YAY! WE GET A ROG GAME 7, just like we wanted expected.
Not the game we hoped for. But Taco warned them: "It's going to get harder... Embrace it."
In the 1st period, Nucks played pretty good. Got the 1st couple power plays of the game. They weren't pretty good, or even good.
zero shots on the pp... the more things change...
Twitch
So...
Oil score 1st when Holloway hollows-out five Nucks on his end to end rush. Ugh.
No worries. Yet. As the new Pete/Lindy/Hoagie line goes to work on the give 'n go. Hoagie to Pete. Pete passes out to Hoagie for the tieing goal!
Unfortunately the only Nucking goal. This was the high point of the game. 1-1 after 1 and teams tied 4-4 on shots.
In the 2nd, oh my, in the 2nd, the Oil come out more desperate and skate faster and the Nucks are about to give up the Taco Tough team defense and spend most of the period freelancing mistakes, like it was a free trip to game 7. Or something.
First, Nucks let a Hyman Maneuver get time and space in the slot. Myers pretends to block the shot. The shot that gets by Silovs. That's not so bad. Except being the game winner. The other 3 Oils goals were just for show.
And worse, 3 minutes later a Boooo-char blast from the point gets past Silovs. One he shoulda/woulda/coulda had. 3-1 Oil and about to get scary.
Zav takes a dumb and of course, embellished penalty. Doesn't matter. Nucks kill it.
Then Gnarly takes a Gnarly penalty. Fine. BS call, but fine. However, a minute into the kill Josh takes a penalty - embellished, of course. OMG! Oil 5-on-3!
The Nucks PK killed off the McOil 5-on-3! Not making it up. And kill off Josh's penalty too!
Then the Nucks get on their not powerful power play and then get their own 5-on-3 for almost a minute. And don't score. If they had, might have been a different game. But, it wasn't.
5 on 3 Heres a novel idea...Shoot the fuckin puck Huggie
'82wino
3-1 Oil after 2. Nucks get outshot 14-5 and worse, outscored 2-0.
In the 3rd, Nucks start with 48 wasted seconds and their period goes to crap from there.
A little Nucking pushback isn't rewarded.
Gnarly and Josh collision behind the oil net while the puck goes up the ice sums up this game.
jimmi
Game thread is philosophical and even-keeled.
Well, that's that. Don't show up, get shown up. This team is NOT ready to get to the cup if they play this half assed this early.
Twitch
I mean, we all wanted this series to go 7 in our heart of hearts, just for the entertainment value... woulda been nice if the didn't happen with a half assed effort by the canucks though.
Oil get 2 more goals to make the Nucks take a 5-1 loss and happy/sad/something to get home for Game 7 of the SCP.
There is no substitute for the playoff experience. Edmonton is in the playoffs every single year. We are the upstart. Not going to happen in one fell swoop.
Atty
Besides, if someone gave me a choice whether I prefer to see the team in game seven against the Oilers, I would have taken it any day. So, let's throw the dice on Monday.
As we all wax philosophical or just wax,
There is no substitute for the playoff experience. Edmonton is in the playoffs every single year. We are the upstart. Not going to happen in one fell swoop.
Atty
Besides, if someone gave me a choice whether I prefer to see the team in game seven against the Oilers, I would have taken it any day. So, let's throw the dice on Monday.
Agree. Just happy to have the round 2 game 7 chance. All the pressure is still on mcoilers.
jimmi
Nucks just have play game 7 like they played game 5.or play better... that'd be ok too.
Right, there is no reason to be as nervous as today. Thee is huge pressure on the Oilers to win.
Atty
Our fans love this team already, they will cheer for them no matter what. Might as well go in for broke.
OBSERVATIONS
Nucks didn't play their A game. Or even their B+ road game.
Taco had a 20second interview mid-game, and he said that "we are hangin' in there, other than when when we are just throwing the puck from our zone to the middle".
Atty
That's when I thought oh-oh, bad news.
When "we are hangin'", in the biggest game of the year, that can't be good.
The whole thing looked like an AHL team playing an NHL team..
Garbage, need to forget it.
The good news, Nucks PK was perfect. Went 3-for-3. The bad news, Oil PK was also perfect, went 4-for-4. The Nucks 5-on-5 play was not good. The Oil 5-on-5 was. Dammit.
Nucks best players weren't their best. Miller who was a beast in Game 5, was a flop in Game 6. He and his line mates were -3. Brock on the GWG just sorta took a swing at the puck instead of checking the Oil player out of the slot.
On the 1st Oil tally, Pete was weak in neutral ice, just waved at the puck as it went by. Huggie made a terrible play at the blueline, because why not?
Even Saint Soucy, the rugged D from on-high, was weak on Nuge allowing him to get by and get a goal from the McD pass. And on the 5th goal against after the faceoff, no Nuck skated to block or interrupt the shot. To be fair, at that point what would be the point?
Nucks can't bring their A game every game. And probably best to let the Oil get the big win at home, build their false hope and the Nucks leave town safely.
While Artie might have let in a couple softies, his teammates weren't playing well or structured in front of him. So who is in net for game 7? Artie is. Taco isn't a tOiler coach. He's keeping his young stopper in net.
Orange REELING
HNIC is gushing. On live TV. Look away.
GAME STATS
SHOTS - Not enough Nucking shots!
| CANUCKS | Period | OIL |
| 4 | 1st | 4 |
| 5 | 2nd | 14 |
| 6 | 3rd | 9 |
| 15 | TOTAL | 27 |
TACO AND TEAM TALK
"We're a good bounce back team. Our job right now is to flush this game... some guys know they gotta play better." - Coach Taco
Pete gives us a minute of his thoughts - like he gave us a great minute in the 1st.
Capt'n Huggie talks about playing seven amazing games. Or just one more.
Brock shares his Hyman maneuver flyby thoughts.
That's that! We're getting a Game 7 in the ROG! Nucks have won games, 1, 3, 5 and the math pattern must hold for a game 7 win. Even if it seems odd.
However, don't care if they don't win game 7. Ok, fine, I care very much. But I care that they play their best game of the series. Leave nothing on the ice. Seize the moment. As Taco says: "Be a hero!" No fearo. Go Canucks Go!
