We have a series. After trading wins in Vancouver, the series shifts back to Edmonton for tonight’s game three matchup.
Game one was an improbable comeback for Vancouver. Game two was McDavid putting the team on his back. There’s been some big time performances and offensive forays so far through two games, though I’m not sure that Tocc loves that or that it plays well into Vancouver’s hands.
It’s been nice that they've been ramping up their offense, but they’ve gotten a bit away from the sound defensive structure they had for the latter half of the season, especially in game two. It’s hard to be constantly perfect on that front with McDavid and Draistail bearing down on you, but the Canucks have shown they can do it and I think we’ll see a much better effort in that regard tonight on the road. The Canucks sat back last game a bit too much, and were increasingly tentative and passive as the game wore on. The losing team always makes more adjustments than the winners, so that’s something that’s definitely going to change for the boys tonight.
“Obviously, we have to adjust with our D-zone coverage,” Tocchet said Saturday. “And it's not so much we adjust on positions or system, it's a little bit more tenacity. I mean, we respect this (Oilers) team — they're great players — but I think we're respecting them too much. We were coming off our checks. We were stick-checking too much last night. And that was kind of the disappointing thing for me: we lose in overtime, it's 1-1 in the series, we're second round... we need some players, they've got to dig in for us. You have to dig in if you want to win.”
The Canucks had the opportunity to go up 2-0 in the series, but they let themselves down with self-inflicted wounds in the third. Tocc wasn’t pleased with that, and wants to see the team rise to the challenge.
“We're here, we're so close that, you know, you can't give in,” he said. “I thought in the third period, we just backed off, completely backed off. Uncharacteristic of some players. That's the disappointing (thing) for me is that when you're that close, you have to find it inside you. There's more in there. And we've got to find it.”
The Oilers seem to win or lose on the back of McDavid. Shutting his line down leaves little else on the forward roster, especially with an ailing Draistal not commanding his own line. But like Zadorov points out, you can’t just plan your game around him – you have to execute your will on their team.
“I feel like we did a better job on (McDavid) in Game 1,” he said. “We stayed above (the puck), we checked him, we made him play defence.
“I mean, at the end of the day, we've got to focus on our hockey, how we play, how we want to dictate the play, how we want to stay aggressive on the ice and not focus on how we're going to stop him. If we're going to be just thinking every time we go on the ice, how are we going to play against him, nothing good will happen.”
Outside of the tactical realignment, there might be some roster changes coming Vancouver’s way. Hoglander has had a disappointing playoffs so far, Cole has had some bad bounces, and Myers may be on the limp.
“I think, for me, we need more from Hogie. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with him right now, if we’re going to make some lineup changes,” Tocc said. “I didn’t like his game yesterday. We have to figure out a few things here.
“Cole has had a couple of tough games in a sense, but he’s such a big part. He’s played a lot of playoff games,” he added. “When you’ve played a lot of playoff games, there are going to be sometimes it doesn’t go your way. He’s a warrior. He always bounces back.”
Tocc name checked Aman, Karlsson, and Juulsen as possibilities – though the Canucks brought a bunch of Abbotsford players with them on the trip so maybe there’s a surprise coming, though I wouldn’t count on that.
As the Canucks take to the road, they should be encouraged by their road record not only in the regular season (23-14-4), but also in the playoffs (3-0). It’s going to be a hostile environment, and just like in Nashville, Zadorov doesn’t mind playing the role of villain.
“It’s fun. They have good fans, diehard fans. There’s pretty much nothing else to do in that city except watch hockey,” Z said. “I like what they do. That’s why they love their team for sure, and support them so hard. It’s been fun. I’ve only had good experiences over there, for sure.”
Lastly, Tocc meets with the series supervisor on game days to go over officiating things. There were some missed calls both ways on Friday, but some pretty big ones against the Canucks.
“I'm not going to nitpick with the hooking and holding stuff,” Tocchet said. “I don't care about that. But obviously, the slew-foots and the (high) stick. ... I mean, there's four or five things that you'd like to see (called). But, like I said, I'm not going to complain about the refs. I don't know what they're seeing; if they don't see it, they don't see it. What am I going to do, argue with the guy? (But) there was two slew-foots on Kane, and those can't be missed.”
Keys to the game today:
1. Weather the storm: the Oilers are at home, and you know they’re going to come out blazing. The Canucks will need a great start to not only weather but push back the first ten minutes. Thankfully the Canucks have been one of the best starting teams in the league this year, so if they can pot one early and take the crowd out of it, that’d be an ideal start.
2. Keep engaged: the Canucks dropped off in the third last game. They’re going to need a 60 minute effort to not only contain McDavid but to assert their will on this series. It will be interesting to see how Knoblauch leans on his matchups – it might be beneficial for the Oilers, but it could also give the Canucks’ top line some beneficial matchups against the weaker bottom of Edmonton’s line.
3. Be physical: the Oilers have been hitting the Canucks’ top players, and the Canucks have been a bit softer on the Oilers’. Their top line is playing close to 30 minutes, and the Canucks haven’t made those minutes hard enough. If they want to win, they’re going to have to wear them down physically as well.
“There’s a lot of competitive guys on both sides, a lot of physicality, a lot of guys who play with an edge. That’s what we expect. They’re hitting our top players. We are going to try to hit their top players as well,” Zadorov said.
Puck drop today is at 6:30 PST.
And comments:
(Quotes from Steve Ewan of the Province, MacIntyre)
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