Pre-Game Talk: Party like it’s 1997 - Edmonton vs Dallas

[Pavel10]

I think that time out last night probably saved the season. They were wilting and needed something. It was a simple move but very effective.

It will be interesting to see how much playing time McLeod gets against the Stars. I've been a fan of his in the past but it seems to me that he has taken a huge step back in terms of both offense and defense.


I get the feeling that the goalie controversy will rear its ugly head again within the next week.

Oh it certainly will. Skinner is living in an imaginary world where be played "good" in game 6 and 7.

The teams unofficial strategy is "for the love of God don't make him face shots". He did nothing in game 6 and nearly cost us the game in 7, once again.

How silovs can bail out his team like on the brown breakaway or kulak robbery - skinner just can't do that.

I hope they go to Pickard very quickly if he let's in 2 quickly in game 1.

 

[29Beast97Mode]

I can't see how this will even be close with Skinner in net. We barely beat Vancouvers 3rd stringer and our #1 blew chunks and wasn't even tested in games 6 and 7. Shoot high glove or low blocker and you beat Skinner easily. Dallas will expose this and we are toast in 4.

Nah, Skinner is just particularly bad vs Van for whatever reason.

 

[Canovin]

The year McDavid was born when the Oilers beat Dallas

 

[JordanGalhanth]

The year McDavid was born when the Oilers beat Dallas

It's all coming together!!!!!

 

[Oilers in NS]

I go to the Sportsnet app thinking it would have a bunch of Oilers articles this morning. Imagine my surprise that half the page is filled with Canucks interviews. Somebody want to let SN know it was the Oilers that won and are on the way to WCF please

How many Leafs articles?

 

[Juxta Position]

Happy to be wrong from last round and hope to be again but see Dallas as too deep and too strong and this series had to have taken a lot out of the oilers.

Still a true fan though….

Ughhh, i hate these "happy to be wrong" posts. Grow some balls and actually root for your team to win for once.

This attitude of "hoping for a win, but expect a loss" is trash. It's just cowardly to always predict a loss then jump on the bandwagon after a win saying "I'm so happy I was wrong"

Naysayers always posting garbage then expect that people don't call them out because they're "happy to eat crow" is bullshit, especially when those same naysayers jump all over posters who try to stay positive when the Oilers are losing.

I'm hoping for an Oilers series win, and I EXPECT an Oilers series win as well.

 

[FlameChampion]

I think the Oilers are underdogs and I think a lot of the series comes down to goaltending on both sides (which is often the case).

But surprised so many people think Dallas is such a favourite due to depth. Wonder what Carolina thinks about depth. Depth is important but star power is just as important if not more important. The Oilers have something that Dallas simply doesn’t.

Dallas should be the favourite. But let’s not pretend they are better in every category.

 

[WaitingForUser]

How many Leafs articles?

2 all about their savior Berube lol

 

[Broberg Speed]

Hopefully that game provided some learning moments for Ryan McLeod.

Vincent Desharnais will need to pick it up as well.

Adam Henrique?

 

[Canovin]

Time to play Lavoie

 

[Oilers in NS]

2 all about their savior Berube lol

IMO, teams that are not in the playoffs, their news should not be ahead of contending teams. AT this point, or any point, who the fuk cares about the Leafs. They are out in 1st round, again, and here they are still talking about them. Maybe they should hire P Diddy and The Kardashins for management. Its a clown show there so hire these clowns

 

[tardigrade81]

Oilers in 7. Dallas is one tough team and their goalie is getting hot at the right time. I see this being like the Canucks series. I would take oilers in 5 or 6 though, but I see this series going the distance

 

[K1984]

The reasons we'll win the series:

- Stars PK stinks
- Our top end talent is better than their top end talent
- Tanev is playing injured and they have Alex Petrovic playing on their defense. Depth on their D is hobbled.
- Oettinger's abilities are more mythical at this point than factual, he can implode just like Skinner does

Why we'll lose the series:

- Skinner/goaltending
- Our third line gets mauled by their third line matchup
- We mismanage the neutral zone and allow them to run downhill on us in waves

I feel good about this series, but above all goaltending will be the equalizer once again. Skinner wasn't really tested in a very significant way, but I still didn't feel good about his tracking and positioning in Game 6 and 7. Felt like he got by not playing his best. You can get away by throwing games away against the Nucks due to goaltending, but that won't be the case against the Stars. I feel like if we get roughly even goaltending to Dallas we will win.

I'm still cautiously optimistic that Skinner's issue last series was a Nuck specific issue and not an issue generally. I guess we will see.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

nvm

 

[MessierThanThou]

I'm seeing everyone and their mother come up with excuses for Skinner's poor play, including "he just sucks against the Cucks" and "the save percentage was misleading." Stop deluding yourselves. Nobody needed excuses for Pickard. He played well. Play him now.

 

[Slats432]

If I were betting this would be close to a coin toss. Skinner needs to be good Skinner not bad Skinner. 3rd line needs to show up and the special teams need to be the same.

Hopefully if there is something ailing our top players the two days rest will help.

 

[Da McBomb]

Stars have the better goaltending and depth. Oilers have the better top end players. Going to be a difficult one to win but if the Oilers can play up to their capability... I'm confident they can win this.

 

[Gordy Elbows]

There will be a lot of Oiler / Dallas comparisons over the days to come and some
questions as well. On the goal tending side, what if Oettinger goes down or hits a wall?
Murray and Wedgewood are back ups…doesn’t that seem like a scary drop in goalie quality?
Whereas, our tenders are pretty interchangeable…and we’ve seen both play and what to expect.
Unless everything goes perfectly for the Dallas goalies, I like our tandem over the rest of the playoff stretch.

 

[iCanada]

Can we talk about how bizarre it is that the only time we beat Dallas in the playoffs was 1997 - the year McDavid was born?

That shit reads like a f***ing prophecy.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

I'm seeing everyone and their mother come up with excuses for Skinner's poor play, including "he just sucks against the Cucks" and "the save percentage was misleading." Stop deluding yourselves. Nobody needed excuses for Pickard. He played well. Play him now.

I thought he was good early in the game but he seems to unravel a bit when the Oilers are trying to close out a game. I don’t know if it’s the pressure but it feels like the Oilers can’t even allow a shot late in games.

 

[ManofSteel55]

This feels so much like the Colorado series 2 years ago where we are just happy to be here and I think it’ll go pretty much the same way.

Dallas has better goaltending, deeper defence and a much deeper forward group. If McDavid plays like he did this series it’ll be a quick 4. If McDavid heals, gets better or whatever, we stand a chance to win a few games.

I don't think anyone in the locker room is "just happy to be here" this time around. Dallas goaltending will be superior to ours if Oettinger plays like he can and should.

I don't agree on Dallas' blueline, their 3rd pair is near AHL level with a slow and easy to expose Suter and Alex Petrovic playing there. That pair is ripe for the picking. Our top pair has been playing just as well as theirs has, if not better. Their second pair looks better than ours, but we've had our way with Tanev in the past, and I hope we can do so again.

Their forward core does scare me though. They don't have anyone on the same level as Draisaitl or McDavid, but if Hintz comes back healthy, they have 3 scoring lines, and a fourth line centred by a guy who seems to score half of his goals against us in Sam Steel. I'm just hoping that their old guys (Benn, Duchene, Seguin - god it sucks listing Duchene and Seguin as old guys, ha ha) are more worn down than our old guys are.

 

[CornKicker]

the oilers managed to get through the canucks with the flu steamrolling the dressing room.

dallas pk stinks and they are beatable. oilers in 6

I don't think anyone in the locker room is "just happy to be here" this time around. Dallas goaltending will be superior to ours if Oettinger plays like he can and should.

I don't agree on Dallas' blueline, their 3rd pair is near AHL level with a slow and easy to expose Suter and Alex Petrovic playing there. That pair is ripe for the picking. Our top pair has been playing just as well as theirs has, if not better. Their second pair looks better than ours, but we've had our way with Tanev in the past, and I hope we can do so again.

Their forward core does scare me though. They don't have anyone on the same level as Draisaitl or McDavid, but if Hintz comes back healthy, they have 3 scoring lines, and a fourth line centred by a guy who seems to score half of his goals against us in Sam Steel. I'm just hoping that their old guys (Benn, Duchene, Seguin - god it sucks listing Duchene and Seguin as old guys, ha ha) are more worn down than our old guys are.

hintz is a playoff houdini, like petterson. the oilers just have to match intensity

 

[The Nuge]

This feels so much like the Colorado series 2 years ago where we are just happy to be here and I think it’ll go pretty much the same way.

Dallas has better goaltending, deeper defence and a much deeper forward group. If McDavid plays like he did this series it’ll be a quick 4. If McDavid heals, gets better or whatever, we stand a chance to win a few games.

Do they though? With one dman out, they had Alex Petrovic come in and he’s played one NHL game since he played for us in 2018. Just compare dmen. With Bouch’s emergence, I’d definitely argue we have the better, and deeper defense

Bouchard = Heiskanen
Ekholm > Harley
Nurse > Lindell
Ceci < Tanev
Kulak = Suter
Desharnais => Hakanpaa
Stecher > Petrovic


Much like the Vancouver series, Dallas has the better goaltending and bottom 6, and we have the better top 6 and defense.

 

[ManofSteel55]

We aren’t a better team at all.
We have far worse goaltending, our depth is arguably worse too.
Our 2022 team would have crushed Vancouver

We are absolutely a better team this year. Just look at the players we have now that we didn't then.

Overhaul the third line, please. Starts with Ryan Mcleod. I liked our fourth line's play as of late, will keep it the same for now.

GO OILERS GO

༼ つ ◕◕ ༽つ OILERS, TAKE MY ENERGY ༼ つ ◕◕ ༽つ
༼ つ ◕◕ ༽つ OILERS, TAKE MY ENERGY ༼ つ ◕◕ ༽つ
༼ つ ◕◕ ༽つ OILERS, TAKE MY ENERGY ༼ つ ◕◕ ༽つ

The best thing for our 3rd line would be Henrique getting healthy. Adding Henrique to the 3rd line with McLeod and Foegele would give that line a boost and some direction where they are lacking right now.

Do they though? With one dman out, they had Alex Petrovic come in and he’s played one NHL game since he played for us in 2018. Just compare dmen. With Bouch’s emergence, I’d definitely argue we have the better, and deeper defense

Bouchard = Heiskanen
Ekholm > Harley
Nurse > Lindell
Ceci < Tanev
Kulak = Suter
Desharnais => Hakanpaa
Stecher > Petrovic


Much like the Vancouver series, Dallas has the better goaltending and bottom 6, and we have the better top 6 and defense.

Add special teams in there, and I don't hate our chances, and I think the word "steamrolled" is getting thrown around far too liberally.

 

[Broberg Speed]

If I were betting this would be close to a coin toss. Skinner needs to be good Skinner not bad Skinner. 3rd line needs to show up and the special teams need to be the same.

Hopefully if there is something ailing our top players the two days rest will help.

That's misleading.

When the team plays with real solid defensive structure Skinner is fine.

When the team can't provide that structure Skinner isn't fine.