Oilers know they’re in for a battle with seasoned Sharks
It looks like the Edmonton Oilers are going to need a bigger boat.
Any notion that their first-round Shark hunt would be quick and decisive was put to rest Wednesday night in a 3-2 overtime loss that was about as convincing and onesided as any overtime loss can possibly be.
Overwhelmed and outshot 34-9 over the final 43:22 of Game 1, the Oilers learned their first painful lesson in playoff hockey: the regular season means nothing now.
“They were just in the Stanley Cup Final a year ago and they played like a team that knows how to get back there,” said Oilers centre Mark Letestu, after the Oilers spent Thursday’s brief practice patching some newly discovered holes in their hull. “They stuck to their system, they played a strong game, they didn’t get rattled when they got down two goals. It’s something we can take from them.
“They played like the more experienced team. But we’ll get there. It’s a lesson learned. We’ll get there.”
A lot of people thought San Jose would be the softest touch of the opening round, what with Joe Thornton out, Logan Couture playing through a full cage and the Sharks winning just four of their final 13 games.
A lot of people appear to be wrong. Easy prey? No way. Make no mistake, there is already blood in the water heading into Friday. Fall behind 2-0 with the series heading to San Jose and the Oilers are in a world of trouble.
But Patrick Maroon says the Oilers are not in over their heads.
“It’s Game 1,” he said. “Our game didn’t go to crap in one night. It’s just one game. We’re fine. We have a game Friday.
“We can take the bad and learn from it and move on to Game 2. This is a good stepping stone for us, we’re in a good situation.”
Four areas the Oilers addressed Thursday were shift length (too many of them were way too long), discipline (they were short-handed six times), breakouts (they couldn’t) and D zone coverage (which cost them all three goals).
Other than that it was a pretty nice start to the post-season.
“It was good for a lot of guys in this room to go through the experience of Game 1,” Letestu said. “Hopefully it’s not as big of an ‘awe’ moment and we can focus on playing hockey.”
Which they’ve shown in the past they can be pretty good at.
“We’ve always bounced back well from adversity,” Letestu said. “So there’s always confidence in here. We’re going to play a good game Friday.”
That’s what the Sharks think, too. They’ve seen enough of the Oilers to know that if they figure things out, they’re going to be dangerous.
“They’re going to be a lot better and we know that,” Couture said.
“We’ve been through a lot of playoff series on this side and we realize that you don’t win a series in one game. They’re going to improve. Todd (McLellan) and that staff know what they’re doing, they’re going to make adjustments. We’re going to have to be better as well.”
Outside of the Xs and Os, McLellan is stressing focus and intensity. A team can have all the skill it wants, but at this point in the season, the hungriest side usually wins.
Ingredients that got it done for you in November aren’t enough in April and May.
“I put together a (list) of things that we think are important that make a difference between winning and losing,” he said. “It’s not about the reverse on the breakout or a faceoff play. It’s about game management and shift management, momentum, discipline. It’s about a commitment level.
“All those catch words that coaches use. There aren’t very many analytic guys out there who can chart that, but to me that makes the difference between November and now.”