Post-Game Talk: The worst game they’ve played in over two months

[ToeMcDrag83]

It's fine for a quick fix if you need a nuclear weapon to get back in a game, like down 3-0 against L.A. for example, but it should only be a temporary fix not a permanent solution.
I think it could work if RNH was playing assertive and Hyman was at full strength, I actually like that duo quite a bit when they're right, but that's not the case here.

Also, as you said, they tend to get too casual when together knowing that they have another elite line driver to pair with. I feel like they focus more on details when split.
Games 4 and 6 against L.A. and 1 and 3 against Vegas have been abominations at even strength. Something has to change before it's too late.

I hate this next idea because he makes me sweat my body weight when in net but it might be time to start Campbell to give them a shot in the arm because Skinner just isn't ready for this and Campbell has a propensity to go on big time heaters when he's right. I don't think Woody will go to that well yet but I think he'll have no choice if they lose Game 4 unless it's a 1-0, 2-1 type of game.

Nuge really picked the worst time to go cold here. Weirdly hoping there's at least an injury/illness excuse, that's a lot of games now he's been a net negative in all areas. Probably a large part of the reason Woody has stuck to the formation. But it's overdue, boys need a shot in the arm, for better or worse. My personal strategy would be to split the line up with the most consistent efforts so far (37-71-10) and mix up the top 9 with them. Foegele-Draisaitl has shown flashes, Mcleod could inject some much-needed speed with Nuge, and frankly Derek Ryan is effective whenever he's out there. Little bit of minute-controlling here and there, he could flank McDavid right now to overall positive results imo.

I'm all for starting Campbell if we fail in G4 with Skinner. He's played pretty well dating back to a few starts at the tail end of the season even. We desperately need a couple games where the GA is 0,1,2 and the SVP% is >0.900

Vegas is perfect on the road. Lost only 2 games all playoffs so far.
Ice your best 5-on-5 lineup, because the refs can't be the reason we say we lost a series. I already lived that scenario with 2017, Round 2, and we have a better team than that now.

 

[GOilers88]

Skinner is your guy. Short leash. But he earned it this year, imo.

Campbell being good in relief is much different than Campbell starting games.

I still go with Stu.

 

[Stoneman89]

The reality is that the Oilers PP isnt at 15% so its kind of a moot point.
I need to be clear...I am not defending Stauffer. I just happen to agree with him on this issue.

Again...its not the reason the team lost but it was still an issue. The reffing seems to have multiple standards depending on the game situation.

Yes, my point as well was it's not the reason we lost, and has always been an issue. My point was the play of the team doomed us very early on and then throughout, and was the main reason we lost. And Skinner is part of that group. They were all less than stellar. As much as some penalty calls would have helped us, I'm convinced from what I saw being at the game, we would have been sunk regardless.

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

Nuge really picked the worst time to go cold here. Weirdly hoping there's at least an injury/illness excuse, that's a lot of games now he's been a net negative in all areas. Probably a large part of the reason Woody has stuck to the formation. But it's overdue, boys need a shot in the arm, for better or worse. My personal strategy would be to split the line up with the most consistent efforts so far (37-71-10) and mix up the top 9 with them. Foegele-Draisaitl has shown flashes, Mcleod could inject some much-needed speed with Nuge, and frankly Derek Ryan is effective whenever he's out there. Little bit of minute-controlling here and there, he could flank McDavid right now to overall positive results imo.

I'm all for starting Campbell if we fail in G4 with Skinner. He's played pretty well dating back to a few starts at the tail end of the season even. We desperately need a couple games where the GA is 0,1,2 and the SVP% is >0.900

Vegas is perfect on the road. Lost only 2 games all playoffs so far.
Ice your best 5-on-5 lineup, because the refs can't be the reason we say we lost a series. I already lived that scenario with 2017, Round 2, and we have a better team than that now.

Its no coincidence that RNH is cold at the moment. He's never been a big game player his entire career. He'd fit perfectly on the Leafs in the way that you could look at his stat line and make the conclusion that he's been productive at playoff time, but watching him he's usually invisible.
He's had a fantastic regular season, some players just aren't built for playoffs.

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

Skinner is your guy. Short leash. But he earned it this year, imo.

Campbell being good in relief is much different than Campbell starting games.

I still go with Stu.

This was my mindset too for the 1st round but at this point in the playoffs the only 'starting' goalie with worse numbers that's still playing is Vanacek (and he's splitting with Schmid). As big of a risk Campbell might be I cant imagine him being any worse than Skinner has been.

 

[Ibanez]

Skinner is your guy. Short leash. But he earned it this year, imo.

Campbell being good in relief is much different than Campbell starting games.

I still go with Stu.

It’s funny because I’ve been one of the harder “stick with Stu guys” for a long time.

But man. Ive lost so much confidence in him.

I still think he is the guy to go back to. But game 4 should be a very short leash.

 

[Captain Controversy]

The discussion on nuge not performing well this year..
The best way to make him effective is to make him a winger with one of the big boys.

 

[Zguy370]

The discussion on nuge not performing well this year..
The best way to make him effective is to make him a winger with one of the big boys.

Pretty well, in other words, he needs a baby sitter as a senior got it

 

[ToeMcDrag83]

Its no coincidence that RNH is cold at the moment. He's never been a big game player his entire career. He'd fit perfectly on the Leafs in the way that you could look at his stat line and make the conclusion that he's been productive at playoff time, but watching him he's usually invisible.
He's had a fantastic regular season, some players just aren't built for playoffs.

I don't know if I agree with this, he had a great playoffs just last year. Not defending his play this year at all, but those were big games in 2022 and he did well.

 

[OilerTyler]

This was my mindset too for the 1st round but at this point in the playoffs the only 'starting' goalie with worse numbers that's still playing is Vanacek (and he's splitting with Schmid). As big of a risk Campbell might be I cant imagine him being any worse than Skinner has been.

I can easily imagine Campbell being worse than Skinner has been. Is everyone forgetting the regular season? Campbell might be the worst goalie in the NHL.

Skinner is one game removed from holding Vegas to one goal. How many times did Campbell hold a team to one goal or less this season? Four times (Ducks x2, Sharks and Blues). That's out of thirty-six starts. He was almost four times as likely to give up four or more goals than he was to hold a team to one or less this season. That's with him getting sheltered from February on, only playing against basement teams.

Give Skinner (and the team in front of him) a chance to bounce back. When was the last time Skinner lost back to back starts?

 

[guymez]

Yes, my point as well was it's not the reason we lost, and has always been an issue. My point was the play of the team doomed us very early on and then throughout, and was the main reason we lost. And Skinner is part of that group. They were all less than stellar. As much as some penalty calls would have helped us, I'm convinced from what I saw being at the game, we would have been sunk regardless.

I agree with the bolded.

 

[Zguy370]

There he is as usual advertised as our franchise face before the game, surreal!

 

[Heavy Dee]

This was my mindset too for the 1st round but at this point in the playoffs the only 'starting' goalie with worse numbers that's still playing is Vanacek (and he's splitting with Schmid). As big of a risk Campbell might be I cant imagine him being any worse than Skinner has been.

Skinner has a 888 save %. That's regular season Campbell bad. That said it's time to give Jack a shot.

Holland rolled the dice on this goaltending.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Skinner has a 888 save %. That's regular season Campbell bad. That said it's time to give Jack a shot.

Holland rolled the dice on this goaltending.

Campbell was historically one of the worst NHL goalies of all time during the regular season.

 

[The Panther]

Nurse causes so many unforced errors.

He’s like the Mike smith of defense. When he’s elite he’s top tier. But when he’s bad…look out

This is a really accurate comparison! Nurse is indeed the Mike Smith of defense. He's either great or awful, with no 'in-between' and zero consistency.

 

[The Panther]

I can easily imagine Campbell being worse than Skinner has been. Is everyone forgetting the regular season? Campbell might be the worst goalie in the NHL.

Skinner is one game removed from holding Vegas to one goal. How many times did Campbell hold a team to one goal or less this season? Four times (Ducks x2, Sharks and Blues). That's out of thirty-six starts. He was almost four times as likely to give up four or more goals than he was to hold a team to one or less this season. That's with him getting sheltered from February on, only playing against basement teams.

Give Skinner (and the team in front of him) a chance to bounce back. When was the last time Skinner lost back to back starts?

Agree. Skinner was better all season and deserves a chance to bounce back. His and the team's history suggests he's likely to play well in this near-desperate situation.

 

[KCC]

Last night was what you fear as a fan. No need to hash over things. Just bounce back and bring a great effort like game 2. And don't let up. Vegas can't handle EDM when they are moving their legs and actually bringing an effort. That's it. Game plan is simple af. lol

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Campbell was historically one of the worst NHL goalies of all time during the regular season.

and Nuge had a 100 point season in the regular season

playoffs are different

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Last night was what you fear as a fan. No need to hash over things. Just bounce back and bring a great effort like game 2. And don't let up. Vegas can't handle EDM when they are moving their legs and actually bringing an effort. That's it. Game plan is simple af. lol

Agree. It was an absolute dead-ass dud of a game in every respect. Not the Oilers we normally have seen in the back half of the season.

I expect both teams to play a calm tight close to the vest game with maybe 1-2 penalties per side and the Oilers to win in overtime 2-1 or 3-2 or something like that.

Win Game 5 in Vegas and close them out Game 6 in Edmonton on Sunday for a nice Mothers Day gift for our moms and for my mom who wears her Oilers jersey everyday in the care home!

 

[Mez]

Honest question, Whens the last time a team won the cup with sub .890 goaltending?

 

[The Panther]

and Nuge had a 100 point season in the regular season

playoffs are different

Playoffs aren't overly different. That was somewhat true 30 years ago when the refs put the whistles away and the physical battles after whistles were endless, but it's not really the case today.

I think it's more than clear that something is off with Nuge, and it's not his "mental fortitude". He's obviously injured or having personal issues at home or something, because a veteran player doesn't play his very best hockey one minute and then just completely disappear the next.

Some of you have short memories, too. Remember the all-important game four vs. Calgary last year? Nuge opened the scoring 21 seconds in, and then after Mike Smith's allowing a 135-foot flip shot in the net to let Calgary tie the game in the third, Nuge won a physical battle to score the game winning goal with less than 3:30 to play. He had 14 playoff points last year. Not to mention 8 points in four games vs. Chicago in that disastrous 'play-in' vs. Chicago in 2020. The idea that Nuge always fades in the post-season is an incorrect one.

He's just not winning any physical battles right now and thus losing it at even strength. I think something's physically wrong with him. Injury most likely.

 

[McMozesmadness]

That game was horrendous

We need to cut some dead weight from the lineup and inject Holloway. It also may be time to see Niemo

Time to sit the 12 million dollar man. He’s a liability. Sit Vinny. Yamo offers us nothing outside of the PK. He sits too

Go with this:

Kane - McDavid - Hyman
Holloway - Draisaitl - Nuge
Foegele - McLeod - Ryan
Janmark - Bjugstad - Kostin

Ekholm - Bouchard
Kulak - Ceci
Niemo - Broberg

Skinner

 

[Broberg Speed]

Woodcroft seems intent to go with Skinner. The majority who voted in this poll disagree.

If we lose because of that decision and the defensive zone coverage Woodcroft incorporates stays the same we at the very least have to bring in another coach who knows how to set up a defense. This coaching staff as is apparently can not.

Like I said before, Ekholm doesn't even look good playing this lackluster easily bamboozled system.

At some juncture when every defenceman and center on the team looks like junk you have to consider either the strategy being coached is flawed or being completely ignored. Whichever it is, likely some combination, it's a major concern not only in these playoffs.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

and Nuge had a 100 point season in the regular season

playoffs are different

Well Campbell wasn't great in last year's playoffs, soooo....

 

[OilerTyler]

Well Campbell wasn't great in last year's playoffs, soooo....

It's also well known that he is weak mentally. The guy lets in one bad goal and the flood gates open. Then he looks like he is about to burst into tears in his post game interview. Not a recipe for success in the playoffs.