 3. PP , faceoffs and wherever else you can slide him in. Never mind first line minutes.
Who can replace those minutes? No one.. but the team has to find a way to push through this. I expect call-ups for game 3 if the team craps the bed again in game 2. No third chances for 3rd and 4th line passengers. Malone, Holloway, Niemalinen, Perlini...they'll be nervous but very motivated especially after losing to Stockton (Flames AHL affiliate) in the playoffs. AHL players but so what when some of our bottom forwards are playing that way ..inject some energy, toughness and enthusiasm into the lineup. That's my game 3 plan.

If Draisaitl's sickness/injury is that bad just have him center the 4th line and get his usual PP minutes and the usually minutes with Mcdavid afer a PK. He'll probably get around 12-15 minutes a game but they will be easier minutes for him. Run something like this;

Kane-Mcdavid-Yamamoto
Hyman-RNH-JP
Foegele-Mcleod-Ryan
Holloway-Draisaitl-Kassian

 

[McHelpus]

Technically it should be but Markstrom seems to play poorly against us. Last night was probably the worst he's played against us during his career and I doubt we get .786 SP Markstrom again this series.

He wasn't that great against Dallas tbh. He looks terrified in net...

 

[Dolemite]

Bouchard, Smith, Koskinen, Nurse and RNH with poor games.

They all were horrid. They’re a team. They laid a turd at the start as they were nowhere near ready to play second round playoff hockey at the drop of the puck and the Flames curb stomped them for three goals..

 

[Kerberos]

While Markstrom can't play any worse than he did last night, this team can't either.​

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We have major warts defensively and in net but that was a nightmarish shit-the-bed game from almost everybody on the roster.​

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Game 2 is a must win IMO. I think if we take it there's a good chance that this team can turn the worm at home.​

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Wouldn't be surprised if McDavid is at 30 points by the time this series is over.​

 

[Geardedandbearded]

Throw this game out. I wanted Calgary even though they’re a strong team; prove you deserve to be among the best. At the top of their game the oilers can hang with anyone. In the playoffs there is no room for error and you need to bring it every night. No excuses. The boys need to focus on their game and not Calgary’s, play oilers hockey.