|
This Team Is Trying To Kill Me |
|
|
|
|
|
Pulse check?
The Edmonton Oilers said all the right things after Game 3. They talked about how their undisciplined antics were unacceptable and that they would get back to playing the way they wanted to play in Game 4. Instead of taking a day off, the Oilers were right back at practice the following day and the next day there was an optional skate where 16 players, including McDavid and Draisaitl showed up. This looked like a team that had regrouped and were ready to give their best effort.
Flash forward to the end of the first period in Game 4 where the Oilers found themselves down 3-0, outshot 17-7 and took a plethora of undisciplined penalties. They talked the talk... they certainly did not walk the walk.
Stuart Skinner was pulled after the third goal and we will get to Calvin Pickard's performance in a moment but no one should be blaming Skinner for the three goal deficit. If not for some huge saves by Skinner throughout that time, it could have easily been a 5 or 6 goal period for the Panthers. One of those goals was a 5-3 and the other came right after a missed high stick call. Not blaming the refs for how the Oilers showed up though; Edmonton simply was not good.
Things started ugly for Edmonton with Evander Kane who might find himself in the press-box for Game 5. Kane is at his best when he is playing aggressive hockey and toeing that line but he has been a non factor in this series and worse, a liability with his needless penalties. I would certainly consider Arvidsson in over Kane at this stage because the constant slew of penalties is killing them.
Now onto the rest of the game.
RNH got the Oilers on the board early in the second period with a great shot. Nuge is clearly dealing with some kind of hand injury right now but that was still a goal scorers goal and throughout the rest of the game RNH did some great work at both ends of the ice, including hemming Florida in prior to Walman's go-ahead goal.
Nurse scored the second goal which is good for him because had he not scored that goal there would be absolutely nothing good to say about his game. Nurse is barely playing like a third pairing player right now and simply cannot make plays under even the barest amount of pressure. Florida is attacking him at every opportunity because they know he will either cough it up to them, or ice it and leave tired bodies on the ice.
Then Podkolzin tied things up as Nurse threw the puck in front and Podkolzin was simply aggressive in firing the puck towards the net, slipping past Bobrovsky. For all the hate Skinner gets at times, if he had allowed some of the goals that Bob did in Game 4 the Oilers fanbase would be livid.
Calvin Pickard is a wild player to watch. If you had told me prior to the start of this season that Pickard played 7 playoff games, I would have assumed Skinner was hurt, it was the first round of the playoffs and the Oilers were in big trouble. Instead, Calvin Pickard, a player originally acquired to be the third goalie in the organization has once again taken the net and is 7-0 in these playoffs. He doesn't always look calm in the net and doesn't always make it look easy, nor is he putting up big shutouts but he has found a way in each game to simply make one more save than the guy 200 feet away from him.
After seeming like it was inevitable that the series was going back to Edmonton with the Panthers up 3-1, the Oilers scored three unanswered goals and late in the third from a blast from Walman the Oilers found themselves up 4-3 with only seconds left... and of course after several opportunities to get the puck out or score the empty netter, Sam Reinhart wires it into an open cage to tie the game in near identical fashion to what Perry did in Game 2.
Overtime was all Florida. Whoever is doing the cardio regime for the Panthers deserves a raise because while the Oilers looked completely gassed, the Panthers looked like it was the first period and they were playing on fresh legs. Florida fired shot after shot on Pickard who was able to stand tall and make the saves.
Eventually it came back the other way with Draisaitl simply forcing his way in and with one hand on his stick, pushed it past Bobrovsky for the game winner. Leon Draisaitl broke a record with that goal for more OT game winners in the playoffs in NHL history. Right now if the Oilers do end up winning the Cup, Draisaitl deserves to be the Conn Smythe winner.
---
As my heartbeat is finally going down 12 hours later, the Oilers certainly did not come out the way they wanted to, but they once again dug deep in the face of adversity and continued to attack until they came out on top. This series has come as advertised and it's hard to imagine this not going 7 at this stage. Three of the four games have gone to overtime with only one game heavily favoring one team. The Oilers could have been going back to Edmonton up 3-1. They could have been going back down 1-3. Instead things are tied up 2-2 with the series now a best of three with the Oilers having home ice advantage.
Edmonton needs to find a way to start games on time and be attacking instead of simply trying to survive the Panthers assault. McDavid has had some great chances but hasn't fully taken over a game yet like we know he is capable of. Maybe we will see that in Game 5 on Saturday.
Thanks for reading.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»