EDMONTON -- Ryan Smyth rejects the notion that he is the "face" of the Edmonton Oilers, but while he may not like the moniker, the rest of the hockey world knows that as Smyth goes, so go the Oilers. After all, the native of nearby Banff never has skated for another team in his NHL career, which has reached 11 productive seasons.
But longevity isn't the sole reason for the great affection paid to Smyth in Edmonton, rather he has been a consistent and clutch performer through the years. He is 10th on the team's all-time games list, and is fifth on the club's all-time goals list.
So, it wasn't unexpected to see longing eyes turned Smyth's way as the Oilers raced to the 2006 Stanley Cup Final. It has been a long time since the team's dynasty days and Smyth was the logical guy to build a new championship team around.
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Schedule / Links:
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| Gm. 1: CAR 5, EDM 4 | Photos |
| Gm. 2: CAR 5, EDM 0 | Photos |
| Gm. 3: EDM 2, CAR 1 | Photos |
Gm. 4: June 12, 8:00 p.m. ET
at Edmonton (NBC, CBC, RDS) |
Gm. 5: June 14, 8:00 p.m. ET
at Carolina (NBC, CBC, RDS) |
*Gm. 6: June 17, 8:00 p.m. ET
at Edmonton (NBC, CBC, RDS) |
*Gm. 7: June 19, 8:00 p.m. ET
at Carolina (NBC, CBC, RDS) |
| *if necessary |
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The problem was the Carolina Hurricanes weren't cooperating. Smyth was held off the score sheet in Games 1 and 2, both losses, and the Oilers' dream was creaking along on thin ice headed back home for Games 3 and 4.
"There's no question I have more room for improvement," Smyth said as the series shifted to Edmonton. "From game to game it's a tough scenario, you've got to find ways to exploit their weaknesses, and obviously there's not a whole lot there. We obviously have gone back to the drawing board and find a way through it."
Saturday night, Smyth scored what may be the most important goal of his career, the game-winner at 17:45 of the third period to give the Oilers a vital 2-1 win against the 'Canes and the Oilers' first win in the series.
"Now we can rest up and hopefully get them in Game 4," Smyth said after the win, which provoked howls of protest from the 'Canes, who insisted Smyth was a) in the crease, and b) interfering with goalie Cam Ward. "I thought Game 1 was a little shifter there. We had two good, solid periods and then we let them take over in the third. Game 2 was obviously a frustrating game for us. We have been pretty solid in Game 3 and we want to feed off the fans and get some energy here. I thought tonight they were a huge attack for us and Jussi (Markkanen) holding the fort back there for us was great."
As the Western Conference's eighth seed this spring, the Oilers have written something of a Cinderella story advancing to the Final. But the team's top line of Smyth, Shawn Horcoff and Ales Hemsky boasts three solid scorers, and that line came to the fore in the vital Game 3 win.
"I know 'Hork' and I have talked the last couple of days," Smyth said. "We had to get better. We had room for improvement and we wanted to deliver tonight. I know 'Hemmer' has been playing half decent. He chipped in a huge goal for us in Game 1 to tie it up, but we had to dominate offensively. We had some chances. I know Hork had some chances in Game 1. I had some chances too, but we just couldn't put it in the net. Finally, we got some breaks tonight and hopefully, we can get some confidence off of that and feed off it."
"We got a few breaks," Horcoff said. "That's a positive for us. Hopefully that's a sign of things to come. I thought we crashed the net a lot harder, as you can attest to Smitty's last goal. That's the kind of goals we need to get here. We need to get traffic to him (Cam Ward), let his job be hard and let him know he better handle his rebounds because we're going to pounce on him. We're going to take some positives from this game."
"One big thing is that we were playing solid through the neutral zone," Smyth said, pointing to more positives the Oilers take from Game 3. "Neutral zone (play) is a big part for us. We talked about it, obviously they've got some speed up front and they've got some very skilled forwards. Like Jussi said, minimize their space, minimize their plays at the blue line. I thought our D did a good job standing up, creating a couple offsides. Those things are big. They go a long ways, and yes, it stems from the forwards and being tighter in the gap area. We kept them on the outside."
Smyth, called the heart and soul of the Oilers by teammate Raffi Torres, also breaks the game down into its emotional components as well.
"Yeah, I think the big thing is you don't want to get too anxious and lose that focus," Smyth said. "But right from the get-go I know (coach Craig MacTavish) has said 'Let's keep positive, whatever happens' and obviously our back's against the wall and we were up against the wall in San Jose and we pulled through.
"I believe a positive attitude goes a long way," Smyth said. "I think this sort of atmosphere that we have gotten going right now, the positiveness, the relaxation, I guess, we want to rest up and get ready because we know it's going to be an exciting ride."
