There’s a kill switch somewhere on the Edmonton Oilers bench.
Right next to where the Savvy meter would be if the Oilers’ coaching staff was as entertaining as Toronto’s.
Alas, Edmonton saves that for the players, or at least the third period when a good chunk of Oilers Nation can say, “I guess the games worth watching now.”
It’s not just speculation, there’s a record broken and everything.
The Oilers’ fifth straight come from behind victory in playoffs — now an NHL record — is one that’s cause for mixed reactions.
On the one hand, they’ve been down and up five time times in a row without letting it get to them — yay! On the other hand, they’ve been down five games in a row, potentially six.
If a good team needs a solid 60 minutes to win a game, then the Oilers only need a fantastic 10.
You could say it’s been made impossible, or entirely to easy, to predict anything about an Oilers game until those dangerous 10 minutes left in regulation. If you’re lucky.
More practically, about five.
And if the goalie gets pulled? Forget about it.
So when Mark Stone puts the Las Vegas Golden Knights on the board early and strong, there’s no panic, just a healthy sense of disappointment and familiarity.
It’s a simple formula.
The Oilers play better when their not feeling good about themselves.
“It’s not necessarily the best position to put yourself in,” commented Connor McDavid on this perpetual hole the Oilers insist on digging. “We’ve got to work on getting of to better starts and not putting ourselves in this position.”
But.
“The group is just comfortable in those situations, we’ve been there plenty of times. We’ve shown that we can come back and games and win.
“It’s a great quality to have.”
All the best teams have it. Granted all the best teams can also score the opening goal within a five game window and open the floodgates 10 minutes in, not with 10 minutes left.
Go big picture though, and things are on the mend.
Two weeks ago, the Oilers lost two away games. Two nights ago, they stole home ice.
“It’s kinda new for us,” added McDavid on leading the series early. “We don’t usually find ourselves in this spot.”
They look, dare I say, different.
All the usual verbs one would classify with a typical cup contender (dominant, leading, aggressive), have been replaced by those associated with dangerous back door teams (sneaky, unpredictable, “oh my gawd, what just happened?”). Ok, that last one wasn’t a verb, but you get the picture.
Wether it’s coming back 0-2 in a game or a series, the Oilers have done what the reigning greasy Florida Panthers cannot, and the Knights have never found themselves in a position to do so — come back.
An extra Oilers win tonight and for the first time ever (literally just eight years), Vegas would go down 0-2 in a playoff series.
The potential bounce back rates are mixed.
As been noted, the Oilers apparently do it all the time, while cup favourites such as the Cats have been un-capable of going full goldfish and letting it go.
Who’s to say which way it could go.
It’s a style of game mastered by tonights away team, and one quit different to the usual performance rolled into T-mobile arena by the Knights in the past.
“As well as they played, they didn’t really give us anything. They’re not going to make egregious turnovers, or things like that,” added Connor — don’t call me McDavid — Brown. “And we expect their best (tonight).”
Of course, Alex Pietrangelo remains a game time decision and forward Pavel Dorofeyev has been ruled out for game two.
An entirely coincidental and just as fortunate result for the Edmonton Oilers, who hope to return Rogers Place with the real possibility of closing out this series in four games.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, it is quite literally game two.
“We have the belief system, especially on the road, (that) this is about us,” cemented Leon Draisaitl. “Let’s make other teams adjust to us. When we’re at our best and everyone’s going, we’re really hard to defend and handle.”
Would it hurt for the Oilers to flip this “switch” before the third and burry the Knights one period sooner, perhaps the first?
Of course not, it’s just not their style.
Edmonton Oilers Expected Lines
Draisaitl – McDavid – Perry
Kane – RNH – Hyman
Frederic – Henrique – Brown
Podkolzin – Janmark – Arvidsson
Nurse – Bouchard
Walman – Klingberg
Kulak – Emberson
Pickard
S. Skinner
