Do you know the way to San Jose? Before we answer the question, the guys in Orange need to take a win off of the Sharks tonight.
After a hot start in the first period of Game 1 on Wednesday, thanks to Oscar Klefbom and Milan Lucic’s early goals, it felt like the roof was going to fly off of Rogers Place and crash into the casino beside it as Edmonton enjoyed its first playoff game in 11 years….. Then the Sharks showed why they made it to the Cup finals last year.
After the first the Oilers played a like a team trying not to lose. The Sharks made them pay for it as they turned up the head for the final 40 minutes as Joel Ward and Paul Martin would erase the 2-0 deficit while Melker Karlsson would end things less than five minutes into OT.
Keys to the Game
Edmonton
- Get shots on Martin Jones. Jones faced only 19 shots in Game 1, with barley anything coming at him after the first period. You’re not winning many games in the playoffs with sub 20 shots.
- Stay out of the box. The Sharks will smell blood in the water and the Oilers were so lucky to only give up one goal with San Jose on the man advantage six times in this one.
San Jose:
- Keep Connor and Maroon quiet. #97 and #19 combined for only a point in the series opener; it’s going to be vital for the Sharks that these two can’t get into a groove as the series progresses.
- Feed the puck to Brent Burns. Burns had eight shots in Game 1 and was buzzing the entire game, let the big dog with 29 goals on the year eat.
Players To Watch
Edmonton
- Connor McDavid: He had his moments where he’d dangle through the San Jose zone and you could feel that goal coming for him in Game 1. If he can find his touch and put everything together at Rogers Place, you know this game can break open in a hurry. The 20 year old captain of his squad is not letting the stage of the NHL playoffs get to his head at all.
San Jose
- Joe Thornton (If He Can Play): He didn’t play in Game 1 but he could dress for Game 2. If he finds a way to get into this, even with one healthy leg it’s going to be interesting to see what the man with 121 career points in the postseason can do and how much he’s able to play.
Projected Lineups
Edmonton
Patrick Maroon – Connor McDavid – Leon Draisaitl
Milan Lucic – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle
Drake Caggiula – Mark Letestu – Zack Kassian
Benoit Pouliot – David Desharnais – Iiro Pakarinen
Oscar Klefbom – Adam Larsson
Andrej Sekera – Kris Russell
Darnell Nurse – Eric Gryba
Cam Talbot
San Jose
Melker Karlsson – Logan Couture – Joe Pavelski
Joonas Donskoi – Patrick Marleau – Joel Ward
Jannik Hansen – Tomas Hertl – Mikkel Boedker
Timo Meier – Chris Tierney – Marcus Sorensen
Paul Martin – Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon – David Schlemko
Martin Jones
Other Notes
(TFW you’re the GOAT but you know everyone is about to meme you for this goal reaction)
The situation that the Oilers are currently in gives me flashbacks to 2006 and how the Oilers first round series vs the Red Wings began. Outshot by a lot (Detroit put 57 shots on Dwayne Roloson in Game 1), a team remembering what playoff hockey was like again that lost in overtime, and needing a split to stay out of the danger zone.
Let’s hope history repeats itself and someone on the Oilers roster steps up as this year’s version of Brad Winchester to tie the series up at uno.
Prediction
Todd McLellan’s group, after having the game footage from the 2nd on burned into their skulls, once again come out to a hot start but this time, finish things off with the series split at one with a 4-2 win before heading to Northern California.
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