Final Score: Ducks 2 – Oilers 1
What a flurry of mixed emotions. On the one hand, you have to be crushed. It is just starting to creep in that this was the last game of the season, and that alone stings. But then you pile on that this was a game 7, in the Stanley Cup playoffs, against a heated rival, and that sting intensifies even further. For those who may not have fully comprehended the 2006 loss due to age, this sting will be a new sensation. For those who did, although less intense, it will be familiar. Either way, not good.
But on the other hand, on the macro level, we can look to the playoffs as a whole as a tremendous success. Not many folks had predicted the Oilers to even make the playoffs, let alone win a round AND take a very veteran team to a game 7. In that sense, we can see the positives.
Hell, even in this loss, signifcant lessons will be learned. What lessons? Well let’s look at tonight’s game on a more micro level.
What can the Oilers take away from the loss? A lot. For starters, sitting on your heels against a veteran, hungry team in game 7 is probably not the best idea. Why? Because they will bite you. Tonight, the Oilers jumped out to an early lead thanks to a very effective forecheck and goal by Drake Caggiula. Things were looking up. In fact, the Oilers had even carried that lead into the 1st intermission.
It was, however, the 2nd period that largely defined this game. It did so in that the Oilers didn’t nearly do enough to keep that pressure on. The Ducks outshot and outchanced the Oilers by a large margin in the middle frame on way to tying the game before the 40 minutes were played. Total shots were 16-3 for the Ducks in the period. Desperate teams play desperate. If you do not match that intensity, you will find your team being overwhelmed. Lesson learned.
The 2nd intermission came and with it a renewed hope from the Oilers fanbase and the team that the momentum could be swayed. Alas, it would only take until 3 minutes into the 3rd for that hope to be diminished in favoured of an Anaheim go ahead goal.
For much of the rest of the 3rd, the game would play out much to how the Ducks would want. Very little action, a lot of dump and chase hockey, a distinctive clogging up of the middle of the ice, etc.
In terms of a response, until it was much too late, the Oilers really didn’t have one. Todd McLellan stook with the guys who got him there for the majority of the 3rd, resulting in Nurse and Gryba, for example, being out on the ice in the final few minutes.
The Oilers came close a few times, but ultimately, the veterans won out. 2-1. Game 7. A stinger.
Much will be made in the coming days regarding the play of certain individuals in this game. Lucic will no doubt find himself in the crosshairs for his game that was full of turnovers. Gryba may find himself to be a target. Eberle, I am sure, will be tossed around as soon as I publish this post as potential trade bait in the offseason. Even, I suspect, McLellan will take a bit of heat for his players usage in this final game. And undoubtedly, the officiating in this series will strike the biggest moments of “what if”.
Guess what? We are all free to share our opinions and beliefs on the necessary moves that this team needs to make to win a cup, and now we have a whole summer to do it.
For tonight though, I am going to conclude with a solemn thank you to these men for one helluva season. There will be plenty of time for critique in the following days and months.
We just spent roughly 10 years in a desert with no spring hockey. No games to flock around the TV for in bars wearing your orange and blue. No playoff anthems. No decked out cars parading Whyte Avenue. No ugly/beautiful playoff facial hair. Just world championships and a deep envy of other markets.
None of that! For over a decade. Damn me if I am going to further the sting in my heart by harping on some individuals who maybe didn’t have their best game in game 7. That can come later in a more reasonable tone. For now, I salute these guys for what they did, not only for themselves, but for this city. McDavid may have been quiet tonight, and in the series, but what he did on the season was remarkable. Same goes for Draisaitl. Perhaps he was quiet tonight, but lets not forget who had 13 points in ths series. There are simply too many good arrows to ignore.
We needed this run. And I am sure as hell glad we got it. It was a taste for what is to come in the future. Why was Benning, Caggiula, and Nurse on the ice in the closing portions of the game?
Because you won’t find that experience anywhere else. Trust me when I and others say that this heartbreaker will pay off big time in the future. Lessons learned, motivations built, goals solidifed.
Excellent work gentlemen. Thank you for the tremendous memory that will always be the spring of 2017. We look forward to what you have in store for us next season.
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