No, they didn’t. They should have played better. I’m an Oilers fan and the excuses some fans make are ridiculous. It looked like they relied on using the power play to outscore their opponents every game with no plan B.
Could one of you hockey strategists out there ( yes, I know you’re all amateurs ) please describe the defensive system employed by this team?

The payout to Nurse is going to be an issue for this team. With the offensive firepower this team has, to shell out 9.25 to a guy who had previously topped out at 41 points is not proving ideal. He's a 6M defenseman, and pairing him with Ceci, whose defensive liabilities are well documented, is a recipe for disaster. With Ekholm/Bouchard poised to take over as the top pair next season, Edmonton needs to find a righty who fits Nurse's game ASAP (Mayfield, Gudas, Holl, Erik Johnson are UFAs that could be thought through) shed Ceci and Desharnais, and explore options to replace Yamamoto. Matvei Petrov is looking like a sneaky late round grab, and Lavoie, Bourgault, and Philp could all come up to replace Bjugstad, Ryan, Shore. Hope most change in the bottom 6 comes from within, and on the blue line without. You're kinda stuck running these goaltenders but I'd bet Campbell bounces back - it's hard to be that bad that consistently. It's rinse & repeat for this group.
- Bartacus

I would like to resign Bjugstad for 1 year if Jonathan Toews is unavailable

No, they didn’t deserve better they lost.

got what they deserved as in all the non calls and horrible penalties..
yes we lost but we got the raptors treatment which is a joke, Toronto never has to win to be the best franchise.. win or lose we bring so much money to this league..

good luck with the rebuild look fwd to the Flyers being good again hopefully sooner then later..
- a1xfreakx13

Ok so the leafs get the making the league money trophy. Congratulations!
They still don’t deserve poop. Success is earned.

Eklund: Edmonton Players Deserved Better.
- Eklund

deserving gots nothing to do with it

they lost

Only got Vegas and Dallas correct in the 2nd round. Start of postseason I had Vegas over Jersey in the finals. Going to stick with Vegas and pick Carolina out of the East.

Have a local uni student edit your blogs for a six-pack or something. Geez.

No, they didn't deserve better. Outside of their top 3 scorers, the entire offence laid a giant deuce all playoffs.

Also:

It’s not just about the fact that there was no penalty called when Ekholm had a piece of his cheek gouged out in the third period

Well yeah, there wasn't a penalty called because that wasn't a penalty.

no they didn't leafs deserved what they got for "wanting Florida"
- 2Real

No player or players deserve anything.

But did they though?

So we have to feel sorry for Edmonton now? They aren’t going anywhere

So we have to feel sorry for Edmonton now? They aren’t going anywhere
- ger68

Probably give them another top 10 pick then.

Probably give them another top 10 pick then.
- glove_was_stuck

Might want to give them a few. Seems like every other one gets ruined and then traded for peanuts.

"It’s not just about the rise of Boucher and the addition of Ekholm giving them a legit contending defense…."

Boucher?

Typical of how amateurish and incompetent this site is.

"It’s not just about the rise of Boucher and the addition of Ekholm giving them a legit contending defense…."

Boucher?

Typical of how amateurish and incompetent this site is.
- courier

Boosh