‘Oilers should have been on penalty kill’: Button on how fortunate Edmonton should feel

‘Oilers should have been on penalty kill’: Button on how fortunate Edmonton should feel

All right, Oilers up two nothing in the series technically. Craig Button joining us. Craig, it’s the Oilers sixth come from behind win in a row in these playoffs. Though you gota it’s a bit of a caveat. Okay, they they blow a twogoal lead in the third. Uh and despite a very quiet night overall, of course, it’s McDavid and Dry Cidle in the end. Craig getting it done right in Oatsy. It’s the Oilers speed that’s really causing Vegas problems in this series, isn’t it? Well, there’s some speed causing them problems because they’re really disrupting the defense. But on the winning goal, I mean, there is no way that anybody on the planet staring down 97 and 29, skating freely through the neutral zone has a chance. There’s simply no chance. What amazed me, Jay, is it got that far for two reasons. One we’ll get into. I would have bet a lot that the Oilers would have scored on that fiveminute major penalty, and they didn’t. But when you start to see uh McDavid coming down, it’s a great play by Bousard to start it. And then Perry with a great pass to the streaking Conor McDavid. And there may as well be nobody there, Jay, because when McDavid’s skating like this and making those plays, a little stutter, and all Leon Cidle has to do is just redirect it right into the net. Aiden Hill does everything he can. Throws his stick. Didn’t get his blocker over there. But what a fantastic play by McDavid. And you can be quiet, but when the moments arise, you got to be ready to take advantage. Oh, yeah. Just like the Four Nations, Jay. And that’s what Conor McDavid did to help the Oilers uh get a two nothing lead in this series. And you said it, Craig. I think most people thought they’d score in that fiveminute power play. They did not. Las Vegas kills it off. And then uh the Oilers could have very well have taken a penalty. Victor Arvdson. Obviously, Bruce Cassidy thought that was a penalty on Victor Arvdson uh on the Braden McNab play. How fortunate should the Oilers feel that they didn’t have to go on the penalty kill after that fiveminute power play? Well, lucky stars for the for the Edmonton Oilers because before the winning goal, that’s the play that Arbertson made on McNav. The Vegas Gold Knights should have been on a power play. They shouldn’t have been at five on five. And it’s a sneaky dirty play by Victor Arbertson. Make no mistake about it. Sneaky dirty hand on the back. You got no way to defend yourself. A little bit of push and he’s down. The referees missed it, Jay. Full miss by the referees there. And certainly you’re you’re hopeful that Brad McNav doesn’t have a serious injury, but the Oilers should have been on the penalty kill. That’s a miss by the officials. Okay. And then Calvin Pickard, another terrific performance. Craig, what can you say about this guy? It just comes out of nowhere and outdles one of the three Canadian goalenders from the Four Nations face off. Uh Jay, do you remember 2006? And I know you do and there’s probably other areas of 2006 you remember. I’m referring to the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Carolina Hurricanes lost the first two games and then they went to Cam Ward. They ran the table and route to the Stanley Cup. Cam Ward was a hero, an unknown hero at that time. And and this is what Calvin Pickard has done. Oilers lose their first two games here this year. They go right to Calvin Pickard. There’s some games where you might have said, "Oh, he didn’t get a whole lot of work." That wasn’t the case in this one. He was brilliant in this game. He was brilliant at the beginning of overtime because the Vegas Gold Knights had all kinds of opportunities to win it in the first two, three minutes of overtime. Pickard again and again in this game when it was one- nothing for the Vegas Golden Knights when it was 44 and late in the game in overtime. Pickard was the complete backstoppper. They do not win this game without the brilliance of Calvin Pickard. That’s six in a row for Calvin Pickard. I hope nobody asks, "Do you think they’ll go back to Steuart Skinner?" Are you kidding me? They’re not going back to Stuart Skinner. It’s not happening, folks. Uh game three Saturday in Edmonton. Craig Button. Thanks for this.

How much is the Oilers speed giving Vegas problems? How fortunate should Edmonton feel for not having to go on the penalty kill before scoring? How impressive was Calvin Pickard in Game 2? TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button joins SC with Jay Onrait to discuss.