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R1: Los Angeles Kings (P2) vs. Edmonton Oilers (P3)

The refs had a couple of weak calls in the third, plus a failed coaches' challenge, and they still tied it! LA's final goal was garbage, too.
 
What a beatdown last night, Skinner pulled. Obviously the Oilers can roar back here, and the Kings were a really bad road team this season, so I guess we'll see.
 
I'm no big fan of Skinner but of the 11 goals against in the two games, none were soft.
There were only two where I thought one could have some legitimate criticism of how Skinner played it.
Between the penalties and poor team defense, the Oilers are getting killed.
They miss Ekholm
But they're facing one of the best defensive teams in the league too.
You can never count McDavid and Draisaitl out but Ekholm is not coming back for this series so it looks grim.
I hope the Oilers make more of a series of it

"In a 7 game series, the team that is up 2-0 has gone on to win the series 86.3% of the time. When game 3 is at home, the odds of winning the series were 80.2% vs 88.6% if game 3 is on the road."
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cw said:
Team gets within a goal of a Stanley Cup ... and they cut the GM loose.
I'm trying to recall if I've seen that before. Haven't thought of another instance.
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Barry Trotz head coaching the Capitals to their first Stanley Cup and the team walking him out the door due to contract disputes comes to mind. Not sure the Ken Holland thing was the same (looks like Ken wanted to leave even before the playoffs came around). Also some might say the Oilers got within a goal of the Cup in spite of Holland.
 
I just refuse to accept that the Oilers have internal metrics that say that that Skinner was a goalie that didn't need a plan B.

He's really good facing shots when squared up but his lateral movement in the crease sucks and that's where a lot of the King's goals come from. Not that it was necessarily an option for them but just looking at how Stolarz has performed for us, I think they made a mistake doubling down on forwards.
 
herman said:
Barry Trotz head coaching the Capitals to their first Stanley Cup and the team walking him out the door due to contract disputes comes to mind. Not sure the Ken Holland thing was the same (looks like Ken wanted to leave even before the playoffs came around). Also some might say the Oilers got within a goal of the Cup in spite of Holland.
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I think the coaching situation is different.
I know it was reported as 'mutual' but the vibe I got when you heard Jeff Jackson and Holland talk about it was Holland got pushed out. Exhibit A was he had no destination or plans and didn't convince with the 'mutual' claim. He joined NHL Hockey Operations in November but isn't sure he likes not being a GM. Stan Bowman was reinstated July 1 and hired by the Oilers shortly after.
 
L K said:
I just refuse to accept that the Oilers have internal metrics that say that that Skinner was a goalie that didn't need a plan B.

He's really good facing shots when squared up but his lateral movement in the crease sucks and that's where a lot of the King's goals come from. Not that it was necessarily an option for them but just looking at how Stolarz has performed for us, I think they made a mistake doubling down on forwards.
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Yeah. He’s a decidedly average goalie. That can work if you have stellar defence to go with your strong offence, but the Oilers don’t have that. You can only out score those issues for so long.
 
bustaheims said:
Regular season, he’s been basically average. Playoffs, he’s struggled. League average sv% this season was .893.
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That includes backups. League average for starters is a little north of that (roughly I get .902) so he's near the bottom.
 
bustaheims said:
Which is why I said average goalie not average starter. ;)
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I was thinking more of the league perception of how the Oilers are a top contender.
With lower tier starting goaltending, I simply don't see it.
Oddsmakers sure disagree with me.

But, having said that, in my opinion, bad goaltending is not the reason they find themselves where they do.
As much as I'm not crazy about Skinner, I think a bunch of Oilers players and coaches would be higher up the ladder of blame.
 
cw said:
I was thinking more of the league perception of how the Oilers are a top contender.
With lower tier starting goaltending, I simply don't see it.
Oddsmakers sure disagree with me.

But, having said that, in my opinion, bad goaltending is not the reason they find themselves where they do.
As much as I'm not crazy about Skinner, I think a bunch of Oilers players and coaches would be higher up the ladder of blame.
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Absolutely. Their D zone play is horrible. We'd be ripping it apart here if it was the Leafs.
 
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