0:04. That is the amount of time that was left in Game 3 when the entire Oilers team decided to stop playing hockey. I've seen plenty of vitriol on Stuart Skinner (we will get to him in a moment) but the entire line that was on the ice owns that loss in regulation.

If you told Oilers fans at the start of the series they were up 2-1 going into Game 4 at home than Edmonton fans would likely be pretty happy. No one should have expected an Oilers sweep in this series and we are starting to see Vegas finding their legs. This is still a series that could very likely go to 6 or 7 games. In order to get back in the win column, the entire Oilers team needs to play infinitely better than they did in Game 3 and be the aggressive and physical team they were in Game 1 and 2.

Onto Stuart Skinner who it seems will likely be the starter for the remainder of this series as Pickard is dealing with an injury sustained in Game 3. Skinner attracts a ton of hate from this fanbase, some of it warranted while other things not; he is the Evan Bouchard of netminding. Calvin Pickard has helped this team win some games but let's not pretend he has been doing it with 0.930SV% numbers throughout. Skinner made some huge saves for the Oilers and kept them in a game they had no business being in for large sections of the game, particularly in the third period.

Does Skinner need to be better? 100% but the Oilers as a whole absolutely collapsed in front of him in a way we did not see in Game 1 and 2 against the Golden Knights. The good news for the Oilers has been that on the other side, Adin Hill through 3 games has also been highly leaky. The Oilers had 2 goals on 6 shots in the first period and then decided for long stretches that they just were not going to fire the puck on net. The game tying goal in the third period was a result of simply throwing the puck on net. They need to do that far more tonight.

I am not going to post lines because as of right now there seems to be a blender going on. It sounds like Troy Stecher will be in for Emberson and potentially Kapanen in for Arvidsson. I have a hard time taking Arvidsson out unless he is dealing with an injury and even more of a hard time putting Kapanen in over Jeff Skinner. Kapanen struggled through the whole regular season and was a big liability in his own end which is the last thing the Oilers need against a Vegas team that smells blood.

I am not saying tonight is a must win but it certainly feels like it. A win tonight and the Oilers are up 3-1 with multiple chances to close the series out. A loss and it's 2-2 with two of the remaining 3 games in Vegas. Winning both games in Vegas was a phenomenal start, but asking the team to win two more on the road against this team is a big ask.

Lastly on Draisaitl who is clearly playing injured and had his worst game of the playoffs in Game 3. I don't know what to expect tonight, it's clear the team doesn't think he has it in him with whatever ailment he has to carry his own line but Knoblauch needs to get creative and starting finding better ways to take advantage of home ice.

Thanks for reading.

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