 benv
Messages: 669
Registered: May 2006
Location: Edmonton
No Cups
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My rambling thoughts going into tonight.
Saturday marked the first time in Oiler history that they were a game away from being swept, and their opponent failed to complete it. It had happened six times previously: Philadelphia (1980), NY Islanders (1983), Chicago (1992), Dallas (1999), Winnipeg (2021), and Colorado (2022)--all ended in sweeps. So historically we're in some new territory here.
A couple of situations came to my mind after Saturday's win. The first was their experience with Billy Smith in the 1983 and 1984 finals. The Islanders of course swept the Oilers in 1983, holding them to just 6 goals, and then allowed just two goals in the first two games of the 1984 final. So in six straight playoff games the Oilers had scored 8 goals--and remember this was the highest scoring team in NHL history (averaging around 5.5 per game). Smith just seemed unbeatable but then the Oilers pumped 7 by him in game 3 and another 7 in game 4. In two games he went from immortal to so bad the Islanders didn't even start him in game 5. I really hope the same fate awaits Bobrovsky over the next three games.
The other series that popped into my mind were the 2006 and 2017 ones against Carolina and Anaheim respectively. In each the Oilers faced elimination in game 6, then played a dominant game at home to force game 7. Both times we had a lot of confidence going into game 7 only for our opponent to come out with one of their best efforts and completely shut down our offense. I really want to avoid this tonight.
Most teams have a losing record when facing elimination--this makes sense since if you think about a team with a long history, you will generally face elimination when you're up against a superior opponent. But the Oilers actually came into the playoffs this year with a pretty good record of 18-20 when facing elimination, and after winning three games in this situation so far this year (two against Vancouver and Saturday), they are now above 0.500 at 21-20. Let's hope they've got three more wins in them--I wonder if a team has ever staved off elimination 6 times in one playoff year.
If the Oilers are to make this comeback, tonight will be the most difficult win. As much as we want to see game 6, I would imagine the Panthers REALLY don't want to have to come back to Edmonton and will be focused and ready tonight.
All hands on deck and let's get this done.
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Pregame:
Edmonton @ Florida (Game #5) |
By: OilFans on Tue, 18 June 2024 02:00 |
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By: Leia on Tue, 18 June 2024 05:48 |
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By: Mike on Tue, 18 June 2024 06:12 |
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By: Adam on Tue, 18 June 2024 09:14 |
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By: Mike on Tue, 18 June 2024 12:51 |
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Re: Pregame: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #5) |
By: benv on Tue, 18 June 2024 09:40 |
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Re: Pregame: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #5) |
By: Adam on Tue, 18 June 2024 09:46 |
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Re: Pregame: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #5) |
By: benv on Tue, 18 June 2024 11:04 |
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By: Adam on Tue, 18 June 2024 11:20 |
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By: Adam on Tue, 18 June 2024 09:48 |
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Re: Pregame: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #5) |
By: Kr55 on Tue, 18 June 2024 11:26 |
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By: Kr55 on Tue, 18 June 2024 12:19 |
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Re: Pregame: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #5) |
By: benv on Tue, 18 June 2024 15:02 |
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Re: Pregame: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #5) |
By: Kr55 on Tue, 18 June 2024 17:20 |
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Re: Pregame: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #5) |
By: Mike on Tue, 18 June 2024 18:03 |
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