The Hockey PDOcast - The Tactical Battles That Have Defined the Stanley Cup Final Through 4 Games

Episode Date: June 13, 2025

Dimitri Filipovic is joined by Steve Peters to take a look at the Stanley Cup Final through 4 games, and the biggest tactical battlegrounds that have defined the series so far. 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.

since 2015. It's the Hockey PEDEOCast with your host, Dmitri Philopovin. Welcome to the Hockey PeeleyoCast. My name is Demetri Fulipovich and joining me is my good buddy Steve Peters. Pidi, what's going on, man? You know, honestly, Dmitri, I thought we'd be sitting here talking about the Florida Panthers one win away from the Cup and they blew out the oilers again. But we're not. Unbelievable comeback by the Hamiltoners in game four. That's the beauty of the Stanley Cup playoffs. This final in particular, so much meat for us to sink our teeth into and you and I haven't had a chance to talk about this series together yet and that changes today. We're through four games now as the series shifts back to Edmond Dupon for game five on Saturday tied up at two after that game four Thursday night banger and I felt like this was as good a time as

any for us to reconnect and conduct a thorough tactical review. You know, I've been doing these post game shows after each one of these and I enjoy them immensely. They're so fun. But recording right after the game. My brain's going a million miles per hour. I'm trying to kind of like piece everything together. And it all feels like it's a blur. You're just really like deep in the weeds. And so I think this is a really useful opportunity for me personally, let alone the listeners to kind of take a bit of a step back, take a bigger picture of view of it, and just break everything down and really have a chance to think about this stuff, especially after having rewatched this morning with some clear eyes. And we'll do a, you know, a more holistic view of the series through these four games,

kind of the X's and O's that have defined it so far, what we're seeing, potentially adjustments heading into game five as the series goes into a best of the three now essentially. So it doesn't get better than this. I loved when you and I did this for each of the conference finals a couple weeks ago. And so we're going to try to replicate that magic here. I've got four big sort of battlegrounds in this series that I want to dive into. You've been doing these breakdowns after each of these games and the previews on your YouTube channel. And that's an organic plug for it here. We'll talk more about it throughout. And then at the end, of course. but I want to start off talking about this Panthers for check.

You and I broke down everything they were doing to the hurricanes and the East Final at great length. We've seen them replicate many components of that against this Oilers D for all the talk heading into it about how the Oilers Blue Line was reinvigorated with the NCZ acquisitions of John Klingberg and Jake Wallman and how what they did to the stars and the Golden Knights previously positioned them as well as anyone could possibly be to combat this. and yet through three games, they had immensely struggled, and we saw that acknowledged by the coaching staff of the Oilers where going into game four, they made pretty drastic personnel changes for this time of season, right?

They acknowledged that the defenseman had been struggling with going back and playing the puck cleanly, and so they bring in Troy Stetcher as a right shot to replace John Klingberg. They switched their pairs up to Bouchard and Kulak, who played a lot together while Ackholm was out in round one, particularly against the Kings. put Ekholm with Walman and then Nurse and Stetcher. Now it didn't go according to plan for Krznoeblock necessarily

because Troy Stetcher winds up playing 404 in the first period. He takes one 14 second shift in the second, and then he proceeds to be glued to the bench for the rest of the game as they use a five defenseman rotation the rest of the way. I want to get into what the Panthers are doing here, whether you saw any potential new wrinkles from the Oilers in game for and what the fixes are for them heading back home because, you know, they have to feel good, certainly, about stealing game four after going down three nothing in that one and having two of the final three at home and are undoubtedly in a better position they were this time last year.

Yet if the games keep going this way for them, I feel like they're going to either need to find a solve or they're going to be really playing with fire the way they have so far. And so I really want your take, especially after doing all these breakdowns you've done of kind of what you're seeing in that end of the ice and what the solutions are for them. It's funny because there are a few areas in the ice that are incredibly important in this series. And you just nailed one of the most important. And it's the half wall in the Evanton Ours, defensive zone that's trying to get out of the zone. And I think we've seen when the Oilers are able to get out of the zone, they're winning those 50-50 wall battles at the hash marks and getting the puck out of the zone. But too often what's happening to the Eaminton O'ers, there's a couple things in their breakouts.

One, the defensemen got to move the puck quicker. And sometimes the Eaminton owners are going to have to be okay with putting the puck off the glass. It's something they don't like to do. their defensemen want to, if that play's not there, they want to hang on to it for just another stride or two, and that's where they're turning the puck over. That's where you're seeing Echcomen nurse and Bouchard losing their puck there when you're trying to find that perfect pass out of the zone. So that's one. Defensemen have to move the puck quick, even if that means a hard rim, off the glass, just get the puck out to alleviate that pressure. Secondly, and probably more important, I'd like to see the Ebbinson Oilers wingers come deeper in the zone.

And I know it's counterintuitive for a team that plays fast. You want to have your defense, excuse me, your wingers on those breakouts just inside the defensemen of the Florida Panthers. But what's happening is the wall battles are happening lower than that. And the wingers for the Florida Panthers are causing those wall battles. And I think they need more support. I'd like to see the Evanton owners wingers come deeper in the zone. I'd like to see him break out as a group of five. And I like to see that battle with that winger a lower on the wall instead of just their sentiment trying to make that battle.

So I think that if I'm the only there's adjustment, it's two things. Move the puck incredibly quick. And forwards have to get back deep by the hash marks because it's coming. We're a hard rim for the, we're going to play hard rim the first 10 minutes. Everything that comes in our defensive zone, defenseman hard rim, winger's got to get back and you've got to be on your wall on both sides. And I think that will start to alleviate some of that pressure of the forecheck because they're going to have to respect that play and they're going to have to back out a little bit.

The team that has had the advantage on the walls has had advantages in the game. If Florida wins those turnovers, they're getting more offensive opportunities. If Edmonton's winning those, they're getting more transition chances. So that is one of the most important areas on the ice in this series. So I've only got the numbers through the first three games through the hand tracking of Cory Schneider, but just breaking down the retrievals and the success rate of it for the two teams. The Oilers through three games were 96 for 130 on their retrievals. So 73.8% success rate.

The rest were either botched or turned over. The Panthers by comparison were 91.9 going 114 for 124. and it's a very simple strategy that the Panthers are executing it. They just do it better than anyone. And it's essentially this sort of copy-paced hard-rim slash cross-corner dump-in that they're executing that results in trapping an Oilers defender on the weak side as he goes to play the puck off the wall. And you saw a couple examples of that in game four right away off the hop two minutes in. there's a neutral zone draw.

Foresling gets it and he just hammers the puck from center ice around the wall. And Kulak has to play it on his backhand. He bobbles it. And within five seconds, Barkov is a great A in front of the net that Skinner is able to stop. But that sort of illustrates the template for what they've been doing. And then you could even include the tying 4-4 goal with less than 20 seconds left in regulation, right? Florida pulls the goalie.

They're struggling to get set up. They wind up icing the puck. He's going back in. They're sort of discombobulated, unable to really sustain offensive zone pressure with the extra attacker. And then, flash forward 30 seconds left. Kachuk just dumps the puck in from center ice. Bennett applies initial pressure on Kulak.

Kulak tries to kind of play it up the wall to dry sidel, but for Hagey supports Bennett and is able to cut it off. And then at that point, this is probably a video coach is either dream or nightmare, depending on your perspective. And I thought of you when watching this one, because you kind of, pause the frame right there. And all of a sudden, the Oilers have three of their five skaters

stuck outside the dots, right? And so Bennett's able to bring it out front. Bushard goes down to try to kind of block the lane. He's unable to do so. And it breaks down into this mini condensed three on two, essentially comes to Ryan Hart and he's able to score on an empty net on the side of the goal. And another similar play like that happened in overtime.

It didn't wind up costing the Oilers. They obviously wound up winning off the Drysaito playoff of Mikala later on, but 1315 left in overtime. they're trying to go up the wall again and skate it out. The Panthers cut it off. Mikaa pinches in. They get it across the Bennett and he gets a piece of Pickard's glove and then rings it off the bar. And it doesn't wind up going in.

But a lot of those plays were manifesting themselves and essentially all of those same steps sprinkled in throughout. And so figuring out a way how to deal with that and either finding a bypass or a solution, I'm completely with you that theoretically you'd like more lower forward support from the oil. and they did such a good job of that through their way through the West Western Conference portion of the bracket heading into this series. I think they acknowledge, though, that their best form of offense,

because there hasn't really been a lot of them. We're going to talk more about it later from the in-zone stuff for them offensively. So they're trying to take advantage of the Panthers for check aggression by sprinting out of the zone, getting their wingers up the ice, and attacking off the rush with an odd man opportunity, but by doing so, they're kind of leaving their defenders

for the large part high and dry. And I think Kulak in particular, who leads the way in botched retrieval so far and had a couple of those that I just highlighted. Early on, I attribute a lot of that to him playing on his offside and the struggles there and often getting caught on his back end and having to make very difficult plays for any defensemen, let alone amidst the pressure and chaos that the panthers are mixing in there. But that's something they certainly need to figure out.

A couple solutions I've seen from them is some of that stuff where you're mentioning just going high off the glass and then having an anchor forward, already set up at center ice or a blue line that's able to kind of stop the puck and then get it to a forward or or Bouchard in game three for example or game four with space to attack downhill or Walman occasionally some of his freelancing where he's able to he actually does hang on to which I know you're just saying you don't necessarily like from them but he's able to get away with it because his skating is so brilliant in tight quarters he's able to kind of loop around the net buy himself some time in space diffuse that initial F1 pressure and then make a more clean

up the ice. But beyond that, it's been a struggle for them corraling a lot of these pox along the wall and then either settling it or getting it to a forward without it being interrupted in the meantime. And the other thing you have to think about, too, is trying to alleviate that pressure. One of the one of the, one of the, I agree. I agree. If you have the opportunity to take the net and use the net to your advantage to gain some ice getting around the other side, the problem is when you get around the other side,

you're going to face another panther. And I think one of the things, and I don't want kids listening today to do this one, but the evidence and noise are talented. One of the things they have to do on the breakouts, if the walls, and by the way, the Florida Panthers are elite on the walls. It's one of their strengths of how they're able to create those

turnovers on the wall on the wall and continue in the offensive zone. So for the evidence noise, you've got to look at the talent and skill and speed they have through the middle of the ice. And I think if they can find that pocket, and that's that low and slow sentiment. If you can get McDavid low and slow, if you get dry saddle low and slow and you can hit that spot on the breakout, the hard part is,

is eluding that first four checker of the Florida Pan. because that player is doing a good job of trying to block that pass to the low and slow center and trying to get that pocket. But the wingers are on the walls and the wingers are going to block the walls. And so if you can find that empty spot and it's something I don't think they've been able to do with McDavid so far in the series is to find him low and slow on the breakouts. And he doesn't get that. You don't see the McDavid with a 10, 15 feet of room to build up his speed against the Panthers like you did against against Vegas and you did against LA. It's something they've been able to close off. That might be an area of the ice.

they might be able to take advantage on their breakouts on the low center, hit that pocket and allow McDavid to get some speed and he can carry it through the blue line. And now you might be looking at again, another odd man situation through the neutral zone. I'm so fascinated by this stuff. Our pal and a freaking contributor here on the show, John Matt is that a really nice piece, kind of detailing the art of the retrievals from a defenseman perspective on the score.

And I'd highly recommend people check that out. But whether it's the scanning or kind of the options that are available to you, a lot of the pre-reception stuff that goes in, to it, it's easy for you and I to break this stuff down frame by frame sitting from the comfort over a couch out there on the ice, though often we're talking about not even seconds, but milliseconds at that of figuring out where everyone is, where the pressure is coming from, diagnosing it, and then making the decision not to mention the fact that we're in June, the ice probably isn't in the best condition, you're probably banged up yourself.

Guys are emotionally fatigued as well, and so maybe they're not as quick to their spots. and then all of a sudden now you mix on all those variables and at least the chaos. And I think that's what we're seeing there. I'm fascinated to see what the Oilers do with their defense heading into game five because as I mentioned in game four, they only used the five guys and they mixed in. Bouchard played with Kulak and Eckholm,

Nurse played with Kulak and Echholm, Wollman played with essentially everyone and they mixed all those minutes together. And those guys played a bunch, right? Bouchard plays 30, 37, at home 2755, Kulak, 2725. and now there's only one day off and the travel going back to Edmonton and you've got to jump right back into it in a game five.

So that'll be a huge storyline for me heading into that. But Walman has been awesome, right? Aside from him, and he wasn't alone in this. You could pretty much say this for every single oiler in game three, kind of succumbing to the shenanigans and allowing that to take you out of your game. Beyond that, though, he scores that huge goal in game four. He's got a 60% expected goal share of 5-1-5, leads the series with 16 shots blocked.

A lot of these breakouts have come through his artistry, And so I think he's been immense for them. And they're going to need a lot more on that. You got any other notes on this component or do you want to go on to my next storyline? I just want to talk with the defense really quick. I think it's really important that the Emmons owner's defending has been one of those things that we've talked about year after years. One of the areas they need to be stronger and they need to defend better and they need a better defenseman. But I think this core right now at least five.

And I'm a choice that your fan. By the way, he played in Arizona. And I, you know, I don't know if he saw the pine last night because of that turnover. he got a lot, there's a bad balance and I know that he got high stick along that. Yeah, I think they missed that call. Yeah, I know, I know. We spent so much time on the refereeing on that. He absolutely did get high stick, but he gets a bad balance.

He's trying to do the right thing. He's trying to reverse it to his partner and it should be Viver Hage and they're out. So I hope he plays. I think he moves the puck extremely well. But the Evanson, there's defense and their ability to move the puck up the ice is why they are playing in game five of the Stanley Cup finals. It just is. I think early we're saying, oh, my gosh, remember how the first, few games, Bouchard, oh, Bouchard can't play. We can't have them on the ice. Oh, my God,

the Bouchard slander for the first 48 hours of the playoffs. And now that seems to have disappeared. So I think the other's defense need to get a lot of credit here. It's not just McDavid. It's not just dry sidel. This year, it's a complete team. And it's the defense. And by the way, they did get a comeback at exactly the right time because he's, he's been able to help them at both ends of the ice. Yeah, yeah, that huge shot block preventing the Kachachachuk-h goal in the second period where he just had an open-down. to shoot at and that was a massive play in the context of that game. Here's my second point that I wanted again to.

And it's at the top of the lineup, top center versus top center, McDavid versus Barkov. And I'm going to lead with this. The 5-1-5 margin in this series, as you'd expect, the series is tied to to these two teams. There's really no discernible difference between them in terms of quality. They're so evenly matched.

And the 5-1-5 metrics so far reflect that, right? Florida has 52.7% of the shot attempts. Edmonton has 52.5% of the shots on goal that have made it through. High danger chances are 51 to 49, so a two chance edge there through four games. Expected goal share, 50.05% to 49.95% essentially a dead heat. And then the Panthers are up 9-8 in terms of actual goals. And that's with not much contribution from the top two centers in terms of actually putting the puck into the net. Now, I don't think it's been for a lack of chances.

it does feel like considering how good both guys are, the dam is about to break here. At some point, I think both teams are doing good stuff to bother them in certain instances defensively, but they're still getting their looks, right? Barkov has 15 scoring chances of corner natural statrick, nine high danger attempts.

All of those have been in tight one-on-one against the goal, and he just hasn't been able to convert. McDavid has the six assists, but he's got zero goals on 25 shot attempts and 17 of them on net. And in his 5-1-5 minutes, they're out shooting the Panthers 53 to 37, but have been outscored 4 to 2 because they just haven't really been able to convert those shots into goals. Now, he's had plenty of looks of his own, and you'd expect that similar to what we're saying,

that Dallas series, then he eventually did with a goal-scoring barrage. He will break through at some point here. But as the series shifts back to Edmonton, I'm fascinated to watch the matchups, because in games 1 and 2 at home, Noblock was very comfortable engaging in, McDavid versus Barkov minutes, and I thought McDavid looked fine, and I actually think Barkov's going to do as good of a job as anyone in trying to bother him

and with his reach and the pokes at the puck and everything, disrupt him and kind of take him off his angles a little bit. But McDavid's foot speed, you can see he's getting first the puck's, he's giving Barkoff fits, and we've seen Barcove make a couple mistakes, whether it was in game for that penalty, very

uncharacteristically in his own, shooting it out of play or a couple turnovers that you're just not used to seeing from him, and I think that's an accumulation of what McDavid's doing to him and the problems he poses, but the defensive assignments are what really interests me because in Edmonton we saw a ton of Jones and Mikola against McDavid,

and then in Florida, as you'd expect, we saw much more Foresling. And Foresling's done an unbelievable job, I think, at corraling him and knocking him and knocking him and knocking him and doing everything you'd expect from Foresling. The goals didn't come in those first two games necessarily a 5-1-5 for McDavid, but they were creating so many more chances against that

Mikola-Jones pair, and if we see more of that in game five, I would expect eventually goals to materialize. And so if Nolbach's able to replicate that and get those minutes, I feel like that's going to bode well for the Oilers here in a pivotal game five. I do too. And we've

always said that the Ebbinton Oilers go as Conradiv and Leon Dryside will go. But that doesn't mean that McDavid has to score goals. And I think, well, you talk about the defending, getting in Florida specifically. His time and space, I thought Florida did an outstanding job through the neutral zone on being able to take away of his time and space.

And Foresling gets a lot of that credit. He's sick on puck. He's got the foot speed to be able to turn with McDavid down the wall. So they have been able to stay in front of and be above McDavid. But what McDavid does then is he does McDavid things. And he's able to move the puck to help somebody else create that offense. I think he is still going to be a guy that's going to break through. I think getting home with the line matchups in game five,

I think it's going to be a problem for Florida. I would look for him. He's played very good in this series. I don't think we've seen the Connor McDavid-esque. We saw the great goal on the power play where he walks through the defense, you know, Ekblad and Barkov. But I think we'll see more of that in Game 5.

I do think he's the guy that's going to take over the game. On Barkov side, he's a guy right now. He's minus 3. And I don't know if I'm expecting him to be the guy that's going to help on the offensive side of the puck. I think Barcov's going to have to be better defensively. I think he's going to have to be a guy that does the Barkoff things from the red line end.

I don't know, and I know this is going to be a tough take for Florida Panthers, and I know you've got stats to back things up. I don't. I just watch the games. I think he needs to be better. I think he needs to be better in the defensive zone, and I don't know if he's going to see how much of McDavid he's going to see in game five. But if he does, he's got to focus on the defensive side of the game.

I think he's got to be thrilled of being even when he gets off the ice. If Barkoff can get out there and keep the game, even when he's on the ice, I think that is what he needs to do to get this team back to, to a three to lead back to Florida. And so I expect McDavid to go off. I really do. I think it's just waiting. And I think we've seen him so close.

You had two great chances last night. It's coming from McDavid, but I'm not so sure I'm expecting the offense out of Barkoff. Yeah, they played about 38 minutes had to head the two of them at 515 and goals are 1-1. Chances are 9-9. Now the Oilers have a lot of the edge in terms of shots. And I'm with you.

I just feel like McDavid's big. quicker to the puckson it's been bothering Barkov. I disagree in the sense that I think he just he's going to need to score at least some to convert on some of these opportunities we've seen Reinhardt finally find his form

and make some shots for Hegey as well before that as the series shifted to Florida and I think Barkob has had looks he just hasn't been able to get it done in tight he's winning north of 60% of his faceoffs he got the two power play assistant game four I feel like he he's too good for this to continue.

But yeah, I mean, McDavid right now, he's playing nearly 30 minutes a game in this series. The burden he's shouldering in terms of usage and creation is absolutely crazy. And he's been creating a bunch without the goals. I will say, though, in those games three and four, and I noted this a few minutes ago, McDavid plays 30, 22 at 515 through those two games. And now there was very little 515 play in game three because it was just a penalty fest, especially as the game spiraled in the third period. Forzing was out there for 1830 of it.

And over the last three games now, because the game one was not a good one for the Forsling-Eckblad pair, but the past three, 2843 head-to-head. Forzing versus McDavid, high danger chances are six to five for Florida. Forzling has played 109 minutes in this series. He's drawn three penalties.

He's taken zero. He's been called for zero, I should say. I'm sure he's taken some along the way that haven't been called, as is true for. everyone in this series. But I really feel like, you know, people that have listened to the show have heard me talk about him a lot. And I've been a bit critical of his play with the puck. I think it's been a bit sloppy. And he's had some turnovers this postseason. But his defensive

work is just out of this world. And it's so clear watching this that Vobroski's making huge saves and they have a bunch of guys who contributed such a true team effort for them. But he's so far in a way their MVP, in my opinion, in terms of just what he does defensively and how he allows everything else to click in. And you look at the cons my thoughts. And he's like plus 50,000, the same as Evan Rodriguez and Connor Brown. And if the Panthers do win this series, I imagine he's not going to get any cons might love.

And I just think that's wrong because he's, he just does everything for them. And including in that game four, he kept it alive in the overtime with the skate save, with Brodsky out of position against Frederick. And he made a number of those plays throughout this series. So I wanted to give him some love because I think he's been incredible. And if Paul Maurice is able to,

I imagine he's going to try to get him out there for every one of these McDavid's shifts, but it's going to be much trickier, and there will probably be a lot of Mekyll and Jones in that head-to-head. The other thing I want to note here is we've seen about 42 minutes, 5-1-5 of McDavid and Dreisito play together, and throw those have 31 shots on goal in that time. They haven't been able to score yet in that time. And I do feel like you're seeing the,

what a whole, the loss of Hyman provides. Not only not having that third guy out there with them to kind of create havoc around the net, be a retriever on the forecheck, and just be the third member of that nuclear line that Chris Knoblock likes to break in case of emergency, and that's been pretty often in this series. But the trickle-down effect,

when he does load those guys up and play on with, let's say, Perry, for example, or even on Evander Kane, in round one, for example, when they played against the Kings and they were really struggling, he went to that quite a bit, right? And he was able to because that second line of R&H with Hybin and Kane had like a,

75% expected goal share. And without that option available to you, and R&H had that huge play to set up the Walman goal in game four, but he's clearly not 100% and is pretty banged up at this point. It's less palatable or feasible to go to that full time. And so that's another thing to

consider here for Chris Knoblock and the Oilers, but you'd think that those guys are going to eventually break through. And obviously, Dreisaitle had the three points in the overtime winner without McDavid on the ice in game four. I got this crazy stat. I tweeted out today, but I wanted to run it by you. So Leon Dressado has played 91 games this year

combining the regular season in the playoffs 10 of those 91 have ended with him scoring an overtime winner just a remarkable stretch of And obviously more than 10% It's three on three in the regular season And he set the record with six of those But he's got four at 5-1-5 over time A couple of those with the power play I think

But still the point stands in the postseason And yeah he's been outrageous And so we'll probably see those guys together mixed in here, they're in game five and beyond in this series, and they're going to need more from them together. But yeah, there's a lot of moving parts there, and I feel like both these top lines probably have more to offer offensively. And if we do get it, it should make for just an unbelievable game five

in terms of drama and quality and all that good stuff. I agree. And one thing I think that I'd like to get stats on, and I know you're the stats guy, so maybe I'll put this upon you. I felt like last year's final with the Florida Panthers that the McDavid and Drys had, or together they're much more five-on-five than they have been this season.

And the ability to be able to spread these guys out and spread their ice time out, I think has been a benefit for the Edmonton-Ours, and it talks about their depth. I do think the Hyman loss, and we haven't talked about it since game one, or I haven't talked about it since game one or even reflect on it, but that's a huge loss, especially the way this series has gone on how important the walls have been behind the goal line and breaking out of the zone.

And I think Hyman's a guy that was able to, bring his physical presence to this entire playoffs. And I do think the guys that makes a difference. So the ability to not only keep McDavid and Drysell and pair them together and be okay lower in the lineup, it's also a guy that really helps them, A, get the puck out of the zone, B, keep the puck in the zone. And I think it's a, it's a huge loss for this team, especially the way these two teams are playing, and the physicality they're playing with along the walls.

To your point, McDavid and Dreissel are going to play together in game five. Not to start, but they're going to get a lot of ice time five and five, especially with the D matchups. and they're going to be able to avoid some trouble. I keep thinking it. I keep thinking game five is the game that we're going to go after it's over and go, wow, McDavid was unbelievable in that game. He'll end up with three points in Drysaddle,

I'll have two of the goals off of the feeds. I just think McDavid is going to will himself to make something special in game five. Yeah, I think he tried in Game 4 and almost did it, right? That power play rush where he just dropped, Eckblad was absolutely scinted and was very close and ended with a great save by Bobrovsky, but he's been on the doorstep. So you would certainly expect that, especially in front of that home crowd with some of these easier matchups, we noted.

All right, PD, let's take our break here. And then we come back. We're going to close out today's episode. I got a couple more big X's and O storylines that I want to run by you. You're listening to the Hockey, Ocast, streaming on the Sportsnet Radio Network. All right. We're back here with Steve Peters. We're doing an X's kind of tactical breakdown of the first four games of the Stanley Cup final.

PD, let's keep it going. We've talked about the four check and the Oilers D against it. We talked about the matchups atop the lineup. I want to talk to you a little about special teams here, and the Panthers Power Play in particular. Now, on its face, it seems silly to nitpick or quibble with the results, considering the Florida Power Play has created seven goals

and 31 minutes in this series, including a couple big ones early on in game four. The Oilers only have four and 30 themselves. But that's what we do here in the PDO cast. We don't just sell for the results. We're looking under the hood. We're examining what's happening. And I'm going to break it down further for you.

There's been 20 minutes. of 5-14 play for the first unit of Kachuk, Barkov, Reinhard Jones, and Ekblad. They've generated two goals in that time. There's been eight minutes by comparison for the second unit, 5-14, of Bennett-Ferheigee, Evan Rodriguez, Marchand, and Schmidt, and they've created three of the goals. Now, I think what you saw in game four from Kachuk in terms of some of his passing from the goal line,

either hitting it to Reinhardt in the slot or going for that cross-seam look was brilliant and created a bunch for them. But there's two underlying. issues that I have watching that PP1 and it hasn't necessarily burned them yet, although you could argue they've left some meat on the bone or some opportunities that they probably could have capitalized on throughout. And considering the margins I just said at 515, it feels like it probably could make the difference in this series moving forward. The first is they don't really have easy zone entry access because of the lack of a speed threat with that five-man unit.

they're often beholden to Kachuk kind of craftily weaving through traffic in the neutral zone and trying to make a pass in tight to someone. Oftentimes they're spent chasing after the puck and wasting valuable time. And then Eckblatt in the shooter spot

with his lead boots, unfortunately, is just unable to recover loose puck and keep plays alive for them. And so it's getting dumped out and then they're having to try to bring it back in and I just said how much they're struggling in doing so. And let alone the fact that you know, you can make a very valid case that

Bennett, Marchand, and Nate Schmidt of all people have been their three most dangerous offensive players in this series and none of those guys are on the top unit that I just referenced. And so I wouldn't expect the change at this point because we're going into game by the Stanley Cup final. They've had some results that'll probably continue. But I do feel like

it's a big what if for me that's sort of forming here as this series progresses because I feel like that switch would be obvious either just putting Bennett or Marchand on there with some of their North South speed to gain easier access off the entry or Nate Schmidt because I think his decision making with the puck and some of these shot passes he's been executing. Just how he's seeing the ice and

moving it has been phenomenal. He's got five assists in 75 minutes in these four games to go along with a ho-hum, 74% expected goal share 5-on-5. And so I would love to see more of that, but we're probably going to be stuck with what we have so far. Do you have any thoughts on the Panthers powerplay, what we've seen from them so far, kind of how it relates to the way this series is playing out so far? This series, let's face it, this series is all, you set it off the top. Five on five, the margins are razor thin. And these teams are so similar in their success and how they've been playing out five on five. So it's going to be special teams.

They're going to be able to put this one team or another over the top. And you look at the Florida Panthers. And you just look at statistics. And you just look at numbers, their power plays have been better than Eminson. Now it hasn't been better. but they're 33.3% versus Edmondson's 66.7 on the kill, which is just, which is not good enough in this series. But one of the things Florida is doing right now, and you're right, on retrievals,

I'd like to see Bennett on the top unit because I think he does give them an element of retrievals. I think he's a guy that can get that puck back quickly and keep them in the offensive position. However, one of the things that power play has done the entire season, it's that combo of Reinhart, Barkov, and Kachuk being able to look the part to the play. Yeah, the triangle down low. Yeah, they're trying to low play. And regardless of where Kachuk and Barkhover are interchangeable on the half wall and below the goal line.

And they've been able to do that as the series has gone on that they're finding that hole. And it's what led to the second Kachuk goal yesterday. I know it's because Reinhardt can't get a handle on it. And Skinner's not able to freeze that puck. But again, they're able to find that seam. So what's going to happen is that if you're the Oilers today and you're watching film on the plane ride home, we've got to do a better job on Reinhart in the middle. So what's going to happen, I think you're going to open up the back.

And when you open up the back door, you're giving opportunities to somebody else on the back door. And we've seen them be able to slide players down that back door. And they're very good at whether it's Ekholm coming in the back door. Not Ekholm. She's, Eckblad coming in the back door. I do think they're going to get more opportunities on the power plate using that backdoor D. And so they've got the goals. They've been playing well.

I don't think there's going to be any changes on this. But I do expect the evidence owners to adjust to. to trying to do a better job of covering that bumper because that seems to be where they're trying to relieve the pressure for the Florida Panthers. One thing I have liked about the top unit, I think Seth Jones has been playing a ton of minutes in this series for the Panthers

has done an awesome job of keeping pucks in by kind of stuffing clearing attempts or catching pucks out of the air, similar to what Evan Bouchard does for the Oilers power play. I think, you know, you mentioned that second Cuccle and what led up to it. What really led up to it was the Oilers had a couple clearing attempts preceding that

and Jones was able to knock. puck's down and keep it in and then eventually work it down low and uh they created a goal off of that and especially considering what i just said about how much they've struggled with establishing offices zone possession off of neutral zone entries just keeping it in there and not having to go through that exercise has been massive for them all right the oilers in zone offense i want to talk to you about kind of creating in this half court structure when the rush opportunities aren't there and the panthers are getting back and either having layers or gaping up now here the shot attempts through four games. Evan Bluchard is 49. Connor

McDavid is 25. Perry is 24, Nurse, 24, Walman, 20, at home 19, Dreisel is 20 as well. The Panthers, on the other hand, Reinhardt, 29, Kachuk, 27, Marchand, 25, Ekbad, 24, Bennett 23. So what you can tell there is the Panthers, I think, are doing a better job of funneling a lot of their offense through their forwards proportionally, whereas the Oilers are leaning on their defenseman quite a bit. And Bouchard, obviously, is the exception there because so much of it runs through him and he's playing like 31 minutes per game or whatever in this series. So the volume is just outrageous for him. But I wanted to get into this with you and differentiate in particular what I'm seeing from the two types of shots, right? The shot selection and kind of how it comes

within the offense, because I think there's an important distinction to be made between when it's the primary look and that's either the puck coming high to him and zone off an offensive the zone draw win or McDavid brings him into the zone and it comes to him and that's the first shot against the set D which I feel like the Panthers are just going to take all day and are very comfortable with because they're so good at boxing out and clearing out in front and letting Bobrovsky see it and the others haven't really had any success off of those and then the plays that come as sort of a secondary or tertiary part of the sequence where either McDavid's been dancing around and kind of causing miscommunication with Panthers defenders trying to figure out who's

on them, who's going to come with them, who's got who, and Bouchard's kind of open in the middle of the ice, or off of a breakdown, off of a rebound, or a quick turnover, a change in possession. And I feel like those are genuinely dangerous, as opposed to the first ones I mentioned, which I feel like there's been a bit too much of, and they've kind of been resorting to that as part of a focal point of their end zone offense. I think part of it is the Panthers are just doing a really good job, and they're kind of taking what's given to them. And I acknowledge that there's an element of Bouchard's just an incredible shooter from

that position. And it's going to either lead to stuff around the net or it's going to force you to respect it. And then he's able to do what he did in game three for the lone goal they scored, which is fake the shot, get a download of Perry. And then he's got space to attack himself. But I would like to see the oilers be, I think, a bit more thoughtful or mindful of how they're trying to create a lot of these looks. Because I feel like right now when they're in zone, it's been a little too dry for my taste in terms of, what they're executing and how they're getting into some of these shots. Yeah, and one of the things you kept to keep in mind, and you mentioned it,

and this is how well the Florida Panthers box out in front of the night. And if you just highlight and watch when the eventual, they're in the offensive zone, how, how, they're the best I've seen in the league this year, at turning, not looking at the puck, not being puck folks at all in their defense are just, my job is to keep you out of that area of the ice, and they do an exceptionally good job of that, but they take their eye off the puck. And that's where you're able to see some of those chances that. that you said that are just around the crease.

I mean, Mika Loses Pocolson in front of the net, again, because they're trying to box out and they're not watching the puck. And that happens when you're not puck focused, which is one of their strengths. But for Eminton, I think what they did so well. You know why that happens. It's because NURIS makes a really smart play

of they win the ozone draw, Drisida, Wids it back to him. And instead of spamming a perimeter shot, he takes the puck down low. All of a sudden, that causes a bit. of chaos in terms of assignments. And then the puck comes out front and then you're able to capitalize off that. I think that play looks wildly different.

If nurse from the left wall, just bombs it and it probably goes around, misses the net, leaves the zone. And all of a sudden, you have nothing to show for that entire player. And that's where the point's going is the best way to break up a defensive zone system that's man on man is to get motion and to get movement. And I think you saw that from the Oilers earlier in the playoffs. And not, I don't think they've been as good at being active. off of the blue line with their defensemen and with their forwards.

And you can create that confusion when you get guys crossing. We saw it against the Dallas Stars and their ability to create chaos against it. And don't, don't, the Dallas Stars don't defend like the Florida Panthers. They're not the same class as the Florida Panthers. But having said that you want to create holes in behind, you got to move. And I don't know if we're seeing that movement for the Emmington owners that we saw against the Dallas Stars. I'm not sure we're seeing that shift in position, the changing a position to create those holes in behind. And I think that's going to have to happen.

And I think when you get dry-selling McDavid together and you can do that. And Edmonton, I think you're going to see more of that because McDavid's going to draw a crowd. He always does. When he has the puck, expect to see two defenders on him just because you have to. So I think that's going to open up the ice if you can get more of that movement. But I do also think we talk about those shots from the point. And this series on both sides of the puck, I think teams have really struggled to generate from those shots on the point except for Bouchard. Their ability to change the angle, the ability to get shots through because everybody,

boxing out or trying to get to that that spot in front of the blue paint, that it's incredibly hard to get shots on goal from the point. So if you are going to use your defense, and I'm a big believer in, again, against man on man, because their defending system usually collapses more. So there's more room at the top. I think you're going to have to go wide. I think you're going to go D to D wide to create more space.

And then you don't get those shooting lanes. It's too hard for that weekside forward to get all the way over to that we said offensive and if it's wall to wall. So I expect, I see Eibbenton spread out more. And when you're going D to D to D, I think you're going to get your defense. and moving more, whether it's, whether it's nurse coming down the back door and moving, or it's just moving along the blue line to pull that checks.

I do think you're going to need to see more movement from the Edmont owners than what you've seen so far in the series. And I think you saw that on both the nurse and Walman goals, right? Both them were off of kind of either little turnovers or changes in possession, but nurse working his way down, the left circle and then beating Bobrovsky from that angle or Walman from the right side with that slap shot of his and both involved movement, I guess in a more concerted effort to get to your spot as opposed to everyone just kind of standing in their assigned role,

getting the puck and then just shooting from there, which I feel like there's been a bit too much of for the Oilers in terms of the end zone stuff. And that's going to be huge because the rush opportunities are going to be there. But it's more difficult to come by as the postseason goes on and the Panthers have done a really good job of limiting those as the series has progressed.

So yeah, that's a huge one for me. You got anything else on this? Those were kind of the four big bullet points that I do. We haven't talked goaltending or officiating, which I'm happy with because I don't have anything. Yeah, I'm not talking about reps anymore. The refereeing, this game is so fast and there's so much going. Their calls missed both ways, just period. And I don't want to talk about officiating this.

But one more thing I want to talk about is you talked about it already is the way the the Eaminton owners through the first three rounds were able to generate using speed, whether they're stretching the zone or where it's quick, quick regroups off the Neutrazone regroups and their ability to create those turnover. and use transition to get their speed going against their opponent. I thought they were outstanding in the first three rounds. And I think the chess match in this series between the blue lines has been exceptional. I was concerned for the Florida Panthers and their tight gap that it was going to be easy for the evidence of owners to either pull that defender to him and chip past it

and look at the speed through the new zone and looking for more odd man rushes. I've got to give it to the Florida Panthers and their ability now to back off a little bit through the newt zone where they're not as aggressive. They're not chasing in the neutral zone. They're allowing the speed to come to them. And I thought that was a big adjustment from the Panthers, from what we saw against Carolina to what they're doing against Edmonton. And conversely, what Edmonton is trying to do to combat that. And I think that that's one of the areas,

a lot of plays are dying at that Florida Panther Blue Line right now. And so for game five, can, can the, or there's either, A, get behind that defense on more stretch plays? Can they? Can they create the turnovers where they can get the advantage before Florida can get into defensive zone, and system. I think that's the best ways to do that. But if they can't, it's

got to go back to what they did. And I thought they were very good at it in the first two games in the series, is, hey, we're going to have to dump the puck in and go get it. And I don't, I think the others love to carry the puck in more often. Sometimes you can't. So the matchup between the blue lines, the chess match there has been outstanding through the first four games

of the series. Yeah, that's where not having Hyman in particular. Hertz, I think you noted that earlier. I'm with you on that sort of subtle adjustment by the Panthers. I think that's purely a sign of respect for what the Oilers are capable of and the Panthers saw that firsthand and in games four to six essentially of last year's meeting between these two teams and so dialing it back a little bit but still being aggressive in certain spots is is definitely the way to go and they've been just

executing that defensive game plan quite well so we'll see if they're able to continue that you got anything on as a former goal you got anything on the on the goaltending either pickard coming in here and what he did in game four heading into game five or brovsky I thought the goaltending the goals have been there in this series right like you look at the same percentages or the goals against. It's not necessarily anything that amazing. I think all the goalies have been making a bunch of really big stops. Pickard was obviously amazing.

After he came in stopping 22 or 23 or whatever, and at least a handful of those were very high degree of difficulty, but Brovsky's given up a bunch of goals, but I thought he was awesome in game four. Yet again, maybe the nurse one you like to have back, but that's a pretty well-played shot by nurse. And one of the things you have to live with as a goalie, I think, ultimately. but he's been stopping everything down low, essentially,

other than I guess when it bounces in off of a defender and goes through him. Yeah, it's hard because I think there's two different paths for these teams. I think for the Florida Panthers to win the Stanley Cup, I think Bob Roffsey is going to have to be exceptional. I think he's going to have to be the best player for the Florida Panthers if they're going to win a cup. For the Edmontonlers to win a cup, I think their goaltending has to be good. I don't think it has to be great. And you look at, there's a decision to be made,

and maybe there isn't a decision to me. Maybe it's that easy that who's starting in game five. But Skinner was good in the first 10 minutes. I know they were out shot 10 to 2 through 10 minutes, and I thought Skinner had made two or three exceptionally difficult saves. And he was really good until it's a five-on-three power play. And two of his own players screen him. I don't think he's at fault there.

And I said earlier in the series, earlier in the playoffs, when he gets relieved by Pickard, I said they're not going to win a cup unless Skinner gets back into the net. Well, he's back. but Pickard wins the game last night. Pickard, the team did bring a spark. It did what exactly it was supposed to do when I thought the Oilers played better with Pickard in the net, and I think you have to.

And maybe I'm an idiot. I think Noblock has to at home in game five. I think he's got to start Calvin Pickard. Has there been anything, Dimitri? Do you see that that way, that it's got to be Pickard in game five? I think so based on the way that game ended and some of the saves he made in particular

with a lot of the stuff that sometimes plagued Skinner and I'm with you. I thought Skinner was the only guy that showed up in the first period for the Oilers particularly early on like that save off the rebound he makes coming across and getting enough on the Bennett shot. He made a couple of those.

But some of the stuff Pickard was doing and he gets bailed out by a comb blocking that empty net where he gets kind of suckered into following Verheaghi essentially Verhege makes that cross-heist pass and Kachuk has an open net to shoot at. But beyond that, some of the stuff off of East-West movement

off of shot passes and tips and redirections that the Panthers are trying to execute. He made some big ones then in the overtime. He gets that crossbar after getting enough of it with his glove on Bennett, but then he makes one right after on Lusdrean with his shoulder, and that was the difference. So yeah, I feel like based on the way that ended, you go with Picker, and it's not even a slight against Skinner,

because I don't think he was necessarily at fault for what happened in the first period of game four, but it's just the way things go. And then, well, depending on game five, you see what happens heading into game six. Yep. It's a shortly Sheen Evanton I think they have confidence

in both of their goalies and I think that either guy can be the guy I think there's if Pickard shows any struggling and he hasn't yet in this entire playoffs he's quick he's athletic

the guys believe in him and play hard for him and he's been there but if there's any sign that there's things going south I don't think they'll hesitate and Bob Rovsky's going but not only going

the entire way but he does have the ability to make those great saves but he gets those back to back going over his blocker on that. I don't love that nurse one at all. And you have to ask Kevin Woodley how he would like to see that one.

I'm sure he's going to say it wasn't as false because a goal against has ever been a goalie called to Gordon to Woodley and the goalie. Perfect shot. Yeah. Perfect shot. It was a perfect shot. Yep. I heard it. Yeah. All right, buddy. This is great. I feel like I'm much more prepared heading into game five and hopefully the listeners are as well. I'll let you plug some stuff here on the way. I'll tell them about inside the coach's room and what they can expect from you there moving forward. And you got this backdrop now because you're, I don't know if you said it off the top, but you're I was at hockey nerds.

Yeah. I was a, I'm on the hockey nerd convention. A bunch of video guys have their little convention and conference here in Toronto. So I get to meet with a lot of video guys. And it's a lot of fun, by the way. You can learn a lot about the game sitting with a bunch of video guys talking about coaches challenges. So anyway, that's a talk for another day. But I have a lot of fun here in Toronto talking hockey.

Yeah, check out inside the coaches room. And I tell you what, I've got to all the goals from game four are coming out today. And then we'll do a preview of game five coming up prior to game five on Saturday. It's just what to watch for in a game and breaking down the games frame by frame when it happens too darn fast in real life. And it just gives you an idea of what to watch for when watching the game on TV, trying to make it a little bit easier for hockey fans. All right, buddy. Well, I know we haven't spoken in a couple weeks, but I've been devouring all the content you've been putting out there. So it's a must watch for anyone listening to this and looking for more.

The video breakdowns you're doing are just the best in the biz right now. So I'm really happy. We were able to reconnect and do this. And hopefully we'll get a chance to do so. Again, maybe if we get a game seven, we can revisit some of the stuff we talked about here. Have fun over there at the coaches meeting. You told me before we went on that someone reached out to you as a video coach and said,

they're familiar with your work here as your guest appearance of the PDO guest. So hopefully we get more of those. But it's always great to hear from people in the community that are listening and coming along for the ride with us. Yeah, fantastic. And Demetri, I will say this. too. And there's a lot of podcasts out there, but you dive deep into things that are, that's a lot of research and it's a lot of watching the game and you do a great job. So I'm just blessed and lucky that you allow me to share the air with you every once in a while. Oh, it's all my pleasure.

And this is, uh, I mean, this series has been amazing. This is, uh, this is a dream. So hopefully the listeners have been enjoying as much as we have. Uh, give us a five star review. Review. Review listen, join the PDO cast Discord as well. That is all for today. We're going to be back Saturday night for the Game 5 postgame show with Trans, as always. So we'll see you back here then. In the meantime, thank you for listening to the Hockey P.D. Ocast streaming on the Sports Night Radio Network.