Man there's a lot of ignorance on display in this thread but I guess those are the sorts who tend to yell the loudest.
2 things that are important to remember.
1. When people say we are missing Demko we're not implying that Silovs has been bad or that we're dominating.
A team literally plays differently depending on their trust in their goalie. We have a serious advantage in net over about 28 other teams when Demko plays, and that allows us to push the pace more and care less about purely protecting the house because we trust that he can make superlative saves and we can press that advantage.
With Silovs, we are doing absolutely everything we can do suppress high danger chances, and this is far above and beyond our efforts to create chances ourselves.
This is even more exaggerated in this series where were are playing two players who score at a generational pace in the playoffs.
I love Silovs and he has a lot to be proud of, but if we started trading chances with the Oilers a bit more, he would likely get ventilated by McDavid and Draisaitl. Whereas if Demko was playing, we could dictate the pace a little bit more and play 'our game' instead of playing a reactive, preventative game with our 3rd stringer even though he is playing amazingly.
2. Playoff experience matters.
Important to remember that Edmonton is at the apex of their contention window right now. Draisaitl has one more year left after this one and McDavid has 2.
If they return, they will be taking up a higher percentage of the pie as they are on two of the best contracts in the league.
Oilers have been through their disappointments. They've been a threat for like 5 or 6 years and have had to learn some lessons the hard way about what is required in the playoffs.
We're still learning these lessons. Pettersson is in his head right now and feels like he doesn't know how to come out of it. He has never played in the playoffs with the heightened intensity of the crowds and day-to-day life (he thrived in the 2020 bubble but that lacked a lot of the psychological factors that come with the playoffs).
In the years that come, he will learn how to adapt and find himself in these heightened times, how to produce against the scrutiny and game-planning that other teams do, etc.
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It's already been an incredibly successful year for the Canucks and we are at the beginning of our window.
Does that mean that I won't be heartbroken if we lose? Of course I will. I hate the Oilers and want to crush them.
But at the end of the day, the Oilers are supposed to win this series.
McDavid is literally playing for his legacy. Look at the top 4 players of all time Gretzky, Lemieux, Orr, and Howe. All of them won cups on their first team (two never left).
McDavid will be the 5th best player ever by the time his career is over (you can argue he will eclipse some of the aforementioned players but the point is that he will be top 5). And his chances of joining their rite of passage of taking your first team to the cup are evaporating.
So we have a generational player, playing with desperation, and he (and they) have been blooded by several playoff runs before.
It's not a shame to admit that Edmonton has had the run of play a fair amount of the time.
But given the circumstances I'm incredibly proud of the Canucks and still believe they can win.
We do have better depth, our D is better, and our coaching runs circles around the tax accountant the Oilers have back there because he knows McDavid.
So enjoy this series because this is what being a sports fan is all about. But we don't have to pretend it's a moral test where the fans of the losing team are failures and the fans of the winning team are somehow more successful.
Enjoy it with a little humility.
And Go Canucks Go!
