With under a minute left in the game after the Canucks scored two goals in rapid succession, tying the game, Leon Draisaitl from behind the net made a perfect pass to Evan Bouchard who wired one clean past Silovs. Oilers win 3-2. That is what the Stanley Cup Playoffs are all about.

This series has been phenomenal so far with two excellent teams going head to head and trading chances. Neither team has been able to win two games in a row yet. Tonight we will see if the Oilers will be the first team to do so.

Let's get a couple things out of the way.

I do think that Evander Kane got lucky with the call of a 4 minute high stick, versus the potential 5 minute and game misconduct that it would have been if they had ruled it a cross check. I see the argument that if they ruled it as a cross check, they may not have had evidence to bring it up to a 5 minute so went with the 4 minute call instead. Regardless the Oilers ended up coming out of that play okay.

The Oilers have had 32 penalty minutes in this series compared to the Canucks 30. It's close. It's NHL refs and the playoffs, it is always going to be close. I know the Canucks haven't been to the playoffs much in the past few years and this is all new to them but listen; there is no conspiracy against your team or the Oilers. NHL refs are inconsistent at the best of times and that's just how the league sadly works.

What matters for both teams is playing through these issues and how they handle their special teams play both on the penalty kill and the powerplay. Whoever ends up winning this series will not be because the NHL refs dictated the score, they will have done it own their own merit.

---

In other news there is a ton of noise surrounding the Canucks leading into Game 5, most notably around Elias Pettersson. Pettersson has struggled to produce throughout these playoffs, has made some notable errors, and is now attracting the ire of fans and his coach. After practice yesterday, Pettersson looked downright defeated in his media availability.

After Game 4, Tocchet was angry and said that there were six players that didn't seem to know that it was the playoffs. Pettersson was clearly one of the players being targeted here. Players typically respond pretty well to being called out in such a fashion and with the Canucks back in Vancouver and their crowds I am expecting to see the best start yet from the Canucks.

For Edmonton, they need to continue doing what they've been doing which is outshoot and outchancing the Canucks at 5 on 5. Aside from Game 1, the Oilers have been ahead in both categories in each game. The issues for Edmonton have come when they try to sit on a lead and let the Canucks press or when Vancouver's attack has forced Edmonton to giveaway the puck and blow opportunities to clear the zone. Those will be key tonight for an Edmonton win.

Lastly, I expect Calvin Pickard in net again for Edmonton but wouldn't be shocked to see Stuart Skinner. Pickard played excellent for the Oilers and I felt the team was very aware of the untested goalie in net behind them and did everything in their power to keep pucks from finding their way to him. I think Pickard gets the net but if there are any signs of trouble than I think Knobluach won't hesitate to put his starter right back in there.

Should be a great game tonight with both sides hungry to get that third win!

Thanks for reading.

Join the Discussion: » 19 Comments » Post New Comment

» What Is This Oilers Team?

» Mc1000

» Oilers vs Islanders - Finding Ways to Score

» Oilers Scoring Woes Changed Against Canucks

» Oilers vs Golden Knights - McDavid Returns