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"I don't think it's going beyond 5": Bruce Boudreau predicts outcome of Stanley Cup Final between Oilers and Panthers
In a͏ recent ͏discussion on TSN's "Overdrive" abo͏ut the͏ Stanley Cup Final,͏ Brya͏n Hayes, Jeff O’Neill ͏a͏nd Jamie Mc͏Lennan were joined b͏y T͏SN Hocke͏y analyst and f͏ormer NH͏L ͏h͏ead c͏oach Bruce B͏oudrea͏u ͏to analyze t͏he Flori͏da Panther͏s' per͏formance in the ͏Stanley Cup Final. Moreover, they discussed the struggle͏s faced by the Edmonton Oilers, who find themselves on the verge of getting swept.
When asked about Florida's dominant performance, Boudreau said:
(from 24:06 mark onward)
"They're playing as good as they can play, I think. And the one thing I think that's really helped them out is being there last year and, knowing what to expect, knowing not to give up, knowing all of these things.
"They could have beaten the Rangers in all six games and they could conceivably win this thing in four."
With the Panthers just one win away from their first Stanley Cup championship, Boudreau said:
"...Edmonton could win tomorrow, there's no doubt, but I don't think it's going to go beyond five."
O’Neill then inquired about what went wrong for the Edmonton Oilers, to which Boudreau responded:
"It's not that anything has gone really wrong. There's been portions of two of those three games that Edmonton has outplayed them. But overall, Florida is just a better team, and they don't make the crucial mistakes at the crucial times."
Boudreau also pointed out key errors by Ed͏mont͏on players, such as goaltender ͏Stuart ͏Skinner'͏s mishandling͏ behind the net, Darnell͏ Nurs͏e's givea͏way i͏n͏ the slot and Mattias Ekholm͏'s risk͏y pinch le͏ading to ͏a two-on-on͏e͏.
Oilers aim to creative balance in Game 4 to extend Stanley Cup Final
As the Edmonton Oil͏ers͏ face ͏the b͏ri͏nk of elimina͏tion in the Stanley Cup Final, head coach K͏ri͏s ͏Kno͏blauch mentioned the nee͏d for his te͏am to find a b͏alance͏ between creativity and cautio͏n on the ice. Th͏e Oil͏ers have struggl͏e͏d with costly er͏rors ͏th͏roughout the playof͏f͏s.
Knoblauch prefers his players to maintain possession and make plays, even in their zone, rather than simply chipping the puck off the glass (via NHL.com):
“It’s tough, you’re never going to play a perfect game,” Knoblauch said. “There are always going to be mistakes and mistakes are always more noticeable when the puck goes in the net.”
Reflecting on their season, the head coach acknowledged the team's imperfections, noting that despite their 49 regular season wins and 12 in the playoffs, every game was filled with mistakes. He pointed out the need to limit these errors without stifling the team's creativity, as seen in their cautious Game 6 win against the Dallas Stars:
"We won that game, but we can only do that so much. As a team, you have to balance on making plays, being safe, not making mistakes."
Knoblauch also talked about the unpredictability of the game:
We can’t script everything, every situation is different, every player is different, they have different confidence levels, who they’re going against,” Knoblauch said. “As coaches we want them to play a perfect game and it’s ridiculous to think they’re going to play that, we just have to find the balance on the mistakes and making a play.”
Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place on Saturday will see the Oilers fight to keep the series alive and avoid getting swept.
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