The Edmonton Oilers entered the third period of Game 7 against the Vancouver Canucks with a seemingly safe lead. They had dominated Vancouver up to that point, winning 3–0 and outshooting the Canucks 27-12 through two periods.
But then the notorious turtle happened. The Canucks came out flying in the third period. Something that could and should have been expected from a team that has made multiple multi-goal late comebacks and scoring late game winning goals already this postseason.
And the response of the Oilers was to do very little of what had helped them thoroughly dominate the first two periods and instead sit back and try to not lose.
Things unraveled further off of a flubbed breakout pass by Ryan McLeod that led to the Canucks’ first goal. From that point, the intensity level from Vancouver increased as the collective heart health of the Oilers fanbase took a nosedive.
After the second Canucks goal, Head Coach Kris Knoblauch made one of the most important decisions of the season. Calling a time out.
The timely timeout
Now 3–2 with just under five minutes left, Edmonton needed to settle down and reset. The timeout accomplished this. And it also broke up the momentum of the Canucks just enough to hold them to zero shots after scoring their second goal.
The calm and collected presence Knoblauch brings to the bench settled the team down at a critical moment of the season as it started looking like a repeat of game one was in order. Alluded to by Zach Hyman in the post-game is that the timeout helped bring the team down from a peak of stress. Helped to regain composure in a moment of facing adversity.
The overall impact of Knoblauch’s coaching
In the 2023 NHL Playoffs, the Oilers were fairly easily eliminated by the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round. Interestingly, the same things that contributed to that series loss were also impacts in this season’s series against the Canucks.
The defensive depth, specifically the Darnell Nurse–Cody Ceci pairing, and goaltending.
Necessary defensive adjustments
Former Oilers Coach Jay Woodcroft was hampered by one fatal flaw. A lack of adaptability. He was steadfast in sticking to the plan and, at times, struggled to adapt beyond reuniting Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl when needing offence.
I say that as a huge fan of Woodcroft who thinks he got done dirty by the way the season started with extremely poor puck luck.
But in last season’s playoffs when the Nurse-Ceci pairing was getting lit up, they did not get split up. Knoblauch shuffled the defensive pairs and found much more success with Nurse playing alongside Vincent Desharnais and Ceci with Brett Kulak.
Starting Calvin Pickard
The other major area Knoblauch made a bold move that Woodcroft did not was in net. Skinner struggled in the 2023 playoffs, getting pulled four times in 12 games. Despite Jack Campbell playing significantly better than Skinner in those playoffs, he never got a start.
That changed with Knoblauch, who made a bold move to start Calvin Pickard in game four after Skinner continued his playoff struggles. The Oilers won that game and earned Pickard a second start. Although they lost that game, he played magnificently.
Scratching Corey Perry
Corey Perry was brought in for his experience and a veteran presence for the playoffs. He is someone with a winning pedigree and should have been a useful addition to the forward depth in the postseason.
But after 10 games, Perry had zero points and had been a non-factor for most of his ice time. As the team struggles with it’s depth, Knoblauch made a tough decision. Scratching Perry for the last two games versus the Canucks.
This was a bold move for the rookie coach as veterans and players like Perry do not often get sent to the press box, especially in big moments. But clearly, Knoblauch made the tough choice that he felt gave his team the best chance of winning.
All this to say that Knoblauch and his coaching decisions in these playoffs have made a major impact on the success of the team. They did not get outcoached by their opponent due to a lack of adaptability to changing circumstances.
Despite facing adversity numerous times in this series, the team persevered with a huge chunk of credit to their coach for making the necessary moves and decisions at the correct times.
