How do you think Oilers respond in Game 4?

How do you think Oilers respond in Game 4?

here’s a very presidential looking craig button our director of scouting let’s talk a little bit more about game three of the cup final the oilers lose the oilers are down 2-1 mcdavid and dryidle held pointless for the first time all playoffs craig it’s a pivotal game for thursday how do you think they’ll respond when when we talk about experience jay you know we consider what it means to have played in the stanley cup final last year for mcdavid and dry cidle and some of the other oilers and sometimes the most important lessons are learned when you fall a little bit short and we know that they fell short last year in the playoffs but in game two versus the la kings in the first round series they were obliterated they were obliterated much like they got obliterated by the florida panthers in game three and what happened after that the oilers know that they can be better mcdavid and dry cidle know that they can be better and they were better in the next two games mcdavid had five points dry cidle had six points i think it was a lottery win for the florida panthers to keep both mcdavid and dry cidle off the score sheet in game three and that’s just not going to happen again and when you go through these experience of knowing that you fell short and knowing that hey we know how to rebound we know how to reset those are words that continue to be used by players and coaches momentum doesn’t carry forth negatively or positively those experiences help you understand okay we’ve been there we’ve come through it on the right side and that’s all we got to do mcdavid said we just got to play a good game on thursday and get back to edmonton 22 they’ve done that in the past after that second game loss to the la kings they reeled off four in a row they were dominant that’s where the oilers know they can get back to i thought you had some excellent suggestions on our show yesterday about the way you thought the oilers should change up their game strategically now i want to ask you craig just pure lineup changes do you think chris knobblock should make some going into game four yes i i do think he should and i i would start right with troy ster into the lineup for john clingberg it’s two consecutive games now for john clingberg where not only has he been targeted but he he has had real struggles being able to make plays under the pressure that the florida panthers apply and so that would be one area that i would absolutely make a change because i think it would be one for for the better and and that’s the only place that i would be looking to make a change jay when i look at what troy stcher does moving the puck quick and that’s what the oilers want to do they want to move the puck quick out of their zone that’s how you beat pressure you cannot hold on to the puck we saw in that reinhardt goal clingberg held on to the puck held on to the puck barkoff runs him right into the referee turnover and it’s 3-1 you can’t hold on to the puck but this was something that was been going on for a number of games and to me john clingberg hasn’t grasped uh the the the magnitude of the pressure that the florida panthers have applied and troy stetcher would be in the lineup if it was me uh troy stchcher uh really impressive throughout the postseason for the edmonton oilers no question about it um you did not mention a change in net chris knoblock sort of scoffed at the idea that there would be a change in net even after skinner allows five goals in game number three and gets pulled uh i assume you you feel that’s the right decision i i do jay and i’m going to give you three reasons why number one is that steuart skinner while not great on in fact not even very good in in game three everybody in front of him was just as bad if not worse so if it would be one thing if steuart skinner was subpar and the team in front of him played really good and it was a game we were going geez we had a chance to take a hold of this game number two is that game four steuart skinner in the playoffs best all time in the playoffs it’s unbelievable what his numbers are so knowing that and chris nobel definitely knows that that’s another reason to start steuart skinner third reason game five last year in the stanley cup final after the oilers won game four they had to win game five to get it to a game six steuart skinner went into florida and he won that game he’s familiar with playing in the florida arena calvin pickard isn’t and i think for those three reasons steuart skinner is absolutely my starter for game four in fact i’m not even giving it a second thought and if i was chris knoblock i would have already announced it okay let’s uh another thing was announced craig on tuesday and that was the calder trophy award winner and it is lane hudson of the montreal canadians the defenseman is the nhl’s top rookie for this past season 21 years old led all rookies in scoring with 66 points tied the single season record for most assists by a rookie defenseman he earned 165 of a possible 191 first place votes dustin wolf of the flames second in voting mlin celbrini of the sharks was third it’s cool it’s a you know huge honor and uh you know it’s just uh yeah i just you know i’m just happy about it but you know i just uh i just enjoy playing hockey and playing for the montreal canadians so it’s just i guess it’s just a plus and lane hudson is the first montreal canadians rookie of the year since ken dryden in 1972 how about that elite company right craig and here’s what’s amazing to me it was an incredible season for rookies one of the best ever matt vekov had 26 goals and 63 points he doesn’t even make the top three craig you had a vote i assume you agree that hudson was the guy to win it this year yeah 100% he was number one on my ballot dustin wolf was number two and lane hudson wasn’t just the best rookie in the league he was amongst the best defenseman in the league in the entire league just like dustin wolf was amongst the best goalenders in the league not just the best rookie goalender my separation was is that lane hudson was a little bit younger than dustin wolf and his impact on the montreal canadians was significant not that dustin wolf wasn’t celebrity mechoff all the rest of the rookies they were just good rookies they weren’t amongst the best forwards in in the national hockey league this year hudson amongst the best defenseman offensively defensively he was tremendous as the season went on and to me as as it just carried forth and just carried forth there was just simply no doubt in my mind that he was the best rookie and that’s not taking anything away from dustin wolf because he nearly got the calgary flames back into the playoffs and that was significant and you talk about the great ken dryden i would encourage everybody to go on the montreal canadians instagram and look at ken dryden’s tribute to lane hudson winning the caller trophy really impressive honor uh for for lane hudson and the tribute from ken dryden is really special just an incredible writer ken dryden an eloquent man and craig ivan demidov maybe he makes it two in a row next year we shall see the montreal canadians the future is very very bright he’s my early favorite

How do you think the Oilers will respond in Game 4? What lineup changes would you make if you were Kris Knoblauch and the Oilers? Would you stick with Stuart Skinner for Game 4? How special is Lane Hutson’s future? TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button joins SC with Jay Onrait to discuss.