WCR1: Edmonton Oilers (P3) vs Los Angeles Kings (P2) - Oilers win 4-2

[howard_the_duck]

Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz

I'm still pretty confident that the Kings can pull this off.

The Kings got their lead by playing the same hockey they've been playing all year. They may not get a 4 goal lead every game, but they way they got up is at least sustainable and they can plan to repeat it.

The Oilers got back into it because of a super human effort by 1 or 2 guys.
Okay, so is that the Oilers' game plan? Hope McDavid goes nuclear?

The Oilers' need to figure out how to contain a team.
The Kings need to figure out how to contain one line.

As for the goaltending?
Everyone in that Kings' dressing room is likely looking at Kuemper thinking the guy had a bad game, that's not normal, he'll be better.
How many folks in that Oilers room are looking at Skinner thinking "This again?".

The things that went well for the Kings are sustainable.
The things that went wrong, are fixable, and weren't typical for them.

The things that went well for the Oilers, you gotta hope one guy can keep it up.
The things that went wrong for the Oilers, are the same issues they've had all year.

This is all to say, The kings had a bad game.
The only 2 guys on the Oilers that can make a difference had a great game.
And the Kings still won.

What concerns me is these guys CAN go nuclear and dramatically alter the outcome.

Game 1 had a familiar feeling to the 9-6 game 1 against the Flames. A win, but a slip of momentum that now gives the Oilers confidence they can drag you into playing their game.

[Macho0978]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

I didn’t watch but has some similarities to the 9-6 Flames win in game 1 of 2022 second round.

Glad the Kings won as the Oilers usually start off poorly so it was very important to get that game 1 win at home

It could be the difference as they still got the win on a lucky shot. Maybe the bounces go the other way this year.

The concern is, the Oilers could be in the Kings head now. up 4 to 0 and you almost lost and they couldn't stop the big 2.

LA just does not have the elite d pairing or an elite 2-way dman. Doughty is still good, but nowhere near what he once was.

I see Mikey Andersson like Hanifin and Rasmus trying to contain the big 2. He has no hope when he is out against both. Decent dman, but doesn't have what it takes to be on the ice against elite offensive talent.

If LA wants to win, they need to load up the 1st d pairing and score on the PP and Byfield needs to have a massive series.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Bieksa had a great down in the 1st intermission about how they were defending him. You can't let him generate speed, including in the offensive zone. Once he does that - he's impossible to defend.

And many times by going after him they managed to strip him or knock the puck away. Then at the end they just literally laid down and allowed him to go around or pass to a wide open man.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

McDavid was putting up Gretzky-like points in the playoffs last year.

He had 4 points last night. Let's face it, he's in his prime and he's determined - that's nearly impossible to stop. On the first goal, Kopitar of all people basically defended against him perfectly and he still shook him off. His drive looked Crosby-esque on the tying goal.

If you can find a way to limit McDavid to 2 points per game or less, Oilers are very beatable.

The first goal was a clear holding the stick penalty on McDavid that reps somehow just missed (aka ignored)

But when McDavid wants to be he's the best player in the game. The only player remotely close to being able to have the combination of speed, skill, and strength offensively is Mackinnon.

So he is fully possible of taking over a series, the Kings need to beat the rest of the Oilers though and hold him to 2 points per game.

[3rd liner]

I get that McDavid is really hard to hit with that speed, but for the love of Pete why don't they just keep levelling Pissy? So frustrating. The guy barely moves- he's not an elusive target. I know he's a big guy and pretty solid on his feet (except for the diving), but the Kings have some big bodies as well- send that big Hellenius kid after him, or a big forward, to stick to him like glue and make his life miserable. I remember the old days of shadowing players... imagine how many penalties the King shadowing him would draw due to repeated nut shots and slashes from Pissy.
.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by 3rd liner

I get that McDavid is really hard to hit with that speed, but for the love of Pete why don't they just keep levelling Pissy? So frustrating. The guy barely moves- he's not an elusive target. I know he's a big guy and pretty solid on his feet (except for the diving), but the Kings have some big bodies as well- send that big Hellenius kid after him, or a big forward, to stick to him like glue and make his life miserable. I remember the old days of shadowing players... imagine how many penalties the King shadowing him would draw due to repeated nut shots and slashes from Pissy.
.

Great idea. The Kings would have to assign two players to that job, just because of the number of minutes Draisaitl plays.

In the '86 Battle of Alberta, Bob Johnson had two players shadowing Gretzky. At first, I believe, it was Carey Wilson and Neil Sheehy. I forget who took Wilson's place after Steve Smith de-spleened him. It's no coincidence, I believe, that the Flames lost the '88 series in a sweep after trading both Wilson and Sheehy away earlier in the same season.

[Shazam]

Not sure how they can assign specific defenders on McD and Drai when they're playing 5/7 minutes. Can't see that being something the Oilers can keep doing though.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Shazam

Not sure how they can assign specific defenders on McD and Drai when they're playing 5/7 minutes.

That's why you assign two guys to Draisaitl – so they can spell each other off.

McDavid is probably the less dangerous of the two. It just needs to be a team effort to make sure he doesn't have enough room to get up to full speed.

[Jason14h]

Honestly LA shouldn’t worry about Drais and McDavid

It sounds counter intuitive but these guys are going to score 3-4 goals / set up every playoff game when they are playing their style and 25 mins a night

The issue actually becomes when teams start trying to stop them . They play passive , overthink positioning , etc and their offence dries up

This is still the biggest issue the Flames had/bad adjustment they made after the 9-6 G1. Instead of just saying our top line is going to outscore your team and we don’t care if we win 7-5 every game , Sutter came out and complained that you can’t win playing that type of hockey (even though we just won G1) and we played pretty timid the rest of the series

LA should just go out and continue to score on this terrible D and Goalie

You might loose a few 6-4 games this series, but I believe you will win more then you loose

Now if you sit back and try to win 3-2 you get in more trouble because Drais and McD are going to get theirs either way unless you have a Barkov who can shut them down (and Kopitar is too old now to play that role for 25 mins a night in a long series )

[White Out 403]

mcdavid is still a hilarious liability in the d zone. #### him, and, #### the oilers. sideways.

[IamNotKenKing]

Originally Posted by Macho0978

Last year McDavid seemed to pick on Mikey Anderson on most of his goals he created. Doughty, not sure what he was doing just laying down letting McDavid make the easy pass.

LA wants to win, they need to get Mikey Anderson away from Mcdavid. Not sure why he plays more than Gavrikov

Just watched the replay of the third and saw a play when it was 5-3 (I think) where McOffence did the chip off the boards and Anderson essentially gave him the outside, staying inside, and Doughty was backing him up so when McDoesn'tbackcheck cut back in, Doughty was there.

On the game tying goal, Doughty was not there, so Mcavi had the route to the net.

I wonder if Anderson thought he had the back-up of Doughty in place, hence giving him the outside...

If you're not going to hit McNoD, I would much prefer giving him the outside with backside support, as opposed to letting him cut to the middle...

[Macho0978]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

Honestly LA shouldn’t worry about Drais and McDavid

It sounds counter intuitive but these guys are going to score 3-4 goals / set up every playoff game when they are playing their style and 25 mins a night

The issue actually becomes when teams start trying to stop them . They play passive , overthink positioning , etc and their offence dries up

This is still the biggest issue the Flames had/bad adjustment they made after the 9-6 G1. Instead of just saying our top line is going to outscore your team and we don’t care if we win 7-5 every game , Sutter came out and complained that you can’t win playing that type of hockey (even though we just won G1) and we played pretty timid the rest of the series

LA should just go out and continue to score on this terrible D and Goalie

You might loose a few 6-4 games this series, but I believe you will win more then you loose

Now if you sit back and try to win 3-2 you get in more trouble because Drais and McD are going to get theirs either way unless you have a Barkov who can shut them down (and Kopitar is too old now to play that role for 25 mins a night in a long series )

I get that the score was 6 to 5 but LA was playing great hockey early, it was because they were giving the Oilers nothing. They weren't playing a run and gun score more goals than you game.

The concern the Oilers have is Hyman was very bad. Oilers loaded up the big 2 and looked unstoppable though, especially when Hyman wasn't out there. LA might win this as they have the upper hand in the injury department this year.

[Jason14h]

You don’t have to play run and gun though - you can score 5 on the Oilers just playing your normal game

It’s when you start overthinking the shutting down of Drais and McDavid and sittting back you get in trouble

[Paulie Walnuts]

No one calls him Drais.

[Macho0978]

Originally Posted by IamNotKenKing

Just watched the replay of the third and saw a play when it was 5-3 (I think) where McOffence did the chip off the boards and Anderson essentially gave him the outside, staying inside, and Doughty was backing him up so when McDoesn'tbackcheck cut back in, Doughty was there.

On the game tying goal, Doughty was not there, so Mcavi had the route to the net.

I wonder if Anderson thought he had the back-up of Doughty in place, hence giving him the outside...

If you're not going to hit McNoD, I would much prefer giving him the outside with backside support, as opposed to letting him cut to the middle...

5 to 3 goal was Gavrikov, he got beat but not to the same level Mikey got beat on the 5 to 5 goal. Edmundson left his man and tried to lay on the ice to block the pass but was late

5 to 4 goal, Doughty tried to lay on the ice to block the pass. Went down early and Mikey was in the corner. Danault didn't pick up Hyman

5 on 5 goal Mikey did nothing. 5 to 2 goal he lost Leon. Nobes else in front of net, good play for Leon to drift but he was Mcdavid's only option.

Mikey is a decent dman, just don't think he can manage 26 mins a night and a loaded-up line. I trust Gavrikov more to be the guy out against both.

Oilers are loading up top line until LA can prove they can slow them down.

Last year, they were pacing for 50-point playoffs after the 1st 2 rounds against LA and Vancouver. Once they played teams that have elite d pairings, they slowed right down, and it was the PK that almost got them the cup.

Mikey Andersson isn't good enough to be matching up against them.

[Macho0978]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

You don’t have to play run and gun though - you can score 5 on the Oilers just playing your normal game

It’s when you start overthinking the shutting down of Drais and McDavid and sittting back you get in trouble

They sat back all game. That is how they play. It was when they loaded up that LA once again is showing they do not have the players to match that line.

Kuemper did stink it up though.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

That's why you assign two guys to Draisaitl – so they can spell each other off.

McDavid is probably the less dangerous of the two. It just needs to be a team effort to make sure he doesn't have enough room to get up to full speed.

It's not viable when they're playing 80% of the time. Eventually you're going to have to put Gavrikov out there.

[GFG#1]

The key to beating the Oilers is A contain the wonder twins the best you can.
B, get pucks deep and forecheck hard on the dmen.

It was pretty obvious last year in the SCF Florida did that hard games 1-3 and completely shut Edmonton down. They laid off the forecheck in Games 3-6 and Edmonton came back. Game 7 they were hard on the forecheck and won.

if you pressure the D you force the turnovers and they don't get the puck up to the wonder twins. The Oilers D are not making a short quick outlet pass to them as they are not back in the zone yet. They are lollygagging on the back check to get the stretch pass.

Oilers are soft hit them over and over and over, and they will turn it over. Don't change on the dump in every time forecheck hard cause a turnover, start the cycle and then go change.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Shazam

It's not viable when they're playing 80% of the time. Eventually you're going to have to put Gavrikov out there.

They're playing about 40% of the time. Of course it wouldn't be viable if they were doing something that is physically impossible for a human being.

[Macho0978]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

They're playing about 40% of the time. Of course it wouldn't be viable if they were doing something that is physically impossible for a human being.

They played 22 and 23 mins, Mikey and Doughty played 25 and 26.

I'm ok with Danault or Kopitar against them, but they can easily load up the top pairing if the Oilers want to load up the top line.