Yawn. This series was over almost instantly, the Panthers are better at both ends and in every way than the Hurricanes, who are struggling to even look competitive. I'd be kinda shocked if this isn't over in 4.
West
Oilers 3-6 Stars
Oilers 3-0 Stars
Stars 1-6 Oilers
In Game One, the Oilers were up 3-1 going into the 3rd period. Out of the blue, the Stars dominated the shit out of the Oilers for 20 minutes and easily took Game One. Other than the 3rd period of Game One, the Oilers have completely controlled this series, again, better at both ends than their hapless opponent. They did give away a game, so this one will be going 5 games instead of 4, but this probably should've been a sweep.
We are headed to a rematch of last year's Final, which was a wild series with each team running 3 straight before the Oilers kinda collapsing in Game Seven. I suspect this year's series will be tighter but should still go 7 games.
The Panthers opened the scoring in the first few minutes of the game. I believe Game Two is the only game of this series where the winning team didn't score first. so it felt momentous that the Panthers got on the board first--especially so quickly. But the Oilers came right back and tied it up quicklike and it felt like this might be a goal fest. Both teams possessed well and defended well, too, both teams played well. But the Panthers were able to find the goal again in the 2nd period and though the Oilers had a few good looks, they just couldn't match it. In the final minutes of the game, the Oilers were just out of gas, even though the clock was running out, they just didn't have the energy or the legs to come up with a solid possession.
Good win for the Panthers. Like the Heat last year, they came to the edge of blowing a 3-0 lead but managed to regroup and outlast their opponents. I watched all of the games against the Rangers and the Oilers and though the Panthers did occasionally have a dud game, when they tightened up their defense, the Panthers were basically impossible to score on and those were two good offenses that they overcame.
Congrats, Panthers. I don't watch much hockey but I really do love it and I'm glad I got to catch so much of this year's Cup.
I thought the Panthers flat out sucked in the 1st period. They didn't get destroyed too bad, down just 1-0 going into the 2nd period, though the Oilers found the goal early in the 2nd period. The Oilers added to the lead again right at the end of the period, I wondered if the Panthers would ever show up.
In the 3rd period, the Panthers finally found the goal on a weird play, where the goalie just sorta fell over, leaving the net wide open. It felt like the Panthers had at least picked up the tempo, trying to get into the game. But as the game wound down and the Panthers had to go to the empty net, they just couldn't maintain possession and the Oilers tacked on two empty netters to send the crowd into a frenzy and the Series back to Florida.
Been a wild ride, glad I stuck with it. The Edmonton Oilers are my new favorite team! But Game Seven is still anyone's ball game, though the dominant defense that got the Panthers up 3-0 in the Final has vanished and the counter attacking offense went with it. They've got 60 minutes left to get it back and if they can then they can still win it (worked for the Miami Heat last year who nearly squandered a 3-0 lead on the Celtics last year). The Oilers definitely have the momentum but they still gotta go finish it off.
Okay, it's on! The Oilers came out cooking in the 1st period got up 3-0 early in the 2nd. The Panthers cut the lead to 2. Oilers pushed it to 4-1 (holy shit, that goal was sweet! The way McDavid knifes through the defense, then lays the easy-as-you-please layup was a thing of beauty, Magic to Worthy, Luke to Lively, some Diego Maradona shit, some Bo Jackson shit!). The Panthers immediately come back and cut the lead to 2.
Around the 7 minute mark in the 2nd period, I thought the Panthers took the attack back. The Oilers got sloppy on D and went through a long stretch of not protecting the possession and the Panthers kinda dominated for a while. The Panthers got the score to 4-3, then the Oilers finally clamped down and went back to some offense.
The Panthers pulled the goalie with about 4 minutes to go, the crowd was going nuts, but the Oilers stood up and almost scored an empty netter (wow, I don't think I've ever seen an empty netter hit the post), then a miraculously awesome defensieve swipe warded off another attempt. But the defense was too shredded to stop McDavid working the rebound to finish it off with about a minute to go.
And we go back to Edmonton for Game Six and I'm looking forward to it! If the Panthers had come back from being down 4-1 in the 2nd, that would've been awesome. Otherwise, I was rooting for the Oilers and I guess I'll continue to root for them as long as they're the underdog. Coming back from 3-0 really could happen here. I'm into it!
Man, both of these defenses are drum-like in their tightness. I thought the Panthers had basically two good looks at the goal--finished them both--and picked up an empty netter on the way out. Meanwhile, the Oilers had zero good looks at the goal in 60 minutes and scored zero goals. This reminded me of Game One in the Eastern Conference finals where the Panthers beat the Rangers by the same score. That, too, felt like a harbinger of an all-defense series but maybe not, that series had a fair amount of scoring and the Oilers-Stars version in the West had a lot more offense. So, while this has gotten off to a full-on defensive start, that might not be the shape of it.
The 1st goal was a nifty fast break where the third guy in the attack had just enough room to find the net because the forward defender couldn't recover in time, leaving a gap up the middle. The 2nd goal was a lovely searching pass that just happened to find the defender stretched out of position momentarily leaving an empty space in front of the net where luckily the forward was able to find the top shelf; don't want to discount its awesomeness, but the pass that led to the finish was just a piece of luck, really, a hopeful pass that was rewarded. In short, neither of those are examples of the cornerstone of the Panther attack.
I watched all of the Eastern conference Finals over the Rangers and most of the Western Finals over Dallas. My gut feeling is both of these teams have more offense and I expect this Series to loosen up, especially if Edmonton can keep it going. Not that I don't love some defensive hockey, just saying I think there's going to be goals scored.
(TWO) Oilers 1-4 Panthers
More of the same. The Oilers took the lead early when a rather innocuous breakaway chance dribbled through Bobrovsky's legs into the goal. Bobrovsky has been getting all the love, and that's great, but it seems to me that it is the full Panther defense that is parrying away the Oiler attack. Bobrovsky has certainly been good but he's mostly getting hit in the chest by desperate shot attempts. Thought it was weird that he gave up this piece of fluff, though.
But Rodridues was able to finish two tight rips in the 3rd to seal it. And they tacked on another empty netter.
The Panthers defense is so good that it creates patience opportunities at the other end. If the attack just maintains possession, they'll eventually find the lane. Not over yet but unless the Oilers find some kind of scoring acumen and do something to upset the Panther defense, then this one is over.
(THREE) Panthers 4-3 Oilers
Man, this series is looking exactly like the Mavs-Celtics series: in Game Three over there, the Mavs trying to avoid a sweep, got a nice lead early, couldn't hold it, got way down to the Celtics, who fell asleep and let the Mavs back into the game late, but held on to win anyway. (Replace Mavs with Oilers and Celtics with Panthers) I'm still so amazed that Edmonton just can't get a sniff of the goal. Everyone is praising Bobrovsky, and he's playing well, but his defense in front of him is leaving him very little to do. And the Panther attack is methodical, takes its time, but is punching holes more than the Oilers can hang with. Dude, the 2nd period of this match was like target practice for the Panthers, the Oiler D was getting stretched and the keeper got peppered.
3-0 is pretty much over--even in hockey--and, uh, yeah, this feels over to me. Maybe getting 3 goals (even in a losing effort) will ignite the attack...maybe....that could happen. But the Panthers are playing really well, I think they'll finish it in 4.
(FOUR) Panthers 1-8 Oilers
Well, now, wait a second....After 4 games the NHL Final looks an awful lot (right?) like the NBA finals. The better team is up 3-0, the drowning home team in Game Four steps and gets a big win. But the Celtics rolling over to the Mavs' last-gasp onslaught is not the same as the dominant Panthers defense getting steadily dismantled. In the first 8 periods the Oilers scored 2 goals; in the last 4 periods the Oilers scored 10 goals. The Oilers have dug a pretty deep hole, I'm not yet ready to say that they turned a corner at the end of Game Three, but I am more curious for Game Five than I thought I would be (whereas I fully expect the Celtics to rail the Mavs in Game Five and finish that series).
The Panthers looked untouchable til the 3rd period of GameThree, were they just taking the night off in Game Four? We'll see.
(FIVE) Oilers - Panthers
Yeah, I'm getting pretty excited for tonight's match! Whereas the Celtics easily finished off the Mavs in Game Five even after a shaky performance in Game Four, it feels different over here in the hockey world. I don't think you can just mail in a game in hockey like the Celtics do from time to time in basketball. Though the Celtics fans certainly felt shaky going into Game Five, you knew and I knew that the game was going to be a triumphant Celtic stomping (and it was) because Game Four was just a fluke.
But in this series, the sheer dominance the Oilers turned on in the last 1.3 games looks like they figured something out on the Panther defense--that wasn't simply a hamfisted performance by the Panthers or a lucky night for the Oilers. That was two teams and going at it and for the first time in the series, the Oilers looked like the dominant ones. Can they keep it going? I look forward to finding out tonight.
