Post-Game Talk: PTSD - Post Traumatic Smith Disorder

[bone]

I'm upset that Mike Smith is an idiot. They had that game once they tied it up and Smith proceeded to piss it away.

It wasn't a lack of effort, it was a lack of execution. They were overskating pucks and trying to do to much all night.

If they lose tomorrow because of poor execution then they deserve to be eviscerated.

They really just needed to be patient there. The Kings got their PPs back in the third and were starting to come out of their push after Edmonton got a bunch of PPs in the second and mounted their push. The team just needed to be smart and wait for opportunities to present themselves without giving up too much and the tide would have eventually gave them some opportunities. Unfortunately, Smith didn't see it that way and it cost them dearly. Ironically, if Drai was as open as he must have looked for Smith to go for it, odds are Bouchard would have had a clean look to get it up to him as well without the risk attached to it.

 

[Missing smitty]

It's always a lack of execution though. It's been that way three straight playoffs. Smith shitting the bed was just the cherry on top. This team has been very poor in the third period during this losing streak, it's not like last night was anything new. The Oilers need to come out strong in game 2 and bury the Kings early. Another soft start like this one and we might as well book tee times.

It's so frustrating to see this team make the same mistakes that have cost them in previous years, they're always a day late and a dollar short. After a while it's not just bad luck, maybe they just aren't that great a playoff team.

This game is on Mike Smith. Even with poor execution, they put 3 passed Quick who was having a great game. The Kings defense and bottom 6 were horrible and Quick bailed them out.

Like I said. Lose tomorrow due to poor execution then, sure, destroy them. If they play like they did in the second all game tomorrow and the rest of the series, they will destroy the Kings.

 

[bone]

It's always a lack of execution though. It's been that way three straight playoffs. Smith shitting the bed was just the cherry on top. This team has been very poor in the third period during this losing streak, it's not like last night was anything new. The Oilers need to come out strong in game 2 and bury the Kings early. Another soft start like this one and we might as well book tee times.

It's so frustrating to see this team make the same mistakes that have cost them in previous years, they're always a day late and a dollar short. After a while it's not just bad luck, maybe they just aren't that great a playoff team.

Well here's where we get to see what we have in Woodcroft. Listening to the players lately, it seemed all of Tippett's strategies were about working harder and trying harder, but Woodcroft has given tangible feedback for the players to work on when he spots problems.

If he picked up on something last night that's leading to those 3rd period problems, maybe he can address it once and for all. I'm still generally optimistic, but at the same time, feeling a little jaded.

 

[FlameChampion]

And btw I'm a Puljujarvi fan, but he is completely checked out again and has been for ac while. And kassian is absolute trash

I dont think hes checked out but hes quite clearly not right.

Either he's still sick, hes injured or hes dealing with something mental. Hes been off for awhile but the last 3 games hes really off.

 

[gordonhught]

Gotta ask. Why do people think Smith regularly bounces back after a bad outing ?

I would think that 0-10 in his last 10 playoff games is saying the opposite. No ?

Oilers ran into this goalie carousel situation when they played Chicago years back.

They have two realistic options: Smith or Koskinen.

The best play is to let Smith start the next game.

Here is the thinking:

- if you go straight to Koskinen and he plays well - this is a good outcome, but Kosko is not as good as Smith when both play well.
- if you go straight to Koskinen and he plays bad - then you have to make a hard decision for game 3 (no idea who to start)

- if you let Smith have game 2 and he does well - keep going with him
- if you let Smith have game 2 and he stinks - then you go with Kosko and don't look back - Oilers have no choice.

Back when the Oilers played Chicago, they played Smith in game 1 and he stunk. He let in 5 goals in half a game. The Oilers went with Kosko for the rest of game 1 and the games 2-4. Kosko played poorly and had a .890 save percentage.

Maybe the better play back then would have been to have gone back to Smith in Game 2 of that series. We will never know.

All I know is that two years ago, the Oilers went with Kosko after Smith had a bad start. They did not fare well with Kosko and lost the play in series.

Oilers can't win riding Kosko for the entire playoffs. He may have a good game or two before he has a bad game. The only real option for a potential long playoff run is to go back to Smith. Dump Smith now and riding Kosko gets you bounced by LA.

 

[FlameChampion]

At this point RNH is what he is. A 50-60 point centre who's soft and okay defensively. I'm not sure why some are still expecting him to hit another level. Guy is almost 30, he's not 21 anymore

I think people should expect him to be an a pretty elite special teams player. But a completely mediocre 5 on 5 player. Thats more how I see him.

 

[bone]

Oilers ran into this goalie carousel situation when they played Chicago years back.

They have two realistic options: Smith or Koskinen.

The best play is to let Smith start the next game.

Here is the thinking:

- if you go straight to Koskinen and he plays well - this is a good outcome, but Kosko is not as good as Smith when both play well.
- if you go straight to Koskinen and he plays bad - then you have to make a hard decision for game 3 (no idea who to start)

- if you let Smith have game 2 and he does well - keep going with him
- if you let Smith have game 2 and he stinks - then you go with Kosko and don't look back - Oilers have no choice.

Back when the Oilers played Chicago, they played Smith in game 1 and he stunk. He let in 5 goals in half a game. The Oilers went with Kosko for the rest of game 1 and the games 2-4. Kosko played poorly and had a .890 save percentage.

Maybe the better play back then would have been to have gone back to Smith in Game 2 of that series. We will never know.

All I know is that two years ago, the Oilers went with Kosko after Smith had a bad start. They did not fare well with Kosko and lost the play in series.

Oilers can't win riding Kosko for the entire playoffs. He may have a good game or two before he has a bad game. The only real option for a potential long playoff run is to go back to Smith. Dump Smith now and riding Kosko gets you bounced by LA.

I still think they should have gone back to Smith in Game 4 that series. I kind of understood the move for Game 2 because of how bad Game 1 was for Smith and Kosko was decent in relief. But Kosko never looked sharp in any of the games he started, even in their victory and Smith really was the guy that got them there that year.

I think you've nailed it for how to handle tomorrow.

 

[AddyTheWrath]

 

[nally]

Guess I'm in the minority here, but I got Smith next game. Give him a chance to rebound. Nothing is more motivating then being the main reason for losing a game. I bet he has a stellar game. If not, then you go with Kostco

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

This game is on Mike Smith. Even with poor execution, they put 3 passed Quick who was having a great game. The Kings defense and bottom 6 were horrible and Quick bailed them out.

Like I said. Lose tomorrow due to poor execution then, sure, destroy them. If they play like they did in the second all game tomorrow and the rest of the series, they will destroy the Kings.

Look, I'm the biggest Mike Smith hater on the boards and he absolutely botched at least two goals in that game, but they still scored a single goal at even strength. The thing that worries me is that the "improved depth" vanished yet again. Why can't the depth guys piss a drop when we need them the most?

 

[FlameChampion]

McDavid's going to have a monster game 2 I think.

Post game dude looked like he was about to run a marathon.

Offensively he was a monster in this game.

I wish he didnt make that backhand drop pass on the Lemieux goal.

But you cant say that he didnt bring it yesterday. Hopefully more guys show up next game besides McDavid and Yamamoto. (McLeod and Kassian played their games too forward wise).

 

[bellagiobob]

View attachment 539813

I can remember cold playoff games at Commonwealth where the only warmth at halftime to be had was in the bathroom. The odds of you getting to the urinal were not great. The sink looked like a urinal, and was used accordingly.

 

[94 Oil Drops]

Lots of people dancing on the Oilers grave already on the main board. Hope we f***ing stomp the kings tomorrow.

Good for them. I'm just ready to accept whatever happens. There's more to life than hockey. If we manage to win this series (which of course is still possible) I'll be thrilled but I'm not going to go into lamentations if we get eliminated.

 

[gordonhught]

I can remember cold playoff games at Commonwealth where the only warmth at halftime to be had was in the bathroom. The odds of you getting to the urinal were not great. The sink looked like a urinal, and was used accordingly.

I know I peed in it.

 

[McJadeddog]

I know I pissed in it.

I once stood in a VERY long line at Wembley in London for what I thought was a urinal, and once I got closer, realized it was a line to piss in the sink.

 

[bone]

Look, I'm the biggest Mike Smith hater on the boards and he absolutely botched at least two goals in that game, but they still scored a single goal at even strength. The thing that worries me is that the "improved depth" vanished yet again. Why can't the depth guys piss a drop when we need them the most?

They generated 1.86 expected goals 5 on 5. If the next chance they took goes in, it's basically right on track. Of course I'd like them to generate more than 2 expected goals 5 on 5 but they were close last night despite uninspiring games from Drai, Hyman and JP (three of the top 6 and they were on for 0 HD scoring chances for all game 5 on 5).

I think RNH, Foegele and Ryan generated enough opportunities as you'd typically expect from a third line just not as much as we've seen from them in other games and unfortunately they didn't cash any.

 

[belair]

View attachment 539813

This would just encourage sword fights.

 

[Missing smitty]

Look, I'm the biggest Mike Smith hater on the boards and he absolutely botched at least two goals in that game, but they still scored a single goal at even strength. The thing that worries me is that the "improved depth" vanished yet again. Why can't the depth guys piss a drop when we need them the most?

Quick made a bunch of good, 10 bell saves. McLeod scores in his mini-break is a different game.

They scored 3 goals in the playoffs, that should have been enough. Mike Smith let in 2 goals completely on his own.

 

[gordonhught]

I once stood in a VERY long line at Wembley in London for what I thought was a urinal, and once I got closer, realized it was a line to piss in the sink.

Peeing in those ambiguous circumstances is acceptable.

Just as long as you dont lay any heavy cable in it.

 

[KlefDown]

Mark Spector will die defending Mike Smith but Jesse has one bad game and he's not a top 6 forward anymore

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

They generated 1.86 expected goals 5 on 5. If the next chance they took goes in, it's basically right on track. Of course I'd like them to generate more than 2 expected goals 5 on 5 but they were close last night despite uninspiring games from Drai, Hyman and JP (three of the top 6).

I think RNH, Foegele and Ryan generated enough opportunities as you'd typically expect from a third line just not as much as we've seen from them in other games.

But that's just it. During this losing streak they've always been "close". In fact in every single game during this 7 game playoff losing streak, they've lost by a single goal (2 ENGs for Winnipeg in game 1).

Close doesn't cut it anymore. Someone has to step up besides McDavid. Their inability to generate offense in the third period and beyond came back to haunt them yet again. I'm really starting to think there's something seriously lacking with this club.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Mark Spector will die defending Mike Smith but Jesse has one bad game and he's not a top 6 forward anymore

Top 6 forwards score more than 1 goal in like 4 months

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Quick made a bunch of good, 10 bell saves. McLeod scores in his mini-break is a different game.

They scored 3 goals in the playoffs, that should have been enough. Mike Smith let in 2 goals completely on his own.

Quick did what Quick does, this is nothing new for him. He made the saves he needed to make. McLeod not scoring was where I first started to think "Uh oh." Of course, he's the master of missed chances.

Smith sucks, but let's not pretend like the team was all that good.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Oilers ran into this goalie carousel situation when they played Chicago years back.

They have two realistic options: Smith or Koskinen.

The best play is to let Smith start the next game.

Here is the thinking:

- if you go straight to Koskinen and he plays well - this is a good outcome, but Kosko is not as good as Smith when both play well.
- if you go straight to Koskinen and he plays bad - then you have to make a hard decision for game 3 (no idea who to start)

- if you let Smith have game 2 and he does well - keep going with him
- if you let Smith have game 2 and he stinks - then you go with Kosko and don't look back - Oilers have no choice.

Back when the Oilers played Chicago, they played Smith in game 1 and he stunk. He let in 5 goals in half a game. The Oilers went with Kosko for the rest of game 1 and the games 2-4. Kosko played poorly and had a .890 save percentage.

Maybe the better play back then would have been to have gone back to Smith in Game 2 of that series. We will never know.

All I know is that two years ago, the Oilers went with Kosko after Smith had a bad start. They did not fare well with Kosko and lost the play in series.

Oilers can't win riding Kosko for the entire playoffs. He may have a good game or two before he has a bad game. The only real option for a potential long playoff run is to go back to Smith. Dump Smith now and riding Kosko gets you bounced by LA.

how wild is it that we are still stuck with the 2 goalies that stunk in the bubble almost 2 years ago

 

[Arpeggio]

But that's just it. During this losing streak they've always been "close". In fact in every single game during this 7 game playoff losing streak, they've lost by a single goal (2 ENGs for Winnipeg in game 1).

Close doesn't cut it anymore. Someone has to step up besides McDavid. Their inability to generate offense in the third period and beyond came back to haunt them yet again. I'm really starting to think there's something seriously lacking with this club.