The Cult of Hockey’s “Oilers bring ‘A’ defensive game in win over VGK” podcast
Let’s do this! The Cult of Hockey podcast. By the Faithful and for the Faithful, tonight with Bruce McCurdy and David Staples. They dig into Edmonton’s 4-1 win over the Golden Knight of Las Vegas.
There was a scrum late in the third. A bunch of them were paired up and Kane had a big smile on his face. It was obvious that he was in his element and loves that kind of game.
Kane is a beast! What he adds to the Oilers can't be measured. I love the guy and what he brings. This team is a Stanley Cup champion with players like him.
Fourth game of the series and after this one we're all tied up at 2. The first game was close even though the Oilers didn't play the first 40 minutes of that game. The second and fourth games were blowouts by the Oilers and the third game a blowout by Vegas. It's like they alternate nights they will play well. This game was really a tale about discipline. The Oilers mostly had it (though the third period was a nutter), Vegas didn't. While I can see Petrangelo getting a suspension for that overhead slash on Draisaitl (and I'm obviously hoping Leon isn't hurt) and I'm hoping Nurse is "retroactively removed" from being an instigator on his fight avoiding a suspension we'll see what the Department of Player Safety is going to do (my candid thoughts about that are most certainly not 'family friendly' to be posted on ANY website so I'll just leave some things to the imagination). Nuge and Bouch threadded very small holes for their goals. Ekholm seemed to have the whole net for his and Bjugstad had the wraparound (and it was a really good one too). It was really nice to see Nuge get off of the schnide and to have Ekholm score his first as well. Skinner had a great game making several really key stops and only letting one in (wish he could have gotten the shutout but hey, it's a win). All in all a great game by the Oilers. Oilers went 12/6 this game and it worked. I was really hoping Ryan would get rewarded but take it as it comes. We had depth scoring (Bjugstad), D scoring (Bouch, Ekholm) and Nuge scoring (Nuge). Take care all.
Foegele could be a 30-40 goal scorer if he could just put the puck in the net. The guy has so many good chances (which he works for and earns) but just can't score. I love his effort.
Good thing for their 5-on-5 effort because their powerplay looked human this game. Vegas had an interesting game plan to defend the Oilers powerplay. They'd dump the puck into the Oilers' zone and then have 2 guys forecheck aggressively and the Oilers had a tough time dealing with it. It was difficult for them to break out. They rarely did the 'drop pass to McDavid with speed' play because it wasn't available. And then Vegas would just pick off passes in the neutral zone or force guys to make errors when they tried to break in. I wonder if the Oilers will have a response for that next game.
Nurse canβt help himself. His attack on 14 in the suspension zone is a mirror on his penchant to be a modern day Don Quixote , chasing windmills all over the ice . He just canβt lay off.
Eh Bruce, nurse has wanted to go with Hague for a few games, Hague finally dropped em there, and, it was βthe timeβ. Instigator was a weak a$$ call as well
What a strange series, but imo when the Oilers bring their A game they are clearly the better team! C'mon NHL another poorly officiated game, it's also going to be fascinating to see how the league handles Nurse and Pietrangelo!
David, you short changed McLeod, Ryan and Foegele by only giving them 6's especially since you are highlighting defensive play. That line had ZERO shots against 5 on 5. ZERO! They have been the energy line on this team spending a majority of their time in the offensive zone. If you would notice, Jay sent them out after the Oilers scored to dampen the push back. I've been especially impressed with Ryan who's playing well above his pay.
22 Comments
There was a scrum late in the third. A bunch of them were paired up and Kane had a big smile on his face. It was obvious that he was in his element and loves that kind of game.
Kane is a beast! What he adds to the Oilers can't be measured. I love the guy and what he brings. This team is a Stanley Cup champion with players like him.
Nurse stuck up for his teammates and what ever happens happens. He did what he should have.
Vegas is my most hated team. Take 'em out!!
I love Bruces Astronomy quips.π½π
For those who may be interested, Evan Bouchard's goal (AKA The Bouch Bomb) was clocked at 95 mph.
π€π₯π€
Canβt believe how hard youβre harping on Nurse. Get a clue.
Bouche-bomb! And now, Ek-bomb! Defense is on fire!
Well, somebody has to break serve…..
Statistics for Edmonton Oilers at Vegas Golden Knights May 10th, 2023
Game 4 Second Round Oilers 4, VGK 1
Series all tied up 2-2 after this one
Bjugstad 1 Goal
Bouchard 1 Goal (PP) Game Winning Goal
Nuge 1 Goal, 1 Secondary Assist (on PP GWG) (First Playoff Goal in 2023)
Ekholm 1 Goal (First Playoff Goal in 2023)
McDavid 2 Primary Assists (1 on PP GWG)
Kostin 1 Primary Assist
Draisaitl 1 Primary Assist
Yamamoto 1 Secondary Assist
Nurse 1 Secondary Assist
Skinner 25 / 26 .962 Save %age (he was really good all night)
Three Stars (Sportsnet): Bouchard, McDavid, Bjugstad on Sportsnet
VGK Oilers
Shots on Goal 26 33
Hits 36 46
Faceoffs Won 29 29
Power Play 0/4 1/6
Giveaways 8 12
Takeaways 3 10
Blocked Shots 9 15
Player TOI PP TOI: PK TOI: SOG +/- PIM Hits Blocks GVA TKA
Nurse 23.07 2:32 5:04 0 1 17 4 2 2 2
Bouchard 20:00 6:50 0:02 3 0 0 5 1 1 1
Ekholm 18:55 1:50 3:05 3 0 0 2 0 1 0
Kulak 17:50 0:25 1:54 1 1 2 0 1 0 0
Ceci 17:43 0:03 3:48 0 1 0 3 2 0 1
Desharnais 16:38 0:37 2:05 0 1 2 1 1 1 1
McDavid 21:09 6:24 1:50 4 1 0 0 1 0 0
Draisaitl 19:55 6:03 0:36 1 0 0 4 1 5 0
Nuge 19:17 5:58 2:31 4 1 0 1 1 0 2
Hyman 16:23 6:04 —- 4 1 2 0 0 0 0
Kane 15:42 2:13 0:57 3 0 10 7 1 0 0
Bjugstad 13:54 0:48 2:47 2 1 0 9 1 0 1
Yamamoto 13:10 —- —- 1 0 10 2 0 1 0
McLeod 12:23 1:59 1:22 1 0 2 2 0 1 0
Janmark 12:02 —- 3:02 0 1 0 1 1 0 0
Foegele 11:11 2:20 —- 3 0 0 2 1 0 2
Kostin 11:01 1:13 —- 1 1 0 2 1 0 0
Ryan 8:53 0:11 2:57 2 0 0 1 0 0 0
Faceoffs Won Lost Percent
Draisaitl 8 11 42.1
Bjugstad 6 8 42.9
McDavid 6 3 66.7
McLeod 6 3 66.7
Janmark 3 1 75.0
Nuge 0 2 0.00
Kane 0 1 0.00
Fourth game of the series and after this one we're all tied up at 2. The first game was close even though the Oilers didn't play the first 40 minutes of that game. The second and fourth games were blowouts by the Oilers and the third game a blowout by Vegas. It's like they alternate nights they will play well. This game was really a tale about discipline. The Oilers mostly had it (though the third period was a nutter), Vegas didn't. While I can see Petrangelo getting a suspension for that overhead slash on Draisaitl (and I'm obviously hoping Leon isn't hurt) and I'm hoping Nurse is "retroactively removed" from being an instigator on his fight avoiding a suspension we'll see what the Department of Player Safety is going to do (my candid thoughts about that are most certainly not 'family friendly' to be posted on ANY website so I'll just leave some things to the imagination). Nuge and Bouch threadded very small holes for their goals. Ekholm seemed to have the whole net for his and Bjugstad had the wraparound (and it was a really good one too). It was really nice to see Nuge get off of the schnide and to have Ekholm score his first as well. Skinner had a great game making several really key stops and only letting one in (wish he could have gotten the shutout but hey, it's a win). All in all a great game by the Oilers. Oilers went 12/6 this game and it worked. I was really hoping Ryan would get rewarded but take it as it comes. We had depth scoring (Bjugstad), D scoring (Bouch, Ekholm) and Nuge scoring (Nuge). Take care all.
Foegele could be a 30-40 goal scorer if he could just put the puck in the net. The guy has so many good chances (which he works for and earns) but just can't score. I love his effort.
that chop on Draisaitl was nasty
Good thing for their 5-on-5 effort because their powerplay looked human this game. Vegas had an interesting game plan to defend the Oilers powerplay. They'd dump the puck into the Oilers' zone and then have 2 guys forecheck aggressively and the Oilers had a tough time dealing with it. It was difficult for them to break out. They rarely did the 'drop pass to McDavid with speed' play because it wasn't available. And then Vegas would just pick off passes in the neutral zone or force guys to make errors when they tried to break in. I wonder if the Oilers will have a response for that next game.
Nurse canβt help himself. His attack on 14 in the suspension zone is a mirror on his penchant to be a modern day Don Quixote , chasing windmills all over the ice . He just canβt lay off.
Eh Bruce, nurse has wanted to go with Hague for a few games, Hague finally dropped em there, and, it was βthe timeβ. Instigator was a weak a$$ call as well
What a strange series, but imo when the Oilers bring their A game they are clearly the better team! C'mon NHL another poorly officiated game, it's also going to be fascinating to see how the league handles Nurse and Pietrangelo!
Your unus πππ
David, you short changed McLeod, Ryan and Foegele by only giving them 6's especially since you are highlighting defensive play. That line had ZERO shots against 5 on 5. ZERO! They have been the energy line on this team spending a majority of their time in the offensive zone. If you would notice, Jay sent them out after the Oilers scored to dampen the push back. I've been especially impressed with Ryan who's playing well above his pay.
With so many Oilers podcasts going around now, I still trust you guys the most to bring the stats and good opinions
Good to see Nugent Hopkins score last night.
πππ Another GREAT SHOW as per usual David & Bruce Maaacarrty! πππ GO OILERS GO !!!