IanO
Superstar
5-4 tonight for us after being down again say 3-1.
97 and 2 to get going, but honestly, this series gets won with secondary power.
97 and 2 to get going, but honestly, this series gets won with secondary power.
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Edmonton Oilers
- Thread starter Gronk!
- Start date
The_Cat
Senior Member
No lead will be safe.
kcantor
Senior Member
Not to tell anyone I told you so - and yes it’s only 3 games into a series that needs one team to get 4 wins before it’s over - but I told you so…
Although they won one of them, that’s three straight games where the Oilers played the very game they can’t afford to play if they’re going to get past the first round.
IanO
Superstar
My take. It's coming, they will respond, smarten up, adapt and get going. Spilt the away games and get on their horse.
AntonK
Active Member
I think so too. Last night we outplayed them, but couldn't get the breaks, and goaltending didn't make the big saves when needed. I expect we'll outplay them every game, but I'm worried goaltending might be the difference.
My prediction, we win game 4 and we win the series.
The_Cat
Senior Member
Game 4 is a must-win game.
kcantor
Senior Member
For anyone still wondering why Bouchard wasn't on Team Canada and why he won't win the James Norris Memorial Trophy, his play in last night's game was described as having "some good on the attack but two brutal sequences in the third, utterly brutal" which in turn led the team's play being described as "... the younger, healthier and faster Anaheim Ducks ripped them apart with two rush goals in the third off Evan Bouchard turnovers for a 7-4 win.
The_Cat
Senior Member
I wonder if there’s a problem with some players not listening to the coach. It seems there are some careless plays on a regular basis.
kcantor
Senior Member
I think they listen but I also think there are two problems with their ice time that we've seen all season and that we're continuing to see:
The elite players on the team get so much ice team with the expectation that they'll deliver that they're too worn down to deliver on an everyday basis.
There isn't enough ice time left for the rest of the team for them to be involved to the degree that they can meet those same expectations.
I also think the constant line shuffling that sees players moving back and forth from too much time to not enough time exacerbates the problem of being able to find and maintain a rhythm.
If I had to name it, I might call it the "teacher's pet" syndrome. There are those that deserve to be teacher's pets - McDavid, Draisaitl, Hyman, Podkolzin etc. - but it's not fair to them or to the rest of the team to reward them with minutes that belong to the rest of the team. They're too committed to refuse it but everyone needs sufficient time to do their job if they're going to do it well ;just as everyone needs to recover between stretches of providing maximum effort during a game.
Even those who are "teacher's pets" know this isn't good for them or for the team and they probably know how many of those careless plays result from that. That's why there's still so much camaraderie and respect between them (thinking back to Draisaitl's comments on the coaching...) that I believe is honestly felt and not just lip service.
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Dkeirle
New Member
100%. He had some glaring defensive mishaps. There was one in the third where he was on the attack and turned over the puck giving the ducks a 2 on 1, and luckily they didn't score. As much as Bouchard can be blamed for some of the mistakes, the team's defensive play in general wasn't great. Allowing too many odd man rushes, and allowing Anaheim to skate freely around Edmonton's net, getting to loose pucks.
On the positive side, I don't know if they could play any worse, and probably we can chalk it up as an off night. Hopefully they get back to business tonight, and get back into the series.
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Dkeirle
New Member
Uhhh, I wouldn't say we outplayed them. I would say the opposite, but I agree that Ingram wasn't making the big saves when needed. The first three I don't fault him on, nothing you can do about fluke tip ins, or a puck conveniently bounding to an Anaheim player in front of the net. Goals 4 or 5 being 2 on 1's weren't necessarily his fault either, but that's where you want your goalie to come up with a big save. Goal #6 was weak.
kcantor
Senior Member
How about the big saves that he did make - particularly in the first period " - without which this game would have been "done and dusted" long before those goals in the third. It's not his fault that the rest of the team - for whatever reasons (see above) - didn't build on that performance a lot more than they did. Whatever opportunity they did have came from him.