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Oilers' coach Craig MacTavish gives his club a "chalk talk" as they prepare for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final at Rexall Place in Edmonton.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
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"You don't want to get into the habit of allowing a goalie to not face a lot of difficult shots and allow him to gain confidence because as a young goaltender you never know what they are capable of achieving. I think there's some simple things, some really simple things, that we need to do better to give ourselves a better chance to score goals. I don't think we're discouraged by not scoring last game. We got four the game before, and he's made some good saves at times, but I think it's more us that aren't doing the things to score and we're going to get back to doing that."
-- Edmonton center Michael Peca on the Oilers' need to put pressure on Cam Ward.
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GAME BREAKERS
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Frantisek Kaberle (CAR):
1 goal,
2 assists
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Matt Cullen (CAR):
3 assists
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Cam Ward (CAR):
25-save shutout
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TODAY'S SCHEDULE
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RECENT EDITIONS
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| Friday, June 9, 2006 |
| Thursday, June 8, 2006 |
| Wednesday, June 7, 2006 |
| Tuesday, June 6, 2006 |
| Monday, June 5, 2006 |
| Friday, June 2, 2006 |
| Thursday, June 1, 2006 |
| Wednesday, May 31, 2006 |
| Tuesday, May 30, 2006 |
| Friday, May 26, 2006 |
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After 82 regular-season games and 19 Stanley Cup Playoff games, teams are pretty much what they are and what they will be, but the Edmonton Oilers' practice Friday morning at Rexall Place was anything but routine. After losing Game 1, 5-4, Monday and Game 2, 5-0, Wednesday in Raleigh, the Oilers' players and coach Craig MacTavish talked about the need to prevent odd-man rushes, as well as overcoming the Carolina Hurricanes' ability to stop their shots from getting to the net. Their ineffective power play (1-for13 in the first two games) also is a concern.
After some warm-up shots and flow drills, the Oilers worked on a cycling drill, left of the net, then right of the net, keeping one forward more distant from the goalie than they had been in the first two games. The Oilers have been outscored, 10-1, since taking a 3-0 lead in Game 1.
"You don't want to get into the habit of allowing a goalie to not face a lot of difficult shots and allow him to gain confidence because as a young goaltender you never know what they are capable of achieving," said center Michael Peca. "I think there's some simple things, some really simple things, that we need to do better to give ourselves a better chance to score goals. I don't think we're discouraged by not scoring last game. We got four the game before, and he's made some good saves at times, but I think it's more us that aren't doing the things to score and we're going to get back to doing that."
"Higher, higher. ... No run-and-gun," MacTavish directed his players during the drill, which was followed by another drill emphasizing having three men back, two defenseman and a forward, during the opponent's offensive attacks.
Another drill, a daily standard with most teams, consisted of getting a forward in front of the net to deflect shots. Left wing Fernando Pisani proved to be particularly effective, repeatedly tipping shots higher or lower than the original plane of flight.
MacTavish and his assistants, Craig Simpson, Charlie Huddy and Bill Moores gathered a group consisting of forwards Pisani, Michael Peca, Sergei Samsonov, Jarret Stoll and defenseman Dick Tarnstrom for work on a power-play drill.
"I think the extra day allows the coaches to analyze Game 2 a little bit more," Peca said. "Allows them to make the corrections. As players we kind of understand and are aware of some of the changes that we need to make, but it is the coaches that are able to break it down and kind of lay it out in simpler terms for us so we understand it and correct things for Saturday. So the extra day allows them the time to do that a little bit more diligently."
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Tarnstrom has yet to play in this series. Acquired Jan. 26 from the Pittsburgh Penguins, Tarnstrom has played in only seven playoff games this year and has been held without a point. His improving offensive numbers in seven seasons with his hometown AIK Solna team in the Swedish Elite League attracted the attention of the Penguins. Tarnstrom had a breakthrough season in 2003-04 when he posted 16 goals and 36 assists for 52 points. But he had only five goals and five assists in 33 Penguins' games this season and one goal and three assists in 22 games with Edmonton.
Or, MacTavish could do what rival coach Peter Laviolette did in Game 2: Skate seven defensemen and delete a forward.
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Having shots blocked has frustrated the Oilers. Defenseman Chris Pronger and forward Ryan Smyth worked on a drill to change the flight path of Pronger's drives from the point. Smyth would signal Pronger where he wanted the puck delivered for deflections. Pronger was also working on collecting the puck inside the blue line and then moving to change the locus of the shot launch. Similarly, Huddy worked on the other side with defenseman Jaroslav Spacek, to get him moving from predictable locations.
"We didn't do a very good job of freeing up unobstructed shooting lanes for ourselves," MacTavish said. "It's quite clear what they are trying to do in terms of getting in front of their net -- front forwards, and we've got to get pucks somehow inside behind those guys. When we did get them in behind, (Carolina goalie Cam Ward) was up to the task. We were jamming pucks from a foot or a foot-and-a-half in front of him, so it was difficult to get the pucks to the areas that we need to get some offense from them. But (Carolina was) effective. They did a good job. Their forwards are really willing blockers and they pose some problems for us."
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Oilers first-line center Shawn Horcoff was terrific on faceoffs during the regular season, winning 52.7 percent, and through the first three rounds of the playoffs. But like most NHL centers, he's been taking his lumps against dropmaster Rod Brind'Amour. In fact, it's been one of the top story lines of the series. Moores drills Horcoff, Smyth and Jarret Stoll almost daily. Without opposition, they direct pucks to the spot Moores wants with amazing regularity. Like a golf swing, it's a muscle-memory action, but Brind'Amour's got them off their game.
Moores held a long conversation with Horcoff near center ice, but no drills.
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A new use for a forklift, or, 'Boys' you're gonna break a window.
During the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals between the New Jersey Devils and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, goalie Martin Gerber, Steve Thomas and center Sami Pahlsson led a group of teammates daily in fun-filled hackey-sack exercises in the hallways under the stands. Yesterday, Gerber, Ladd, Doug Weight, Craig Adams, Eric Staal and Justin Willliams were playing a similar game with a soccer ball. Adams hit a ball too hard that looked like it would fly over Gerber's right shoulder. You had to see it to believe it, but Gerber's quickness and flexibility in getting his right foot high up in the air over his head to keep the ball in play was amazing.
A few minutes later, the "boys" popped the ball high in the air and it came to rest in electrical conduit about 25 feet above the floor. As a Rexall Place employee was lifted by forklift to get the ball, the Hurricanes' players challenged themselves to strike the ball when the employee dropped it and keep it in play. Weight got a foot on it and directed it to Williams, who flubbed it to sneers of derision from his teammates.
