Let’s hope they’re all wrong.

I know these so called "experts" are just making guesses and they by no means can tell the future anymore than you or I can but honestly I have no idea how anyone in their right mind can and would believe Oilers would have taken us out in 5. I'm also as baffled as to how Edmonton coming into the year are Stanley Cup favorites. I think the McDavid effect clouds peoples judgment to make them believe this team is elite. I'm sorry but I've never bought into it, yea McDavid is the best and Leon is up there as well but this is hockey and you need a complete team and while the Oilers have improved over the years in the D department they are still far from having a good enough overall team to win it.

^Just like with the Laffs. They can't go far in the playoffs if they just rely on 4 forwards and no true upgrades to their defense and goaltending. Yet I still hear about them at the beginning of the season being a top contender.

Anyone interested in the watch party tonight PM me I might be able to hook you up… single ticket only.

Downside: Would have to sit next to me lol

Loool, between this and the other day when he said Edmonton fans have nothing else to do other than to watch Hockey, pls extend him.

Oilers going 11F and 7D tonight.

McDrai will play big minutes again, and their D might be banged up.

Can they play any more? 29 mins last game wasn't it?

Do they even have any other lines?

McDrai is gonna be running on fumes with the heavy minutes that those two Coilers playing in this series.

Coilers have no depth in their forwards outside of McDrai and Hyman.

Big Z is putting the big hurt on Kane. The physical game that our players are playing against the Coilers is taking a toll on them.

Just stay disciplined with hard physical play without the crosschecks, and stick work to avoid penalties. The team will get their scoring chances again with these Coilers whether it is on 5 on 5 play or the power play.

They're splitting McDrai up tonight, which I think will work in our favor. Miller and Lindholm can take 1 line each.

With Pickard in net and Mcdrai split up, Nucks just need to stay off the penalty and will have a better shot at winning. Oilers are 10/22 on the PP so far in the playoffs.

That's a pretty big improvement on the Canucks part, they were at 66% coming into this series I think?

nucks were 2/13 on the PP in round 1, lol

3/9 in round 2 so far. we were only 66% in the last game, 1st game was 0/3 and 2nd game was 1/3

No I mean the Oilers PP was ~66% from the LA series... so if it's at 10/22 now we're slowly chipping away on the PK

ah, i c. they're 4/8 in this series right now, pretty fucking dangerous, lol

Because predictions and expectations are just that, and don't always bear out in reality. MOST of the time, they do

Canucks are playing very well defensively. Offensively they are inconsistent, but Skinner has been such shit, it hasn't mattered yet.

If Skinner was even a decent goaltender, the Oilers would probably be sweeping right now.

Yea, and if we didn’t have an “AHL” goalie things would be different.

You know what they say about ifs and buts.

Skinner doing this and that (and most “experts, also don’t think he’s playing THAT poorly) doesn’t change the fact that the bottom 6 of Edmonton can’t even get on the ice.

lol bro, your takes aren’t based in reality.

Drai and McDavid are performing at a clip better than the regular season and still losing

Edmonton doesn’t even have a second pairing they can trust, they are getting walked by the Canucks 3rd and 4th line.

I don’t care enough to dig up the stats but local radio has been on it all week. If you think a team with 1 unit can go up against a team with full depth, you’re wrong.

This series could have been 3-0 Canucks on a coin flip. No one looks at the oilers depth and thinks this is an effective lineup. Even players like Kane etc. are washed and can’t be contributors when under pressure OR when they are playing in their own zone.

Then you start looking at advanced stats and the bottom half of the oilers lineup doesn’t even generate offensive zone pressure.

Find me one team that’s won the cup in the modern era that has 2 players playing HALF the game, I’ll wait.

Edit* AND.. they are still rolling their PP at the rate of the best PP the league has ever seen.. AND STILL LOSING lol..

"If my mom had balls she'd be my dad"
-Max Verstappen

What actual takes are you arguing with? Do you even know? If you think I'm saying Silovs sucks, which seems to be the reaction whenever anyone says something about him that isn't heaping praise, then you are only existing in your own reality. I never said anything like that. I just said he looks like an AHL goalie a lot, missing position, dropping his stick, AHL quality puck handling, etc. That's not being unfair if you're not insane or blind.

Go back through this thread during games and you'll see everyone talking about how bad Skinner has been playing. Dude got the hook in the last game and got replaced by the (playoff) rookie for today's game. Because he sucks, and he's the main reason they lost 2 games. They were up 4-1 and still lost, because Skinner sucks. That doesn't mean the Canucks suck, they are playing great, but as everyone is saying - Skinner is letting in soft goals and being outplayed by Silovs.

But no, it's the Canucks so we have to pretend that Skinner is an awesome goalie actually, and the reason the Canucks won 2 games is because they are the best in the world! Everything is going perfectly!

Your team can win games and not be the better team. They can win the championship and not be the best team. Team sports results are due to a combination of all sorts of things. Offense, defense, power play, goaltending, officiating, etc. Chiefs got outplayed by the Eagles quite badly in the Super Bowl last year, but some things went their way, and so they won.

And that's fine, so I just stop talking about it in the live threads. Time and place, right?

Actually Silovs looked really fucking good in the third period - like an actual polished Ian Clark goaltender. If he keeps playing like that, he'll be the goaltender people are pretending he is. So far he's been a competent AHL level goalie who is getting great bounces when he's beat.

Pickard ain't no rook... he's 32... just a marginal NHL goalie so this is his first playoff game haha

I don't personally know anyone that didn't know that Skinner sucking was a key to winning this series... the entire weakness of the Oilers is their shitty goaltending year after year after year... and questionable defence as well although I think that has improved over previous years. They have to overplay McDrai in response to that weakness. Their 4th line is okay, I mean at various times they've even kept the Canucks hemmed for long periods of time the last couple games... but they're super unlikely to score and it's too tempting to keep tapping McDrai on the back after he's had a 30 second breather.

They need a Grant Fuhr and Andy Moog .... to be a top 4 team contender.

Regardless if Edmonton is a 1 line team, they may not be legit cup contenders, but they do have enough to get by Round 2, maybe.

While it's a coin flip Canucks could be up 3-0, it could also be a coin flip Oilers would be up 3-0 too. Skinner has not been playing well enough which gives Canucks hope that they can score just enough to win. If Skinner played a bit better, it would be a different series.

Canucks may be winning in the advanced stats, but at the end of the day, whenever Oilers have a man advantage, they are dangerous, whether it's PP or with an extra attacker. Like, actual legitimate "they're probably going to score" dangerous. Not like the feeling we get when Canucks get a PP "I hope they actually put some shots on net".

When a team can score like that, sometimes 1 line is enough. These are all 1 goal games, it's way too tight. I would say coin flip for either team sounds more accurate.

Can Canucks also sustain being outshot 2:1 every game?

When the other team has shitty goaltending? Yea sure

They can shoot as much as they'd like, but can McDrai sustain carrying their team 30 minutes every game through to the cup finals? If so, then he deserves the McJesus title.

You let them throw enough pucks on net and shit happens, especially if Cole is on the ice.

I hope we pressure this new goalie early and break their spirits with a couple of quick goals.