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Woodcroft pulled out the stops trying to slow down the Avs in game 2...it worked for one period but then they tore it open in the second.

Play of the game was Cale Makar poke checking a charging McDavid.

Avs up 2-0 going back to Edmonton where Woodcroft will get to decide who McDavid plays against.

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Very complete game from the Avs--even in the first period they gave up some scary chances but they still held their own. Third period they did exactly what they needed to do, they didn't go into a shell but they also didn't get overly aggressive like they did a few times in game 1.

HUGE bounceback game from Josh Manson--Bednar said he looked a little shaky at first but after scoring that goal he was in control.

Woodcroft did exactly what DeBoer did after game 2 and bitched about the officiating, noted the Oilers were shorthanded seven times...didn't acknowledge the fact that at least two of those penalties were because the Oilers unraveled took some insanely dumb liberties. Also, when you're not the team with the puck, you tend to take more penalties. Hopefully the refs don't take the bait like they did with DeBoer a year ago.

And Woodcroft should thank his lucky stars it wasn't worse--Draisaitl started getting really chippy in the faceoff circle, didn't get a call, but then the Avs got kind of a soft call on them a few shifts later. But whatever, Avs got the first three calls, including an almost full 2-minute 5-on-3 that they did nothing with, so I'm not about to complain. NAK also took an insanely stupid penalty later on, thankfully the PK was on their game both times.

My favorite stat: The Avs did not give up a single, solitary shot on goal against at even strength any time Darren Helm was on the ice. What a pickup.

Nurse looks hurt. Pavel Francouz was solid. I like that he's a southpaw. Could be disruptive to the Oil at least for a game or two. I liked his use of underrated lefty poke check. Don't see that much anymore.

He's been good for you guys, eh. Nice.

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Thanks Chuck, E.L. and Harmy!

Yep he's been great. Can't win faceoffs anymore (likely his chronic back issues, but that's okay) but he's still a fantastic penalty killer and brings much-needed energy and ferocity on the forecheck. He's also a proven playoff performer.

He was somewhat uneven to start so fans on HF were bitching to high heaven about him but he still looked like one of only two forwards on the Avs who knew precisely how to challenge point shooters on the PK and how to force turnovers for shorthanded breaks. The other guy is O'Connor.

He's only making a million bucks, too.

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Thanks Chuck, E.L. and Harmy!

I honestly hope they bring him back at least one more time. Well worth that price.

For a second straight season Artturi Lehkonen sends his team to the Finals with a game winner. What an absolute stud.

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I fucking love that guy. Dude is unbelievably clutch. He knew right away to reach out and deflect the puck, which forced Smith to make an awkward save, which allowed for Lehkonen to easily pot it in the open net on the rebound. On a team that overall isn't huge on hockey sense, dude has it coming out of his ears. No matter what, that trade (and the Manson one to a lesser extent) was worth it.

Maybe I'm focusing too much on a very loud and vocal minority but MY GOD are Edmonton Oilers fans a whiny-ass bunch. Bitch, bitch, bitch about the officiating even though the Oilers got a few calls against them for blatantly obvious shit, like Kane's cheap shot on Kadri and Nurse cross-checking a guy in the back once the game entered garbage time. They also got FIVE POWER PLAYS in the final game, scored on only one of them. Meanwhile, the Avs only got two, but they capitalized on both.

Between that and their desire to pillory Mike Smith (I don't see what he did so wrong, dude is approaching 41 years of age and made a number of absolutely brilliant saves to keep them in it, and they wouldn't even be in the Western Conference Final without him) I fail to see how it was his fault the Oilers got nearly nothing done on the power play and the Keith/Bouchard pairing got absolutely victimized by the Avs. And yes, he was obviously seriously hurt, but Nurse was also not good. That's still not a very well-constructed team, they got by on both 29 and 97 going into God mode. It nearly worked but in the end, once you shut those two down, the Oil largely had nothing. But for some reason the sun still shines out Ken Holland's ass so, whatever, I have no issue with him continuing, it helps every other team in the league when the organization with the best player in hockey can't for the life of themselves figure it out.

Oh and I love that they're still screaming "HiGH sTiCKinG" even though it was reviewed and deemed a goal. I got one of those in my mentions just now.

Anyway, HUGE comeback win last night, this team sure seems legit...now if Frankie could juuuuuuuust maybe not let in any more shots from distance. I'd appreciate that.

Mike Smith had a .913 save pct in the playoffs. Can't ask for more than that.

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To be fair, if I was an Oil fan I'd be losing my shit too given all that they've accomplished after Pronger left and squandering years of Drai + McDavid, then going from Chiarelli to Holland. I think all the complaining can be viewed as a microcosm of everything.

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Thanks Chuck, E.L. and Harmy!

Well, being a Rockies and (at least given recent years) Broncos fan, I can relate. Frustration can bring out the worst in us.

I don't watch much Sportsnet for obvious reasons but one common refrain is that a lot of them have a persecution complex. They just keep bitchin' about how Sportsnet hates their team, but those Avs fans who happen to live in Canada tell me they absolutely gush over McDavid and Draisaitl. I'm sure the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

The juxtaposition of an emotional Erik Johnson and a VERY cranky Mikko Rantanen is just too much here...

I have literally no idea who Carin Leon is but he was set to play at Ball Arena the night of the 18th, which would have conflicted with the Stanley Cup Final, looks like they acted swiftly and bumped him all the way to October. Good news, because the alternatives would have been either a matinee game or a back-to-back, and ain't nobody want either of those.