Western Conference Playoffs

[conundrumed]

I guess we're going to find out if Dallas continues to play outstanding on the road!!

They were pretty much written off after dropping the first 2 at home vs Vegas.

They're prolly having too much sex at home. /s

[travel_dude]

6 hours ago, conundrumed said:

I guess we're going to find out if Dallas continues to play outstanding on the road!!

They were pretty much written off after dropping the first 2 at home vs Vegas.

They're prolly having too much sex at home. /s

 

When Connor Brown is the only Oiler to score, you know they were struggling.  Connor Brown.  Worth his bonuses.  That's something like $3M per playoff goal.

 

EDM complain about missed calls, but my oh my do they play dirty.  You could probably call Kane once per game and be conservative.  Their version of "the pick" would make the one called on Petey in the VAN series look like a joke. Holding sticks under the arm.  DAL is somewhat dirty, but plays within the rules.  They have all season.

 

EDM complains about anything they see as woo is me.  Complain to the NHL about the Green Guys in VAN, to the point where they were banned.  Complain to the media about not getting power plays.  What's next?  Cpmplaini that the defense are covering McD too closely and he is not allowed a free path to the net?    

[cross16]

20 hours ago, travel_dude said:

 

The 1st period didn't turn into a solid 2nd and 3rd.  Someone made reference that twice there were stretches in the game where EDM went 10+ minutes without a shot on goal.  I figured, after watching period 1, that EDM would get up a goal and DAL would struggle to tie it up.  DAL did struggle to get a goal, but it was the go ahead goal.

 

Several players and the coach all pointed to standards of penalty calls.  In other words, why they were not getting calls.  It's the 3rd round.  They are no free ones.  You are licky to get a call.  I find that there is normally one call each way early that is questionable.  After that you need to use an axe to get called.  Or a pretty obvious scoring chance taken away.

 

DAL needs to do what they did to McD and Drai this last game, and that is not let them attack the middle.  Sticks in lanes.  Get position.  Not let them cycle.

 

Beyond that, the Stars are not getting a ton of quality shots.  The first goal on the first shot should have given them a clue.  Keep the shots between the pad and the blocker/trapper, but mainly away from the glove.  How is Little Joe not able to deflect shots?  That was his greatest strength.

 

Stars made some nice adjustments in the 3rd and starting using the middle of the ice. Oilers did a great job in periods 1/2 of having dman pressuring the Stars breakout so they coudln't move the puck at all outside of dump and chase. Dallas made the adjustment you need to though and I think that's why they controlled the 3rd. Ottinger was the main reason Dallas was in that one though because it could have easily been 2 or even 3-1 Edm after the first if it weren't for him. 

 

the 3rd period is how I was expecting the series to play out. Stars suffocating the Oilers speed, turning pucks over, taking it the other way and just grinding them down. Stars just gotta hit the net more often. 

 

but I agree with what others said here that's the playoff and at this point in time you should expect to be against that level of goaltending and Oilers have been lucky in the playoffs so far that they haven't seen it. 

[travel_dude]

1 hour ago, cross16 said:

 

Stars made some nice adjustments in the 3rd and starting using the middle of the ice. Oilers did a great job in periods 1/2 of having dman pressuring the Stars breakout so they coudln't move the puck at all outside of dump and chase. Dallas made the adjustment you need to though and I think that's why they controlled the 3rd. Ottinger was the main reason Dallas was in that one though because it could have easily been 2 or even 3-1 Edm after the first if it weren't for him. 

 

the 3rd period is how I was expecting the series to play out. Stars suffocating the Oilers speed, turning pucks over, taking it the other way and just grinding them down. Stars just gotta hit the net more often. 

 

but I agree with what others said here that's the playoff and at this point in time you should expect to be against that level of goaltending and Oilers have been lucky in the playoffs so far that they haven't seen it. 

 

Overall, EDM has faced surprisingly few shots.  More in round one, but against VAN, the Nucks were lucky to get more than 18 shots.  Skinner's shot totals against Dallas may look good, but the quality of the shots is suspect.  

 

I'm not sure if they burned out against LA and VAN with tons of minutes and play, but they seem to be having trouble maintaining that against Dallas.  A real playoff team.  Had the Oilers played Vegas or Colorado in the previous round, we might not have any Canadian teams in the playoffs.  Two teams that play very hard on the puck.

[conundrumed]

1 hour ago, cross16 said:

 

Stars made some nice adjustments in the 3rd and starting using the middle of the ice. Oilers did a great job in periods 1/2 of having dman pressuring the Stars breakout so they coudln't move the puck at all outside of dump and chase. Dallas made the adjustment you need to though and I think that's why they controlled the 3rd. Ottinger was the main reason Dallas was in that one though because it could have easily been 2 or even 3-1 Edm after the first if it weren't for him. 

 

the 3rd period is how I was expecting the series to play out. Stars suffocating the Oilers speed, turning pucks over, taking it the other way and just grinding them down. Stars just gotta hit the net more often. 

 

but I agree with what others said here that's the playoff and at this point in time you should expect to be against that level of goaltending and Oilers have been lucky in the playoffs so far that they haven't seen it. 

DeBoer's a great coach. Dallas has made adjustments in each series and get better as they get the read on teams they've faced so far. Pretty impressive.

Of course, Oettinger doesn't hurt.

In far more important news, Grand Rapids bowed out to Milwaukee Admirals 3-2 in their best of 5. @jjgallow, that was Cossa vs Askarov. Great series.

Memorial Cup all this week. I'm seriously running out of hockey give-a-care.lol

We've hit high 30's a coupla times now, June hockey is a struggle. The various squash are already trying to act like they own the place.

[cross16]

47 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

 

Overall, EDM has faced surprisingly few shots.  More in round one, but against VAN, the Nucks were lucky to get more than 18 shots.  Skinner's shot totals against Dallas may look good, but the quality of the shots is suspect.  

 

I'm not sure if they burned out against LA and VAN with tons of minutes and play, but they seem to be having trouble maintaining that against Dallas.  A real playoff team.  Had the Oilers played Vegas or Colorado in the previous round, we might not have any Canadian teams in the playoffs.  Two teams that play very hard on the puck.

 

I get we don't want to give EDM credit but I think you need to. The reason they are not facing a lot of shots is related to how they are playing. Oilers are very bought in right now on doing the little things defensively  and its showing. 

 

Yes i think Vegas likely beats them in round 1 if the played them but at the same time Oilers have played well in these playoffs too and they've changed their game. This isn't a team trying to run and gun you out of the building anymore. 

[travel_dude]

1 hour ago, cross16 said:

 

I get we don't want to give EDM credit but I think you need to. The reason they are not facing a lot of shots is related to how they are playing. Oilers are very bought in right now on doing the little things defensively  and its showing. 

 

Yes i think Vegas likely beats them in round 1 if the played them but at the same time Oilers have played well in these playoffs too and they've changed their game. This isn't a team trying to run and gun you out of the building anymore. 

 

I wasn't taking anything away from the defensive play, just pointing to the number of shots.  A lot of goals scored against on a few shots.  In the VAN series, he had one game where his SA% was over 900.  And that was with 15 shots.

[cberg]

2 hours ago, conundrumed said:

DeBoer's a great coach. Dallas has made adjustments in each series and get better as they get the read on teams they've faced so far. Pretty impressive.

Of course, Oettinger doesn't hurt.

In far more important news, Grand Rapids bowed out to Milwaukee Admirals 3-2 in their best of 5. @jjgallow, that was Cossa vs Askarov. Great series.

Memorial Cup all this week. I'm seriously running out of hockey give-a-care.lol

We've hit high 30's a coupla times now, June hockey is a struggle. The various squash are already trying to act like they own the place.

You’re lucky, barely broke 20 a handful of times here,  and just put the squash transplants in the ground.  

[conundrumed]

1 minute ago, cberg said:

You’re lucky, barely broke 20 a handful of times here,  and just put the squash transplants in the ground.  

I feel you, man. That's a tough environment. Make sure to really express that zone you're in. Here, Morning Glory, Sweet Pea, Lavaterra etc are considered noxious perennial weeds by your neighbours. Massive difference between annual and perennial (re-seeder). My cilantro, green onion, basil, oregano re-seed every year. Crazy difference.

I cut my gardening chops in NW Calgary. Here? What you start indoors is only because you want 2 harvests a month apart.

What you're doing is way harder. I can throw near any seed in tilled clay, mulched in leaves from my maples, and off they go.

May I recommend to you bush zucchini and bush beans? Small area harvest is fantastic. No way we could keep up with 2 zucchini bushes. The other ones for the neighbours. lol

Beans are an amazing harvest too. I had trellis' for Snow peas and sugar snaps out there too and had great success. Need space though. My garden was about 60' x 30" with raspberry border, deeply contained from running everything into the ground. Blockchaining raspberries. lol

[cberg]

5 hours ago, conundrumed said:

I feel you, man. That's a tough environment. Make sure to really express that zone you're in. Here, Morning Glory, Sweet Pea, Lavaterra etc are considered noxious perennial weeds by your neighbours. Massive difference between annual and perennial (re-seeder). My cilantro, green onion, basil, oregano re-seed every year. Crazy difference.

I cut my gardening chops in NW Calgary. Here? What you start indoors is only because you want 2 harvests a month apart.

What you're doing is way harder. I can throw near any seed in tilled clay, mulched in leaves from my maples, and off they go.

May I recommend to you bush zucchini and bush beans? Small area harvest is fantastic. No way we could keep up with 2 zucchini bushes. The other ones for the neighbours. lol

Beans are an amazing harvest too. I had trellis' for Snow peas and sugar snaps out there too and had great success. Need space though. My garden was about 60' x 30" with raspberry border, deeply contained from running everything into the ground. Blockchaining raspberries. lol

I love my raspberries, black, 2x red and the sweetest of all, golden.  Also love sugar snaps, built a bed under the back fence and use the chain link as a trellis.  Just put in the yellow zucchini but know what you mean…  Not planting bush beans because have too many frozen, but pole beans and scarlett runners cover my 16’ cattle panel arch that the grandkids love scrambling up…

[Sarasti]

Jesus here we go making me hungry for veggies and berries again.

Think ill make some soup and a smoothie now 😅

[cberg]

2 hours ago, Sarasti said:

Jesus here we go making me hungry for veggies and berries again.

Think ill make some soup and a smoothie now 😅

Smoothie is a perfect idea for an evening snack, thanks!

[cross16]

The Stars would probably sweep this series if they could find a consistent 60mins 

[Thebrewcrew]

That’s why you trade a 1st round pick for a 34yr old

[cross16]

I really hope the Stars score on this PP so that facial experience of Nurse’s can become a meme somewhere. 

[Thebrewcrew]

Really timid PP by Dallas.

 

If Edmonton would have had 97/29 out there, I would have understood but they didn’t.

 

Wonder if it bites them

[cross16]

7 minutes ago, Thebrewcrew said:

Really timid PP by Dallas.

 

If Edmonton would have had 97/29 out there, I would have understood but they didn’t.

 

Wonder if it bites them

Dallas plays it so safe with a lead it’s crazy. Not as in sit back but just ultra safe with the puck. 

[Thebrewcrew]

Edmonton has made strides. But they can still implode at any given moment. Been doing it since 2017.

Just in this series, they've blown multi goal leads twice in three games. They survived game one. Not tonight.

 

 

Haven't scored a PP goal in three games. They'll likely get going. Hard to see EDM winning though if they have to win at even strength.

 

The goalie is still a issue. That GWG shouldn't have went in.

 

Game 4 feels like a must-win. This was the first time Edmonton has lost consecutive games. They've shown an ability to bounce back. This is also a much better team they're playing though.

[cross16]

I won't say that the Oilers are done in this series, although I agree game 4 is massive, but the flaws everyone talks about are getting exposed. 

 

I know the post game chat was "collapse" but I don't see it that way. Ya one of the goals, Bouchard was a little causal on, but the rest you just see a lack of quality defending and in particular Nurse was front and center for it. 2 of the goals against he and Desharnis were on for and in both cases played it very poorly. On top of that you have Skinner letting in a poor 4th goal, and I didn't like Robertson first either. Yes an elite shooter but that's from a pretty good distance.  Think you need that save in the playoffs.  This has been the problem with the Oilers. How are you going to win over the course of the playoffs with avg to below avg goaltending? How can you win with Nurse playing 20 plus mins a night (and IMO he's a poor defender) or having to roll 1 of he, Desharnis or Ceci in your 2nd pair (all poor defenders IMO). 

 

I think the in playoffs systems, details and structure can only you get you so far and then ultimately your weakness is going to get exposed. Oilers, for the most part, have done this part very well (although Dallas adjusted well post game 1/2) but ultimately you can't cover that up in a 7 games series and throughout the playoffs. The Oilers poor quality of dmen is what led to the downfall last night IMO. 

[travel_dude]

2 hours ago, cross16 said:

I won't say that the Oilers are done in this series, although I agree game 4 is massive, but the flaws everyone talks about are getting exposed. 

 

I know the post game chat was "collapse" but I don't see it that way. Ya one of the goals, Bouchard was a little causal on, but the rest you just see a lack of quality defending and in particular Nurse was front and center for it. 2 of the goals against he and Desharnis were on for and in both cases played it very poorly. On top of that you have Skinner letting in a poor 4th goal, and I didn't like Robertson first either. Yes an elite shooter but that's from a pretty good distance.  Think you need that save in the playoffs.  This has been the problem with the Oilers. How are you going to win over the course of the playoffs with avg to below avg goaltending? How can you win with Nurse playing 20 plus mins a night (and IMO he's a poor defender) or having to roll 1 of he, Desharnis or Ceci in your 2nd pair (all poor defenders IMO). 

 

I think the in playoffs systems, details and structure can only you get you so far and then ultimately your weakness is going to get exposed. Oilers, for the most part, have done this part very well (although Dallas adjusted well post game 1/2) but ultimately you can't cover that up in a 7 games series and throughout the playoffs. The Oilers poor quality of dmen is what led to the downfall last night IMO. 

 

The winning goal looked like a player going in on a shootout; 10 feet from the nearest Oiler.  I was shocked that a playoff goalie let it in from that angle.  Have seen the shot from the side go in a bit, but those were not in close.  Too much space on that side.  It looked like there was no way for it to go in.  But it did.

 

I have more time for Ceci than Desharais, but neither should be playing on a team hoping to make the SCF. 

 

The coach cited the gap between the forwards and the D in the D zone.  You know he is mad about the details being missed.  The "expert analysts" talked about Dallas stretching out the ice, but I saw a lot more of Dallas winning every puck battle (2nd and 3rd) and forechecking the Oiler hard.  There was a lot of panick in the Oilers zone.  Guys flailing away, falling all over the place.  For a team that skates so well, they seem to have trouble tracking the other players.

 

Hintz was a difference maker this game.  Maybe he helps Dallas play 60 minutes instead of 40.  Nice to get your #1 C back in a critical game 3.

[medatswhoP]

2 hours ago, travel_dude said:

 

The winning goal looked like a player going in on a shootout; 10 feet from the nearest Oiler.  I was shocked that a playoff goalie let it in from that angle.  Have seen the shot from the side go in a bit, but those were not in close.  Too much space on that side.  It looked like there was no way for it to go in.  But it did.

 

I have more time for Ceci than Desharais, but neither should be playing on a team hoping to make the SCF. 

 

The coach cited the gap between the forwards and the D in the D zone.  You know he is mad about the details being missed.  The "expert analysts" talked about Dallas stretching out the ice, but I saw a lot more of Dallas winning every puck battle (2nd and 3rd) and forechecking the Oiler hard.  There was a lot of panick in the Oilers zone.  Guys flailing away, falling all over the place.  For a team that skates so well, they seem to have trouble tracking the other players.

 

Hintz was a difference maker this game.  Maybe he helps Dallas play 60 minutes instead of 40.  Nice to get your #1 C back in a critical game 3.

To add: coverage in sticking to Mclotto and Drai tight have been also key in controlling the inside of ice space, by keeping the Oilers on outside perimeters is key to winning. Tomorrow should Dallas win this series if 99% over.

Sad for another Canadian team to fall but I just can't cheer for Edmonton no matter what. Skinner in my opinion plays to deep in the net and is out of position on most goals he "should" have stopped.

On a side note, with Tanev UFA after this year are there chances Flames regain him back? (Would love to see that)

Go Stars!

[sak22]

25 minutes ago, medatswhoP said:

To add: coverage in sticking to Mclotto and Drai tight have been also key in controlling the inside of ice space, by keeping the Oilers on outside perimeters is key to winning. Tomorrow should Dallas win this series if 99% over.

Sad for another Canadian team to fall but I just can't cheer for Edmonton no matter what. Skinner in my opinion plays to deep in the net and is out of position on most goals he "should" have stopped.

On a side note, with Tanev UFA after this year are there chances Flames regain him back? (Would love to see that)

Go Stars!

I would lean towards no, unless he wins and his family wants to be here I don't see it happening as he'll have plenty of suitors in the offseason, many in better position than the Flames.

[travel_dude]

55 minutes ago, medatswhoP said:

To add: coverage in sticking to Mclotto and Drai tight have been also key in controlling the inside of ice space, by keeping the Oilers on outside perimeters is key to winning. Tomorrow should Dallas win this series if 99% over.

Sad for another Canadian team to fall but I just can't cheer for Edmonton no matter what. Skinner in my opinion plays to deep in the net and is out of position on most goals he "should" have stopped.

On a side note, with Tanev UFA after this year are there chances Flames regain him back? (Would love to see that)

Go Stars!

 

Stars love him and he has been 100% solid for them, so I think they re-sign him.

 

Skinner has been prone top letting in soft goals all playoffs, but I don't see him as the problem as much as the team overall.  Dallas is a tough opponent.  They outmuscle EDM in most of the battles.  McD has to hack and slash to try to get the puck back.  Drai looks old and slow.  He always was the type of player that would be better on a high possession team like LA.  

 

EDM can suck it.  I'm sick of the stupid car flags (how many is too many).  Done with the media talking about them as the best team in the playoffs.  They have one player and two others that get fed a healthy diet of passes.  I do think Hyman was their best signing in 20 years.  Dumbass was a fool to let him walk.

[conundrumed]

Dallas is so well constructed. Hintz being back is huge for them. Edmonton's played really well, can't take that away from them. When it was 2-0, all I could think was, "yeah, get ready for Dallas".

Just a really deep, well-coached team. So many options of who might be the scoring threat. They start running around in the O-zone being total chaos, you lose coverage.

I'm not sure how the Oilers, Rangers or Panthers can stop them in the O-zone when they're going. They've had, like, 12 almost goals out of chaos and jamming the net alone.

It's crazy how good they are. Also, sad that it looks like they'll be this for a few years. Stupid pinnacles.

Hate the Oilers all you want, but that Blockchaining team, jesus christ. They're everyone's problem.

[sak22]

44 minutes ago, conundrumed said:

Dallas is so well constructed. Hintz being back is huge for them. Edmonton's played really well, can't take that away from them. When it was 2-0, all I could think was, "yeah, get ready for Dallas".

Just a really deep, well-coached team. So many options of who might be the scoring threat. They start running around in the O-zone being total chaos, you lose coverage.

I'm not sure how the Oilers, Rangers or Panthers can stop them in the O-zone when they're going. They've had, like, 12 almost goals out of chaos and jamming the net alone.

It's crazy how good they are. Also, sad that it looks like they'll be this for a few years. Stupid pinnacles.

Hate the Oilers all you want, but that Blockchaining team, jesus christ. They're everyone's problem.

Well the problem for them is basically tick tock, if not this year they have 12 million (assuming Campbell is bought out) and only have 7-5-1 signed for next season, then its only 1 more cheap year of Bouchard and decisions to make on Leon if he doesn't extend, and not much coming up for them.  I give them credit for how they've played this year, but a lot of the window got wasted before they realized they needed to change.