First off, this is to Carolina fans... No matter how shitty you think the officiating is, DO NOT THROW THINGS ON THE ICE! I buried my head in embarrassment at that. Absolutely horrible behavior and there is no excuse for it.
Carolina came out unexpectedly flat and Edmonton took advantage, as any good team should. What is surprising to me, however, is that the Canes finished the game very strong - something I would imagine the rested team would do.
I know if I were an Edmonton fan, I would be pissed right now. The big goat of the night shouldn't be Conklin, who I feel absolutely awful for, but Bergeron, who caused the pile-up at the net with Andrew Ladd and knocked Roloson out of the series.
I felt horrible about both the Roloson injury and the last goal, but as much as you may want to roast Conklin alive, he didn't cough up a 3-0 lead. Roloson and the defense in front of him did that.
Some key points:
- Brind'Amour is an absolute beast who refused to let his team lose. The Captain is amazing, as always. He led his team. We'll see how Edmonton reacts.
- The Carolina Power Play was 1/5 officially. One of those was 36 seconds (before the bogus tripping call on Hedican. I had a better angle than Mcgeough and Moreau was going down without any help from Brett). The Edmonton Power Play got one, but they failed to capitalize on a lengthy 4 on 3 and 5 on 3 in the first. Carolina's penalty kill was outstanding and Williams got a shorty. Carolina wins the special teams battle.
- Nicky Wallin has to know better about the puck in the crease. Stupid penalty and Pronger took advantage.
- Edmonton outplayed Carolina for two periods and outshot them 38-26. They had a 3-0 lead and gave up four straight goals. Other than the injury to Roloson, that is the most worrisome thing I saw in the game for the Oilers.
- Cam Ward had the best four goal game - he made two of the best saves I have ever seen. How did he not get at least the third star?
- Man, at the second period intermission, Rod looked pissed during the interview. No wonder he fired the team up coming out into the third. Anger is radiating off the guy.
- It's not surprising Mark Messier is on the broadcast. OLN has more Mark Messier on than anything else. Every other show is about Mark. He was great, I acknowledge that, but get some new programming guys.
- The Staios penalty in the first was very Darcy Tucker-esque. I'll leave it at that. There was another knee-on-knee hit half-way through the second. I didn't see who the Oiler was (I'll check later) but it was on Kevyn Adams.
- Jason Smith, Ryan Smyth, and Ales Hemsky were -2. Sean Horcoff was -4!
- The fourth line for Carolina finally got a point - LaRose got an assist on Williams short handed goal.
- Carolina dominated the face-off circle 45-28. Brind'Amour won 28-6.
- I saw it live, I saw it on TV, and I'm still not sure how Ward stopped Horcoff's shot. Horcoff is probably still replaying it in his mind. What an amazing save.
- Just saw the replay of the Roloson injury. Can't blame Ladd for that - Bergeron was an idiot and has to be aware of where his goalie is.
Crazy game. It's not out of the realm of possibility that Conklin can step up, but Edmonton's cup hopes have taken a serious hit tonight. We'll see how they respond on Wednesday.
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5 comments:
excellent analysis.
I'm with you. I can't believe that stop Wardo made on Horcuff. I was telling a friend about that on the phone as I drove home. Truly incredible.
You brought up a good point. The obvious part is that Ty Conklin had nothing to do with the four unanswered Canes goals. There was a series of mistakes by the Oilers defense that contributed greatly to that. Even before the injury, the Oil were starting to sink themselves.
As far as the gaffe leading to the Brindy game-winner, I have to blame Steve... er.. Jason Smith.
By no means do I think that the Oil is done. They are an excellent team, and they will find a way to step up with a less skilled goaltender in net.
All good points. I have 2:
1. The save on Horcoff with about 8 minutes remaining is the best save I've ever seen.
2. They're officiating a little tight for me, but I don't think one team got hosed last night.
Edmonton's a HUGE underdog now.
Yeah - I'm kind of shocked they didn't mention the fans throwing things. They were not happy with McGeough. If I recall correctly, it was after the penalty shot call. I mean, it was a good call, but they were frustrated.
I thought the officiating was even for the most part - not too many complaints. It's funny to me for many reasons because fans (anywhere, not just Carolina) automatically think any call or non-call against the home team is a bad one. I've never been like that. I have a guy that sits near me who is always complaining about something and I'm always telling him "There was nothing wrong with that - it was a good hit" or "Yep, that was a trip". Heh.
As far as the penalty kill, yeah - it has been huge when it needed to be. Wesley especially is blocking anything in his area. Good team play there.
I'm loving the rise of Andrew Ladd in these playoffs. What a physical presence. He pancakes Danny Briere in the last series and scores a goal on a screen and rebound. Then his drive to the net last night...He's a presence the Oil have to consider out there.
If this takes on the flavor of the Devils series, we'll hear calls today from Oilers that they need to start running at Cam.
Not sure if you guys have seen this:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060606.cupnotes07/BNStory/NHLPlayoffs
Courtesy of Eric at Offwing
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