Last night’s Game 5 matchup in the second round of the 2024 NHL playoffs was nothing short of a disappointment for the Edmonton Oilers.
They had the Vancouver Canucks exactly where they wanted them after a soul-crushing last-minute winner from Evan Bouchard in Game 4 to even the series, and despite heading back to Vancouver, the Oilers had all the momentum in the world.
Their stars were shining bright, Calvin Pickard put up an inspiring performance between the pipes, special teams were clicking on both sides, and other than a few bursts from the Canucks, the Oilers were the dominant team all night long.
But then, the Canucks took back all that momentum after last night.
Elias Pettersson had a solid game and looked more like himself than he has the entire series, the Canucks’ bottom-six was dangerous and a pain all night—even scoring a goal, they killed off five Oilers power plays which hadn’t been done yet this postseason, and third-stringer Arturs Silovs was again adequate in net.
To top it all off, Leon Draisaitl, Mattias Ekholm, and Evander Kane missed the previous practice and are clearly banged up, and the score could have been much worse with Quinn Hughes hitting the crossbar, Nils Hoglander hitting the post, and Vincent Desharnais saving a puck on the goal line in the first.
The Canucks responded in a big way after getting dominated in Game 4.
The Oilers are reeling right now, and they desperately need a spark ahead of Game 6 or we’ll be having the same conversations next week as we have in the past however many summers in a row.
Enter: Sam Gagner
Sam Gagner to the rescue
At the end of the day, the Oilers really don’t have a lot of options to insert into their lineup.
There are a lot of underperforming players right now, like Corey Perry and Cody Ceci, and it’s time for Kris Knoblauch to make the same type of move he did when Pickard was elevated in response to Stuart Skinner‘s poor play.
In Game 6, the Oilers should make two roster moves, Troy Stecher for Ceci, and most importantly Gagner for Perry.
Gagner is the quintessential Oiler. With so much history with the organization and clearly a fan favourite for all he’s done for the team over his career, adding him into the bottom-six could do wonders for the morale of the team and the fans.
Gagner has five goals and 10 points in 28 regular season games for the Oilers, and every time he’s put the puck into the net it’s been mayhem. Imagine the boost the Oilers would get when Gagner steps onto the ice at Rogers for Game 6, and how insane it would be if he managed to score a goal.
For Gagner himself, this would be a huge opportunity as well. He’s only played in the playoffs in two seasons, scoring four points in 11 total games, and as a 34-year-old, there’s no way he won’t come out of the gates absolutely flying.
It’s the playoffs. There is no room for passengers. Everyone needs to be contributing, everyone needs to make a difference, and if you’re not doing that you don’t deserve to be in the lineup.
Gagner has bided his time and paid his dues—it’s time for him to get a shot.
