Oettinger looked a little tired in the third, he’s pretty young so he’ll probably be fine but I wonder if getting shelled like this will eventually wear him down.
He has also played 48 regular season NHL games, 10 AHL games, and now 4 NHL playoff games for a total of 62 games this year. By far the most games he has ever played in a season anywhere in his career (38 AHL games was his previous high two seasons ago). The Flames made him work and a couple of times, he looked a little slow moving around. The team in front of him really protects him, but despite that, the Flames made him work hard tonight.
It might not be a factor, but could be. He has never had this kind of workload, so it is a wild card for sure.
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"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
I’m just glad we got the W. I was more than a little nervous after dropping the previous game. I’m glad Gaudreau was okay after the first. All the dirty crap Dallas gets away with in the series makes me really mad.
It was a great game by Stone, have nothing but good things to say about the guy. It was a victory lead by Backlund, Coleman, and Gaudreau what an awesome performance by all of them. Now we just need more of that, it’s time to close this series with 2 more dominant wins.
I'd love to know what Looch said to Benn at the start of the first period? Loved that it set the tone for the whole game.
I said it before the first game, Looch needs to say "If you do anything dirty to us, this will be the last hockey game you'll ever play" And then have Gud and Zad repeat it to Benn.
As much as we rag on the middle 6 for not scoring, it's absolutely huge for Gaudreau to work his way through some offensive struggles and still have a 1-0 lead in the third when he finally breaks through. In past years that'd be the goal to get us on the board in a 3-0 game.
The team defence really is the foundation, and it means Gaudreau's offence isn't elevating us from horrible to barely winning, it's elevating us from breakeven to dominance.