This series has proved to be very skill-driven in comparison to Edmonton’s previous two against Los Angeles and Vancouver – notably on the blueline where Dallas has a much more mobile defence core helping lead the transition and put pucks into their forwards’ hands.
“They stretch the rink. They trust their D to make a play, and their forwards are at the far blueline it seems, so they trust that their defence will either rim it out or elude one guy and make a long stretch pass,” Hyman said. “Then they try to get behind us.”
The Oilers realize against a team this skilled in Dallas, they’re going to have to limit their mistakes moving forward.
“I think they’re well-coached. They’ve got a lot of good hockey players right from top to bottom of the lineup and really no weaknesses,” Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. “They’re pretty committed to playing the right way all the time, and for us to get our opportunities, we have to make a few plays.
“That being said, we’ve had our plays. We’ve had our opportunities. I think we can just maybe bear down a little bit more on scoring chances. There have been a lot of missed nets and missed passes.”
To help deal with the Dallas threat, Knoblauch could elect to throw some speed back into the lineup in the form of Ryan McLeod – who sat out his first game this season as a healthy scratch in Game 3 – along with considering a few other options like Corey Perry and Philip Broberg.
“There’s a good chance,” Knoblauch said of McLeod. “We’ll evaluate today, and his fresh legs and what he’s provided us all year, there’s a good chance. But I think overall, if we’re putting him back in the lineup, we’re going to have a tough decision on who we’re going to take out, so we haven’t committed to anything yet.”