Edmonton must be able to intensify its play in early-night conference finals against Colorado if it pleases for the first time in sixteen years in the Stanley Cup finals.
Jesse Puljujärvi, 24, could not have hit a sweeter place on Friday. Calgary had already advanced to a 2-0 lead in the fifth match of the series and was returning to Edmonton when the away team awoke. Defender Darnell Nursen After the narrowing hit, Puljujärvi emerged, scoring the biggest goal of his career so far.
At the end of the force attack, the Finnish power pier in Edmonton struck an empty goal from the back of the loose disc: 2–2.
Paint was important to Puljujärvi personally. The winger, who operated in a small role throughout the spring, has not made his offensive play roll in the best way, but in recent matches there have been signs of a new arrival in the air.
Puljujärvi has dared to stay more in the puck and has started to feel more at risk in the offensive game.
Puljujärvi aired his second hit in the playoffs wildly and openly.
– It felt really good to score a goal for a long time and especially when the match was still won. Good thing I got the goal done, being able to help even through the team, not just with the workload. Through offensive gaming, I have also tried to gain more self-confidence here, Puljujärvi told Sport on his day off.
Puljujärvi, who also played in the bottom chains in the opening round, was promoted back to the top chains in the finished series. Now the Oulu player was playing in the second Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hymanin alongside. On the other hand, there is still no responsibility in special situations, which keeps ice ages small.
Equally, from the Los Angeles series, the Puljujärvi ice age average rose by one and a half minutes to eleven.
– Gradually I started to get more playing time. All you can do here is try to use your strengths: skate, tackle, fight and shoot. I try to help as well as I can, be positive and just enjoy the trip.
Make the package tighter
Despite the victory and the goal, Edmonton and its second-round chain must be able to do even better in the future. The Puljujärvi chain won 2-1 in the Calgary series, but was otherwise too frequent. For example, the top three finishers in the top three lost a blunt 3-10.
The trend as a team was the same.
Calgary won the series with shots and scores, but a weak goalkeeper game and an inability to control Edmonton’s hot top players watered down dreams of victory. However, the fact that the Oilers also scored a lot of goals in the series, as many as four matches, could drown behind Edmonton’s victory celebrations.
The defense seen against Colorado is not enough to win.
– That’s right. We need to defend better and stay even better inside the game. That is what makes us even better. If you are not able to score as many goals in all games yourself, you will be able to play for victory by patiently defending. That’s what it is at this point, Puljujärvi line.
So far, Edmonton has succeeded in attacking. Just a German star Leon Draisaitl drummed an incredible 17 points in five games in the Calgary series, 3.4 per match. By far the best player in the playoffs, Connor McDavidin the balance was recorded at 3 + 9.
In total, the duo has made 52 power points incomprehensible in 12 playoffs.
– Yes, that series decided that our number one guys were really good. They scored a lot of goals, and the Calgary defense couldn’t match it. The rest of us then defended better than Calgary. That’s where it turned, Puljujärvi sees.
The splendor of superstars has also raised the levels of self-confidence of the collective. Known for his volatile mindset, Edmonton has been a mentally tough and really tenacious team so far in the playoffs. In the second game against Calgary, it rose from 0-2 and 1-3 loss positions.
In the four-game game, it lost the lead to 3-0, but was still able to rise again. It was 0–2 and 3–4 in the cut-off.
In the midst of all the intoxication, however, everyday life soon strikes Edmonton’s face as the resistance hardens at a rapid pace. Advancing to the conference finals from the middle division, Colorado is perhaps the series ’biggest winner favorite, rolling its way in the second round of the championship combination of a couple of years ago in St. Louis.
– You can see how others are trying to respond to making top players. The team is currently relying on this job to be trusted. You guys pull with a lot of self-confidence and we know that if we play well, it will produce. That is what has been the case so far and will be continued. We have a really good chance here.