Western Conference Second Round, Game 3
Best-of-7 series tied 1-1
9:30 p.m. TVAS, SN, SN1, TBS, truTV, MAX
After losing in O/T, the Canucks need to take a breath and get ready for a loud Edmonton area and find a way to slow McDavid down.
Am I disappointed that the Canucks lost in O/T? Of course. Before the series started, would I have taken a1-1 series after 2 games, hell yeah. McDavid and Draisaitl have 238 point between them in the regular season and lead point-getters in the playoffs. There are no easy series at this point and the Canucks are going to have to find ways to make less mistakes...eh em...Ian Cole. Talk about a guy with bad ju-ju. The Oilers are skating and shooting right him every chance they get. Tyler Myers didn't have the best game on Friday either, as the Oilers have several players that have the wheels to get around him on the outside. He has an injury that has slowed him down....even more.
One area I wish Taco would address, is the the defense collapsing to far inside their own blueline on rushes. They need to force the issue faster and let the forwards come back and pick pockets. While the Canucks had a distinct advantage with hits, a lot of the hits didn't help the Canucks get the puck back. Taco wants his team to hold the puck more, to control more of the play and get better shots. Going into Edmonton, without the last change, Canuck players are going to have to adjust to be out there against McDavid and Draisaitl and keep them to the outside.
Taco was asked about the Lotto line and it seemed that he wasn't impressed. As a coach, he always stresses the defensive end to create offence and so he doesn't like those three together in their own end. He also said that forward changes might be coming and mentioned Hogs, who could be replaced by Karlsson. I would love to see Podz out there hitting people, but instead PDG is the second guy who could be out and Aman is in.
The talk on the Tweet-tweet continues to be about the officiating in the last game. Move on internet. The Canucks had enough chances to score and the tying goal only happened because of the keystone cops routine at the Oilers blueline. Did the refs get all the calls and on calls right...fuck no, but the Canucks had chances to add goals and blew it.
Shout out to the moms reading this...Hi Mom.
Quinn seems all business today in the scrum and he scarred face is probably the least painful part of his body as the Oilers continue to finish their checks on him.
Canucks projected lineup
Pius Suter -- J.T. Miller -- Brock Boeser
Linus Karlsson -- Elias Pettersson -- Ilya Mikheyev
Dakota Joshua -- Elias Lindholm -- Conor Garland
Nils Aman -- Teddy Blueger -- Sam Lafferty
Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek
Carson Soucy -- Tyler Myers
Nikita Zadorov -- Ian Cole
Arturs Silovs
Casey DeSmith
Scratched: Mark Friedman, Phil Di Giuseppe, Noah Juulsen, Christian Wolanin
Injured: Thatcher Demko (undisclosed), Nils Hoglander (undisclosed)
Oilers projected lineup
Leon Draisaitl -- Connor McDavid -- Zach Hyman
Warren Foegele -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Evander Kane
Dylan Holloway -- Ryan McLeod -- Corey Perry
Mattias Janmark -- Derek Ryan -- Connor Brown
Mattias Ekholm -- Evan Bouchard
Darnell Nurse -- Cody Ceci
Brett Kulak -- Vincent Desharnais
Stuart Skinner
Calvin Pickard
Scratched: Sam Carrick, Sam Gagner, Troy Stecher
Injured: Adam Henrique (lower body)
Status report
Karlsson may replace Hoglander, but Tocchet said a decision has not been made. ... Aman replaces Di Giuseppe on the fourth line. ... Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said how much time Draisaitl and McDavid play together on the same line again in Game 3 will depend on what the Canucks do with their lines. ... Brown is in for Henrique, a forward who played Game 2 after missing the opener. - NHL.COM
Game Day Battle Hymn
Game 3...getting a game in Edmonton would be awesome. The Oilers under McDavid have a history of choking and they rattling them tonight would be a great step to the paramedics practicing their Heimlichs for the Oilers. Time for the Canucks to coming firing.
Go Canucks Go!
