Can the Edmonton Oilers prevent a three-game sweep at the hands of the godly Toronto Maple Leafs tonight? Some are saying this is a must-win affair for Ken Holland’s men and I would say there’s an element of truth to that. The reason is, if your club cannot win these games when two points are on the line, how are they going to win them when a playoff series or a Stanley Cup is?
They’ve got to go out and get it done, there’s no other way to put it.
Just on the previous game for a moment, please. I’ve had about enough of the Edmonton media saying that Mikko Koskinen should’ve had the second goal on Monday (the Nylander one that went over his glove). That was a common thread on Edmonton sports talk radio yesterday and my feeling is that it’s a bunch of bullshit.
There are multiple things that happened before that chance even came to fruition,
- The now scratched Dominik Kahun didn’t even bother to take William Nylander off of a WON DRAW. Just said, “Free Willy!” and the Swede was off to the races against a rookie defender and another one who is still trying to get his game back.
- Kailer Yamamoto loses the puck battle to Alexander Barabonov.
- Ethan Bear hesitates on going for the loose puck off and is put way out of position.
- Evan Bouchard goes for the stick check and there’s a chance the puck went off his blade over Koskinen’s glove.
Plus you cannot take anything away from Nylander. Skilled players make skilled plays and that goal, my friends, was highly skilled. We can’t forget that this guy is on absolute fire right now, so no more on how good or bad Mikko Koskinen is like he had nothing to do with a couple of 40+ save wins recently. Why don’t we talk about how Edmonton’s top-six and the millions and millions of dollars they make couldn’t score a goal? We could, but those big boys are Teflon now.
As for tonight, Alex Chiasson is out. No surprise there and I’m not even mad about it. Jimmy Vesey didn’t get hurt and Chaser set the tone for tonight’s matchup.
“FIRST SHIFT!!!” is what Josh Archibald said to Travis Dermott after their hugging contest was broken up at the end of the last game.
Who will draw in I wonder? You’d have to think that Joakim Nygard will get a shot here at some point, right? He hasn’t played a game in February if I’m not mistaken and if you agree with Bob Stauffer (630CHED), you might be of the belief that the Oilers could use some more speed against Toronto.
Kahun is out presumably and I believe James Neal is replacing him. Also, I think they’re going with six d-men, so I suppose that means Evan Bouchard will get the night off and I reckon I heard Jason Gregor (TSN1260) say that Mike Smith will be starting.
Should they be in the lineup, here are three players that I think you should keep an eye on for the Maple Leafs tonight,
- #65 Ilya Mikheyev – He’s a massive part of this team’s success I feel. To have a player of his skill level and speed on top of his size on the third line is huge! I feel like it makes life miserable for coach Tippett when he wants to line match because this Russian along with Pierre Engvall and Zach Hyman can go up against any single line you throw at them. They’re fast enough, big enough, skilled enough, and gosh darn it, people like them. (Somebody will get that reference…)
- #91 John Tavares – Has been a two-way force against Edmonton for the last four outings. He’s a quiet superstar but he can be pushed out of games as Oilers fans witnessed last year (I believe) when James Neal caught him early with a big hit in front of the benches. If Auston Matthews isn’t playing, it could behoove the Oilers to get physical with Toronto’s big boys to attempt to slow them down.
- #78 TJ Brodie – I’ve been really impressed with his stickwork on Connor McDavid. #97 has come flying up the ice on numerous occasions to go head-on with Brodie and the former Flames defender has stopped him with a stick check near every time… I’m curious if he can keep it up.
For Toronto to have success change nothing. Smother Edmonton’s top-six stars, withstand their pressure, and continue to frustrate the hell out of them. Maybe the Leafs can goat the Oilers into taking some dumb penalties and keep punishing them on the PP.
With regards to Edmonton, I’ll be watching these three individuals closely,
- #97 Connor McDavid – What in Sam’s Hell did the Leafs put in McDavid’s morning coffee the last couple of games? He’s flying all over the place but there’s no finish. Did Toronto sell its soul to the hockey Devil for the secret to stopping the greatest NHLer in the world? All joking aside, this could be a dangerous proposition for the Maple Leafs because the pressure is building and building and at some point the levy is going to burst…
- #93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – They say that you can put anybody on McDavid’s wing and he’ll produce but I’ve now seen TWO former first-overall picks fail on the Oilers captain’s wing. Nuge and Taylor Hall (who can’t seem to find any luck where ever he plays). So RNH will be re-united with Leon Draisaitl and Kailer Yamamoto because why the f*ck not? This team hasn’t scored in more than 120 minutes of hockey and something has to give. Let’s see if this works, I hope it does but it wouldn’t shock me if the struggles continued.
- #74 Ethan Bear – Went dash two last time out and is getting a shot on top-pair tonight. That shows how much faith the coach has in this guy and how badly the team needs him to get up to speed.
Three Keys to Success For the Oilers
- Get in the guts of the game
- There hasn’t been enough of an effort from Edmonton’s top-six to score to get their hands dirty and I’m not talking about Kailer Yamamoto or Jesse Puljujarvi. Read between the lines there. If the guys on the bottom two lines can do it for a fraction of the pay, surely Edmonton’s big boys can too.
- Shoot the f*cking puck
- The Oilers need to find a way to get to Toronto’s goaltender (whoever that ends up being). More shots, more traffic, less passing the puck into the net. Hopefully the addition of James Neal to McDavid’s line will provide some of that.
- Get into the heads of the Maple Leafs
- One might argue that the Oilers are already in their heads a bit after the shenanigans that concluded Monday’s game.
- These two teams won’t see each other until the end of the month, Edmonton needs to leave them with a lasting impression that they will not forget and if that means the Oilers have to lay a lickin’ on Toronto’s softies, so be it.
- Did you notice at yesterday’s morning practise for the Leafs that Zach Bogosian was giving Travis Dermott fighting pointers. #RentFreeBaby
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