Despite what I’m about to say here, despite Oilers Twitter acting like we already lost the Stanley Cup as they always do, bad games like this happen every now and then. Okay, time for the rant.
If you didn’t watch Wednesday night’s game, you would absolutely believe it was a blowout win for Dallas from start to finish. After the first period, Edmonton was only down by one goal and put up 16 shots. It’s the last seven minutes of the second period where they forgot how to play hockey, and even on the first goal against as well. Three of the Stars goals came from turnovers, 2 of them made by their second best forward. On 1 of the goals, their highest-paid defenseman made an ill-timed pinch in the offensive zone as a powerplay expired, and a penalized player was coming out of the penalty box, leading to a 4v1. And one goal was allowed on the penalty kill because our top two-way defenseman took a needless interference minor over a hit at high speed he didn’t like. Talk about cutting your nose to spite your face. The Stars have ten players with 40+ points. Jamie Benn, who scored the 4th goal, is just one away from being their 8th 20+ goal scorer. Are you sure that’s a team you want to play selfish and lazy against? You shouldn’t play like that against any team, but I think you get the point.
I don’t fault Calvin Pickard for that game, nor do I blame the Oilers for starting him. I understand that they may not want to burn out Stuart Skinner again, and there’ll be a back-to-back split tonight and tomorrow, so they’re reserving a more rested Skinner for tonight. Pickard also won the last meeting against Dallas and has been a good backup all year. The second-oldest roster in the league owes him an apology for playing like the second-youngest roster.
Perhaps they needed a stinker like this with just 2 weeks before the Playoffs to help remind them not to take nights off. They’re getting another reminder against another heavy Cup contender tonight. The keys to the game are…
Every Second Counts: In the first meeting between Edmonton and Colorado, the Oilers stopped skating in the dying seconds of Overtime because they thought they were heading to the shootout. The period horn hadn’t gone off yet, and the Avalanche were able to capitalize on the mental error. Keep going until there’s an official stoppage in play.
Need A Walker?: Avs defenseman Sean Walker scored two goals in the last meeting, adding more speed to a team that already has it. Shutting down Colorado’s high-octane offense before Walker was already enough of a challenge.
Rested: The Oilers had the day off yesterday, the Avalanche are playing the second half of a back-to-back. Take advantage of their tired legs, don’t let up.
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