nullterm wrote on Sat, 14 June 2025 20:44

Are we the team that perennially can’t finish when it ultimately counts? Highlights all season but throwing blanks when the chips are down? Last year Game 7 vibes all over. No effort, can’t put together a basic pass. Pickard was keeping us in it but no one else showed up to score.

Game 5 sucked. No question about it. There are issues, some of which have to be addressed and some which can't and we just have to hope here.

Obviously, it's likely Skinner's net to lose. He's bounced back strong after a reset before, so hopefully we see that again.

I think the team is playing a bit scared, and I think the coach hasn't helped with some of his actions. Benching Stecher after one bad mistake in Game 4 didn't help his confidence in Game 5 - he looked like he was terrified of making that error again. With a team that forechecks as hard as Florida, your defence can't be panicking. We saw what happens a couple of times Saturday. They need to get these guys focused on playing their game and making plays.

I do agree with the analysis on the broadcast about going up the boards. The Oilers need to tweak their approach. Their wingers have been failing not just to keep possession, but even to get the puck out of the defensive zone a lot of the time (some worse than others). Some quicker movement might spring the attack, but also a different route some of the time. Those shifts where we're trapped in the zone are exhausting.

I also wonder if the game day practices are necessary at this point or if they're costing us valuable energy. The team looked tired at points in the last week. The Panthers aren't skating on game days. The Oilers are. And it sounds like they're running full practices too - not just a light skate to stretch out. I'm not sure that more video and less skating wouldn't be a better approach, especially given that the team is really long in the tooth. Do all these greybeards need more time skating?

All that said, last year we had to win 4 in a row to win the Cup. This year we just need back-to-back wins. We have McDavid and Draisaitl. We've been pretty close throughout this series and we haven't played close to our best hockey. We've barely ever held a lead. Come out hard and play like there's nothing left to lose tomorrow. Take one in Florida. And then we play game 7 in our own building with that crowd behind them.

The sun hasn't set yet here.

"Thinking that a bad team's best players are the reason the team is bad is the "Tambellini re-signing Lennart Petrell" of sports opinions." @Woodguy55
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