There haven’t been enough mentions about Corey Perry’s subtle backhand pass on the Overtime winner. The 40-year-old was probably our team’s worst forward in last year’s Playoffs, but the complete 180 he’s made in this year’s Playoffs is what you’d read if you looked up Fountain Of Youth on the internet. Also, with the third-period goal by Mattias Ekholm, the Edmonton Oilers became the 9th team in NHL Playoff history to have 20 different goal scorers. Depth scoring is cool.
After not scoring an OT Playoff goal throughout his whole career before this year, Leon Draisaitl now has 3 of them and an OT assist in this postseason alone. Every fan would rather have their teams make it easier on them and not play in a stressful, sudden-death situation. But Draisaitl now finds himself in a 5-way tie for most OT goals in a single postseason, two other players in that tie are in this series as well. It still would’ve been cool if either Evan Bouchard or Kasperi Kapanen scored on their beauty breakaway chances.
Oilers fans were wondering about Sam Bennett’s first goal of Game 1, it was challenged for goaltender interference, but deemed a good goal. Brett Kulak also went to the front of the net as he was trying to defend, and Bennett tripped over his skate before colliding with Stuart Skinner. I disagreed with Kris Knoblauch challenging the play because it wasn’t egregious. Then, seeing the Panthers score on the powerplay they were granted shortly after, with less than 30 seconds left in the penalty, reminded me of Game 3 in Round 1 when the Kings challenged Evander Kane’s third-period tying goal, and then it backfired on them. At least Edmonton still won, but I expected Knoblauch to remember that before his decision was made.
Seeing Skinner record a .900 SV% or more in Game 1 is a rarity. Maybe if he had stayed standing instead of diving down on Brad Marchand’s goal, he might’ve stopped that. Another way to look at that is Marchand was left wide open for a pass from Nate Schmidt at the point. The goals against weren’t 100% his fault, but allowing three goals on your first eight shots faced is well below average, no matter which goalie is in net. That being said, he moved on and made key saves to help ensure his team’s come-from-behind win, which has been part of their identity all season long.
I’ve stated before that the Oilers have been historically bad in Game 1s. But getting the first win in the most important series of all is a good start, a nice use of home ice advantage. Going up 2-0 would be nice as well, but the Panthers have a different opinion. The keys to the game are…
Edmonton Oilers Thoughts
Be Mean: If you’re playing against a tough team, play like a tough team yourself. I know the hit count for both teams was even, but there were times on Wednesday when I thought the Oilers could’ve run a Panthers player down. Not going after them sometimes resulted in scoring chances against. Since you know these opponents like to take liberties, you shouldn’t be afraid to take your own. How many of Tomas Nosek’s teammates could or will go after Jake Walman for laughing at him on his way to the penalty box in OT?
Bark And Bite: The Sportsnet broadcast, at one point, showed stats of even-strength goals against by star players that Aleksander Barkov has been on the ice for in career Playoff games. Against Connor McDavid, the number is zero. McDavid got two assists in Game 1, but why not add a goal? I’d pay attention to the 5v5/4v4 matchup here.
Bob’s On It: I know it sounds weird to say you need to generate better shots on the goalie when you scored four goals, and no one expects Sergei Bobrovsky to allow everything. But on shots taken down low near the pads, he’s not letting anything in. During last year’s Final, even though the Oilers lost, they learned to aim their shots upwards and started scoring more. The goals on Wednesday were above the pads; keep aiming higher. Also, force more rebounds. Bobrovsky was giving up quite a few of those. Then make sure you have enough bodies in front, that was a strength in 2 or 3 of Edmonton’s goals.
ITR 44: We Have A Champion…Again – Inside The Rink
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