I have a lot of words and no words at the same time. The Edmonton Oilers lose 5-3 to the Dallas Stars in game 3 of the Western Conference Final. The #oilers had a 2-0 lead after the first period but Kris Knoblauch played himself and the Oilers got absolutely DUMMIED by the #texashockey for the next 40 minutes. Here is my RAW reaction and post-game thoughts. Hope you enjoy!
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20 Comments
Can nurse get benched
They look tired and like theyāre ready for the season to end. Thatās the biggest hurdle for any team in the playoffs in my humble non professional opinion lol. Once your in any team can make a Cinderella run. But fighting through the slog of the games ever second night and long series is brutal on every player.
I also think the lights may be a bit too bright for Knoblauch. Making bad decisions in panicked moments.
8:38 š You really do have it out for Ceci.
I do have to eat a few of my words from the last message I posted to you about Ceci on your other video. He was "exceptionally" terrible tonight (among others). I certainly can't argue that he hasn't been great overall, or even good for that matter, but I would sooner sit Nurse is all.
It's simply a matter of triage now. Nurse is causing more harm than Ceci, and you really can't sit them both and bring in Broberg and Stetcher. It would be an absolute mess out there.
These guys aren't getting paid for the playoffs, so there is no sense of obligation to get your $9.25M worth from Nurse. He's just a body now. Sit him, and bring in Broberg, and let Nurse sit in the pressbox, and ponder why he's there.
Nurse is inarguably the weakest link on this team right now, causing the most damage.
Canāt believe they blew this
Nurse is so overpaid. Tough loss.
Gosh, I was sleeping, couldn't predict Edmonton would lose, thereby actually Oilers indeed lost instead of winning. Will try to stay awake next time in Central Europe, in order to help my team to win by predicting a loss.
The thing is, you canāt take nurse out because you donāt have the depth the way Dallas does
The man to man coverage is poor all the time and shots on net thats what makes me mad about the oilers.
I do think that Iām biased, but in my opinion, I feel like Stuart Skinner really isnāt the problem here. Heās had about four games now of solid play, and heās made some really key saves. I donāt want people to forget that in the second, Dallas had fifteen straight shots on goal. When you just shooting, shooting, shooting, things are going to go in. And I really donāt think this was āoh, if he just made one more saveā situation because he did, he made multiple saves to keep this game within distance, and the team didnāt take it seriously. Edmonton completely hung out Stuart Skinner to dry. Thatās what I think anyway
The oilers came out flying.. holy. I marveled at how they looked but i also knew the whole game wouldnt go that way. I was nervous but not overly. It seemed like they were going to burn out their engines a bit and thats what it looked like happened. Cant do that against dallas. Have to pace it out to play a solid 60 full minutes. Dallas doesnt wear down like that because they evenly play all their lines and they are great at adjustments. The oilers have 0 3rd period goals this series. That says alot. It was a fun game and this series is so far from over guys. Goodluck next game. Respect.
Cheers š»
I have been hard on Skinner especially in the Vancouver series. But donāt put this loss on him his team quit on him. That last goal was 100% on Nurse being total casual in their own zone with no urgency.
And getting mad at Knoblauch? Who would have thought giving a rookie coach team McDavid might not work out. The Oilers have screwed up with so many coaches at what point do they look in the mirror and see where the real problem is.
Austin summarized this well… Knobloch is definitely getting out coached by De Boer, but I don't think that should be a surprise with all the success De Boer has had. I think as a Stars fan, Knobloch is a far better coach than Jay Woodcroft but for me the series comes down to two things: Depth and defense. Unfortunately for Oilers fans, Edmonton has neither. I saw a post where one Oilers fan said that he was confident that Dallas would lose the series because they don't have a top 10 scorer. No he's right, they don't. But when you have EIGHT 20 goal scorers throughout the regular season, who are you going to stop? The problem with Edmonton is if you shut down McDavid or Draisaitl, you take away 50% of the offense. Sure other player can score, but frustration starts setting in. With Tanev, Heiskanen, and Harley (and to a lesser degree Lindell), the defense just matches up far better against the Edmonton offense than I think Oilers fans are willing to admit. Well, maybe now they are willing to admit it. Much like in other sports, a good defense almost always is more important than a great offense. Dallas' offense doesn't HAVE to be prolific, if they are supported by a good defense and a goaltender than comes to play during the playoffs.
I said from the get-go that Dallas will win the series in 6. Edmonton just has too explosive of an offense to not win another game in the series, but I think it's going to come down to Edmonton's lack of defensive prowess, and Dallas' ability to shut down offensive juggernauts (like Vegas and Colorado). Would be interested in what other fans think about these thoughts.
LETS GO STARS
BING BONG
GO STARS!!!
(If oilers win series Iāll cheer for them against the east team)
Bold prediction: Oilers figured it out, they're gonna win the next two. Dallas ties it up in game 6. Going in to game 7, Oilers fans decide to try the Calgary Curse and Jake Oettinger let's nothing in and the Stars advance to the SFC.
From a Dallas perspective I find the self criticism that Canadian fans have a little unfair sometimes. I don't think many picked the Oilers to win this series. That being said it has been extremely close and Edmonton could easily be leading this. You guys are right there and Dallas has looked very beatable outside of a couple periods where I thought they got to their game. The third period of game 2 where Dallas looked dangerous offensively while protecting a lead is how they looked most of the Colorado series. It's been a great series so far, enjoy the ride!
Knoblauch did not inspire the team at all in the first intermission (to be a fly on the wall and hear how he de-motivated his team !). Nurse needs to sit but the Oilers won't do that because of how embarrassing it would be to sit your 9.25 million defenseman.
Itās crazy to think a pylon like Nurse actually makes $9M per season? š
I remember Ceci's first game with the Sens. He got a huge cheer. That was a long time ago.