The Hockey PDOcast - Changes the Oilers Have Made, and Why It’s Worked Against the Kings

Episode Date: April 27, 2023

Daniel Nugent-Bowman joins Dimitri to break down the Oilers vs. Kings series through 5 games, the benefits of McDavid and Draisaitl playing together, and why Edmonton's much-improved depth has allowed them to take control at 5-on-5.This podcast is produced by Dominic Sramaty. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate. If you'd like to gain access to the two extra shows we're doing each week this season, you can subscribe to our Patreon page here: www.patreon.com/thehockeypdocast/membership If you'd like to participate in the conversation and join the community we're building over on Discord, you can do so by signing up for the Hockey PDOcast's server here: https://discord.gg/a2QGRpJc84 The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

addressing to the mean since 2015. It's the Hockey PEDEOCast with your host, Dmitri Filipovich. Welcome to the Hockey-Pedocast. My name's Dimitri Philpovich, and joining me is my good buddy, Daniel Nudgeon Bowman. Daniel, what's going on, man? Hey, Dimitri, nice to be on with you again. It's kind of a weird time to be on with a nice bit gap in this series,

but probably a good time to reset it too, right? So I'm happy to come on, and I'm sure we've got lots to talk about with this crazy series. Yeah, on the one hand, I've really enjoyed all of the games and I look forward to it. I've been waking up in the morning and checking the NHL schedule to check if Kings Oilers is on in that given night. At the same time, though, it is nice to have this break just to reset a little bit, to reevaluate, to go back and look at some stuff. And for us to talk about it, right? Because it gives us a little breathing room here.

We can put this out. People can listen, get ready for the game six on Saturday night. There's a lot of fun stuff going on. So let's break down the first five games here. and kind of look at it from all angles, the good, the bad kind of stuff to consider what we've seen. I think from my end, I'm curious if you feel this way, for all the talk about, you know, the Oilers reliance or overreliance at times on this historically great power play. And certainly in this series that hasn't changed, right?

They have eight power play goals in like 20 minutes or so. I don't know how many opportunities they've had, but just a ridiculous rate of conversion so far in this series. The story for me is actually how they've handled the Kings at 5-1-5. The Kings are a really good 5-15 team, particularly defensively. They dominate volume generally. And in this series, the Oilers have had their way there. A natural statric has them controlling 55% of the shots, 55% of the high-nature chances, and 55% of the expected goals.

And, you know, they weren't really getting anything to show for it in the first three games. And I think that's why the 5-1-5 goal differential is as tight as it's been in this series so far, cumulatively. But eventually you figure they would break through and Eunice Corpusala would stop saving literally everything. And that's kind of started to happen in these two most recent games where he gave up the three goals or whatever, then he gave up four and got pulled in the most recent one.

And so that has to be encouraging from the Oilers perspective and their viability in this postseason, not just for getting through this series, but potentially consolidating into a big run is the fact that beyond the power play, it really feels like the five-on-five play has carried over from then to the regular season. Yeah, I mean, in the regular season, I think it was a tied with Florida for having the fifth most five on five goals in the league.

So they can produce it five on five. Of course, there's the defensive side of the game to consider at that situation as well. And they've improved down the stretch, especially with the acquisition of Matias Ekholm. But you're right, Dimitri, like the series, for the first half of this series, you know, two and a half, three games was that the Oilers were dominating at five on five, but just not having much or really anything to show for it.

I think, you know, to score Paisal was a huge reason for that, as you mentioned. But there was so much consternation about their five on five scoring, and they just said, you know, we just got to keep doing this. And eventually, you know, they used the term that, you know, pounding on the rock

and it'll eventually split. You heard that analogy from Jay Woodcroft a lot, and the players kind of took to it. And it did. And I think a lot of it stemmed from, you know, Connor McDavid had, now it's up to three five on five points in the series, all being assist.

But he, first game, he dominated Phil Donnell head to head. And that's it. He just couldn't, you know, produce. And that's going to happen sometimes in hockey

and a short sample size. And now that it's getting, example size is slowly, getting bigger, I think eventually, and it has turned in the earlier's favor. And people don't think that there's, you know, we talk about momentum and series. And it kind of depends on who you talk to that people think that there is, there isn't momentum that carries over from game to game. But especially with this break, I think that's kind of lost now. And it's almost like there's a whole new series, although it is a, it is a clinching game or a, you know, an elimination game

on Saturday. But the others are going to have to make sure that they kind of continue to do what they have been doing in the series and hope that it carries forward, you know, over the last, over what has happened over the last couple of games in order for them to clinch and close up the Kings on Saturday. Right. Well, I think most notable for me, if you kind of take an even more nuance to deeper look at the 5-15 play in tracking all of these games and kind of looking at how these teams are

creating their shots, what's notable to me is off the rush. it's been very close that the Oilers have gotten slightly better. Of the two, the forecheck, the Kings have been a little bit better in creating shots off that. But where the Oilers have really distanced themselves is actually off the cycle. And I think that might not be something you necessarily think of when you think of the Oilers, right? Because their best player and their brand is Connor McDavid. He does a significant part of his damage off the rush on the move. He's the best skater in the world.

And so you think of them kind of playing fast. And particularly in earlier stages of Oilers hockey, when they were kind of more run and gun high scoring, that's what you would think of when you think of Oilers games. And in this series, they've really punished the Kings kind of on the ground, so to speak, right? Like they've had these long stretches in the offensive zone where they're cycling the puck around, getting it to the front of the net, getting chances. And through these five games, I've got the shots off the cycle at 51 to 30 for the Oilers at 515, which is a pretty massive get. gap. And so maybe that speaks to, you know, I said earlier, they kind of take the identity of their best player, which is Connor McDavid. In this series, their best player has been Leon Dreis title, and he does a significant part of his damage through that cycle game. And so maybe that kind of

speaks to that element as well, where he's really sort of left his fingerprints on this series and taken over. And that's reflected by the way the Oilers are creating a lot of their chances. Yeah, I think there's a couple points to touch on there for me. And I think you're right that you know, the others have traditionally been known, you know, in the Conneric Daman, but air, especially recently as a rush team. There's no question. Everyone knows what he can do off the rush. I think dry siddle is a little bit that way too, not quite the same, but he likes to dish

off the rest, rush to great chance. Especially out the back end, yeah, yeah. Of course, yeah. And they have the horses to be able to do that led by those two. But, you know, I put Ryan Nugent Hopkins kind of in that vein, shooting off the wing and things of that nature. But to your point. there's no one, there aren't too many players in the league that can protect the puck down low

likely on Dry Settle. And you've seen that this series where he's kind of had his way with the Kings down low. And, you know, working in, I think it's just been game one where they've had 12, dressed 12 forwards. And so, you know, Dry Sital has been put on lines with guys like Derek Ryan and Clean Koston. You know, Derek Ryan can produce a little bit off the rush, but, you know, he's a bottom from six forward, you know, fourth line forward, you know, is not the biggest or fleetest of foot.

So, you know, that more so his offense would come from being in the zone. And Clemkoston is certainly, you know, a banger. And you've got a typical fourth line winger. And they've had some success by doing that as well. So when you're kind of mixing and matching different forwards, and certainly Connor McDavid has played with bottom six guys in the series too, you know, if he's not Dick and a dish to Ryan Nugent Hopkins

or Van der Kaine or Dreisle off a rush, he's got to kind of work with other guys to create offense. And, you know, to your point earlier, about how the others have controlled more of the play and significantly more of the play than the Kings.

They'd have to do it in other facets. And I think they're completely, you know, they've dominated this series at five on five. It's been happening since game one. but now I think they're starting to wear out the Kings, you know, in these last couple games and should be able to kind of continue on, whether it's in game six or game six and seven. Well, there was a sequence in the most recent game in Game 5 that really sticks in my mind

is very emblematic of what Drevis Idol is doing and also where the Oilers have had success. I think it was in that second period, it was still while the game score was quite close. And I think it was the minute leading up to Nick Buxtad's first goal where Dris Idol's line had this shift where he was kind of cycling the puck blow in the zone keeping a defender off his back they did a little hand off it worked down the zone coston passed it out front and it was a great a chance and then they recovered it and dry saddle did the same move again essentially where he kind of was working his way up to the blue line and then spun back and got a good good scoring chance off and that sort of sustained pressure eventually the dam broke or what was the metaphor he said that

woodcroft uh like pounding on the rock and it was split that was that was the ultimate pounding on the rock until it split and eventually it led to a goal, right? And that's sort of how they've done a lot of their damage at 515 in this series. And the Drusitle component is so fascinating to me because I had a listener, I did a mailbag yesterday and one of the questions we didn't get to was someone sort of noting this exact phenomenon of how he's doing it and the problems he's giving the King's defenders. And it was like, how do you match up against this or how do you defend it? Because it's been so dominant, he's basically been able to get to wherever he wants on the ice. And if he's going to, you know, if he's going to do this, there almost is no

right answer. I would say where the Kings, to my eye, have gotten themselves in trouble a little bit, is it's very easy to get puck watching when he starts putting on these displays, right? So if like, he's got one of your teammates just on his back and he's just ragdolling him around the zone with the puck probing and waiting for something to open, it's very easy to kind of gravitate towards that or start watching it. And then all of a sudden, what he really wants to accomplish. is for whoever you are covering to be able to sneak back door or sneak open for a pass because he ideally, I think for all the goals he scores and for the one-timers and everything, I think he really relishes being a payment playmaker in passing.

And so it takes very like sustained defensive zone discipline and attention to detail, which when you have these long shifts where you're spending 90 straight seconds chasing and they're dominating in that fashion, it's really tough to do. So I guess it's a long-winded way of saying good luck is the right strategy, but it's also, it's just really tough to sustain that type of defensive effort. And eventually the rock will break or whatever the metaphor is. Yeah. And I mean, Leon Driesitle, for all his goals, I mean, he has the most goals in the league in the last five years.

So that Kheimen likes to call him a past first 50 goal score. And Drey Sle even says that like, you know, when he came into those. league and he's still even this way like he's looking past first to your point demetri like he's he's more of a 50 goal score he's more of a set up guy and i mean i think connor macdavid is even like that for a 60 goal score this year so um yeah they're certainly trying to create offense and and a lot of different ways um you know i i think they've had a lot of success in this series you just up until the last couple games i've been able to produce the way that they wanted to um thankfully they've had the the power play to to kind of get to

them out of a lot of jams or kind of augment their offense or what have you um but uh yeah i think for for all the kind of flash and dash that this team kind of is known for as i mentioned they still you know dry saddle who likes to play down low sack hymen in front of the net bander cane uh so they do have some guys that can that can kind of play down low and off the cycle while having a lot of guys that can produce off the rush so they're pretty dangerous offensive team. I don't think I'm kind of providing you too much expert in an office there when you look at the offense. But yeah, yeah. I think it is notable though, because the Kings are a very, very good defensive team. And I think even the public metrics don't necessarily do justice to how good they were

defensively this year. And they do it in a number of ways, right? They pressure you very aggressively in defensive zone, but also they very rarely let you get there in the first place. I think we saw that during last year's series against the Oilers, where that that, that vaunted one three one neutral zone trap of theirs really gave the Oilers trouble because because of how compromised Dracidal was physically skating on one leg, basically. McDavid was the only player who could consistently break through that, right? There were these flashes of individual brilliance where he would just take the puck and weave through three different guys and get it into the zone and get a scoring chance off

of it. But pretty much anyone else that had to handle the puck was just instantly being pressured and having to get rid of it. And so they were playing much more of a sort of low possession dump and chase type of game compared to this series. And the reason why that's the case is because Dreisdel's moving just so much better, right? How many times in this series have we seen him be the one carrying the puck through the zone and navigating that one three one.

And that's why I think that is notable. And it's allowed them to get set up in the offensive zone much more frequently and allow that cycle game to flourish. So it is, it's a different brand of hockey, right? Because it's still on the move and off the rush. But then it's allowing them to to set up and set up shop in the offensive zone. So I think that's why I wanted to know. that because it is it looks different compared to last year right the oilers were down three

two at this point of the series but it was still kind of close in this fit in this fashion and i wouldn't be surprised to see this series go seven by any means but it just looks differently to my eye and i think this is a big reason why yeah and and last season or last series rather um i think the as you mentioned everything kind of tournament when dry settle got his high ankle sprained for toward the end of the first period in game one and that's your point when connor McDavid really took over the series like those two games game six and seven points might not have been as astronomical as we you know we've seen from a you know back-to-back games and other facets of a regular season or whatnot but i think those were the two kind of best all-around

games i've ever seen them play like consecutively well he also played like what 27 and 24 minutes or something like that in those two regulation games yeah it was pretty crazy and i mean they lost dry saddle for a few minutes there in in game six when he went off toward the end of the at the in the first period. But yeah, they were trying to kind of figure out what to do with Dry Settle. And at that point, he was no longer a centerman. He was a winger, right? So they had to kind of shuffle the deck a little bit.

But yeah, and you're pulling about the Kings, Dmitri, like, I was saying for a couple, three weeks before the playoffs started that the Kings were the worst matchup for the Oilers of any team I thought that, you know, they had a real chance of playing. And, you know, part of that is their one-three-one, kind of neutral zone. you know, the passive kind of neutral zone play that they have, the other was that they have two really good two-way centers in Copartar and De No, that have given, you know, McDavid and Drex settle some troubles before.

And I think if they can get through the series, which is by no means a guarantee yet, but I think it's looking pretty good for the Oilers, obviously. But if they can get through, this could really kind of free them up to kind of go on a long run here. and you know, I thought the last two games they played against the Kings were a really good test for the Oilers and being able to kind of beat them at their own game. And, you know, they've been able to do that a little bit in this series, but kind of put their stamp on the way that they want to play a little bit more too.

And I think that's a good sign for this team. Well, the Vegas betting markets agree with you because the Oilers have been a pretty heavy favor. heading into every one of these games, including being a massive favorite heading into game five. And it's uncharacteristic for a series that's been this close on the scoreline where one team in the Oilers was very close to going down three one potentially for them to be the ones that are favorite. Now, obviously, you know, they've had home ice to start the series.

They have the star power, the name brand recognition. I think they're kind of like a public team in that regard. But I think the betting markets are pretty sharp in terms of like, understanding what's happening, how the game's being played, who's getting the better of it, even if the score doesn't always reflect it. And so I think that's an interesting thing to note. But one last thing on the Kings sort of defense and to tie it together, at the end of the regular season, I had a very good NHL player, let's say, a star player who's not playing in the series, tell me that the Kings were by far the most frustrating team to play in the entire league.

And it's just a miserable experience because it feels like, and he said, it feels like you're playing five on six at all times because, and that's not a not a dig by the way at the officials or getting calls or that. It feels like whenever you turn, there's almost two guys on you and there's just never any real kind of breathing room, particularly in the neutral zone to to skate the puck up the ice. And so it's just constantly, it's just a constant barrage of pressure of feeling like someone's breathing down your neck. And so it's just said it was a miserable experience. And so having two guys who can kind of unlock that a little bit and create space certainly helps. And that's a unique thing for the Oilers. But I don't think it's a, I don't think it's a relevant take for you to say that, oh, the Oilers are creating good offense because not very many teams could do this to this version of the King. So I just wanted to say that.

Yeah. Well, the other thing is, you know, I talked to an executive before the playoffs and he was saying that, you know, the kings were, were scary for the Oilers because you know, now they have a goalie. And the, the, the, struggles for the Kings in the first half, two-thirds of the season was because

of, you know, you hate to say it with Jonathan quick, you know, potentially being on Hall of Famer, but he just, you know, he didn't have it. And obviously, Cal Peterson and the minors. And now they had, and they have, you know, a competent goalie back there, it just kind of solidifies a already very good team, right? So,

So yeah, they were, and still are like a formidable opponent, obviously, for the Oilers. And it's, they've given, it's given them a heck of a test, even though the Oilers have, have been able to be the better team. But like you said, they were, they sure looked like after the first period of King 4 that the Oilers were in, were in serious trouble. And obviously, they were able to come back and, and overcome that three-nothing deficit, and winning that game and, you know, handle Game 5 pretty, pretty solidly there. So it should be enough reason to believe that the others should get through the series.

But stranger things have happened. This series has been the most unpredictable. So we'll see what happens on Saturday. I was going to say I should caution against us speaking in past 10 so much because it's still certainly up in the air. Yeah. Well, okay, let's talk about kind of what changed there. You mentioned first period, game four, heading into an intermission.

right, the Oilers are down 3-0. They're playing on the road on looking at the potential of going down 3-1 in the series. And up until that point, Drissettele and McDavid had played one minute and 42 seconds combined at 5-15 together to start the series. Since then, in games 4 and 5, they've played nearly 30 minutes together. They've created four goals. I should have mentioned that prior to that, McDavid, without playing with Jessette, had zero five-on-five goals despite creating some chances along the way. And so let's talk a little bit about that adjustment because that's something that ever since Woodcroft took over, I think astutely has fought the urge to turn to, right, unless it's been born out of necessity.

So in last year's first round series, just acknowledging that Dris Edo could not keep carrying his own line and handling all of the facilitating and all the center duties, he put him on McDavid's wing and just said, we need McDavid to physically at least carry us for large stretches of this. and it worked out. But generally, health permitting throughout the regular seasons, they've been about as divided as they ever have in their careers. And so after three games of a series, obviously being on the ropes

presents one of those unique challenges, but they were also pretty quick to do so. And the fact that they've gotten these types of results, I'm curious for your take on whether this is a series-dependent thing where you just want to get through this because of the unique challenges the Kings pose defensively and this is working, you just stick with it and ride it to the finish line.

And then if you play, let's say, Vegas or something in round two, then you go back to the drawing board and potentially go back to square one. Or just because of the success of this, do you think this is something that we'll see now more of moving forward regardless of the opponent? Yeah. And I think you're right. I think it's been an astute move by Woodcroft because of those two king centers.

It gets those two players away from one of them. And it, you know, in game five, that was Philip De No, they saw a lot of their ice time against Onzei Kopitar. And Anzikopatar, for as good as he is, can't check both of them at the same time. And so it kind of frees up one of them to create damage. And then not only that, they have a Banderthane on that line who, although battling, clearly is battling some type of injury, has scored in the last couple games. So it's worked out, I think, you know, well, it has in those previous game and a half or the previous game and a half. But I think it's a situation where it should just last for this King series. I'm with you.

I mean, it doesn't really make sense to have those two guys that could play center and dry settle's not hurt like it was last year, that is, to be on their own lines unless it's born out of necessity. Woodcroft, to your point, has not done it much of the regular season. He did it, I think it was in December. He had a good stretch where he played those two with Hyman for a while. Evander Kane, of course, was out with his wrist injury. And they mostly used a patchwork second line of, like, Ryan Nugent Hopkins with TSE Annmark and Kleem Kline. So that line was just on a heater. And so he kind of rode that.

everyone knew that Klim Koston wasn't going to keep pumping in goals and even the TSD and Mark wasn't either right so he kind of rode the hot hand a lot of those guys to do their thing for a while but eventually we all knew that you know that wasn't going to be the case and those McDavid and Dry Settle were going to be split up and that's to the benefit of the Oilers right again you can't have those two guys really together if if you want to have a you know a deep kind of sustainable offense you know spread out you know throughout two, three, four lines. So I think, you know, I liked what, or I have liked what Jay Woodcroft's done.

I think that move has been, been very helpful to the Oilers. I mean, the start of game five really kind of those guys took over. I would say they weren't perfect. I mean, David lost his check on a couple of goals against. And, you know, the O'Neill Kings got a couple of goals because of that. But, you know, the way that they kind of got the ball rolling for the Oilers. in game five was, I think was really beneficial to their win. I don't see any reason why he would split those guys up for game six.

I mean, stranger things have happened, but it seems like it's a good formula for trying to beat the Kings when you can take one of their two best centermen kind of out of the mix and allow those two guys to have a little bit more, you know, have a stronger chance to play together at 5-1-5. Well, I was going to say one of the biggest perks for McDavid has been that in these two games, it's really gotten them away from DeNo's coverage. And even in game four where the Kings theoretically, you know, had last change and could dictate the matchups, a significant portion like of that game at 515 was spent with away from that assignment.

And I'm not sure why Todd McClellan prefers to have Kopitar's line on the two of them. I think it's a, I think maybe he feels like from a physicality perspective, just having Victor Arbitson and Trevor Moore who are kind of like two, you know, smaller, more undersized guys compared to Copa Tava Kempai and Byfield when he was on that line. Maybe he just feels like they wouldn't be able to hold up fully

in that matchup, but for whatever reason, they've gone away from him to, you know, Kempe scored a lot of goals in this series and he's getting a lot of chances. But to my eye, that to know Arvinson-Worline has also been their most dangerous offensive unit as well in terms of just buzzing around the zone and creating sustainable chances.

And so maybe that's part. of the logic, but I'm very curious to see heading into game six if the Oilers are going to stick with his combination with Tracello and McDavid together, whether McClellan is going to kind to revise his plan and try to get the nose unit out there more because whatever they're doing right now isn't really working in my opinion. And the fact that, you know, you mentioned in game one, McDavid got the better of him, but wasn't getting the puck luck to reflect it. we're on what 11 or 12 playoff games the past two series now where when deno and mc david have played head to head five on five it's 80 minutes where the vice time the oilers have generated one goal in

that time at some point it's like all right this is this is working for the kings they should keep trying to get to this and for whatever reason the past two games they they haven't really found a way to do so and i'm curious if if that dictates their game plan more in game six at home than it has so far. Yeah, it'll be interesting to watch. And, you know, McClellan did try to tinker a little bit, like he moved by field off that line. Yeah, he followed up there. Yeah, I follow pretty quickly. And it actually resulted in a goal, got the Kings back to two one. I follow score when David kind of lost them there on his check. But yeah, it has been interesting because to know is the one guy, you know, in terms of, you know, a two-way centerman, I shouldn't say the one guy, but a guy that can skate with

McDavid. Like, he's a great skater. right like so um especially at mac david's the guy that's going to be carrying the puck guess he's wanted to do and and create off try to create off the rush like you think you'd want to have to know on him um yeah i mean copatars certainly the bigger more physical more experienced player but um yeah it'll be interesting to see what mcclellan does because i don't as i mentioned like i don't see woodcroft you know splitting up that line now it'd be pretty surprising if you did um i think you're you're probably riding with that one line until the series is over one way another.

And then if the oil is obviously advanced, maybe switching it up in the second round. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry, Demetri. Oh, no. I was going to say, like, McDavid's ultimately going to get his eventually, right? Like, he's just too good and creates too much on the move. All you can really do is provide some sort of barrier to at least make his life more

difficult in doing so and some sort of resistance. And Dono does that so well, right? And he's like tracking him all over the ice, too. It's like deep in the king in the oilers defensive zone at times. He's like just picking him up and kind of letting him know he's there. It's probably one of those things I was saying earlier where that's that five on six phenomenon where you look over your shoulder and fill the nose just randomly there. And you're like, how did he get here?

I thought he was on the bench. And he just constantly in your space. And so that must be very annoying for a player McDavid. And I think that's why those numbers are the way that they are. All right. Daniel, let's take our break here. And then when we come back, we'll talk a little bit more about this series and some of the other things to consider. Looking ahead to Game 6, you are listening to the Hockey Ptodcast streaming the Sports Night Radio Network.

Everything Canucks. Before and after the games. Canucks Central with Dan Riccio and Satyar Shah. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. We're back here in the Hockeyieldyoganyo Gets with Daniel Lejeumbuller talking Kings Oilers during this big. extended break between games five and six in the series. Daniel, so, you know, we talked a little bit about especially at the start of the series, how McDavid's line wasn't generating five-on-five goals, how they were getting outscored still for the series, even after this adjustment, those are getting outscored at five-on-five with McDavid on the ice. And the reason I bring that up isn't to knock

McDavid's play, but to point out that how just previously, as recently as I think last year, it would have been unthinkable in a series like this for the Oilers to be winning a series and on the precipice of closing it out given that fact, right? Just how reliant they were on him to do the heavy lifting, how big a share of the offense he was responsible for. And so I think that's a good segue for us here to talk a little bit of the bottom six, or I guess more aptly the bottom five in this case with after Miteas Yamarck's injury. but their play has been phenomenal.

I think that is a big differentiator between the quality of this club and the kind of their viability in the postseason this year compared to past incarnations, right? It's the fact that they're not so reliant on one line anymore that they can at least keep their head above water

when their best players aren't on the ice. And that's, you're never going to be able to replicate the ability and the game-breaking potential that your star players have, but at least not just having it all completely, given away the second they step off the ice and go on the bench is such a big deal for this team and the fact that that's not only the case, but they're actually winning their minutes the

way that they are, I think is a huge revelation. Not necessarily a surprise because they were playing that way at the end of the regular season, but just seeing it in this format is a big deal. Absolutely. I mean, I think back to when Dave Tippett was hired as coach, like the only just were, you know, their bottom six was a, was a, train wreck. And even as I started making the playoffs under Tippet, you know, they were getting

outscored pretty substantially with, without McAvitt or dry saddle on the ice. It was like it was to the point where you basically have to have one of them on the ice or you're good. I think, I think for years there, they had like a 38 to 40 percent goal share at 5-on-5 without either of them on the ice, which is just like regardless of how good your top two lines are, if that's the case, you're not going to win very many games. it's staggeringly bad, right? Like it's brutal.

And that's, it's slowly shifted over the years to the point where really, under Jay Woodcroft, since he's been hired last, last February, it's kind of come out on the other end. And I think part of that is Woodcroft kind of, you know, some of these guys a bit more,

you know, whether it's, you know, Ryan McCloud, Calorie Yamamoto, who's kind of, obviously, he's been a fixture in the top six. he's now kind of due to lack of production and, you know, injuries and all sorts of things. I think he's falling out and I think he'll be more part of that bottom six now. Certainly has kind of relied more on a guy like Derek Ryan than Dave Tippett ever did. Yeah, the bottom six is certainly much better and a key part of the others having the success that they have and have had. it would, yeah, it would have been unthinkable to think that, you know,

or to see that Connor McDavid be outscored at five and the orders to be winning a series. Like in the past, well, they wouldn't have gotten to the playoffs, first of all, but, you know, they would have been out pretty quickly. And I think that speaks to the type of, of this team that is constructed. It has been constructed. Is it perfect? No. You know, I think there could be some tweaks.

that need to be made in the offseason to augmented it a little bit more but this is certainly the best team that the OS have had in Connemick David's create eight years here and it's you know the 5 and 5 is a big reason I thought we were going to get to the power play

I think we still probably will because that's certainly a big reason for their success too right so there's that that combination that certainly put the way it's in a good spot I don't know if we will get to the power play I mentioned earlier that it has like eight goals in 20 minutes or something so far

I don't do we have anything you know new or revolutionary to bring up about it it's like yes they're it's literally the best unit that has ever existed since we've been keeping track of stats in hockey so I don't really you know they'd probably come down a little bit

because I wouldn't expect anyone to keep scoring at this rate but it based on the regular season it will still be very good and as long as they keep drawing power play opportunities and you will when you have when you're playing with this type of speed and having the puck as often as they are, I think that's a big part of this conversation maybe, right? Like for all the talk about what happens to penalty rates and the playoffs and how,

oh, you can't rely on it the way you can in the regular season because if you stop getting calls, then you're kind of, you're out of luck. The differentiator here is just having the puck, especially sort of deep in the zone off the cycle and leaning on it as much as the Oilers have been in this series that should theoretically, in my opinion lead to more power plays just because eventually you're going to get some sort of an obstruction or a hook or you know something that happens just because that's what happens when you have the puck it's much easier to draw power play as opposed to when you're chasing it right so i think that would that should lead some added confidence as well that even if the five one five

doesn't keep being as good as it's been in this series they should still get power play opportunities moving forward probably even more so than they did in the first couple of games with this matchup Well, yeah, and exactly. And I was going to mention that earlier. We got talking about something else. But I think that has been a key factor in them, you know, winning these last couple games and taking over the series more on the scoreboard than just in terms of the play on the ice.

And that, you know, game four, they had, was the first time in a series where they had, you know, positive power play differential. It obviously just took the one penalty call in overtime to have the, you know, be up one. But them getting those power plays in the second period, they scored two power play goals of the three that they scored in the second period to mount their comeback. Finally getting, you know, I don't say some calls in their favor,

but finally kind of getting some calls in their favor, I guess, has allowed them to get back into that game and into the series from a wins and losses perspective. And certainly in game five, they, I think, were just shorthanded the one time on a darnal nurse penalty. and the power play scored, I think, twice in game five. So it's, you know, if they can get, you know, I put down,

I did a little story before the playoffs about what it would take for them to get on a long run. And one of the factors to me was discipline where their penalty kills, not the greatest. It's improved down the stretch, but it's not great. And we all know about their power play. So they weren't the most particularly disciplined team in the playoffs last season. Certainly in the regular season, you know, you'd think they'd have. have a lot more of a, you know, stronger powerplay differential given that, you know, Connor McDavid could probably draw five penalties to game if you called the rule book,

the way, you know, to the letter of the law. And, you know, they finally got the beneficiary of, you know, the calls are, you know, the power play differential, that is, toward the end of game four. And that has swung a series as well because their power play has just been almost automatic, really in this playoffs. Yeah, it really has. Yeah. Okay, so I want to go back to the bottom five or six.

I got us off track there. No, but it's very apt that I'm like, all right, let's give them some credit. And then all of a sudden, we go in this digression talking about McDavid-Joy's Edel and the Powerball, and it's kind of a fitting in terms of how attention or credit is typically doled out in these things, right? But I do think it's notable because so they've had McLeod, Fogel, or Ryan, and Ryan, I should say, those three out on the ice is the line for 22 minutes. Shots are 19 to three for Oilers in that time. Goals won nothing. McLeod, Fogel and Bukstad, 15 minutes, shots are even, but no goals have been scored.

Ryan and Koston and then one of either McDavid or Dreisadel basically playing as getting in the extra shift. 15 minutes, shots nine, two, goals two nothing. And you put that all together. And the big deal there is they're just not giving anything up when those guys are on the ice, right? And that is a huge luxury because then all that. really leaves for you is, all right, our top guys get out there. Even if they're not dominating at 5-15 on the score sheet, they should theoretically be able to win those

matchups just because of how good they are. And if our bottom six isn't getting caved in, all of a sudden, you're kind of cooking with gas there, right? That's a winning formula in the postseason. And so for that unit to be out there and you see the utility of when you load up the top line, someone else needs to step up on the second line, right? And in game five, you get Bukstad stepping up there playing with R&H and Hyman looks perfectly fine. And that rule. And so I do think that's notable in this series because heading in, you would have figured, all right, the Oilers have the star power,

but the Kings are one of the deepest teams up front in the league, right? They're going to have the depth advantage. They should be able to win the bottom six minutes, especially with some of the young talent they have there, right? Valardi comes back. Fiala is now playing in their bottom six, the past couple games. Even Grunstrom and Rasmus Kupari have skill

and have looked good and flashed at times. So you'd think, all right, if we're mapping this out, this is where the kings just hold even in the top six and then win those minutes and you should be fine. And they've held even relatively, especially when McDavid's been out there. But unfortunately, the bottom six, they just haven't been able to get any sort of edge in that. And I think that should be a bit surprising, but also a big reason for why this series is the way it is right now. Yeah, well, as you mentioned, the McLeod, Fogel and Ryan Lights line has been dynamite. They're done very well.

The other factor is, as you've touched on, and we've touched on, like, Derek Ryan and Kleem Koston, and Klkoston kind of gets lost a little bit as games go on. You get through ice time starts getting reduced. But when they play together, it's usually with dry saddle and occasionally I make they'll, you know, all of a sudden that's not really a fourth line anymore, right? And so Woodcroft will stink those guys out against the King's fourth line. and the King's fourth line is clearly one that Tom McClellan doesn't have a lot of faith in. You know, they've tried different guys, whether it's Anderson Dolan or Bukuin.

So they haven't really found that 12 forward. Byfield last game just plummeted down the lineup. He started obviously, he's played a lot on Ansi Kopitars wing, and then dropped to the third line pretty quickly and was on the fourth line by the end of the game. And then you have Rasmusman Scu Kupari. So when you have the type of luxury, I guess, of going with 11 forwards and using McDavid or dry saddle or you can even slot, and I think they have occasionally like slot, put Derek Ryan at center for, forbidden and throw one of the other top wingers, whether it's, you know, Sack Hyman or New Jersey Hopkins or whatever, as part of a fourth line. Then that suddenly gives that bottom six for a shift here and there, a bit more juice too, right? So that helps with going with 11 and 7.

And even now, you're probably going to see, again, Kyle and Eamoto get a few more ice time and more of a role in the bottom six. And for, you know, his production hasn't been anywhere close to where he's wanted or where the team probably wants. But, you know, certainly a guy that can forward check and play pretty well in the offensive zone, at least before the puck gets into a scoring area. So, you know, for this good, and you're right, like, the Kings, from a purely depth perspective, should have a, you know, a deeper forward group than the Oilers.

But the way Jay Woodcraft's been able to kind of mix and match and have a third line right now in McLeod Fogle and Ryan that he, that he trusts, like, I think the orders are getting more out of the bottom six than the Kings. Yeah, they certainly foil their plans. And, you know, the goals are three nothing in those minutes. I think every single one of those goals, if Ryan scores or if Coston scores, it's found money. right for the most part i would say just literally playing them to draw and in this case like keep spending entirety of a shift in the offensive zone where you've got them pinned you're tiring them out and then all of a sudden you can send your bank guns out there with a territorial advantage

just picking up where they left off is massive and that's kind of how a lot of these games are transpired so it's cool to see because it's obviously you know visually it's just it's wildly different compared to what we've been accustomed to in past years and i'm curious to see if that continue especially in future matchups. One final note here on the Oilers before we get out of here, I do have to give my guy, Brett Kulak, some love because he was phenomenal last postseason. Every single show I did talking about the Oilers, I was praising his game. I was tracking all the numbers at the time.

He had the best numbers of pretty much any Oilers defensemen in their matchups last year. And then he fell off. He regressed this regular season, right? And I think part of that was, especially before the Matias at Colm trade, I think a bit too much on his plate being stretched a little thin and being asked to do too much, much like many other Oilers, defensemen. And that's why the at Coleman trade made so much sense because it allowed everyone to fall in during more natural spots. And so I guess on the one hand, he looks so good in these games. And especially in game five, he's just flying, right? Like he had that one coast to coast rush.

He seems to be involved every time he's out there. Good things are happening. he finally gets rewarded for the goal in that game as well. And so I think the temptation is like, all right, well, he's playing so well, we need to find a way to get him more minutes and bump him up the death chart and get him more involved. But I would imagine that the way Jay Woodcroft is thinking about this and the way probably it makes sense is, well, we've seen kind of what that looks like and how you can get diminishing returns. And so you have to fight that urge a little bit because it feels like these ebbs and flows in his performance,

that I just mentioned can be directly attributed to the fluctuations in ice time. And this is probably where he should be to get the most out of his game. So I don't know. It's kind of like an interesting, um, interesting pros and cons list. You're kind of, like, all right, I want to get him more out there more because everything, good things are happening when he is. But then if I do it too much, then all of a sudden, maybe that might not be the case anymore. And then we're going to be back to where we started and we want to avoid that.

So, um, it's a fascinating thing to kind of navigate. Yeah, he's a perfect number five to five. And that's not a dig or anything like that. That's very valuable. There's not that many of them in the league. You need those players. He had a very good playoff last season with Tyson Barry. Those two, you know, obviously you're not getting the toughest matchups or whatnot,

but you need those guys to play, you know, 15 minutes. And those are 15, you know, it's a quarter of the game. That's a very significant amount of game. And you need those guys to be effective. And last season in the playoffs, Barry. and Kulak were. They were great third pair. To your point,

yeah, so they lost Duncan Keith to retirement. Because of cap issues and spending a lot of money on Jack Campbell, they weren't really able to shore that up. I mean, they spent money on Kulak too, bringing him back at a higher rate.

Well, they never really had that classes or, you know, that number two left side defenseman. And so they moved that pair right up. So they became, went from a third pair to a second pair. because they didn't really have the right partner for Evan Bouchard. So you're right.

So because at home came in, he was kind of put Duncan Keith to Bouchard as, you know, that was the case last year. And they had a great second pair and they can move Kulak back down to the third pair. So I don't see a lot of opportunity for Brett Kulak to move up because on the left side, you're not, you know, darn on the rest of a polarizing guy here. But there's, he's there paid to be. their number one defenseman and you know people can quibble about whether that now title belongs to accoma or whatnot but anyway that it's at home and nurse on the on the left side is your top

two left side defenseman what the what the good thing about cool act is is you know he's not moving up on that side but he has moved up a little bit on the right side at times he's played a few shifts with darnal nurse obviously vincent day or nay had his had this ups and downs the series big struggles in game four. And they obviously slotted Broberg in for a while. But when push came to shove, they were five defensemen. And Brett Kulak was up,

again, mostly with Nurse, but playing the right side. And he can skate well enough and move the puck well enough and be competent enough on the right side where you can put him there. And so I think he's going to get little nuggets of increased opportunity.

But really, he's your number five. defense been and a good number five defenseman and that's a huge luxury for this lower's team yeah yeah no i would be very fascinated at the see um to to see woodcroft manufacture more opportunities in that case uh on the right side with nurse just to to to even out the ice time between him and cc a little bit but yeah the goal he scored um like he was definitely a long time coming and rewarded because i thought he'd been playing really well in the series prior like just uh i believe he leads the oilers defenseman and like controlled zone

entries in this series. Not that the Oilers' defensemen are carrying in the puck match because they generally defer to their forwards, but just sort of shows like how well he's been skating and moving it up the ice. But that goal he scored was like a teaching tool for young defenseman, right? Because I think it was after this extended offensive zone shift and the puck comes up to win the point. And instead of just, you know, wasting a shot by putting it from distance on net, he kind of funnels it below the goal line, allows the cycle to continue.

And then as space opens up, he darts down, fills the lane. Ryan McLeod hits him and it's a beautiful goal. And I was like, yes, this is what, this is the way you need to play in the modern game. And so it was cool to see that transpire and him be rewarded for it. So I just wanted to give him a little bit of a shout out there. Is there anything else in this series that you think is sort of notable here as we, as we sign out that we didn't touch on yet? I mean, I guess the only other facet is a big one.

and that's goaltending, and we've had two goaltenders, like goaltenders pulled in back-to-back games now, obviously Skinner going up for the Oilers and Corporal Sala in Game 5. So I don't know. I mean, the offense has certainly been there for both teams. I would expect that to continue. But, you know, aside from the one real expectation that I have is Big David Dry Settles staying together for game six.

But otherwise, I mean, expect the unexpected in this series, right? Like, it's been, I haven't. been able to watch the other series maybe as closely as you have, but it seems like this one has been the most entertaining and the most, like the one with the most, well, unpredictability, but the,

but swings is in it as well. So hockey fans are getting their monies worth, uh, watching this one. And, you know, I know we're out kind of in the western part of the country, but for those in the east should make sure,

should be staying up, yeah, drink, drink, drink their coffee in the morning and whatnot, yeah. No, no, well, you should be drinking your coffee at night.

You should, you should be, I'm saying, like, it's a, it's a must to serve. vibe as a hockey fan during this part of the year, you need to be squeezing in as many afternoon naps as you can, even for myself here in the West Coast. So yeah, no, I really enjoy this series

and I imagine if we look ahead and the, you know, the likelihood of an Oilers Golden Knight series, it'll be played in a similar fashion, right, though Golden Knights are a bit of a different team, but also depth, high pace. It'll be, it'll be fun. So this is what it's all about. Daniel, this is a blast, man. I'm glad we got to do this. I'm glad we got to, uh, to, to use this weird extended break in the series to our advantage to chat about it. I'll let you plug some stuff on the way out and let the listeners know where they can check you out. Yeah, just follow me at the Athletic and on Twitter at DNBB Sports.

And yeah, the playoffs is a bit more of a day-to-day thing. So just keep following my coverage. It's tough to plan too many features, which is kind of what I like to do. But it's tough to do that more so in the playoffs than it is in the regular season. So just keep following and basically writing every day now. enjoy it. And again, we shouldn't speak in past tense with the series because I don't think it's over yet. No, game six will be fine. I'm looking forward to it. That's my, that's my Saturday night, Saturday plans. Daniel, this is a blast. We're going to have to do this again soon. Thanks for taking the time.

Thank you to the listeners for sticking around with us and hopefully they enjoy the show. And we'll be back tomorrow with one more episode of the PDO cast to close out the week here on the Sports Night Radio Network.