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Vancouver Canucks vs. Edmonton Oilers | THW 2024 NHL Playoff Preview Show
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May 8, 2024
In the latest 2024 NHL Playoff Preview show, host Jacob Billington welcomes in Matthew Zator and Jacob Strozyk to set up the upcoming second round series of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers. 0:00 Intro 0:34 Canucks' Journey to the 2nd Round 3:32 Oilers' Journey to the 2nd Round 6:12 Storylines to Follow 10:51 Canucks Players to Watch 13:47 Oilers Players to Watch 16:54 Keys to Victory For the Oilers 19:18 Keys to Victory For the Canucks 22:44 X-Factors 25:56 Series MVP 26:53 Predictions For The Series Check out Matthew and Jacob's writing: Matthew Zator - https://thehockeywriters.com/author/mzator/ Jacob Strozyk - https://thehockeywriters.com/author/jstrozyk/ Subscribe to The Hockey Writers Substack - https://thehockeywriters.substack.com/subscribe
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0:00
Hey, everybody. Welcome to a round two preview from the hockey writers. And I'm here with
0:07
Matthew and Jacob, and we're going to be previewing the Vancouver Canucks versus the Edmonton
0:11
Oilers. We have an all Canadian matchup. So we have a guaranteed Canadian team headed
0:15
to the third round, which is pretty exciting. But it's been two very different paths on
0:20
their way here. So the Vancouver Canucks knocked out the Nashville Predators in six games
0:25
the Edmonton Oilers had a bit of an easier time against the LA Kings for the third year in a row. But let's dive into a little bit about what happened in the first round for
0:33
each of these teams. So Matthew, do you want to get us started on the Canucks? Yeah, I mean, it started off, I'd say most of the series, it was a actually all the series
0:44
It was a defensive battle. I mean, there was no shots on goal for most of games, I don't
0:48
think so. I think Predators got over 20 shots a few times. Most of the time, it was really
0:55
low shots, low scoring, grind it out type series, which I wasn't really expecting at
1:00
the beginning. I thought the Predators played a more fast paced style, not this grind it out
1:04
shot blocking team, but just looked like Barry Trotz just came told Andrew Burnett
1:09
we're going to play like the Islanders of like, yeah, I don't know. But that's what it seemed
1:14
like. And the Canucks kind of had a bit of problems getting shots through to Saros and
1:20
when Saros got it, he made some great saves. But in the end, they were able to win some
1:27
I don't want to say lucky games. I mean, they got lucky on a few times. Besser with his hat trick
1:33
game where they were down right up until the end, they scored two goals, six on five
1:39
and Besser complete the hat trick and then Lincoln scores in overtime early on. And then even in game
1:44
six, they came back and actually won that game off the same type of thing. And what was zero zero
1:53
for the whole game until the last few minutes and then Pia Suter gets a break and scores the
1:59
goal to win the game. Won nothing. Biggest one was Archer Shelovs. He, you know, the Canucks had to
2:05
go through a bunch of goaltenders, had one win per goaltender, started with Damko in game one
2:13
And then De Smith came in, won the next. And then Shelovs comes in because De Smith got hurt or
2:19
some kind of ailment he had. And then Shelovs just from there, got the ball and ran with it
2:25
and got his first playoff shutout and first shutout overall in his career in game six and
2:30
in the series clincher. So overall, I mean, the Canucks played a good defensive style system
2:37
throughout and had some good goaltending, got some clutch scoring at times. And that's how they
2:43
won the series. I mean, did they deserve to win it? And maybe there are times you could say maybe
2:49
not, but in the end they did it. And yeah, they're off to the second round and we'll see how they do
2:55
against the Oilers. It was really interesting series to follow because going into it, you
2:59
didn't think that these were two teams that you're really going to have to grind out your wins and
3:03
whatnot. It was more so just you have to outscore your opponents, which I guess every game is, but
3:07
nobody was looking at that series as a complete, I mean, for somebody that didn't have a dog in the
3:12
race, it was a boring series, but that's a good thing for each of those teams. They can play that
3:16
shutdown style. And yeah, it was, it was really interesting to see how both those teams adapted
3:21
to that. We really need to focus on the defense. And like you mentioned with the three goaltenders
3:26
like that's always tough. So it was a good series. Vancouver pulled out. So that's good
3:31
Uh, Jacob, what about the Edmonton Oilers? What a walk us through the first round for them
3:37
Yeah, I'd say it was about what you would expect as far as what you would look into
3:42
be seeing out of the, out of the Oilers, especially out of the offense leading the way
3:47
McDavid dry sidle. And then you had, uh, Evan Bouchard, uh, bringing up more of the offense
3:53
And that was the name of the game, uh, in the first round in general, seven goals in the first game
3:59
five goals in the second or four goals in the second game, six goals in the third game
4:04
then scored one in the fourth. And then they put up four in the fifth game to clinch it. So
4:09
pucks in the back of the net, like we talked about in the, uh, in the preview for, uh, the first
4:15
round that that's really what the key for them was going to be to actually pull out a win in
4:20
this series. And that's exactly what they did. They relied on the offense and the offense came
4:24
through all of the stars were doing exactly what they needed to be, or doing exactly what they
4:29
needed to do. The power play was absolutely lethal, like it was supposed to be. And you know
4:36
it, it, it just felt like a status quo type thing. There, there weren't really any surprises
4:40
coming through in any part of this series. They were scoring when they were supposed to
4:45
they were defending exactly kind of how things were expected to. I mean, the one shut out in
4:50
game four, uh, out of Skinner was a nice little added touch there, but, uh, I don't think anybody
4:57
was expecting, you know, a goaltending battle going into this, uh, series by any means. Uh
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it, it was, if anything, it was supposed to be a barn burner type series, but, you know, it
5:07
it was fun. If anything else, it was a fun series to watch just because of all the goals that were
5:12
getting scored. So it's, it's the McDavid dry side will show. And I think that's something
5:16
that's going to carry over into this series, uh, especially with how high flying both offenses can
5:23
be. Uh, but I think it'll be a little bit tougher with the goaltending situation that
5:30
can happen in Vancouver. Yeah, it was, it, I don't think anybody was too surprised that the Oilers
5:36
won that series. That was, they were the heavy favorites headed in, but, um, I was a little bit
5:41
surprised at how, how much they ate up the LA Kings defensive structure. Cause that's what
5:45
they're built on was that, that one three, one system, that boring hockey style that we just
5:49
saw Vancouver Nashville play. Um, and they just decimated that. So I wonder how Vancouver is going
5:54
to have to adapt into, um, maybe worry more about the offense because it's no matter how good of
6:00
defensive play you can have impossible to slow down the Oilers. So, um, it's going to be really
6:05
interesting to see how the connects kind of switch gears and, uh, ahead of this series
6:10
So, um, Jake, I'm going to stick with you. What's the storyline that you're going to be following
6:14
for the Edmonton Oilers headed into this series? To me, it's still going to be the forwards. It's
6:20
the offense it's how can everybody up top continue to produce the way that they should be? Can McDavid
6:28
still be the superstar that he is? Can he still be leading the league in points by the end of
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the playoffs? Even if they get knocked out somehow in the second round, can dry side will still be
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leading the league and power play points in the playoffs by the end of the second round? It's
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it's a matter of can the scoring still continue at the accelerated rate that the Oilers are
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capable of doing? That really is the story of it. And I think with all of the players that have been
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stepping up for them in the playoffs and how everybody is producing, I think it's a good
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story that can continue. And I think it's something that can carry them really, really far
7:09
I'm not sure how well they'll be able to break through some of the defensive structure that the
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Canucks do have. I think that will be the challenge for them, but should they be able to actually
7:21
punch through that and connect on some of their opportunities? I think it's going to be
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the turning point for them, uh, more than if they can defend against what the Canucks offense can do
7:37
So I think this could be a little bit more of a barn burning type series. If things get out of
7:42
hand. Yeah, that's fair enough. Um, Matthew, there's, I mean, there's quite a bit of storylines
7:47
to follow. I mean, waiting for some of these star players to heat up, Elias Patterson only finished
7:51
with three assists. Um, are there, she loves that's obviously if he's going to continue into
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round two, um, it's a great storyline to follow. What's the biggest one you're keeping an eye on
8:00
Yeah. Like you said, there's, there's quite a few, like she loves. I, to me, you keep them in the net
8:05
until he doesn't look good. I mean, there's no point in putting in a unhealthy Demco, even if he
8:11
is healthy enough to play, I wouldn't play him unless he's 110% ready. I dismissed, you know
8:19
he'd probably be the next one up. I, but I don't know if she loves that a really good last few
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games, no, we can't fault him on any of the goals that were scored. Um, yes, he's going to be facing
8:28
a ton more of an offensive, you know, Conor McDavid coming in on you is different than, uh
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even like as much as good as Philip Forsberg is he's not McDavid. I, you know, these guys
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he can beat you in so many different ways. Um, but the biggest one I'm going to be watching is
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can the Canucks stay out of the penalty box? Um, you know, even if taking one penalty
8:49
look what the LA Kings, they had one penalty in that one game. They lost one, nothing guess what
8:53
the score goal scored on, on the power play. So, I mean, even if you do restrict the Oilers five
8:59
on five and you give them a power play, you're probably gonna, you're probably gonna get scored
9:04
on. So, you know, the Canucks had a bit of problems with the penalties, uh, against predators
9:09
at that four minute double minor against the Oilers. That's probably two goals on that power
9:15
that double minor. So I, as much as the penalty kill has been good for the Canucks in, in that
9:21
in that series, you're, you're going up against a, what did they were like 50% power play or
9:27
something against the Kings. It was pretty crazy. It, you don't want to get into that boat
9:33
I, you don't want to get into penalty trouble against the Oilers because you're probably going to lose that battle. I, you know, the Canucks power play, I think special teams is going to
9:40
be a big key in this series for both teams because the Oilers penalty kills more middle ground as
9:45
well. Canucks power play hasn't been that good. It wasn't that good against the predators
9:50
They had one game where it was, I think that was the only game where they had two power play goals
9:54
and that was the reason they won. But biggest thing for me, stay out of the penalty box because
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you're going to lose this series if they don't. Yeah. I mean, that's, if you're going up against
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the Oilers, that's the biggest thing you have to focus on, right? Cause, um, you can do everything
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to shut them down and whatnot, but as soon as they get that man advantage, it's, it's over
10:14
It's almost like they might be running at 50%, which is absolutely insane, but you can expect
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them to score a hundred percent of the time that's if they get a power play, you should say, okay
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there's a goal. So it's, uh, it's, it's really fun to watch too, because like offense is something
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that fans love to see. Nobody likes to watch the, the one, nothing games and whatnot, just cause
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it's not exciting, especially again, if you don't have a dog in the race, but, uh, but yeah, the
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Canucks are really going to have to focus on staying out of the box. And, um, like you said, their penalty kill was really good. So I'm just going to have to keep that up and maybe even
10:48
tighten it up a little bit more. So, um, who's, who are you going to be keeping an eye on? Who
10:53
are your players to watch Matthew? Well, yes, Pedersen is my biggest one, because like they
10:59
said at the end of that series, it's a reset for him now. I mean, zero started zero, zero again
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I, you know, you can say, yes, he struggled in that predators series, but I look back to when
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the Canucks were, it's funny cause the last time they played the predators, I, the Sedins were
11:16
non-existent in that series. And they were always, everyone was worried about, ah, they're not doing anything. And then they played against the Sharks and the Sedins were
11:23
one of their best, uh, two of their best players in that series. So this is a reset. If Pedersen
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can get going against the Oilers, everyone goes from forget what he did against the predators
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what it's the struggles were at the end of the season. Uh, and he dominates or not dominates
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or just was good against the Oilers and get some points. I, everyone's going to forget about it
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So, I mean, he's got to be good. He's got to be better than he has been. And he's definitely
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capable of it. I mean, it's points against the Oilers. I believe he's up there. I it's not like
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they've been able to shut him down. He's got quite a few points against them. Um, another thing is
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is, uh, another guy I'll be watching is. Hey, I'd say that whole line, just like I said
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in the article I wrote just before the game, game six was Pedersen's line, uh
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Ilya Mikheyev and Nils Hoeglander. Uh, Mikheyev hasn't has one goal in 50 games. So, I mean
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I'm not expecting him to score, but it'd be nice if he did. Um, Nils Hoeglander wasn't that good
12:23
in the series. I thought he was gonna be a lot better. Um, he was okay. I mean, he started
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becoming more noticeable in the last couple of games, but against the Oilers where you need some
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depth scoring, I think Hoeglander has got to be good. Um, I mean, the other guys, of course
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watching Brock Besser, because he had the four goal game in his first game against the Oilers
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this season, kind of got him on the right track with his confidence. So, I'm going to see if he
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can maybe score and be, be a thorn in the Oilers side, because he did score quite a few goals
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against them. So, I'm sure they're going to be looking to make sure he doesn't do that
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Um, so those are definitely the guys I'll be watching throughout this series
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Uh, in addition to the goaltending, because we don't know, is Shulabh's going to be the guy
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or are we going to see maybe De Smith, maybe Demko? I don't know. I will have to see where
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that all goes, but that's basically what I'll be watching. Yeah. I mean, Elias Patterson
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I think is the right answer for that. It's hard to have a right answer on such a subjective
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question, but, um, I see a lot of people saying that Patterson hasn't been playing good, but he's
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getting the opportunities. I mean, like he could easily have another two goals and an assist on
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um, on his record right now. And I mean, you look at the shot, he missed the wide open net
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Um, that was a hard watch, but I mean, it's not like he's not getting these chances. It's not
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like he's not playing well. He just happens to miss that chance. Um, and if he has those two
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goals, we're not even having this conversation. So, um, Jacob, what are you looking at? What
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players are you looking at for Edmonton, the series that needs to either continue their
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dominance if you're talking about McDavid or Dreisaitl or who needs to step up? Who do you
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who are you keeping an eye on? Well, I mean, the easy answer are those top two guys, but, uh
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I'll hone in on a couple other ones. We'll talk Zach Hyman to start out because he's the leading
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goal scorer for them right now. And he's, you know, been a dominant goal scoring player for
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them all year. And the fact that he's continued that in the playoffs has been a huge, huge force
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for them overall. I mean, his shooting percentage alone speaks for itself at 35% right now. So is
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that a sustainable, you know, number in general? No, not during the regular season, but during the
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playoffs, you know, he can hover around that 20 to 30% rate, uh, on this team. Absolutely. So
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continuing the goal scoring and maintaining that type of presence in front of the net
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like he has been all year is going to be something that's going to matter to them a lot, especially
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you know, for, uh, especially against the Vancouver team that can probably box him out
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and try and push him out and get rid of him in front of the net. Um, another player that I think
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could get a little bit more attention or deserves maybe a little bit more attention
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He's been limited in his ice time. He's only about nine, maybe 10 minutes of ice time and night
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is, uh, Dylan Holloway. He's got two goals so far and he only has four shots on goal
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but that's a 50% shooting percentage. So, you know, it's a small sample size, but at the same
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time you think about it, it's like, what if, what if he had a little bit more opportunity
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What if he was given a little bit more of a chance to provide some offense or provide a
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or provide a little bit more physicality and do a little bit more out on the ice
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He could be a little bit more of a factor in a series like this, especially if he's providing
15:34
more scoring depth. If somebody like dry side will make David or Hyman is getting shut down
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maybe a little bit more depth on the lineup can provide something in a player like Holloway. So
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I think he would be somebody to watch in a series like this. And I think he could provide a lot of
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value. Yeah. I think Holloway, especially like that young up and coming guy is going to be full
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of adrenaline. He's going to be wanting, like, he's going to be feeding off the playoff experience
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Um, and he didn't get as much opportunity this season as a lot of Oilers fans were hoping for
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Um, but he won, if I'm not mistaken, he won the Hobie Baker two years ago, three years ago. Um
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like he he's proven, he's proven to be, um, this dominant player. And so with more opportunity
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I think that he really can be a big factor in this. Um, and as for Zach Hyman, like, obviously
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he just scored over 50 goals. Uh, he, he knows how to score these goals, but if I'm Rick talk it
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every time Tyler or every time Zach Hyman touches the ice, I'm sending out Tyler Myers and saying
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just hover. All you need to do is just sit beside him, push them out of the crease
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And that that's your job for the night. So, um, that's what I would do. At least that's going to
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be pretty hard to get through Tyler Myers, but, um, yeah, if Hyman can continue to get these
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get these goals and these big moments, I think he's pretty set. Um, Jacob, we'll stick with you
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again. Uh, what are going to be the keys to victory? Like what's Edmonton going to have to do
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to really get past the Canucks. I'm going to say it's going to lie a lot on Stuart Skinner's
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shoulders. He's been good. He's been very good. I'm not going to say by any means that his numbers
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have been bad in any way. He's got a 2.59 goals against and a nine 10 save percentage. So it's
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absolutely serviceable numbers for a starting goaltender, especially in the playoffs that
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those are numbers that you can go by and win plenty of playoff games with
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But I think he's going to need to do slightly better than those numbers. If the Oilers are
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going to win the series and not just win it, actually win it in decisive fashion, because
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I don't think they're going to be able to handle going through a war type seven game series with
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the Canucks. If they're going to try and go on a deep playoff run, I think if they try and do that
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or if they end up doing that, they're looking at around three exit type deal. I don't think
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they'd be able to make it much further than that. So if they're looking to really make a deep playoff
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run, they're going to have to try and win this in five, maybe even six at the absolute longest
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type series. So they're going to need a lot out of Stuart Skinner and they're going to need him to
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really be the backbone of this team and really keep the puck out of the net as the offense just
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drops five, six, seven goals. If they possibly can. I'm not saying that they will, but I'm saying
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that that's really the ideal situation for them. If they're really going to try and push for that
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deep playoff run that this team really, really needs at this point, they're going to need Skinner
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to just keep pucks out of the net and be that goaltender that they've been desperately looking
18:42
for in the playoffs recently. Yeah. I mean, on paper, like all Stuart Skinner just needs to be
18:47
the better goalie, which on paper does not look difficult when you're going up against the third
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string goalie. But like I mentioned with Holloway adrenaline can take you so far and she loves has
18:56
got to be just, that's all it's pumping through his veins right now. Especially after that shut
19:01
out to clinch the series. Like that's, he's going to be coming into this series hot and he's going
19:05
to want to win. So, um, being the better goalie might not be as easy as it sounds to go up against
19:11
the third string goalie. So, uh, yeah, that's, that's a great key to victories for Skinner to be
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the guy, uh, Matthew, who do you got, um, or what do you have for the keys to victory for the Canucks
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Well, I'll just off the top is why I already said it stay out of the box. Uh, try to limit that
19:29
power play as much as you can. Um, because that's going to be a big thing. Um, in addition to that
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it's, I want to say first, it's funny how we're talking about the Canucks being a defensive
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juggernaut. And it's just such a weird thing to say, because over the years they have not been
19:43
I think that's something you far from the say, you say you've described that that is not the Canucks
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but so far, you know, in talk, it's 10 years, they have been a lot better defensively
19:54
And that's the reason why she lost was able to be good and not nothing again, nothing for him
19:59
but you know, they were really good in front of them. I, he hadn't had to make like ridiculous
20:04
stages. May he made a few, but not to the point where you're like, he stole the game. You know
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he, he was the reason they won. Um, you just had to be good. And that's what you just have to be
20:14
good against the Oilers. And if they can play that same defensive structure and not, I feel like I
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was talking about this earlier with, um, with someone else and saying that, you know, I don't
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know how, how talk it's going to approach this series, but I don't think they should, he should
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approach it as trying to shut down McDavid, trying to shut down dry sidle. It should be
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you should try to attack against the Oilers because the Oilers aren't a defensive team
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I mean, they're not known for that. Uh, they've had chinks in their armor and, you know
20:45
defensively and goaltending. So I think they just got to attack and try to show their offense
20:50
because they're a lot better offensively than the Kings. Um, the Kings were able to drop four or
20:55
five goals against them. Uh, maybe not the end there, but they were able to. So, and the Canucks
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are much better offensive team. So if they can play that more fast-paced offensive style, not
21:07
saying they should get into a track meet against the Oilers, because that's not a good idea either
21:11
because most likely you're going to have dry selling the game again, five, six point nights on
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you. So that's not a good idea either. So balance it. I think it's just a balanced attack. Try to be
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the offensive team, but not to a point where you're allowing a lot of chances and the Canucks
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can do that. They've shown it throughout the season. They are able to, to win those high
21:30
scoring games and those low scoring ones. So I think they can play that type of style
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but I think they shouldn't go into it as saying we got to shut down McDavid and dry sidle. That's
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our key. We got to have, you know, this line matched hard matched against McDavid all the time
21:45
I think Lindholm is going to be that guy, but I don't think that should be the mindset going in
21:50
So I, so it comes down to it, play your game, be more of that balanced type style. They've been
21:57
all season long. And, uh, and I think there'll be, there'll be good to go out of this. It doesn't
22:03
matter what goal tenders in, um, in, in that there. Yeah. And I, I a hundred percent agree
22:09
with you. I think the two way, the elite two way play from Pedersen and Lindholm, I think that's
22:14
exactly what this team is going to need. And JT Miller doesn't necessarily have the two way game
22:18
He's been a lot better this year. Um, but like that hard nose gritty kind of tough, uh, play
22:24
that he can do as well. I think they just need that really strong two way presence from those
22:28
top three centers. Um, and that's what they're going to do. Cause like you said, you can't
22:31
shut down McDavid dry cycle. It doesn't matter what you do. Um, they're, they're always going
22:35
to find ways to score. So you just need to shut down the rest of the lineup and continue to
22:40
uh, contribute offensively. So yeah, that was very well said. So who's going to be the biggest
22:45
X factor Matthew, or what is going to be the biggest X factor? I mean, they could go different
22:51
ways. I I'm still going to say, I'm going to go and say Dakota Joshua again here, because I mean
22:56
he was an X factor in one game. I mean, I don't know if he was really noticeable apart from that
23:02
I mean, he was good. He had some good chances, um, set up helped set up the Lynn home goal in the
23:07
in overtime. I, that third line was noticeable, but I think they need to be more noticeable in
23:13
this series. So I'm going to say that that line is going to be an X factor along with Joshua
23:18
because I don't know if the Oilers have a guy that can match what Joshua can bring
23:23
Um, yeah, they have a Vander Kane. Yeah. They have Corey Perry. Who's been a thorn in the
23:28
Canucks side in the past. He's not the Corey Perry of old though. Um, I feel like Joshua could
23:34
be a guy that could maybe draw some penalties that the Oilers to start taking, maybe frustrate a few
23:39
of the guys. Um, and that's the same thing with whole Glandor. So I think the X factor is those
23:44
depth pieces that could maybe frustrate their offensive stars and maybe get under the skin
23:49
of McDavid, which he has shown in the past that he can be, uh, guys can get under his skin and
23:55
kind of gets off of a game a bit. So I think that's going to be the key in this series
23:58
So that would be an X factor there. Yeah. And he's a high energy guy that the Canucks are
24:02
going to kind of rally behind that kind of energy. So, um, yeah, if he has a good game
24:06
the Canucks are going to have a good game. Jacob, who's the X factor for Edmonton or what is the X
24:12
factor? You know, it's probably going to be Jack Campbell. No. Uh, so the, no, the, the low hanging
24:19
fruit is always, is, is simply it's Connor McDavid early again, dry, subtle, but we'll tie that into
24:25
who and what combines for McDavid dry, subtle Hyman and the power play. All of it comes together
24:33
for that combined strength of the three of them, that triad that creates the raw goal scoring
24:40
That is the X factor talent in the Edmonton Oilers. All of that has to synergize to come together
24:49
and just pull everything up and bring all of them together to win. That is the biggest thing that
25:00
they have that is going to cause them to just go over the hump. So I'm not saying that they're
25:07
going to keep running at 50%, but you know, they could still easily keep running at 30
25:13
because they've been doing that since last year. And that's something that they can absolutely
25:18
still keep running at, even if they dip off a little bit, the power play still remaining lethal
25:23
And those players still remaining lethal in their scoring aspects is what's going to carry them over
25:28
the hump and into the next round. So continuing to produce how they should is going to be the
25:35
dominant X factor pushing them through this entire second round. And I mean, would anybody
25:41
really be surprised if they did continue at 50%? No, I don't think so. Would it be surprised? No
25:47
but you know, it'd be fun to see him push, you know, script, they'll push it up to 60%
25:53
Oh, I hope not. So give me your series MVP, Jacob, who I mean, low hanging fruit here too
26:02
I guess, but series MVP, I'm, I'm gonna say it's gonna be Hyman. I think he'll drop a bunch
26:10
more goals. He's at seven now. I think he'll double it. I think he'll hit 14
26:17
Okay, a bunch more goals as he's finishes his first series with seven. I think 14 more. I think
26:23
he'll be at 17 by the end of or not 1714. By the end of the series is what I'm saying. Yeah
26:28
I get you. Matthew series MVP. I mean that low high, I want to say and I hope it is this
26:35
can be Brock Besser. I feel he's gonna still keep that luck going, bought a few goals
26:41
it seems to have the confidence against the Oilers. So I'm gonna say he's he's gonna be the
26:46
series MVP and, and be really good in this series. Okay, and to wrap things up, what's
26:54
your prediction? Who's who's gonna take the series Matthew? Ah, this is gonna be a fun series. I think this is gonna be a very exciting back and forth. At
27:04
least I hope it is. I mean, I said the Predators one was gonna be more exciting than I thought it
27:09
but I feel like the Oilers and Canucks can't don't shouldn't be going into a style where you're
27:15
playing that grind out because they're capable of it. I don't think so either. I think they that
27:19
would negate the skill and the stars that you've gotten of how you played all season. So I think
27:25
the Canucks are going to come out of it though, as much as everyone's saying because the gold
27:29
ending at the Oilers are going to torch as she loves or to Smith and Demko probably won't be
27:36
back in this series. I'm hoping that's made I would go with she loves regardless at to start
27:41
because of how well he's played. But I'm going to say the connection seven just to go I think it's
27:48
I think they have that little extra that they could push him up sounds over here
27:52
Okay, before I move on to Jacob, Matthew, I do just want to clarify what you just said. So
27:57
if that your Demko it came out today that he's 100% healthy, ready to go already starting game
28:02
one. I still game one she loves I he's the way he finished that I think that's unfair to him
28:09
And just just put Demko in and, and and say, Well, Demko is back. So yeah, he he's been
28:17
he hasn't played in a while a bit. Now. I feel he'd be a bit rusty to start. She loves is on a
28:22
roll. If he looks bad in game one, and Demko is then you put him in for game two. But to start
28:29
it she loves even if Demko is healthy. I agree. That's what I would run to you just want to run
28:34
with the hot goalie. And that's what she loves is Jacob, give me your prediction for second round
28:40
series. Yeah, just as my two cents. I'm always on the ride the hot goalie. So I would agree with
28:47
you on that just ride ride. She loves in that scenario as well. But I don't think people should
28:56
count the count the Canucks out as much as they might be. But I still think the Oilers come out
29:02
on top. I think it's going to be a six game series. I so I think they'll take it four to two
29:08
I think it'll be a lower scoring series maybe than I was kind of predicting maybe in our
29:17
discussion here. I don't think it'll be as much of a you know, blowout game here and there. I
29:23
think there may be one blowout game maybe in game like two or three. But things will kind of settle
29:30
down. I think things will be a little bit closer, maybe one overtime to kind of settle it towards
29:37
the end. But I think the Oilers come out on top in six games. I'm gonna say
29:45
I'm gonna say a double overtime to end it to just for the fun of it
29:51
Oh, I don't want to know. I did not like the one overtime they had in the predators
29:56
Well, I've never been so happy. Although I was happy with that one because they came back in
30:00
that. So I was happy that they'd go over. I'm glad that I'm hosting it. So I don't have to
30:07
opinion on record because it's just such like, it could go either way. I could see Canucks in five
30:12
I could see Oilers in five, both games are both teams winning in seven. Like, there's it's
30:17
impossible to really predict this. So glad I don't have to get my opinion on record here. So
30:23
thanks, everybody for tuning into this second round series preview. Again, I'm Jacob Billington
30:29
with Matthew Zittor and Jacob Strozek and we'll see on the next preview
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