They won, that’s all that matters. They won.
Tuesday night’s game had no business going to overtime. Edmonton made it a two goal game in the third period against a team riddled with injuries, and then they just couldn’t buy a save. The first Islanders goal was a nice shot, I don’t blame Stuart Skinner for that. But his lateral movement on most goals against is so slow, particularly the second one he allowed. Ilya Sorokin may’ve been the losing goalie, but he stopped the shots you’d expect him to stop. I’m not just saying that because he usually plays well against our team. Maybe the collapse was karma for Connor McDavid not getting called for a tripping penalty before scoring the third goal? That’s the excuse I’ll go with.
So tonight is the last game of the season against a team the Oilers have historically kept collecting wins from in the last decade. So, hopefully, I won’t really have a complaint like in this piece. The keys to the game are…
They Can’t Slump Forever: It’s still mindboggling how a team like Nashville, that had a really good offseason, and has a really good team, can be dead last in the entire NHL. Normally when a team has the best penalty kill, they’re winning more than losing. Edmonton has an eyerolling track record of playing down to the level of their opponents. Treat this opponent the same as every other, don’t take periods off.
Captain Pickard x3: Calvin Pickard is in net against the Predators for the third and final time. He’s won two straight against them, so why not? Can he really outduel Juuse Saros three times?
Mr. 1000?: McDavid is only 27 years old and needs just a single point to reach 1000 in his NHL career. That’s the #1 vibe from the fans, players, and media heading into tonight. But don’t lose sight of the tasks at hand. If a scoring chance develops, don’t let it go to waste because you were trying too hard to set him up even for an assist. He’ll get that point when the time comes. But if you get too excited, you might make mistakes and go down a goal or two.
ITR 32: The Final Countdown – Inside The Rink
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