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

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Kings also totally unravelled. I'm sure the Kings coaches have preached over and over to players to not lose track of McDavid when he's on the ice and yet on that tying goal three Kings players were looking up ice and let him walk right in. I get that it's a fast game but if you focus on McDavid and take him away, the chances of winning are infinitely higher than keying in on Hyman or RNH. Simply poor awareness and given how this Kings team has been taken to the woodshed by the Oilers for three straight Aprils, you would think they would learn their lesson by now but it appears they just aren't up to the task. I just don't think they believe deep down they can beat the Oilers when push comes to shove as the Oilers are to the Kings like the Ducks were to the Flames in the Getzlaf and Perry years.

The tying goal the defender just tried to stand his ground and turned into a pylon, letting Mcdavid make his own decisions on what to do. I think they have to charge at him and make him make his decision earlier. They might get burned but chances are he will pass (to someone less dangerous). This happened more than once.

[Scrambler]

Originally Posted by Scrambler

I'll look at the final score tomorrow morning

Ok, I regret not watching the ending after all. Today was a very early morning so didn't want to put in the effort to watch OT and risk hearing Monster Truck screaming more.

Tis' a good morning!

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

The tying goal the defender just tried to stand his ground and turned into a pylon, letting Mcdavid make his own decisions on what to do. I think they have to charge at him and make him make his decision earlier. They might get burned but chances are he will pass (to someone less dangerous). This happened more than once.

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.

[CedarMeter]

6 minutes 46 seconds left in the game, and Leon plays 5 mins and 21 seconds of it. That's crazy.

[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.

[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

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Unfortunate that the lack of consistent enforcement on the oilers has conditioned them into knowing that most of the time they can get away with cheating to create their offense.

Now it's second nature.

The amount of stick grabbing while falling in order to make it look like the penalty is on the opposing player is gross as well. Was very obvious last night.

They practice this ####.

[Torture]

Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz

Okay, so is that the Oilers' game plan? Hope McDavid goes nuclear?

This has always been the plan.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

We all want the Kings to win but how large of a lead are they going to need to lock in wins? It's going to be tough for them to win three more games knowing that a four goal lead in the 2nd half of the game may not be enough. What we saw last night will be the norm for the officiating so holding late leads is going to be extremely difficult when guys like Perry and McDavid can get away with blatant penalties that result in big swings.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say the Oilers can't come back from 4 goal deficits every night. Man, what a defeatist attitude. The Kings need to keep doing what is working - if the Oilers were half as good as you're suggesting, they'd have won the last 5 cups. They're old, they're slow, they have weak defense and weak goaltending. Just keep wearing them down, and keep the paly along the boards.

[dino7c]

You guys worry too much. That was one of Kuempers worst games and LA missed 3 empty nets. If anyone was fortunate it was the Oilers.

[Bubba17]

McDavid went off and got 4 points. +1 on 4 points shows that LA scored 3 even strength goals against him. Basically no matter how much he scores, if the Kings play him even then the rest of the Oilers can't beat the rest of the Kings.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by dino7c

You guys worry too much. That was one of Kuempers worst games and LA missed 3 empty nets. If anyone was fortunate it was the Oilers.

It is a completely justified worry that McDavid can turn a game on its head.

The Oilers suck, yes. But McDavid can do things no one else can, and even some of the greatest defensive players can't contain him (Kopitar, Doughty).

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

It is a completely justified worry that McDavid can turn a game on its head.

The Oilers suck, yes. But McDavid can do things no one else can, and even some of the greatest defensive players can't contain him (Kopitar, Doughty).

Yes he can. But he can't do that every night. And even though he did it last night, they STILL lost.

[Buff]

Originally Posted by CedarMeter

6 minutes 46 seconds left in the game, and Leon plays 5 mins and 21 seconds of it. That's crazy.

Leon and McDavid can handle that kind of ice time because they don't spend any energy getting back to their own zone. Clearly they think it works because they almost won the cup and would have done so if the refs wouldn't be against them.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Yes he can. But he can't do that every night. And even though he did it last night, they STILL lost.

He's close to 1.7 pts per game in his playoff career.

He won't be getting 4 every night, but it's a pretty surefire bet that he'll be getting 2 every night while he's in his prime.

For the Kings, a 1 or 2 goal lead isn't safe. And for us fans, it's a justifiable worry.

[dino7c]

Oilers almost won with a historic PK...then got rid of the Pkers.

[AC]

Originally Posted by CedarMeter

6 minutes 46 seconds left in the game, and Leon plays 5 mins and 21 seconds of it. That's crazy.

All the more reason it was hilarious they put them out AGAIN with 1 minute left after tying it. Michaels screaming "they might as well, they can rest during the intermission!" only to give up the winning goal on a 3 on 2 from a McDavid turnover.

Just perfection.

[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

[3rd liner]

Originally Posted by OldSam

I made the mistake of turning the volume up for the last half of the third. My ears are still bleeding 10 hours later. Holy unprofessional, Jack. Never again.

It was brutal.
Somebody mentioned there is an ESPN feed? Does that require an ESPN plus subscription or whatever? I have all the sportsnet and TSN channels on our cable package. I alternated between watching on mute and listening to the dumpsterville fanboy crew, but when there is a call up for debate you want to hear what's going on.
Watching a non sportsnet feed would be amazing. I was down in LA last year about this time and it was a pleasure watching an unbiased feed...

[Tkachukwagon]

Game 1 - nice to see Nurse stepping up with Ekholm out. Bouche Bomb also living up to the hype.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1914547394642927984