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Edmonton Faces Must Win Game 3 |
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The Edmonton Oilers arguably deserved to win Game 1. They heavily outchanced the Panthers in Game 1, dominating the shots at 5 on 5. Through their own mistakes and Bobrovsky playing brilliant they ended up losing that game.
In Game 2, we expected an Oilers team to come out far hungrier, far more aggressive, and prepared to make life as difficult as possible on their opponent and their goalie. That is not what happened at all.
First let's get one thing out of the way. The Oilers did not lose that game because of officiating. I deeply disliked the reffing in that game and felt both sides got away with too much and also got called on weak make up calls to balance things out. I disagreed that the Warren Foegele hit deserved a 5 minute when the Sam Bennett hit on Broberg did not. Panthers fans can whine about the Draisaitl hit (a penalty for sure but nothing worth suspension), and Oilers fans can whine about the potential 5 on 3 scenario (the right call was made on the ice). That isn't the true story of the game.
The story for the Oilers was that they simply could not keep up to the Panthers all night. Florida was relentless with their forecheck and attacked hard in the neutral zone, eliminating any potential for Edmonton to have sustained pressure. Early in the game, it was clear that Bobrovsky was in the Oilers head as they were looking for that perfect cross ice pass, thinking that was the only way to beat him. The lone goal was a weak wrister by Ekholm that beat Bob 5-hole.
Instead of continuing that trend of getting pucks on net, putting traffic in front, Edmonton stayed and were forced to the perimeter all night. Even on powerplays, of which the Oilers had 4, they failed to generate many legitimate chances.
Draisaitl had his worst game of the playoffs, as did RNH. Kane was a non-factor and downright detrimental in many cases. McLeod stayed to the perimeter. Bouchard had a brutal giveaway which led to the 2-1 goal. There were really no bright spots from Edmonton all night.
Not an excuse for their overall play, but it is worth pointing out Edmonton had to play with 11 forwards and 5 defensemen for almost the entire game. On a night where the players were already struggling, that added to their issues. It does appear that Darnell Nurse is expected to play in Game 3.
Right now this team is down but not out. A win in Game 3 can give them momentum into Game 4 as both these home games are essentially must win games for the Oilers. Tie the series 2-2 and then it's a best of 3. For now, the Edmonton Oilers need to reset and deal with the game in front of them.
Thanks for reading.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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