You knew it was coming. After their collapse in game one, Edmonton was going to come out hard, led by none other than one of the best players in the game. McDavid and co. took full advantage of the Canucks’ sheepish play in game two, and tied the series up at one. If you want, here are your highlights:
The Canucks weren’t terrible for the first two periods, but the game got away from them in the third. They were timid, sat back, and watched as McDavid and Draisaitl overran them. It wasn’t a good game by the eye test, and it wasn’t a good game by the numbers test. The Canucks were leading 3-2 heading into the third, but mustered a measly two shots in the final frame and gave up fifteen! Shot attempts for the game were 75-39 for the Oilers, with other fancy numbers echoing that disparity. The McDavid plus Draistail combo was potent – and, realistically, Edmonton’s only danger. But when you have those two tilting the ice to a 18-1 scoring chance advantage, it’s going to be tough to win games. Silovs did his part to keep the boys in there, and played much better than game one, but it wasn’t enough to overcome that duo. The silver lining to this? The Canucks know they played poorly, so it’s not like they aren’t going to adjust.
“They were the better team today,” Miller said as he was matched up with McDavid the whole game. “They outplayed us. We had a good opportunity to steal a game, but they had a lot of time in our end. We just didn't win enough battles on the wall as a group, and we just have to be better in that area and we won't make their night as easy.”
The board battles were problematic, especially in the Canucks’ end. Edmonton was just hungrier, and the Canucks didn’t match that. When they did, they either overplayed it or panicked with it.
“I think they had 13 5-on-5 chances,” Tocchet said. "Too many guys are flipping pucks out when we didn't have to. That's only the thing I didn't like about our team in the third. I guess that's playoff experience. You have the puck, you have someone on your back, skate with it. Keep your heart rate down. I just felt soon as somebody got it, they flipped it. Like everybody. I think there were plays to be made. And that's what happens.
“I just thought if we make some good passes, if we hold on to a puck, if we make a play, that's less possession time for them. But if we're just going to flip pucks out and give it back to them, of course, they're going to keep coming down our throat. But hey, lose in overtime, beat them last game, like, we're in the series. We're in this series.”
The Canucks have more to give, and know to stop the Oilers it means stopping McDavid and Draistail. They got away from their staples a bit – strong forecheck, aggressive, smart D – as Miller is aware:
“We don’t win battles in the O-zone. We missed our chances … our chances to get the puck back. We made it very easy on them,” Miller said.
“Our best defence is playing forward and sustaining O-zone time and we didn’t do that one time today. So that’s on us and if we’re not going to spend time in the O-zone, good luck at that point, right?
“You can’t play the whole night against them (on defence) and expect them not to get something.”
I expect the team will come out better as the series shifts to Edmonton. The losing team always adjusts more than the winning team, so it will be interesting to see how the Canucks react. They were perfect on the road in Nashville, so it’s not like they’re a weak team away from home. And while the Oilers get to dictate the matchup, they may leave a bit of room for the Canucks to exploit the weaker bottom of their lineup. Hughes was posed that idea, and agreed:
“I think, obviously, with them loading up that line, maybe we need to capitalize on some chances elsewhere.”
It’s going to take a full team effort to shut down those two, and they’re going to need all hands on deck. It seems that maybe some players are at risk of coming out of the lineup shortly.
“Some guys here, they've got to pick it up, too,” Tocchet said. “I mean, they want to play, but you've got to dig in. You can't be a liability. You know, if you're not getting much ice time, there's a reason why. And we need some guys to pick it up a little bit.”
Hoglander, Lafferty, and PDG were the low men around the 9-10 minute mark. Cole also had another bad break on the OT goal. With the Canucks taking a number of players from Abby on the road trip, it will be interesting to see if anyone comes out for some fresher legs.
Next game is Sunday. Until then, we got comments:
(Quotes from MacIntyre, Patrick Johnston, and NHL.com)
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