Line ratings (out of 10)
Maroon-McDavid-Eberle (7) - Maroon got a goal at end of game. Line never got scored on, but Eberle still on the schnide. They handled the McGinn-Burmistrov-Reider line quite easily.
Lucic-Draisaitl-Slepyshev (8) - The Draisaitl to Slepyshev to Klefbom goal was a thing of beauty. Didn't get scored on. They were pretty evenly matched with the Domi-Hanzel-Vrbata line.
Caggiula-Nuge-Kassian (6) - Line got scored on, well, Nuge did, but this line worked harder than expected and hit a lot, showed some chemistry. Matched up evenly with the Perlini-Dvorak-Doan 3rd line.
Hendricks-Letestu-Pakarinen (7) - Hendo's goal was all hard work from all three. Got scored on. They had a minute or so against the Yote's first line and dominated them.
In watching the first period against the Yotes, the Oilers were chasing the puck, rarely gaining control. They couldn't contain them physically either. It was as if they were ignoring McLellan's systems. Draisaitl gave glimmer that being in front of the net is where this game was to be won. I was mighty pissed there were no fights or tussles. Perhaps the Yotes knew they'd get their asses handed to them, so they didn't instigate.
As I said in my last post, the Oilers needed to attack the net and not send soft wristers from the outside as we all know the odds of scoring in front are much higher. Let's look at each goal against the Yotes and see if my demand matches up with the result.
1. (5v4) Draisaitl took a pass in front from Lucic who was behind the net, shot-save, rebound, shot in front of the net, goal. Draisaitl's backhand control is one of the best in the whole world.
2. (5v5) Hendricks gobbled up a Pakarinen's kickshot off of Domingue's pad on left side and jammed it in from in front of the net. Classic garbage goal.
3. (5v3) Letestu took a cross-ice pass in the high slot from McDavid and one-timed it. Done.
4. (5v5) Oilers began in their own zone after a beauty pad-save from T-Bot. Draisaitl dipsy-doodled through the middle across the blue line, backhand-passed to Slepyshev on the right boards who very smartly let some defenders pass slightly by to open up a small passing lane, which he went tape to tape to Klefbom perfectly pinching on the left who buried the puck. This is one of the Oilers better goals of the year and where I absolutely love Klefbom and look forward to more from him here.
5. (5v5) Maroon had the puck behind the net and backhanded it to McDavid, who, like Froto, put on The Ring that makes him disappear to go through a couple people, then reappeared in another spot, to pass to Klefbom at the blue line. Meanwhile, Maroon, plopped himself in front of the net, Klef shoots it, rebound, and Paddy falls shovelling the puck in for his 20th. HIS TWENTIETH GOAL!
Here are the shot and goal locations courtesy of www.hockeyviz.com.
CONCLUSION
The Oilers took my advice obviously, were aggressive to the net on all 5 goals with 3 being in front of the net. Any soft wristers didn't do jack.
This is the new Oilering.
No comments:
Post a Comment