The Duke

I felt the same. Coil are obviously dangerous but I thought we were the better team all night.

This game has already had more action than the previous series. As advertised, I suppose!

Nice move by Mikheyev there. He’s had some jump. Hoglander looks terrible.

Dhali saying the Canucks have come around on Lindholm and want to bring him back. I really wonder what the contract looks like - Much like Hronek I think we’d all prefer sub-7. Lindholm’s a little older, too. Management put on a clinic last offseason but this is the one that could set us up as long term contenders (or not.)

I had Hronek as a slam dunk but now I’m curious what Allvin will do here. I still think it’s likely he’s back, but he hasn’t done anything to earn that huge contract he’s after. Of course, one big series could change that. Going to be interesting to see what both sides do when it’s all said and done.

Yeah. Before we played Nashville it was pretty clear the pundits have no idea what to make of us… and after beating Nashville without blowing them out, they’re still undecided. Oilers are playing very well, though. This is where we build our reputation I guess - if we beat the Coil I doubt we’ll be easy underdogs next season. With that said, the two playoffs this core have participated in, they’ve won 3 series so far. And took a powerhouse Vegas team to 7 in the loss. Pretty stark contrast to the sad sack Leafs - and shows there’s some heart under the hood.

The Oilers just seem super volatile to me. Their top end is undeniable… but even with improved structure, their D beyond Ekholm and goaltending are huge wild cards.

Coaches match up lines, though, which is what I would assume he’s referring to. Miller, Petey, Lindholm and Bleuger are all pretty darn good two way C’s. It’s an “advantage” of sorts, though I’m not sure how effective we’ll be at containing McDavid and Draisaitl if they get sustained o zone time. As others have said, the key will be sustaining pressure of our own to limit their chances.

For me, I don’t see why we’d break up Suter-Miller-Boeser as they’ve been fabulous. Same with Garland-Lindholm-Joshua. Petey is just going to have to figure it out with Hoglander and Mikheyev. They’ve had some chances and stuff. Just need to start burying them.

This is going to be the start of one hell of a rivalry.

For sure. Also, Kings beat Canucks. Oilers beat Kings. Canucks beat Oilers.

Oh my god.. Silovs, obviously. Haha. Even better, though. Miller would, too.

For all the miasmic poor luck surrounding Vancouver Hockey….. we do seem to have an empowering effect on backup goalies. Overpowered Silovs + Tocchet discipline? Bring on McNugget and Crysaitl.

Figured we’d win when Miller wore Saros’ (edit: Silovs haha!) dumb shirt. But honestly what a tight series. We know the Coil don’t play that way. Can’t wait to send them to the golf course.

I want us to win this for the obvious reasons, but I’m also really curious to see how we look against a round 2 opponent. Right now I can’t tell if we’re stuck in a rut or if the Predators are playing a way more disciplined game than their scouting report implied. These games are hard to watch.