There will either be a Game 7 on Saturday, or it’ll be garbage-bag day where the players have to once again describe the hell of being out in the first round
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Remember when Calgary Flames coach Darryl Sutter said that any team drawing the powerhouse Colorado Avalanche in round one of the playoffs would be, “a waste of eight days.”
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We all laughed at the Jolly Rancher’s analysis. And as it turns out, he was bang-on with the Avs blowing away the Nashville Predators, without their Vezina trophy candidate goalie Juuse Saros, four straight. Barely broke stride or a sweat.
But, how about a waste of 10 days if the Edmonton Oilers can’t get their act together in Game 6 in Los Angeles Thursday night and they crash and burn to the Kings, who don’t have their best defenceman Drew Doughty, although what irreverent TV voice Paul Bissonette brashly said might be a stretch.
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“I couldn’t name five players on LA’s current roster. No chance in hell, McDavid and Draisaitl get bounced by an AHL team.”
The Kings had two disastrous games, outscored 14-2, but the Oilers, on the whole, have only looked themselves on their special teams (7-for-17 on the PP and 90 per cent on the PK with two shorthanded goals) with their five-on-five play mediocre in the three losses.
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They’ve made the Oilers look discombobulated, frustrated. Pick an adjective. Where’s the urgency for three full periods, not just the third in Game 5?
There will either be a Game 7 on Saturday, or it’ll be garbage-bag day where the players have to once again describe the hell of being out in the first round.
Here’s five takeaways from Game 5
1.The Oilers’ first 20 minutes was gob-smackingly awful, no inspiration or perspiration. The word desperate? Not in their dictionary, and this is on the players. There were fly-bys on checks, they couldn’t make it past tic, never mind a tac or a toe in terms of passing, any thought of testing Quick with a shot was a rumour.
Oilers goalie Mike Smith didn’t have his best stuff (an array of big saves but also five goals allowed) overall but in the last three games he’s seen 55 shots in the first period. The Oilers have 19 on Quick. In the wretched first period Tuesday, Smith had a right to feel like the shipwrecked; on an island by himself.
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“The answer lies in the room. We’ve got to come out a little harder. We’ve got to come out with our skating legs underneath us,” said Leon Draisaitl, who brought his A-game to the third period in Game 5, but hasn’t been himself especially on face-offs, 43 per cent in the five games. “We haven’t had that (urgency) the last couple of games really, not any games really in the series.”
2. Duncan Keith in his 140th playoff game, clearly did not distinguish himself. He looked 38. There was nothing wrong about his clear off the glass and into the neutral zone before the Kempe winner — Kane blew a tire and fell and McDavid was dead-tired, couldn’t get a change and Kempe went by him on the boards — but Keith didn’t handle Kempe’s drive to the net like a Hall-of-Famer in waiting.
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When he was out there for his 16 minutes at even-strength, the Kings had three times more shots than the Oilers. He’s been a great mentor for partner Evan Bouchard, but he struggled badly in Game 5. Bouchard was also benched for the last 15 minutes.
He was saying the right things pre-game when asked about the veteran presence.
“The biggest thing is trying to be at my best. You can talk a lot and say different things but it’s the execution on the ice,” said Keith, whose playoff savvy unfortunately deserted him.
3. Go nuclear the whole Game 6. Play Draisaitl with McDavid and Kailer Yamamoto, forget the two-pronged centre idea in the biggest game of the season. Play Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the No. 2 hole with Kane and Zach Hyman. Load up. Neither McDavid nor Draisaitl were over-worked in Game 5, in large part because of a steady parade to the penalty box.
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“There were a lot of penalties. You saw in the third period when we were killing them, I was just trying to get them out there to get more ice-time,” said coach Jay Woodcroft. “They were feeling it in the third (together), they gave us good minutes and a chance to win the game in overtime.”
So, keep them on the same line, five-on-five in Game 6.
And the bottom six? Maybe Ryan McLeod, who lost the puck at the offensive zone leading to Troy Stecher’s early goal, and Jesse Puljujarvi, who played five shifts the first period and four the rest of the way, can help a third-line.
4. That Darnell Nurse head-butt on Phillip Danault on a nothing play with 10 seconds left in the second period two not only cost the Oilers their best defenceman with a one-game suspension, but it showed his frustration with how things are going for the team. A clear brain cramp from a player who is smarter than that. Nurse is playing hurt and labouring, although you’re entitled to ask why Nurse and partner Cody Ceci didn’t start the OT as a defence pair. He’s gutting it out (hip, core muscle) after the collision with J.T. Compher on April 22.
5. Josh Archibald played his heart out — his myocarditis obviously a thing of the past. He made two fine passes to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the blue paint in the first period and was a wrecking ball from first shift to last. He had 10 hits, a couple of times leaving the ice exhausted. There was definite urgency to his 13 minutes and 19 shifts.
FIVE THINGS: Oilers down to last life against Kings in first-round series - Edmonton Sun
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