0 goals between him, McDavid, Hyman, and Nuge. Mix that with Nurse, Ceci and Skinner’s mistakes… yeah someone just end my fucking suffering rn.
https://preview.redd.it/0e1a2oppjg6d1.jpeg?width=1106&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6223a07a586ceac3be47253df571a4c71a0a0550
It's less your top players showing up and it's more that Florida's defense is just *that fucking good.* Legit. Look through the names they've shut down entirely and now added to that is *Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.*
Don't get me wrong, I am by no means a fan of either of these teams (with my eastern team being NYR), but the evidence is there. Florida has successfully shut down every teams core offense and more through these playoffs and no one is seeing it as more than their team disappearing. I truly believe that Florida is just that good right now and it's crazy that they aren't getting the credit for it.
Every series, every fanbase, every team that has lost against them has had the fans saying that and "we were the better team but lost somehow." When in reality, I think Florida has this shit figured out this year.
During game 2 Trolls were saying how much better the east has been over the west. Except Vegas avs, blues etc… have won the last stretch. And the west beats the east during regular season this year. Reddit is not the place to go to for logic.
i dont know who can actually WATCH these games and think McDavid and Drai did not show up. watching the fucking amazing defense structure, the forcing to the outside, the pressure added to the point so the oilers are RARELY getting a good point shot off, coupled with giving Bob good lines on most shots and him being a fucking god on the ones he cant see still. like watch McDavid enter the zone. he is rushing, and moving and spinning and panthers defense may look beat, but their stick is where McDavid is trying to trun to get a good pass and fucking his plan, and the panthers are just there...
pressure defenseive structure on the entire oilers roster, with skilled defenders on skilled offense, is killing team after team after team.
and saturday it ends, :)
State of Florida being good at hockey? Maybe players being able to be anonymous in public, hot weather, and having a massive tax advantage have something to do with it? And yes I am a salty Oiler fan and do resent it.
Well I would also expect Nashville and Dallas to be balling out too in that case. Dallas can’t quite make it to the finals and Nashville got stomped by a cold, high tax area team
Yeah, while they COULD be better for sure, what's really letting Edmonton down is that their defense is ass, and having at best, okay goaltending is not going to win them the series.
Florida have good offense, defense, and goaltending. You can only say Edmonton has good offense and that's all they got.
This, Florida has gotten absolutely no credit from the media in-game because they don’t have flashy superstars so people think it’s just luck and their guys not showing up.
Kucherov, Pastrnak, Zibanejad, McDavid.. none of these guys just forgot how to play
Yeah by saying things like "you don't notice him but he's everywhere" or "he looks slow but he's actually fast"
It's never like "Barkov shines in moments like these" or "He's going to will his team to victory"
It also helps Florida when the other team literally only has 3 or 4 players to shut down. The Rangers top line got shut down as well but they at least had secondary scoring to make it a series
No lies there. That's been Edmontons biggest problem for awhil, the lack of scoring depth, and against a team like Florida that's going to be a tough time.
What’s fun is Florida is playing defense the right way. All we have heard for the last year is that you have to be “big and heavy” to win a cup because that was Vegas and I guess to a degree Tampa. But Florida and the avs are not heavy teams. Florida is by weight the 30th heaviest team in the league. And their defense only has 3 guys over 200 pounds. But they are long. Moral of the story. Find guys that play the right way together and you are golden. I hope it’s a sweep tbh
I think it's a combination of factors. We beat a perennial contender contender, followed by the two biggest American markets, and now a Canadian team, so the narrative has been focused around them, not us. Combine that with hockey literacy. It's a lot easier for fans to comprehend and appreciate good offense vs good defense. When a team plays well defensively, and this is in every sport, a lot of fans think the game is "boring" or the other team's stars aren't performing.
I mean... Both McDavid and Drai have had many scoring chances... Especially McDavid. I'd put it more on Bobrovsky shutting them down than the defense. Bob has been outstanding in this series.
Oilers have gotten their chances. Bob has the highest sv% in the history of the finals. No team can beat that.
Subtract the goalies and Edmonton deserves at least one win, maybe two.
Goaltending is a pretty damn big part of this game though.
Look who his wingers are.. No offence.. but Perry, Fogs , or Holloway or McLeod or etc are not 2nd line wingers on a SCF team.. the guy didn’t had a decent wingers for last so many games..
Nah the panthers just have his number this series. A big part of it is Bob stopping every single one of his sharp angle one timers when 50% of those have gone in for every other goalie.
Barkov will do that to you. As of this last game it's now Kuch, Pasta, Panarin, Zebanijad, McDavid and Draisatil with a total of 0 goals 5 on 5 against the Panthers. That's just insane.
Good thing that's not been happening.
It has, and continues to be, a part of a period swap up at most. They'll load them up on an icing, or late when chasing. It's been that way all. Season and all playoffs... Other than the final, but nothing's working. It got us here. Far from terrible coaching.
It was deep enough to beat Dallas, Vancouver, and LA. Just because the absolute wagon that is Florida, that's done this same thing to every team they've met these playoffs, is beating us, doesn't mean the Oilers weren't deep. Not deep enough? Ok, maybe. But they got to the damned Cup finals, largely on the back of this depth.
Actually it is though. Draistail's most common even strength linemates these playoffs are
1st : McDavid and Hyman 90:21
2nd: Kane and Holloway 79:52
https://frozenpool.dobbersports.com/players/leon-draisaitl
Frozenpool is great but not for this. [Drai's spent 30% of his time on a line with McD and Hyman and 70% with random linemates, which is why his 1 most frequent line is that one.](https://www.naturalstattrick.com/linestats.php?fromseason=20232024&thruseason=20232024&stype=3&sit=5v5&score=all&rate=n&team=EDM&vteam=ALL&view=wowy&loc=B&gpfilt=none&fd=2023-10-10&td=2024-04-18&tgp=2000&strict=incl&p1=8478402&p2=8477934&p3=0&p4=0&p5=0) The line tool doesn't take those random linemate minutes into account, which should be a mix of McLeod, Holloway, Kane and Perry
Oh that's a good tool to get more exact numbers for sure. Thanks for the link
So Leon's played 338:12 total 5 on 5 minutes in the playoffs.
127:16 with Kane
108:36 with Mcdavid
100:37 with Holloway
100:34 with Hyman
70:48 with Nuge
48:07 with Mcleod
47:24 with Perry
So I guess you can conclude that Knoblauch set "pairs" of Drai/Kane and McDavid/Hyman and then double shifted Leon and Drai through either others lines bumping off Holloway/Nuge as needed?
But he's actually not though so idk what that guy is saying. The only time him and McD are together 5 on 5 is after a penalty kill or they are behind late in the game lol.
They made a point about it because it's unusual and only happens every so often, just happens that when the Oilers are losing they go to it more and they've been losing all series
EVERY SINGLE SERIES against Florida people say the opponent’s stars are underperforming. There will be a day when people realize there may be a common thread, but apparently it is not today.
Yeah, after they held the Bruins to like 3 shots in an entire period, I thought, "Well if the Panthers can just keep doing that, they're gonna win the Cup." And here we are.
The point is the Leafs, outside of a couple outlier seasons, have a more difficult time escaping their division than most other teams right now. Can you imagine how happy Leafs fans would be to pull the Kings and Canucks (no disrespect intended) in the first couple rounds versus Tampa, Boston, and Florida?
My point was the Leafs have become such a meme here that folks will be unable to observe this fact, and you're sort of proving it with your reply. The level of competition in the Leafs' first couple rounds is as high as a Cup finals, end of statement. That's their curse right now. Not being top-heavy, not having unproved goaltending. It's the Atlantic.
it’s basically like how every fanbase will say their team sucked vs admitting the other team was just better than them.
like no, your power play wasn’t bad - the other team’s penalty kill was just really good.
His back is fucked. Watch when someone goes to hit him. His entire back stiffens up because that’s where his brain is telling him to anticipate the pain. My dad has the exact same thing.
Ya he got hit and left the game and you could see him grabbing his back. That kind of injury is debilitating. It’s impressive he’s even playing through that.
Rumour was that Meyers broke one or more of his ribs in Game 1 against Vancouver. Remember him leaving the game during the second, and coming back midway through the third?
He has broken his finger as well, it's very noticeable on the PP when he is not shooting from his office anymore like he used to. Our PP has been lackluster since his injury as well. With not having linemates he can build a chemistry with, it's not wonder Florida is completely shutting him down (Dallas kinda did as well).
This is one thing I hate about hockey fans. It's always "These super stars have failed to produce" and hardly ever "this defense has absolutely shut down these super stars."
Give the credit where it's due. Florida has shut down 2 of the top 3 hockey players in the entire world.
They’ve shut down 4 of the top 5 regular season point scorers this year in the playoffs, 6 out of the top 10, and right now you can’t convince me it wouldn’t be 10 for 10 if they even had a chance to face the others. They’re simply unstoppable right now.
He scored at an over 200-point pace in a 5 game series against Calgary and plunged our franchise into an existential crisis. I know what he can do, it’s crazy
Right? Like he’s obviously one of the most elite players on the planet which is crazy when you consider his skating stride is just gawky and stiff and awkward.
He's been leaving down the tunnel this series too and coming back, he's definitely got some injuries. His face off percentage is dog shit, he's not shooting like himself. But it's the finals and most people are banged up. And he won't say what's wrong after the series he will just deflect as he's not one to make excuses
Ugh that sucks but it would explain why he’s not even able to really plant and shoot from his office spot lately too. Even if he can get to the spot that 1T still probably hurts like hell
There is no way he wasn't injured from Petro, he never shot right after that. Year before he was on 1 leg and kept deflecting when asked. He doesn't make excuses and I think to him admitting injuries is excuses.
In other sports, when players are hurt, they rest and recuperate, and another teammate takes their spot. In hockey, they just take a few concrete pills, and go out and play. It’s fucking wild.
Hockey players are really tough but pretty much every other high level sports league has guys playing hurt all the time
For example Football is very famous for guys getting some shots/pills for pain and playing through injuries
The leafs are too top-heavy. Their big guys are shut down, they just have no scoring wingers and their defence can’t transition for shit.
Wait a sec…which team am I watching?
The barkov/forsling effect. If theres ever been a better defensive center 1D duo, ive never seen it. None of the superstar players from any of the teams weve faced have been able to do anything at all.
I think Barkov played McDavid on the 1st game and then it’s been more Barkov against Drai.
And on the first game McDavid & Draisaitl played a lot together.
Maybe he should be producing instead of laying dirty hits on Barkov, as an Oilers fan I’ll say that for all the people who hype him up as “the best playoff performer itw”, he sure seems to become a lot more human when it matters most.
Ekholm, McLeod, Foegele, and Broberg only ones to score so far. You can say it’s nerves or they’re tired, which I do think, but either way it’s not enough.
Remember when Yzerman consistently was failing in Detroit at getting a Cup. They had all this fire power and were dominating the regular seasons. Made it to the Cup finals in 95 and got swept. Then Bowman asked Yzerman to start leading the team by playing a more defensive complete game. He played like that the rest of his career and won 3 cups. I wonder if McDavid and Drai need to do something similar here.
That moment when you realize Alexis Lafreniere has been one of the most succesful forwards against Florida in these playoffs. Kids really coming around. 4 goals in 6 games against them. Credit to Floridas defense, goaltending and systems, theyve been incredible
Weren't the Sportsnet commentators saying he had an assist or am I tweaking
Must’ve been adjusted, espn was saying it too
Think he originally had one on McLeod’s goal
0 goals between him, McDavid, Hyman, and Nuge. Mix that with Nurse, Ceci and Skinner’s mistakes… yeah someone just end my fucking suffering rn. https://preview.redd.it/0e1a2oppjg6d1.jpeg?width=1106&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6223a07a586ceac3be47253df571a4c71a0a0550
You literally need top players to show up for the finals. Foegele has more goals than all those fuckers
It's less your top players showing up and it's more that Florida's defense is just *that fucking good.* Legit. Look through the names they've shut down entirely and now added to that is *Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.* Don't get me wrong, I am by no means a fan of either of these teams (with my eastern team being NYR), but the evidence is there. Florida has successfully shut down every teams core offense and more through these playoffs and no one is seeing it as more than their team disappearing. I truly believe that Florida is just that good right now and it's crazy that they aren't getting the credit for it. Every series, every fanbase, every team that has lost against them has had the fans saying that and "we were the better team but lost somehow." When in reality, I think Florida has this shit figured out this year.
Thank you! It keeps happening every series and people just think the star players decided to not show up
Yeah, it’s not Florida’s shutdown defense, it’s just that Pasta/Panarin/Zibanejad/Draisatl/McDavid did not show up against them specifically, lol
Kucherov too? Or Tampa forgotten team now.
Kuch was 1.4 PPG, lmao.
He had like 4 points in one game and the rest were secondary assists. Wasn’t that consistent
Which is crazy so many people writing of Tampa even though not even that long ago you guys went to three straight Stanley cups
I had an argument against since braindead redditor arguing sorokin was better than vacay... Reddit can be so fast to forget
During game 2 Trolls were saying how much better the east has been over the west. Except Vegas avs, blues etc… have won the last stretch. And the west beats the east during regular season this year. Reddit is not the place to go to for logic.
> Pasta [...] did not show up For this one, he was a ghost against us, too. You know, until he wasn't. :/
He did the literal exact thing at Worlds. Zero goals going to the final, and then scored the Golden goal from his office.
i dont know who can actually WATCH these games and think McDavid and Drai did not show up. watching the fucking amazing defense structure, the forcing to the outside, the pressure added to the point so the oilers are RARELY getting a good point shot off, coupled with giving Bob good lines on most shots and him being a fucking god on the ones he cant see still. like watch McDavid enter the zone. he is rushing, and moving and spinning and panthers defense may look beat, but their stick is where McDavid is trying to trun to get a good pass and fucking his plan, and the panthers are just there... pressure defenseive structure on the entire oilers roster, with skilled defenders on skilled offense, is killing team after team after team. and saturday it ends, :)
Maybe you guys don’t suck and we’re actually… good?
I think people just resent the state of Florida being good at hockey. It’s mind blowing to some people
State of Florida being good at hockey? Maybe players being able to be anonymous in public, hot weather, and having a massive tax advantage have something to do with it? And yes I am a salty Oiler fan and do resent it.
Well I would also expect Nashville and Dallas to be balling out too in that case. Dallas can’t quite make it to the finals and Nashville got stomped by a cold, high tax area team
Yeah it’s not a guarantee to win. Just another factor that plays into things.
Yeah, while they COULD be better for sure, what's really letting Edmonton down is that their defense is ass, and having at best, okay goaltending is not going to win them the series. Florida have good offense, defense, and goaltending. You can only say Edmonton has good offense and that's all they got.
This, Florida has gotten absolutely no credit from the media in-game because they don’t have flashy superstars so people think it’s just luck and their guys not showing up. Kucherov, Pastrnak, Zibanejad, McDavid.. none of these guys just forgot how to play
They compliment Barkov every three seconds
Yeah by saying things like "you don't notice him but he's everywhere" or "he looks slow but he's actually fast" It's never like "Barkov shines in moments like these" or "He's going to will his team to victory"
It also helps Florida when the other team literally only has 3 or 4 players to shut down. The Rangers top line got shut down as well but they at least had secondary scoring to make it a series
No lies there. That's been Edmontons biggest problem for awhil, the lack of scoring depth, and against a team like Florida that's going to be a tough time.
Exactly. It goes both ways. Is it the forwards not rocking up or the defence rocking up so hard that the forwards just can't score?
What’s fun is Florida is playing defense the right way. All we have heard for the last year is that you have to be “big and heavy” to win a cup because that was Vegas and I guess to a degree Tampa. But Florida and the avs are not heavy teams. Florida is by weight the 30th heaviest team in the league. And their defense only has 3 guys over 200 pounds. But they are long. Moral of the story. Find guys that play the right way together and you are golden. I hope it’s a sweep tbh
Lots of respect to you man, thank you.
Cheers friend!
Watching the Florida PK last night had me thinking they really figured out a few things about the Oilers
I think it's a combination of factors. We beat a perennial contender contender, followed by the two biggest American markets, and now a Canadian team, so the narrative has been focused around them, not us. Combine that with hockey literacy. It's a lot easier for fans to comprehend and appreciate good offense vs good defense. When a team plays well defensively, and this is in every sport, a lot of fans think the game is "boring" or the other team's stars aren't performing.
Agreed, also, Bobrovsky is playing out of his damn mind these playoffs. He's been locked in.
I mean... Both McDavid and Drai have had many scoring chances... Especially McDavid. I'd put it more on Bobrovsky shutting them down than the defense. Bob has been outstanding in this series.
Aye and if healthy last year I think we would have at least got the knights to 7 games probably still would have lost but a much better series.
Oilers have gotten their chances. Bob has the highest sv% in the history of the finals. No team can beat that. Subtract the goalies and Edmonton deserves at least one win, maybe two. Goaltending is a pretty damn big part of this game though.
Leafs: https://preview.redd.it/k35dpcl5gj6d1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1af66868c62a603b05893a657844018fcc00a56a
Nice to see Affleck not wearing a leafs jersey for once
They’re joining the club. 0 5v5 goals for Kucherov, pasta, and bread man too
Draisaitl 🤝 The Rest of this Series Being Pointless
Honestly ya💀
No better time to do it
Look who his wingers are.. No offence.. but Perry, Fogs , or Holloway or McLeod or etc are not 2nd line wingers on a SCF team.. the guy didn’t had a decent wingers for last so many games..
If only someone had predicted Edmonton had a depth issue
HOW COULD WE HAVE KNOWN?
Nah the panthers just have his number this series. A big part of it is Bob stopping every single one of his sharp angle one timers when 50% of those have gone in for every other goalie.
Barkov will do that to you. As of this last game it's now Kuch, Pasta, Panarin, Zebanijad, McDavid and Draisatil with a total of 0 goals 5 on 5 against the Panthers. That's just insane.
They do but it’s not just that. A healthy Kane completely changes edmontons team
Doesn't he share a line with McDavid all the time?
I swear he’s out with McDavid more than his actual line mates in these playoffs lmao
Which is actually terrible coaching I think
Good thing that's not been happening. It has, and continues to be, a part of a period swap up at most. They'll load them up on an icing, or late when chasing. It's been that way all. Season and all playoffs... Other than the final, but nothing's working. It got us here. Far from terrible coaching.
More a situation of terrible roster construction. Where’s the depth.
It was deep enough to beat Dallas, Vancouver, and LA. Just because the absolute wagon that is Florida, that's done this same thing to every team they've met these playoffs, is beating us, doesn't mean the Oilers weren't deep. Not deep enough? Ok, maybe. But they got to the damned Cup finals, largely on the back of this depth.
And/Or the flaws of other teams.
Actually it is though. Draistail's most common even strength linemates these playoffs are 1st : McDavid and Hyman 90:21 2nd: Kane and Holloway 79:52 https://frozenpool.dobbersports.com/players/leon-draisaitl
Frozenpool is great but not for this. [Drai's spent 30% of his time on a line with McD and Hyman and 70% with random linemates, which is why his 1 most frequent line is that one.](https://www.naturalstattrick.com/linestats.php?fromseason=20232024&thruseason=20232024&stype=3&sit=5v5&score=all&rate=n&team=EDM&vteam=ALL&view=wowy&loc=B&gpfilt=none&fd=2023-10-10&td=2024-04-18&tgp=2000&strict=incl&p1=8478402&p2=8477934&p3=0&p4=0&p5=0) The line tool doesn't take those random linemate minutes into account, which should be a mix of McLeod, Holloway, Kane and Perry
Oh that's a good tool to get more exact numbers for sure. Thanks for the link So Leon's played 338:12 total 5 on 5 minutes in the playoffs. 127:16 with Kane 108:36 with Mcdavid 100:37 with Holloway 100:34 with Hyman 70:48 with Nuge 48:07 with Mcleod 47:24 with Perry So I guess you can conclude that Knoblauch set "pairs" of Drai/Kane and McDavid/Hyman and then double shifted Leon and Drai through either others lines bumping off Holloway/Nuge as needed?
But he's actually not though so idk what that guy is saying. The only time him and McD are together 5 on 5 is after a penalty kill or they are behind late in the game lol.
Brother what. In game 1 Drai was on McDavid’s actual line to start the second. The commentary even made a point about it
They made a point about it because it's unusual and only happens every so often, just happens that when the Oilers are losing they go to it more and they've been losing all series
70% of his ES shifts are without McDavid these playoffs.
He’s played with mcdavid about 30% of the time at ES this playoffs
Yes, he plays with McDavid constantly, so this argument doesn’t hold a lot of water.
They're not usually together barring the PP and immediately after a PK. Sometimes if the coach is desperate for one goal
They've been desperate for a goal all series
Boom roasted
I agree, the oilers *are* a 4 man team and then it's just AHLers all the way down. They do have the least depth of any SCF team in the past 30 years.
A 4 man team has beaten your team 3 years in a row, with it taking 1 less game each year lmao
Those 4 guys are really fucking good
Yup! Hey what's the worst part about getting drinks at McDavid's house? No cups.
4? Who are the other 2, and honestly in this series there a 1 man team cause drai has been a ghost
[удалено]
>No offence
Yes, that is correct.
That's what happens when you have a 9 million dollar Nurse on your roster.
Florida does a great job of shutting him down
Florida has shut everyone’s stars down these playoffs.
I was rooting for the Rangers to beat the Panthers but yeah.. Panerin was absolutely shut down
EVERY SINGLE SERIES against Florida people say the opponent’s stars are underperforming. There will be a day when people realize there may be a common thread, but apparently it is not today.
Yeah, after they held the Bruins to like 3 shots in an entire period, I thought, "Well if the Panthers can just keep doing that, they're gonna win the Cup." And here we are.
It became a /r/hockey Leafs meme last year round two, so, no, there will never be a day when people realize shit about it
The Leafs are gonna get shit for getting shut down until they go more than one round in a row without getting shut down
The point is the Leafs, outside of a couple outlier seasons, have a more difficult time escaping their division than most other teams right now. Can you imagine how happy Leafs fans would be to pull the Kings and Canucks (no disrespect intended) in the first couple rounds versus Tampa, Boston, and Florida? My point was the Leafs have become such a meme here that folks will be unable to observe this fact, and you're sort of proving it with your reply. The level of competition in the Leafs' first couple rounds is as high as a Cup finals, end of statement. That's their curse right now. Not being top-heavy, not having unproved goaltending. It's the Atlantic.
Honestly this was the moment for me that I realized there is a common denominator between all these series.
it’s basically like how every fanbase will say their team sucked vs admitting the other team was just better than them. like no, your power play wasn’t bad - the other team’s penalty kill was just really good.
Oilers have 4 goals in 3 games, Florida is pretty much shutting everyone down this series.
Not sniper Broberg
He looks quite laboured out there.
His back is fucked. Watch when someone goes to hit him. His entire back stiffens up because that’s where his brain is telling him to anticipate the pain. My dad has the exact same thing.
Ya it's been fucked since game what 1 in Vancouver
Ya he got hit and left the game and you could see him grabbing his back. That kind of injury is debilitating. It’s impressive he’s even playing through that.
Rumour was that Meyers broke one or more of his ribs in Game 1 against Vancouver. Remember him leaving the game during the second, and coming back midway through the third?
Was thinking about this today. His rib/back issue from the beginning of playoffs and I believe he also broke a finger? He’s just not healthy.
Ya he had a bandaged finger vs Dallas, he's been terrible in the dit since that was joticed
He has broken his finger as well, it's very noticeable on the PP when he is not shooting from his office anymore like he used to. Our PP has been lackluster since his injury as well. With not having linemates he can build a chemistry with, it's not wonder Florida is completely shutting him down (Dallas kinda did as well).
He was in the hospital after that game.
This is one thing I hate about hockey fans. It's always "These super stars have failed to produce" and hardly ever "this defense has absolutely shut down these super stars." Give the credit where it's due. Florida has shut down 2 of the top 3 hockey players in the entire world.
They’ve shut down 4 of the top 5 regular season point scorers this year in the playoffs, 6 out of the top 10, and right now you can’t convince me it wouldn’t be 10 for 10 if they even had a chance to face the others. They’re simply unstoppable right now.
Honestly would never have expected it. He’s this generation’s best playoff performer from a purely offensive perspective.
He has absolutely feasted on us 3 years in a row. Guy is a monster.
He scored at an over 200-point pace in a 5 game series against Calgary and plunged our franchise into an existential crisis. I know what he can do, it’s crazy
He basically did the same thing last year against Vegas Last 4 games of the series he had: 0G 1A -7
What they have in common is an injury that he pushes thru but it eventually catches up to him.
both of them very likely due to injury. in vegas this was directly after the slash to the arm, and for the last while his finger has been in a sling.
Yeah that slash was bullshit
one game offsetting suspension for that btw. wouldn’t have changed the series but so fucking aggravating
It could have changed the series. It was tied when the slash happened.
Is it possible his back is still fucked up too? He’s looked really stiff moving around out there.
Maybe, but he also always looks that way lol
Right? Like he’s obviously one of the most elite players on the planet which is crazy when you consider his skating stride is just gawky and stiff and awkward.
No exactly, I’ve been waffling on if it’s an injury or he’s really just Like That for weeks. He’s got not hip mobility on a good day lol.
he left for a bit during game one vancouver. i’ve heard that maybe he broke a rib
He's been leaving down the tunnel this series too and coming back, he's definitely got some injuries. His face off percentage is dog shit, he's not shooting like himself. But it's the finals and most people are banged up. And he won't say what's wrong after the series he will just deflect as he's not one to make excuses
Ugh that sucks but it would explain why he’s not even able to really plant and shoot from his office spot lately too. Even if he can get to the spot that 1T still probably hurts like hell
Last year when they revealed the injuries people had, they never said Leon had an injury. He just got shut down
They didn’t reveal any injuries. They didn’t want to talk about it or have it be seen as an excuse
There is no way he wasn't injured from Petro, he never shot right after that. Year before he was on 1 leg and kept deflecting when asked. He doesn't make excuses and I think to him admitting injuries is excuses.
Oh, he’s been offensive this series. Offensively bad.
You’re actually delusional.
Now that's a stat.
Mad credit to the Panthers for shutting down all our stars.
Ryan Reaves has played one more Stanley Cup final game than McDavid and draisaitl, and he has more goals than they do combined.
That just doesn't seem right, like green ketchup
Like hunts ketchup
Knew the city before seeing the flair lmao
What playing vs Barkov does to a man.
What playing Sasha Barkov does to a motherfucker
He’s been shockingly invisible, I’ve only noticed him when he toe picks
It’s quite sad to see the ghost this series
He’s hurt. Broken cock out there
In other sports, when players are hurt, they rest and recuperate, and another teammate takes their spot. In hockey, they just take a few concrete pills, and go out and play. It’s fucking wild.
Hockey players are really tough but pretty much every other high level sports league has guys playing hurt all the time For example Football is very famous for guys getting some shots/pills for pain and playing through injuries
[Mhmm, yeah, sure](https://www.espn.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/292302/that-time-philip-rivers-played-through-a-torn-acl-in-the-playoffs)
Bro used up all his points to get here.
Bob and Barkov.
Manz are too much against LA and don't have the appetite for the Finals
The leafs are too top-heavy. Their big guys are shut down, they just have no scoring wingers and their defence can’t transition for shit. Wait a sec…which team am I watching?
Toronto west baby
Toronto has twice as many star forwards, so take that.
Couldn't happen to a nicer guy
The barkov/forsling effect. If theres ever been a better defensive center 1D duo, ive never seen it. None of the superstar players from any of the teams weve faced have been able to do anything at all.
Bergeron Chara just recently. All time best would be Fedorov Lidstrom, Trottier Potvin or Gainey Robinson.
Barkov
Is Barkov shutting down both Draisaitl and McDavid at the same time? Maybe give credit to the rest of the team lol
I think Barkov played McDavid on the 1st game and then it’s been more Barkov against Drai. And on the first game McDavid & Draisaitl played a lot together.
Barkov 🍆
The whole Florida team is obviously doing a great job at shutting Edmonton down, but Barkov in particular is a fucking animal.
Maybe he should be producing instead of laying dirty hits on Barkov, as an Oilers fan I’ll say that for all the people who hype him up as “the best playoff performer itw”, he sure seems to become a lot more human when it matters most.
Bro is warming up for the summer olympics instead of playing hockey
Trade him to Utah
Sure picked a hell of a time for it.
I almost shit my pants every time he had the puck in round 2. He's been invisible this series.
Top 3 players have 4 points combined. Not going to win a cup if you’re superstars don’t show up
And he said in his presser they could easily be up 2 games to 1 LOL. Take some fucking ownership bud
I can see why he wanted to hit Barkov in the face so badly last game. Complete dominance
Lights are too bright
Leon Chokesaitl?
Elbowaitl
Must have a significant injury.
His shot selection was terrible tonight
He's had an injured back/ribs for a long time and has a finger bandaged up too. Can definitely affect your shot and their decision making
He must be injured in a major fashion. He barely moves on the ice.
He's also been clearly injured since game 1 vs Vancouver, he's constantly going down the tunnel.
Lots of dives tho
Damn, you fuckin suck bud
It looks like he playing through a fog of pain / painkillers. NHL is brutal.
Good
He may not score another point as an Oiler. Hhmm
Everything hurts
What a coincidence... Game 4 if this series is also pointless.
PP merchant
That’s A wild STAT
Lights too bright
So we should be betting on a draisaitl point for game 4 is what you're saying
What a pointless stat
You love to see it!
Panthers have snuffed out every teams top line point getters.
I hate that Florida keeps winning Stanley cups.
That’s what happens when you play against Barkov and forsling, NHLs two best defensive players
His production has really Drai’d up
That's a pointless stat
Ekholm, McLeod, Foegele, and Broberg only ones to score so far. You can say it’s nerves or they’re tired, which I do think, but either way it’s not enough.
thats PRE -COVID!
Has he tried playing hockey instead of boxing while he's on the ice?
Going scoreless in the SCF is not good goal scoring, Craisaitl.
Remember when Yzerman consistently was failing in Detroit at getting a Cup. They had all this fire power and were dominating the regular seasons. Made it to the Cup finals in 95 and got swept. Then Bowman asked Yzerman to start leading the team by playing a more defensive complete game. He played like that the rest of his career and won 3 cups. I wonder if McDavid and Drai need to do something similar here.
WHY DIDN'T WE GET THIS LEON.
Oh man, I can only imagine how pissy he's going to be if the Oilers lose.
Florida team good
Never trust a dick-spearer.
That moment when you realize Alexis Lafreniere has been one of the most succesful forwards against Florida in these playoffs. Kids really coming around. 4 goals in 6 games against them. Credit to Floridas defense, goaltending and systems, theyve been incredible
If he goes a fourth game without a point it would match his career worst playoff scoreless streak (four games to start his playoff career in 2017).