The Edmonton Oilers should end their chances in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals
TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button joined Jay Onrait on SportsCenter and said the Edmonton Oilers can take a lot of positives away from their Game 1 loss in the Stanley Cup Finals to the Florida Panthers. Going into Game 2, the Oilers can’t leave opportunities on the table.
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Jay Onrait: “The Stanley Cup Finals started on Saturday night. Edmonton had plenty of chances but no goals. You know, we’ve been hearing the players talk for the past few days. And they don’t seem to be upset about that because they got a lot of chances, and they couldn’t beat Sergei Bobrovsky. Is that the right way? Should they feel that way?”
Craig Button: “I can’t believe you pronounced Bobrovsky the way you just did. I was expecting more enthusiasm. Anyway, you know, you can always be motivated by the way you play, but when you get a chance, like the Edmonton Oilers, where you can say we played well enough to win. The important thing is that you did not win.
So it’s encouraging to know that you’ve done some things that encourage good players to have those great opportunities. But now you look at the numbers, and the numbers now say that Florida needs three wins to win the Stanley Cup Edmonton still needs four when you get to this point in the season and the Stanley Cup Finals. You can’t look back on the opportunities you’ve wasted.
So if you look at how well they played and the chances they got, and their good players got the chances, it wasn’t like that, it wasn’t their best players getting the chance. So the truth of the matter is that getting those opportunities was good.
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But if you look at the third period, Jay, when Florida took their game up, and when Edmonton didn’t have much, now if that’s the case, because Florida just got better, that means Edmonton is going to be better. to be better. You won’t just come back with the same game. You’ll have to find ways around the edges to get the rebound and get the puck behind Bobrovsky. “
Onrait: “So if you’re looking for signs of motivation, you know, what did they do well in one game without their big players getting those big chances? What else did Edmonton do in Game 1?”
Button: “Florida is a very aggressive forechecking team and if you can’t slow that down to get checked by the Florida Panthers, you’re going to be in all kinds of trouble. But the way they were able to slow down they moved the puck quickly. They were speeding in the neutral zone and that favors the Florida Panthers.
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The Florida Panthers aren’t just a great team to look forward to. They also control the neutral zone. And the fact of the matter is that the Edmonton Oilers did a really good job of moving the puck quickly out of their zone, slowing it down and passing through the neutral zone because Florida is very good at reloading and even if you’re out of your zone. your place, they close you.
Edmonton in those first two periods, had a lot of good looks and had a lot of good chances. Keep building on that. Try to finish with your chances. It’s easier said than done. They know that but I think that was a really good sign that the Edmonton Oilers are able to do a great job and stay away from the power of the Florida Panthers.”
