Pre-Game Talk: Turn the Page: Oilers at Kings Game 3 April 26th

[GMofOilers]

Lets go wrap this up in 5, I think they do. You will see the Oilers best game tomorrow knowing they are going to need 5 or 6 goals to win. They will do it

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Oilers win this one, SS with a rebound performance.

 

[Spawn]

Stuart Skinner rebound performance from 5 GA and .808 sv% to 4GA and .892 sv%?

sigh...

This team should call up Olivier Rodrigue and pray he can go on some sort of Murray/Binnington like rookie run.

 

[ManofSteel55]

With the Kings putting the double team on Connor and Leon, it wouldn't shock me if we saw them back together tonight. Can't double team both of them if they are on the ice together.

 

[The Panther]

Oilers in five.

(Skinner had one bad game, in which the other team's goalie also sucked. Maybe let it go...?)

 

[Despote]

Must win

 

[GrumpyKoala]

I personally think that Skinner should start game 3. If we lose that then I'm fully on board with giving Pickard game 4.

I mean..
Well I don't think

It hopeless, I cant argue with someone that display a gunnm avatar.

 

[Pavel10]

Oilers in five.

(Skinner had one bad game, in which the other team's goalie also sucked. Maybe let it go...?)

The one thing skinner has going for him is talbot is basically an old man who is washed up. Oddly enough talbot still rose to the occasion after everyone talked about how the dry shot is unstoppable and robbed him. Maybe Skinner can look at how to stop kempe since he's been lit up by him for 2 years now.

I think oilers in 6, basically because kings have subpar goaltending as well. Reminds me of the oilers flames series where markstrom was a sieve but Smith still let in some God awful goals.

 

[tardigrade81]

I foresee a win!

And I have a red lobster gift card so might get the shrimp linguini

 

[destro909]

With the Kings putting the double team on Connor and Leon, it wouldn't shock me if we saw them back together tonight. Can't double team both of them if they are on the ice together.

The first line has already been dominant this series without Draisaitl on it. I would keep them separate and try a different winger or two with Draisaitl.

 

[ManofSteel55]

The first line has already been dominant this series without Draisaitl on it. I would keep them separate and try a different winger or two with Draisaitl.

They were dominant in game 1. McDavid was held pretty quiet in game 2.

 

[destro909]

They were dominant in game 1. McDavid was held pretty quiet in game 2.

They may not have scored, but scaring chances were 9-2 when they were on the ice.

The other problem with putting McDavid and Draisaitl together on the road is that LA can line match against them. If they shutdown that line then the Oilers are in trouble

 

[Whoshattenkirkshoes]

Bump Holloway to RNH's position. Nuge needs to wake the f*** up.

I agree Nuge is not a playoff player, but in my opinion Holloway is too much of a North/South player to play with Drai. I feel like he will over think the game.

Maybe he does better this time around, but I kinda doubt it.

 

[Whoshattenkirkshoes]

The lightning aren’t any better than LA. They’d have been lucky to make the playoffs in the West.

Uh I'd say the Lightning are better than the LAK. If anything the Bolts were unlucky this year. Vasi hurts his back before the season starts and doesn't get his form back until a month ago. He is the best goalie in the league and he was practically useless

 

[Lacaar]

I think we need to treat the second line as the 4th line personally.
They are a 5 on 5 liability. Use them on the PP and PK and sparingly 5 on 5.

RNH and Leon can't cut it 5 on 5. At least not in this series from what I've seen. Too many missed assignments and just straight out poor puck management decisions which is what L.A is all about. They weren't even effective 5 on 5 game 1 in my opinion.

The Oilers really need to figure out why Leon struggles defensively 5 on 5 no matter who he plays with. Which is honestly shocking to me as after watching Leon come into his own in 2017, then watching him grow the next couple of years. I considered him quite strong defensively and our best defensive center. Now I watch him and my butt cheeks clench when he's on 5 on 5 without McDavid.

Perhaps I'm being overly critical or mistaken. There's still anxiety from game 5 and 6 of Vegas last year where Leon's line single handedly lost those games imo. I am going to pay extra attention to them 5 on 5 tonight.

 

[Valhallis]

Is it hockey time yet? Wait what? 12 hours still?!?!

 

[Lacaar]

In fairness EV, Kings are arguably the best team in the league at shutting down. Even with their average if that goaltending. Thing is it is possible to win games and win the series on special teams. The Oilers have been the better team in PP and PK by miles in this series. Not even comparable. To put into perspective the Oilers have more HDSC in this series shorthanded than the Kings do on their PP.

Hockey included special teams and the Officials generally don't start putting whistles away until round 2.

Kopitar line wasn't good in game one. They made amends. Conversely McDrai lines were owning game 1.

This seems strange but in current configuration the Oilers are suddenly the deeper team at forward. We are not playing the Lizotte, Laferriere, Lewis type fills. All L's, thats a chuckle. ALL of the forwards we are dressing are better players than that. Kings have the 3 worst forwards in the series, with apology to old Lewis who is trying.

Kings have 9-10 usable forwards. They have fill. We have no fill in 2024 in our playoff lineup.

I understand being shut down by the Kings playing their 1-3-1.

But there's a big difference between being shut down and being scored on.

L.A shutting down McDavid is a win for L.A. L.A shutting down McDavid and scoring on him 5 on 5 is a landslide victory. Now I understand it's 1 game for McDavid and it happens etc. I'm not so much worried about him and his line at all. It's Draisitl's line that scares me 5 on 5. They got their shit handed to them 5 on 5 in game 2. And I don't think they were all that great in game 1 either if I'm being honest.

Game 2 L.A didn't just shut down McDavid and Draisitl. They scored on them 3 times? That is too many for power play to overcome and means the pk has to be perfect.

I think the Oilers can be summed up in 1 sentence. "They don't deal well with success"
It immediately impacts their game. I expect them to win tonight and lose Sunday. or reverse. This team will not bring a consistent A game against L.A until they get concerned about the possibility of losing the series. Instead of showing a MATURE game in, game out consistent game. It will work against L.A in all likely hood. Heck I think it will work against Vancouver or Nashville. It will not work against Vegas or whomever comes out of the central. Can't win a series when you gift games to the opposition. Vegas showed that last year. Oilers showed in game 2 that lesson may not have been learned. I hope to god I'm wrong and they just steam roll L.A these next 3.

Then again. Maybe the Oilers just aren't as good as I think they can be.

 

[barry halls]

Finally a weekend game, let the liquor flow

 

[McJadeddog]

I think this is another loss. The team is going to need to be scared into taking the series seriously, and I think Skinner likely craps the bed again tonight, forcing Pickard to come in for relief in game 4. I don't think the team took the last loss to heart, and was blaming bounces and luck, more than their lack of composure and defensive responsibility. Skinner also seemed to not think he had any role to play in the loss. If they aren't willing to look in the mirror, they aren't willing to change - because they don't think there is anything to change.

 

[Mez]

Panthers are playing the Lightning who are MUCH better than LA, and are up 3-0 in the series. Games like last night is why I think the Oilers aren't ready to be contenders, as much as they talk about it. Teams like Florida and Vegas show up and play the same way every game, with incredible attention to detail. LA had way too much room last night. This team needs to focus fast. Playing your best and losing is one thing, but being asleep for large portions of the game in the playoffs is unacceptable.

Cant really compare teams like that. We gave Vegas a hard time and then Vegas breezed by Florida last year.

 

[NeverForget06]

I understand being shut down by the Kings playing their 1-3-1.

But there's a big difference between being shut down and being scored on.

L.A shutting down McDavid is a win for L.A. L.A shutting down McDavid and scoring on him 5 on 5 is a landslide victory. Now I understand it's 1 game for McDavid and it happens etc. I'm not so much worried about him and his line at all. It's Draisitl's line that scares me 5 on 5. They got their shit handed to them 5 on 5 in game 2. And I don't think they were all that great in game 1 either if I'm being honest.

Game 2 L.A didn't just shut down McDavid and Draisitl. They scored on them 3 times? That is too many for power play to overcome and means the pk has to be perfect.

I think the Oilers can be summed up in 1 sentence. "They don't deal well with success"
It immediately impacts their game. I expect them to win tonight and lose Sunday. or reverse. This team will not bring a consistent A game against L.A until they get concerned about the possibility of losing the series. Instead of showing a MATURE game in, game out consistent game. It will work against L.A in all likely hood. Heck I think it will work against Vancouver or Nashville. It will not work against Vegas or whomever comes out of the central. Can't win a series when you gift games to the opposition. Vegas showed that last year. Oilers showed in game 2 that lesson may not have been learned. I hope to god I'm wrong and they just steam roll L.A these next 3.

Then again. Maybe the Oilers just aren't as good as I think they can be.

I completely agree with this. Same reason they started out so terribly this year, they assumed they would just be good enough to win game and forgot to try. Then they knew they had no choice but to save themselves and won 16 in a row…. And then kind of half-assed the latter part of the season

 

[onetweasy]

After two pretty loose games, tonight is going to be those grind fest playoff games that I hate watching.

That said, Oilers prevail 3-1 with a "gasp" McDavid empty netter.....

P.S. - Please god let Skinner be serviceable tonight

 

[bone]

Well if he keeps posting .857 any able bodied male would be an upgrade on him. I’m sure Pickard could put up at least .880

He has only accomplished that once all season vs. a playoff team and it was still only .889.

In fact Pittsburgh is the only team not in the bottom 10 that he managed to have a game with greater than .890 save percentage and Detroit the only other that he managed greater than .880.

So he could put up at least .880, but I'm not that confident about it.

 

[alphahelix]

Is it hockey time yet? Wait what? 12 hours still?!?!

Puck drop isn’t til tomorrow on the east coast.

 

[ToeMcDrag83]

We've produce 7 goals and 4 goals. Creating the offense is not really the problem right now. It's how we're handling LA's game plan for offense. Simply put, they are throwing anything and everything from anywhere towards the net. Skinner is handling this shakily right now. Goal #4 against in the last game being prime example.

Shouldn't be a hard adjustment for our defense and zone protection. A little more attention at maintaining position in the shooting lane, and slightly more aggressive on the puck carrier to increase the chance of the puck hitting yourself instead of getting to the net. Sticks ready to clear the pucks to corners or out once the Kings swing it towards the net or slot. Kings are not overwhelming us threading our structure or anything, we just need some urgency defensively.

I am hoping to see a couple tweaks to the 4th line, we need to see Brown and/or Ryan at some point. The latter was one of our best players in the playoffs last year, he has a next level. Not seeing what Carrick is bringing that is an upgrade frankly (RH faceoffs maybe?). PK ability of all 3 is at best a wash, and I think both would work better at creating with Holloway.

Much as I'm hating this version of Skinner, you go with him in G3 and if we lose, move to Pickard in G4. No way you should be losing goalie battles to Talbot and LA's offense more than once, so Skinny better get his head on quick here.