How does Craig MacTavish, ex-Oilers coach and an ace penalty-killer, see Game 1 collapse?

National Post

22-05-2025

Fitting that the Edmonton Oilers' media availability Thursday was at the Dallas dining salon Rotisserie 2 … feature item on the menu, roasted penalty kill.
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Yeah, food for thought — how the Oilers found themselves on a spit in Game 1.
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On the mourning after the day before, we're left to digest how they could get burned for three Stars PP goals on three shots in the third period, over a span of just under six minutes, to choke on a 6-3 loss after thoroughly dominating Dallas 5-on-5 for the first 40 minutes.
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The Oilers, after going 11 straight games without giving up a power-play goal in last spring's playoff run — Vancouver's Elias Lindholm, 17:35 of Period 2 in Game 3 in the second round to Florida's Evan Rodrigues, 12:26 of Period 3 in Game 2 in the finals — have now given up 14 goals on 37 tries over 12 games this year
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'Wow that's good playing,' laughed Craig MacTavish, the former Oiler head coach and ace NHL penalty-killer, who has seen the foibles of the penalty kill from both sides.
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'Somebody told me years ago … the greatest comment I've heard in the game, that you're never as good as you think you are and you're never as bad as you think you are. It's very true.'
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'Last year, they stayed on a roll, now they're on a roll the other way and have to get off it. You're torn between a tactical adjustment and staying with what you've done in the past and hope they don't find those little holes that they found in Game 1,' said MacTavish.
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Last year, the Oilers were so suffocatingly good killing penalties, it didn't matter that they took 70 over their 25 games. They killed off 66 of them. They demoralized Los Angeles, Dallas and Florida, with only Vancouver breaking through with three in their series. This spring, the Oilers are suffering.
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'I remember when I was coaching, I would be saying, 'Stay out of the box.' Every time I addressed it, we would take a bunch. Finally, I stopped mentioning it. It was counterproductive,' said MacTavish, who got the Oilers to Game 7 of the finals in 2006 against Carolina.
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MacTavish absolutely knows that people on the penalty kill are 'really subjected to the bounce and the puck luck … nobody kills at the rate the Oilers did last year where they were obviously fortunate in the bounces and this year it's the opposite.'
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'For me, there was nothing really technically that the Oilers did wrong in defending. Wasn't like they didn't win draws or couldn't get the puck out. When they analyze it today, I don't think there's too many tactical adjustments to make with the exception of getting Skinner to see it better.'
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'They miss (Mattias) Ekholm on the penalty kill. He's one of the best in the league, if not at the top,' said MacTavish.
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Yes we know your goalie has to be your best penalty-killer, so you can probably dig in on Stuart Skinner, who has now given up eight power-play goals on 23 power-play shots in his four losses this playoff season, with two in L.A. in Round 1, one in Edmonton to the Golden Knights, one now in Dallas to the Stars.