WHERE HAS IT ALL GONE WRONG FOR THE OILERS AND CAN THEY FIX IT?

WHERE HAS IT ALL GONE WRONG FOR THE OILERS AND CAN THEY FIX IT?

joined by Cheryl Pounders Cheryl every team that’s ever been down three nothing and a best of seven says the same thing we just need one win so let’s not talk about a comeback or anything drastic let’s simply focus on the task at hand what’s gone so desperately wrong for the orders and what do they need to do to earn just one win in the Cup Final well listen Gino you can’t worry about what happened you can’t worry about what’s going to happen you got to play in the present and yeah it’s a little bit cliche and I can stand here and say listen 0 for 10 on the power play ain’t good you got to start scoring on it or perhaps we can say listen you got to make good on those grade A scoring opportunities but I want to dig into it a little bit deeper I think there are three areas of concern for me that they really have to tighten up and the first one is the Blue Line decisions they have to make sure that they’re making better decisions with it with and without the puck and I don’t mean the defense only whether it’s on a pinch but it’s also the forward’s responsibility know where they are in the offensive zone when that puck is changing hands you have to have shoulder checks you have to make sure you have back pressure through the Middle With a Purpose so if you can control the blue lines you’re going to put yourself in good position to take the puck North but the second thing for me you know that Florida has that heavy heavy for check below the goal line and they make good on it but you have to be in that contact Zone you have to take the hit and you have to know where the puck is but that second layer has to get back extremely quick to support and it’s not just about the second player I think it’s the third player it’s that third pass that is going to get them out with some speed to be able to play off the rush that might even be the defenseman in the middle of the ice but most importantly perhaps if they’re not playing on the rush if they can get in zone I think they have to attack right away this is a Florida Panthers team that plays defense by committee they are a fiveman unit at bosski in and that is a six-man unit that deflects to the outside they want you to hold the puck on the perimeter they want you to look to make seam passes to the inside so you don’t guess what you get that puck on your stick you attack there may be some block shots yeah but you can recover that puck but you got to create chaos netfront if you want to see another day coach powder what a great breakdown all right let’s get a little bit more specific LeAndre iidle has been amazing in the playoffs over his career he’s fifth all time in points per game but zero points in the Stanley Cup Final even he admits he’s very frustrated right now how do you explain what’s happened to his game in particular well you know it’s difficult because you can see the frustration I do think that the 0 for 10 on the power play is leading into his five on five game I mean he had 39 points during the regular season on the power play and right now he is over in the Stanley Cup Final but when I look at it I look at his feet I don’t feel like he’s moving his feet and you wonder if there’s a nagging injury there right now but certainly if you’re the Edmonton Oilers in your Leon dry idle with that frame you know he can be a magician and the way he distributes the puck he’s getting pushed he’s getting squeezed to the outside along the wall and if you’re on Leon dry Sidle right now I don’t think you want to play on the wall I think you got to find ways to create some motion so that you can try and create Lanes even though you know that Florida is taking away the secondary option through the middle and this is making it real real difficult for him so I think the key to success right now is to keep that motion in play continue to move your feet while you’re scanning and drive the net wherever possible because the likes of Leon drle you know that he can be a Difference Maker in a game at a time he’s frustrated with his play but it’s not just him Gino you look at the top four players on this team you look at Conor McDavid he does not have a goal you look at Heyman he doesn’t not have a point R&H does not have a point and neither does dry cidal so you have to look to the defense for Florida they’re doing a great job they’ve been magical with their sticks pushing them to the outside just look at the end of that last game right they pulled their golender look at the guys that you had on the ice Bard on the back end and they never got it out of the corner I mean this has just been Mastery in terms of a defensive unit and I love when people say you know what you just have to be hard and heavy as a Decor that’s crap at the end of the day you have to have all those things but you have to have IQ and awareness and they are up against a defensive stalwart of a team where the head coach of Paul Maurice has deploying this defensive unit just miraculously so for the Edmonton Oilers they got to get off the wall they got to throw pucks to the net ones that bosski aren’t expecting and then they got to hunt they got to got get on that rebound if they want to find the back of the net Cheryl you’re awesome something the owners did not want to see after three games a post from the Stanley Cup on X or formerly Twitter last night the cup said I’ll be in the building on Saturday

TSN Hockey analyst Cheryl Pounder weighs in on the Edmonton Oilers’ performance in this Stanley Cup Final again the Florida Panthers, what has worked and what hasn’t.