Pages

Friday, April 28, 2017

{allcanada} 5 Keys: Oilers at Ducks, Game 2

 

10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVA Sports

Edmonton leads best-of-7 series 1-0

ANAHEIM -- The Edmonton Oilers will try to take a 2-0 series lead when they play the Anaheim Ducks in Game 2 of the Western Conference Second Round at Honda Center on Friday.

Defenseman Adam Larsson scored two goals in the third period and forward Mark Letestu scored twice on the power play to help the Oilers to a 5-3 win in Game 1 on Wednesday.

Here are 5 keys for Game 2:

 

1. Containing Leon Draisaitl

Edmonton forward Leon Draisaitl scored an empty-net goal and assisted on each of Letestu's goals in Game 1, giving him 12 points (seven goals, five assists) in six games against Anaheim this season.

It's doubtful the Ducks will move center Ryan Kesler, who is a Selke Trophy finalist, away from Oilers center Connor McDavid, the leading point scorer (100) in the NHL during the regular season. This will leave much of the responsibility of tracking Draisaitl on Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg.

"I just think we're allowing him too much freedom in the games we've played him," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said of Draisaitl. "He's having too much fun."

Draisaitl's empty-net goal

  • 00:50 • April 26th, 2017

 

2. Penalty woes

The Ducks were the second-most penalized team in the League during the regular season, averaging 11:23 of penalty time per game, but countered that with the fourth-best penalty-kill unit at 84.7 percent.

They're No. 1 in average penalty time through five games of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at 11:48. Their penalty-kill unit hasn't bailed them out, however, allowing eight power-play goals in 21 shorthanded situations to sit last among playoff teams at 61.9 percent.

Anaheim was also the most penalized team in the NHL during the 2006-07 season, but toned it down in the playoffs and won its only Stanley Cup.

"We're always going to speak to discipline," Carlyle said. "It's just part of the process that has to evolve with your group. We're just harder-headed than some."

 

3. Dinged defensemen

Anaheim continues to have a revolving door of injured defensemen.

Cam Fowler returned for Game 1 after missing the first-round sweep of the Calgary Flames because of a knee injury. He wasn't at his best Wednesday, finishing minus-2 and was on the ice for both power-play goals.

Sami Vatanen has missed the past four games because of an upper-body injury, and Kevin Bieksa sustained a lower-body injury Wednesday and won't play in Game 2, Carlyle said.

Carlyle said Vatanen is very, very close to returning.

 

4. First time behind

Anaheim is trailing in a series for the first time this postseason. The Oilers were in that position after losing Game 1 of their first-round series at home against the San Jose Sharks 3-2 in overtime. They came back with a 2-0 win in Game 2 and eventually won the series in six games.

"We know how we responded and how well we played that next night, so we know what Anaheim is going to come after us with," Edmonton coach Todd McLellan said.

Anaheim hasn't lost back-to-back games in regulation since the first two games of the season.

"There's no panic right now," Kesler said.

NHL Tonight: Oilers Ducks Preview

  • 05:45 • April 27th, 2017

 

5. Missing in action

Forward Jordan Eberle finished third on the Oilers with 51 points (20 goals, 31 assists) during the regular season and forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was fifth with 42 points (18 goals, 25 assists). They each have one assist in the playoffs, and the other member of their line, Milan Lucic, has three points (one goal, two assists).

As much as possible, the Ducks will likely keep their shutdown line of Kesler, Silfverberg and Andrew Cogliano against the top line of McDavid, Draisaitl and Drake Caggiula, so secondary scoring will continue to be a key for the Oilers.

They received that in Game 1 from Larsson and Letestu, but Eberle, Nugent-Hopkins and Lucic are better suited for that role.

http://app1-cdn2.sbx-cdn.com/content/pages/promote-and-earn/swagbucks-share-1500-v2.png

Oilers projected lineup

Drake Caggiula -- Connor McDavid -- Leon Draisaitl

Milan Lucic -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Jordan Eberle

Patrick Maroon -- Mark Letestu -- Zack Kassian

Benoit Pouliot -- David Desharnais -- Anton Slepyshev

Matthew Benning -- Oscar Klefbom

Adam Larsson -- Andrej Sekera

Darnell Nurse -- Kris Russell

Cam Talbot

Laurent Brossoit

Scratched: Mark Fayne, Griffin Reinhart, Anton Lander, Iiro Pakarinen, Nick Ellis, Jordan Oesterle, Eric Gryba, Matt Hendricks

Injured: None

 

Ducks projected lineup

Nick Ritchie -- Ryan Getzlaf -- Patrick Eaves

Andrew Cogliano -- Ryan Kesler -- Jakob Silfverberg

Rickard Rakell -- Nate Thompson -- Corey Perry

Chris Wagner -- Antoine Vermette -- Logan Shaw

Cam Fowler -- Brandon Montour

Hampus Lindholm -- Josh Manson

Shea Theodore -- Korbinian Holzer

John Gibson

Jonathan Bernier

Scratched: Jared Boll, Clayton Stoner, Sami Vatanen

Injured: Kevin Bieksa (lower body)

 

Status Report

Holzer and Vatanen came off the ice together at the morning skate. Theodore was the only other Anaheim defenseman still taking shots at the time. Carlyle did not say who would replace Bieksa in the lineup. Holzer, who was a healthy scratch for Game 1, filled in for Vatanen the final three games against the Flames and averaged 14:39 of ice time.

 

Who's hot

Draisaitl has seven points (two goals, five assists) in seven playoff games. Letestu has five points (three goals, two assists) in seven games. McDavid has five points (two goals, three assists) in seven games. Talbot is 5-2 with a 2.17 goals-against average and two shutouts this postseason. ... Getzlaf has seven points (four goals, three assists) in five playoff games. Theodore and Rakell each have five points (two goals, three assists) in five games.

 

Entertainment Plaza - TV, Movies, Sports, Music, Soaps
http://almosthuman99.com

Babe Of The Month - Vote Now!
http://almosthuman99.com/polls/babes/babeofthemonth.html

Hunk Of The Month - Vote Now!
http://almosthuman99.com/polls/hunks/hunkofthemonth.html

No comments:

Post a Comment