Edmonton Oilers Playoff Thoughts: Round 2, Game 3

“Death, Taxes and you being upset with the refereeing” – Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch, a week ago.

I’ve almost never talked about NHL officiating when writing my articles, because every hockey fan has the exact same feelings about them. Why bother repeating an argument that’s redundant and parodied leaguewide? In my view, we all get one BLAME THE REFS card; only one. Vegas Golden Knights fans have a right to be unhappy about how Game 2 ended. Viktor Arvidsson tripped up defenseman Brayden McNabb, who went shoulder-first into the boards. With 5 minutes left in Overtime, it wasn’t called for a penalty, and Leon Draisaitl scored the game winner 20 seconds later. Arvidsson was trying to lift McNabb’s stick when racing for the puck, but McNabb turned his leg, and the stick wound up between his legs at the worst possible time. It wasn’t an intentional and dirty play, just an unfortunate missed call. Brayden was tough enough to get himself back on his feet, but it reminded me a little of Connor McDavid’s collarbone injury in his rookie season. I wish him a speedy recovery, you never like seeing any player go through that.

I always read and hear rants about referees, but you also have to call a spade a spade when your team dodges a bullet. It’s not the way you want to win a game; the outcome may’ve been different if the penalty was called. Saying that doesn’t mean I forgive Alex Pietrangelo’s tomahawk slash on Draisaitl two years ago. Had Arvidsson been sent to the penalty box, it would’ve been an offensive zone penalty, 200 feet away from his team’s net, a coach killer; especially after his team blew their chance at winning the game earlier with a 5-minute powerplay. I couldn’t tell whether or not an icing call was waved off, but any player in Viktor’s situation should just leave the play alone. It wasn’t like he needed to hurry up and play defense. Nick Roy had a hearing for his cross-check to Trent Frederic’s face that led to Edmonton’s 5-minute man advantage. The replay on that looks like Roy was trying to bat the puck in midair. But clearly, with Frederic right there, it wasn’t a good time to try that. There won’t be any suspension, though. Roy was just fined almost $8k. Looking at every series, whichever team you cheer for, the Department of Player Safety became a joke. This part’s too depressing, let’s move on.

Taking a 2-0 series lead on the road sounds incredible, right? Neither Draisaitl or Connor McDavid got a point before OT, and Evan Bouchard wasn’t credited with an assist on what was a good play leading up to the OT goal. Any time you get 4 goals without your three best players, you can’t let that go to waste. Keep playing, we’re nowhere near done yet. The Golden Knights went up 2-0 the same way against the Dallas Stars in Round 1 last year, then lost Games 3 and 4 at home and wound up losing the series in Game 7. Five current Oilers players were on the team that took such a series lead against the Anaheim Ducks in 2017, with one of them being on the other side. Our side didn’t win, both teams have a loser’s perspective here. Although the Kings had home ice advantage in Round 1, Edmonton still understands the desperation of a team down 2-0. The Oilers will obviously try to win both games, but one win at Rogers Place and going up 3-1 seems more like the best-case scenario. Just don’t let Vegas tie the series, and we’re looking okay. The keys to the game are…

Edmonton Oilers Thoughts

Score First: When I watched the recap of Game 2 on Sportsnet, they said it was the 6th straight come-from-behind win by Edmonton. That’s pretty hilarious to me, considering they blew a multi-goal lead in the third period. I guess letting in the first goal really early makes that count as well? But nonetheless, try something different. Try seeing what you can do when you open the scoring. We know they’re good at making comebacks, but needing to hang on after making it 4-2 was brand new territory for them in these Playoffs. They nearly blew a 5-2 lead in Game 6 against Los Angeles. Give yourselves a different in-game vibe.

Early Discipline: Oh, look at this. I’m going to talk about the refs again, but not in the same way. In both Games 1 and 2, The Oilers went down early because they took early penalties. Be aggressive, but pick your spots and don’t overdue it. Don’t be the casualty of an honest mistake, either.

No Lane: Victor Olafsson scored his first two goals of this postseason in Game 2. Both of them were PP goals, but that’s not my concern. He was left wide open on the left faceoff dot. I know the penalty killers can’t be everywhere at once, but it should’ve been a lesson in remembering to cover your man after Olafsson’s first goal.