FIRST ROUND: Kings Vs. Oilers

  • Thread starter Thread starter SaltyPuck
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HeadInjury said:
I don't think there is much similarity between Williams and Byfield, at least not yet. Byfield has one goal this year where he shot the puck and beat the goalie. One of his 3 goals was an empty netter and another was off a tip. When the puck is on his stick he essentially poses no risk to score. Goal scoring isn't the only important stat, but this is a second overall pick we are talking about.
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I'm talking more about role than a direct player comparison. The reason a player like Williams worked in that role next to Kopitar and Brown is because of his stylistic fit. Williams understood his assignment, adjusted his game and filled the role at a level that rarely has happened for 17 seasons of Anze Kopitar's career. It's an extremely difficult role to fill and Williams did it the best. He's the pinnacle. He's what Byfield should strive to attain. The reason Byfield is on the 1st line despite the lack of goal scoring is because he fills that difficult role next to Kopitar at an above average level. He's playing the game effectively in spite of his individual success.

Puck possession, strength along the boards, limiting scoring chance and strong goaltending is how the Kings won 2 Cups. I don't care if a player is drafted #2 or #2 00 if he's filling his role, growing as a player and the team is winning I'm not going to sit here sound some sort of alarm. This season was a massive development leap for Byfield.
 
Statue4Deano said:
You're lucky you weren't around for Doughty vs. Bogosian. Bernier vs Quick. Kopitar vs. Paul Stastny.
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I don't remember that one, but certainly do the other two! Doughty was not an automatic layup for the 2nd peak as some may think. It would have been just like the pre-Cup, pre-DL Kings to blow that one. Glad they didn't!
 
05/29/93 said:
I don't remember that one, but certainly do the other two! Doughty was not an automatic layup for the 2nd peak as some may think. It would have been just like the pre-Cup, pre-DL Kings to blow that one. Glad they didn't!
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There was also Kopitar vs Malkin, Kopitar vs. Mikko Koivu and the list went on from there. Anything to diminish Kopitar’s game by a small vocal group. And my favorite of all was Brown vs. Cal Clutterbuck. Again anytime a player struggles or hits a development plateau there is a group ready to pin the team’s struggle on that players jersey.
 
An adjustment I'd like to see:
When we gain possession in our zone, instead of turning back to 're-group' as a unit
just go without the re-group. Edm is all over the re-group which makes it harder
to get out as a fresh unit and apply sustained pressure leading to 2nd and 3rd chances.
Maybe this is the result of no Fiala but, we're helping them maintain their forecheck and it's maddening.
 
Not to whine about calls but, the blatant, intentional stuff is just being let go.
They did call Leon's slash on Kempe on the face off.
Nurse is getting away with his bs, mauling someone at center ice, he even expected a call and nothing.
Kane treating Joonas as a chopping block.
Just call the blatant stuff.
Lets put pressure on the refs to call a straight up game. C'mon coach, fight for your team!
Time to call the crap out for what it is.

If they sit Arty and put MacEwen in, his sole purpose must be to try and disrupt and HIT.
Give him a shift or 2 to get after Leon. Something!!
 
Bill Hicks said:
An adjustment I'd like to see:
When we gain possession in our zone, instead of turning back to 're-group' as a unit
just go without the re-group. Edm is all over the re-group which makes it harder
to get out as a fresh unit and apply sustained pressure leading to 2nd and 3rd chances.
Maybe this is the result of no Fiala but, we're helping them maintain their forecheck and it's maddening.
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Yeah. We're defending for so long, dump in, line change, rinse and repeat. In defensive zone 40 minutes straight. Absolutely not working. My wife was yelling we have nobody fighting in the slot for rebounds. It's true.
 
Statue4Deano said:
There was also Kopitar vs Malkin, Kopitar vs. Mikko Koivu and the list went on from there. Anything to diminish Kopitar’s game by a small vocal group. And my favorite of all was Brown vs. Cal Clutterbuck. Again anytime a player struggles or hits a development plateau there is a group ready to pin the team’s struggle on that players jersey.
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Trade everyone.
 
It's becoming apparent that the Oilers still have serious flaws that are covered up by the dominance of McDavid and Draisaital. The key to winning this series will be exposing those weaknesses without letting those two outscore you.

Oilers defense is not all that good. It's very top heavy and the top end isn't particularly special. Evan Bouchard is the best of the bunch by quite a bit but he's not a #1 defenseman. He's more like a good #2 . A Jake Muzzin type. They lack a prime Doughty or Duncan Keith. One guy they can put out there for 30+ minutes. If they did they'd probably sweep the West and would put up a real challenge for Boston. Anyway every d-man beyond Bouchard is either big and physical or small and quick. They're all limited in their skills but if they stick to their roles they can be effective. 1-6 I think it's fair to say the Kings have the better collection of d-men by a fair margin.

I still think goaltending is the weakest link in the chain for the Oilers. Skinner can be exposed. If the Kings can figure out a way to get some sustained pressure you're going to see Skinner allow more leaky goals. Easier said than done when you're playing a team playing with as much confidence as the Oilers do when they start a game. But I have a very strong feeling that the Kings can get a dam breaking moment vs. Skinner and historically once a young goalie gets some doubt in his head it can swing an entire series.

Oilers forward group is much better than last season but once you get past the 1st line there's a significant drop off even if Nugent-Hopkins scored 100 points this season he can be contained. Overall it is an excellent mix of forwards and their forward depth might be the biggest reason the Oilers go on a deep playoff run.

All this considered I still like our chances if we can get a healthy Fiala back.
 
The #1 thing that needs to improve is the penalty kill. After 2 games the Kings are 16th out 16 teams at 50%.

Staying out of the box is a fine idea but that’s obviously not going to happen in this series.

Keeping Durzi and Edler off the PK would certainly help.
 
Statue4Deano said:
It's becoming apparent that the Oilers still have serious flaws that are covered up by the dominance of McDavid and Draisaital. The key to winning this series will be exposing those weaknesses without letting those two outscore you.

Oilers defense is not all that good. It's very top heavy and the top end isn't particularly special. Evan Bouchard is the best of the bunch by quite a bit but he's not a #1 defenseman. He's more like a good #2 . A Jake Muzzin type. They lack a prime Doughty or Duncan Keith. One guy they can put out there for 30+ minutes. If they did they'd probably sweep the West and would put up a real challenge for Boston. Anyway every d-man beyond Bouchard is either big and physical or small and quick. They're all limited in their skills but if they stick to their roles they can be effective. 1-6 I think it's fair to say the Kings have the better collection of d-men by a fair margin.

I still think goaltending is the weakest link in the chain for the Oilers. Skinner can be exposed. If the Kings can figure out a way to get some sustained pressure you're going to see Skinner allow more leaky goals. Easier said than done when you're playing a team playing with as much confidence as the Oilers do when they start a game. But I have a very strong feeling that the Kings can get a dam breaking moment vs. Skinner and historically once a young goalie gets some doubt in his head it can swing an entire series.

Oilers forward group is much better than last season but once you get past the 1st line there's a significant drop off even if Nugent-Hopkins scored 100 points this season he can be contained. Overall it is an excellent mix of forwards and their forward depth might be the biggest reason the Oilers go on a deep playoff run.

All this considered I still like our chances if we can get a healthy Fiala back.
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0 shots or whatever in the 1st was very alarming.

I think Oilers are giving it 90%, McDavid is giving it a lot lower than that - or is just being effectively contained, and Kings are about at 50%. Be interesting to see who keeps their foot on the gas. Kings have a good chance if they start showing up before they're down 0-2.
 
I really think we need G4 to win this series.

Unlike last season, we have 2 more horses on defense (Doughty and Vlad) and added offensive punch from Arvidsson, but the Oilers are also a better team with their deadline additions and Skinner in net.

If we can go up 3-1, I like our chances to get 1 more out of 3 with the way Korpisalo is playing.
 
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