If Tanev isn't back for Wednesday, and other questions..

[calumniate]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I think we're way over thinking the face off dot given the team Calgary just played.

The Stars were the best team in the regular season in the dots, and repeated that in the post season.

Faksa and Seguin were ranked 4th and 5th in the post season for playoff wins.

The Oilers best in the dot and only guy over 50% in the LA series was McDavid, though LA has some tough centers too.

Jarnkrok was a solid 53.3% in the regular season, and the Flames best drawsmen of guys that had any kind of volume.

I agree here - and was why I was thinking if Ruzicka did slot in and Jarnkrok potentially put on the wing, that Jarnkrok would still be useful on faceoffs

[PeteMoss]

The biggest issue with Tanev being out is the d match-ups with McDavid. With Tanev - you probably want to avoid the Z-Gudbranson vs McDavid match-up and are with the rest of the them. But without Tanev - it might be Stone-OK that you want to shelter from McDavid.

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by MacDaddy77

Ritchie brings enough speed and will get in a bang the d on the forecheck. That's not the game Ruzicka plays. Ritchie is a good 4th line playoff player.

Oilers 4th line isn't going to score (or their 3rd line for that matter) so its basically just going to be a battle of attrition of people running into each other. Ritchie is a good fit for that.

[agulati]

I really hope Tanev can go as the series goes along. I doubt he is fine for the first couple of games, but we do need him. Major loss, if he is unable to play.

[1qqaaz]

To be honest, I actually thought Tanev struggled in that series - especially the few games before his injury.

Still a big loss, but I think the team handled it well.

[BlindMilwaukee]

I definitely agree with Stone potentially being sheltered a bit from McDavid but from a couple clips in my mind Kylington did really well with his speed and positioning to kind of clamp down on Connor when he tries to blow past guys going wide.

Bottom line we are in a much better spot with a healthy Tanev.

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

The biggest issue with Tanev being out is the d match-ups with McDavid. With Tanev - you probably want to avoid the Z-Gudbranson vs McDavid match-up and are with the rest of the them. But without Tanev - it might be Stone-OK that you want to shelter from McDavid.

Kylington matches up pretty good with Mcbrokenleg.

That should be his main focus this round.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by 1qqaaz

To be honest, I actually thought Tanev struggled in that series - especially the few games before his injury.

Still a big loss, but I think the team handled it well.

I think Tanev was nursing something prior to being KOd when the Star jumped on his back.

Healthy players are probably a better alternative for now, until he can come back at at least 80%