*** 2021-22 Playoffs Opening Round: Los Angeles Kings (P3) at Edmonton Oilers (P2) - (EDM WINS 4-3) ***

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Lotsa jump in these LA Kings.

Makes me wonder at times if the Oiler players and Kings players switched sweaters!
But no, #97 is still sporting the Oiler logo...

What a revitalization for one Jonathan Quick!
Left for done, reported "on his way out" of LA.... even us fantasy owners steered clear of him (well, he WAS pretty mediocre during the regular season most nights), but here he is, looking like the Quick of the former champion Kings.

And with LA leading and pushing the Oilers to possible elimination, the Kings may NOT want Drew Doughty in the lineup even if he is ready to go!

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Tyson Barrie gives the Oiles a jolt!

3-2 lead for Edmonton with just over 5 minutes to play in this must win!

[JR Ewing]

Evander Kane with an empty-netter. 4-2 EDM

 

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

7 hours ago, JR Ewing said:

Evander Kane with an empty-netter. 4-2 EDM

 

 

Your Oilers pushed and got their Game 7.

I have not been able to watch much of this series..... is Game 7 a complete crap shoot between these two?
Or do you think the momentum gained from a convincing G6 win carries into G7 for EDM, while deflating the Kings?

I honestly didn't think LA would have the chops to get this far, and it seems the winner in any given game  in this series has made the loser look bad.
So which version of which teams show up?

Kane flashed "seven" to the crowd and camera as he skated by.... 7 for himself? (goals) or 7 for the TEAM as in G7? Hmmm....

Saturday is gonna be rockin with this series, along with two Eastern series going the distance.

[JR Ewing]

2 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

Your Oilers pushed and got their Game 7.

I have not been able to watch much of this series..... is Game 7 a complete crap shoot between these two?
Or do you think the momentum gained from a convincing G6 win carries into G7 for EDM, while deflating the Kings?

I honestly didn't think LA would have the chops to get this far, and it seems the winner in any given game  in this series has made the loser look bad.
So which version of which teams show up?

 

 

I don't know. There's a reason they make them actually play the games.

 

 

2 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

Kane flashed "seven" to the crowd and camera as he skated by.... 7 for himself? (goals) or 7 for the TEAM as in G7? Hmmm....

Saturday is gonna be rockin with this series, along with two Eastern series going the distance.

 

Kane was asked after, and said it was for game 7 and that he didn't know how many goals he'd scored.

 

[thegx.ca]

LA had their chance to advance when Nurce suspended for game 6 now game 7 with Nurce back in I doubt LA chances are any better...

[Toronto Jules]

Gotta feel tonight will become the Connor McDavid show and he will put the Oilers on his back and lead them to a win in game 7. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets a hat trick tonight. 

[JR Ewing]

After being slew-footed in a scrum and hurting his ankle in game 6, Draisaitl didn't practice this morning. Major blow if he can't play tonight.

 

[Math]

Keith high-sticking his own player... Oilers should be pissed for the non call because the penalty bench is the only place where Keith is not hurting his team.

[Toronto Jules]

I am so glad Edmonton won and now hope that Calgary can win tonight for the battle of Alberta to happen in round 2. Now that Toronto is out these are the two teams I am cheering for. Bring the cup back to Canada. 

[JR Ewing]

It's a weird thing to say when you're referring to a guy who's only 25, but has 4 Art Ross, 3 Lindsay and 2 Hart Trophies (and may have another of both of the last two), but Connor McDavid elevated his game in this series, particularly in the last 3 games, where he was quite literally unstoppable.

 

[Toronto Jules]

24 minutes ago, JR Ewing said:

It's a weird thing to say when you're referring to a guy who's only 25, but has 4 Art Ross, 3 Lindsay and 2 Hart Trophies (and may have another of both of the last two), but Connor McDavid elevated his game in this series, particularly in the last 3 games, where he was quite literally unstoppable.

 

I view Auston Matthews as an incredible player and that he is, but I am not going to sit here just because I am a Leafs fan and say Matthews is a better player than Connor McDavid because he is not. Both players contribute a lot to their teams, but McDavid seems to have that extra edge to his game that can take over an entire game on a regular basis. Matthews has that ability as well, but it seems to come in spurts for him. Both are top NHL players for sure and just might be #1 and #2 in the game right now. 

[Math]

Finally, talent can make the difference in a tight series like this where bottom-6 players are usually the ones that come from the shadow (Paul and Domi yesterday). That somehow a shame that superstar players like McD and Draisaitl never passed the second round, these guys should at some point compete for the Cup.

[JR Ewing]

Once in a blue moon, there are otherworldly performances in the National Hockey League. We expect players the calibre of Edmonton’s Connor McDavid to perpetually raise that bar. They are simply that talented.

 

McDavid raised that bar once more in the first round.

 

In a surprisingly competitive seven-game series against the Los Angeles Kings, McDavid put together one of the best individual performances I can recall. At times it looked like his body had been taken over by a force in the universe – distinctly faster and stronger than everyone else on the ice, with lethal execution to boot. And this is in the playoffs against a Kings team who exhibited an ability to slow teams down this season, armed with perhaps the NHL’s best shutdown player in Phillip Danault. (As an aside, it’s hard to say enough about how great Danault was both during the regular season and playoffs; Los Angeles finding an elite shutdown defensive forward who suddenly can score 30 goals in a season is remarkable. 

 

Colour me impressed!)

 

Edmonton was the more talented team in this series, but McDavid was the difference. That’s no slight to goaltender Mike Smith, who was – save for a few puck-handling gaffes – strong in net. And players like Evander Kane and Leon Draisaitl (a combined 12 goals) were invaluable.

 

But McDavid was on another level. He had four goals and 10 assists, played defencemen-level minutes (37 per cent of available ice time), and prevented the Kings from winning any of the minutes when he was on the ice.

 

Look at the game flow of the series, differentiating between the minutes played by McDavid versus the minutes played by any other Oilers line. This was a very game and lively series until McDavid stepped on the ice, when it always looked like a man against small children.

 

Territorially, this was a bloodbath:

Over the course of the series, the Oilers won about 47 per cent of the shots and 46 per cent of expected goals with McDavid off the ice, with notable out-performance in Game 2 and Game 7. McDavid’s line, on the other hand, went supernova: the Oilers owned 61 per cent of the shots and a staggering 68 per cent of expected goals. Layer that into his 37 per cent usage rate, and that’s a tidal wave.

 

How did this territorial domination effect the series? I would say that without McDavid, Edmonton is at real risk of losing a series to perhaps the weakest team of the 16 that qualified for the postseason. But having the best player in the universe tends to help balance things out:

Simply put: Los Angeles was the better team if you measured bottom-nine forwards versus bottom-nine forwards. That’s true in possession time, true in scoring chances and true in goals. But Edmonton’s first line’s obliteration of the Kings was so exceptional, it balanced the ledger and then some.

After Saturday night’s showing, I was curious how McDavid’s dominance of Los Angeles would hold up against some of the better playoff performances we have seen over the years. If we look at net expected goals (blind to goaltending, important in this context) over the past 15 years, we’ve seen plenty of dominant skaters – from Pavel Datsyuk’s Detroit Red Wings, the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning, and the decade-of-dominance team in Washington D.C.

 

And yet, none of those skaters can hold a candle to what McDavid did in this opening round:

Whether it was Datsyuk’s wizardry in 2008 or what individually accomplished in the bubble over the course of two rounds in 2020, we have a clear baseline for what we consider exceptional, one-sided hockey.

 

The best performances over the years have seen players create 1.5 to 2.0 of an expected goal advantage for every 60 minutes played, which is the type of stuff you see from Stanley Cup-calibre teams. McDavid just posted a +2.8. (If points are your thing, don’t worry, it’s the same conclusion. McDavid is averaging 5.6 points per 60 minutes, which again, is the best number we have seen in 15 years.)

Perhaps teams will be incrementally more effective at slowing McDavid down over the rest of the postseason. Certainly, the Colorado Avalanche (to name but one team), who remain in Edmonton’s way for the time being, are armed with the weaponry to do just that.

But, after what we just witnessed over the past two weeks, who is foolish enough to bet against McDavid?

 

Not I.

 

https://www.tsn.ca/travis-yost-connor-mcdavid-carries-edmonton-oilers-into-second-round-1.1800287

Edited May 16, 2022 by JR Ewing