bellagiobob
Registered User
- Jul 27, 2006
- 22,347
- 51,888
CHI can't scout Oilers with Green on D nor Oilers top 6 with AA or Ennis on it.
Special teams is something they could work on neutralizing.
Blackhawks will have deHaan back, which bolsters their defense. Plus their coaching staff will have had a few months to analyze the Oilers PP. Hopefully Tippett and staff learn the lesson from the Capitals decade of playoffs futility and develop plans B, C, D, and E for PP set-ups. It wasn't until Oshie and Kuznetsov joined the unit to take pressure off go to plays A (Ovechkin one-timer) and B (Green/Carlson shot) that Washington found consistent playoff success with their top-rated regular season PP.
I think the wildcard is what version of Crawford will show up. The playoffs hero of successful seasons past or the guy that tanked (or almost tanked) a few playoffs series and required the Blackhawks to bring in a good back-up? This year they traded away that option in Lehner so all the pressure remains on Crawford.
goalies are often propped up by their defense though. Look at Bobvrosky on Columbus vs Florida.As has been said by pretty much every breathing hockey analyst in the world at this point, whatever goalie plays better in a short 5-game series, is likely the team that wins. You can over come 1, or maybe even 2, bad games by your goalie in a 7 game series. Over-coming bad goalie games for a 5 game series is a lot more difficult obviously. Basically, Tippet needs to get lucky with whomever he chooses to start, or we have to hope Crawford has a bad game or 2.
As has been said by pretty much every breathing hockey analyst in the world at this point, whatever goalie plays better in a short 5-game series, is likely the team that wins. You can over come 1, or maybe even 2, bad games by your goalie in a 7 game series. Over-coming bad goalie games for a 5 game series is a lot more difficult obviously. Basically, Tippet needs to get lucky with whomever he chooses to start, or we have to hope Crawford has a bad game or 2.
I don't think it solely amounts to whatever goalie plays better as long as the lesser goalie doesn't stink out the joint. It's very possible for the better goalie in a game to still lose 3-2 or 2-1 if his team is dominated.
Stauffer has some....opinion...
Stauffer has some....opinion...
And Smith over Koskinen. I'm not sure if it's the right call, but it's certainly the one I expect. Tippett has always seemed to trust Smith more than Kosko.
As for defense, I'd prefer Jones - Green over Russell - Benning. Jones was playing some great hockey before the hiatus.
Are those his projected lines, or more of a depth chart?
I really want to see RNH stay with Drai and Honey Badger. I also hope AA works his way up with McDavid.
Athanasiou-McDavid-Kassian
RNH-Draisaitl-Yamamoto
Nygard-Sheahan-Archibald
Neal-Khaira-Chiasson
Ennis-Haas-P. Russell
Benson-Marody-McLeod
Also give me Russell - Green as 3rd pair with Jones - Benning as the 4th pair.
Smith as starting goalie.
That's how I would do the forwards as well, although I'd prefer a Jones - Green pairing. Russell's TOI also saw a bit of a drop this year under Tippet. He'll probably start him for a veteran presence in the playoffs, although I won't be surprised if Jones slots in relatively soon.
You would sit Ennis? That's just not going to happen. He was arguably the Oilers best winger outside of RNH and Yamamoto in his time here.
I would rotate him in with Nygard on the 3rd line. The Neal - Khaira - Chiasson line did really well to finish off the season, and I feel like they're built for the playoffs.
What didn't Ennis prove to you this year for him to to not have a regular role on the playoff roster?I would rotate him in with Nygard on the 3rd line. The Neal - Khaira - Chiasson line did really well to finish off the season, and I feel like they're built for the playoffs.