How can Edmonton Oilers rebound after that cosmic stinker?
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How can the Edmonton Oilers fight back after that cosmic stinker of a loss? I can think of a few things that have to happen. Five of them, to be precise. How about you?
But I also have a good idea of how this Oilers team led by Coach Kris Knoblauch will handle it:
Calmly. Gradually. Stoically.
“Comatose Kris.” chirped Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman of the placid Knoblauch during Wednesday night’s 5-4 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. “He’s always relaxed.”
Comatose? A bit harsh maybe? Nah, Friedman meant it is a compliment, indicating he liked Knoblauch’s calm under fire.
Comatose Kris it is.
Knoblauch is Edmonton’s calm centre. He’s the Stoic of the City. It’s a fitting mindset to deal with the fish bowl and the pressure cooking that is Edmonton Oilers’ hockey.
The coach refuses to let the highs and lows of the game trigger him. I approve.
Knoblauch had to have been sorely tempted on Wednesday night in Vancouver, as the Oilers unravelled at the seams in giving up a 4-1 lead in ugly fashion, as my colleague Kurt Leavins has detailed in his player grades report.
But after the game as he faced the media, Knoblauch was as collected as ever, downplaying any sense of uncertainty, let alone panic.
Yes, the team could have been more assertive, he said.
No, there was nothing much to worry about with injured Leon Draisaitl, just some cramping and equipment issues, he said.
And don’t you know, he said, the team was pretty good defensively, not giving up odd man rushes or clear looks from the slot, but just needed to push more on the attack?
He stood right by his goalie, now embattled Stuart Skinner: “Stu has won so many games for us. He’s played spectacular for us through the year. There are going to be games where there’s not his ‘A’ game. He’ll be the first to admit it was not his ‘A’ game. But we never doubt him with how he plays, and more importantly how he responds after a game that wasn’t his best. Stu has played very well for us throughout this time and he’ll play really well in the games going forward.”
Textbook Knoblauch. I approve.
The comatose approach as worked for the Oilers so far. Who am we to doubt it now?
I suspect, though, that there will be tweaks. Knoblauch moves slowly, gradually, and that’s what I’d like to see now, no major changes, just players moving up and down the line-up one spot or two based on their performances.
A few minutes more for this guy, a few minutes less for that other guy, that’s how it works under Knoblauch.
Here are five moves that are top of mind for me right now:
1. Ride with Stuart Skinner.
Skinner had a rough moment against the L.A. Kings, that is Game Two where he let in a few iffy goals. Skinner also infamously had had a rough start to this hockey season. Many fans, including this fan, were searching the rosters of other NHL teams for some goalie, any goalie, who could be come in to replace Jack Campbell and/or Skinner, and damn the price it might cost.
But Skinner rebounded from both down moments. After last night’s game he said he was ticked off at Connor Garland’s clever fake-and-shot on the winning goal. But Skinner said he had learned his lesson. He had also made some good saves, he insisted, which was true enough. He seem unfazed, good to go.
He’ll need to bring his “A” game in Game Two, but, as Knoblauch said, Skinner is perfectly capable of doing just that.
2 More Brett Kulak and Vincent Desharnais, less Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci
So far in the playoffs, Cody Ceci and Darnell Nurse have respectively played 18:13 and 18:02 minutes per game at even strength, while Vincent Desharnais and Brett Kulak have played 14:30 and 14:24 respectively.
At this point, I’d even that up. Nurse, especially, has been struggling a bit, while Kulak has played excellent hockey. A bit more Kulak and a bit less Nurse for the time being would help the Oilers, no?
All due respect to those who think Ceci and Nurse have been getting the job done well in the 2024 playoffs, I’m not seeing it. By my eyes, and by my count of the mistakes they’ve made on Grade A shots against, the two Oilers have been struggling somewhat, especially Nurse, leaking too many Grade A shots against.
The two were on the ice for four of the five Cancuks goals against. Both Nurse and Ceci got beat by Connor Garland on an early breakaway. Ceci lost battles on the first and second Vancouver goals. Nurse turned the puck over and failed to track scorer J.T. Miller on the third Vancouver goal, and got caught a bit flat-footed and was beat (a bit) wide by Garland on the game winner.
Until this pairing can get through a game where there’s not unusual damager with them on the ice, it’s wise to boost the ice-time of Kulak and Desharnais, correct?
Desharnais has also had his struggled this playoff season and did so in Game One. But Kulak has easily been the best performer out of these four d-men. If only to boost his ice-time, you make this adjustment.
3. Pray for Leon Draisaitl to be healthy and for Connor McDavid to go supernova.
Connor McDavid was brilliant against the Kings. He averaged a boggling 9.8 major contributions to Grade A shots per game in that series. Usually he’s around six or seven such major contributions per game.
In Game One against Vancouver he had just one.
Yes, you read that right. McDavid dropped from ten per game against L.A. to just one.
That’s not going to happen again. McDavid has gone supernova in the past in the playoffs. He can do so again. Game Two would be a fine time, I’ll suggest.
As for Draisaitl, the thing that had me worried in that game more than anything else was Draisaitl getting injured and leaving the game. It brought out any catastrophizing streak I posses.
Drai seemed to be skating in first or second gear when he returned, this after he had dominated the game as a two-way player before he went out in the second period.
He had been the best player on the ice. There’s little chance the Oilers would have lost that game if he’d been healthy.
Let us hope and pray then that he’s healthy, that he got a one-game kind of knock, and he’ll be back flying in Game Two.
4. Put together a line of Warren Foegele, Ryan McLeod and Dylan Holloway and have Corey Perry on the fourth line.
Corey Perry has not been a much of a factor in the playoffs. But a line of Warren Foegele, Ryan McLeod and Dylan Holloway might be.
They are three fast and skilled players, capable of bombing the Canucks on the forecheck. I recall a similar kind of line coming together in 1990 playoffs to help lead the Oilers at a tough time, three young, fast and aggressive players helping lift the team out of the doldrums. That line had Adam Graves, Joe Murphy and Martin Gelinas. This new line will would bring much of what they brought. They can raise hell in the Canucks zone.
Holloway, in particular, has been strong, launching dangerous shots and throwing big hits. He led the Oilers with seven hits in Game One.
One final thought on Edmonton’s forward roster: if Draisaitl and Adam Henrique are good to go, I’d prefer to see Connor Brown over Corey Perry in the line-up. The Oilers could use Brown’s speed and tenacity.
5. Let’s all get comatose!
In any story worth the reading there has to be those moments when all looks lost, when it seems highly doubtful things are going to work out. That makes the eventual triumph all the sweeter.
That’s the way it’s likely to be with these Oilers. But even if it’s not going to work out in that happy manner, it makes no sense to hit any panic button. I’ll suggest the line-up tweaks I’m putting forward are small changes, not panic moves, just the natural flow of players up and down the line-up base on their performance.
It’s not time to be rash. Instead, let’s follow the lead of Comatose Kris.
The Oilers are perfectly capable of putting behind them such a rancid game. They did so all season. They certainly did it when they were down and out in November and making the playoffs looked like a distant hope.
Vancouver does not have Edmonton’s number. This series is not over. The Oilers have it in them to come back and beat Vancouver.
Let’s have a little faith.
Let’s all get comatose, my friends.
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