EDMONTON — Before this series began, Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle boldly predicted the Oilers would be “whining” about how his Ducks cheat in the faceoff circle. The Oilers may be, privately, but let the record show that the first public complaints came from Carlyle himself, when he said the referees are giving Connor McDavid “the white-glove treatment” in this series.
“To me, it seems like there is somewhat of a white-glove treatment for Mr. McDavid,” Carlyle told reporters on Tuesday. “The restrictions on anybody touching him seem to be a little bit higher than normal. It’s fact. Simple. We review the tape numerous times.”
Asked about those comments Wednesday morning, Oilers coach Todd McLellan quipped: “I thought we were supposed to be the team whining?”
“There are two, three, maybe four players in the league … that have to play through that hooking, holding, mauling,” said McLellan. “Not just (in the playoffs) but all year long. Yeah, they do draw some penalties. When it’s all said and done you probably could double that total.
“The white-glove comment? I think that’s questioning the integrity of the officiating, so I’ll stay out of it.”
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The referees in Game 4 are veterans Dan O’Halloran and Chris Lee. The series supervisor, to whom Carlyle has no doubt made his thoughts heard, is former NHL zebra Don Van Massenhoven.
McDavid has gone out of his way not to whine about calls or complain about the level of checking he sees, and for the most part has been successful through his first two seasons.
“If that’s what he thinks, that’s what he thinks,” McDavid said of Carlyle. “I think the ref is going to call the game as he sees it. That’s what every ref would do. That’s how they’re taught to ref; that’s their job. They’re only human. They can only call the game as they see it.”
Set Play
Anaheim scored 25 seconds into Game 3 on a perfect set play, the likes of which are practiced by every team, but only work to that level of perfection a handful of times each season.
Ryan Kesler cleanly won a defensive draw back to the right defenceman Brandon Montour. Ryan Getzlaf retreated to take the pass that went low across the Ducks zone, while winger Andrew Cogliano sprinted to the near bench door. At the perfect time, Rickard Rackell jumped off the far end of the Anaheim bench — behind the Oilers defence — bolted towards the Edmonton goal and took the home run pass from Getzlaf, scoring on the breakaway.
It was poetry.
“I never skated that hard to sit on the bench,” laughed Cogliano, “but hey — I made that play. I didn’t get the plus, but I made it.”
“When I saw Kes win it clean, snap it back, in my head I was like, ‘Hey, this might work,’” said Cogliano. “There are maybe three guys in the league who can make that pass. If you don’t have Getzy feathering that (pass), I don’t know if it’s going to happen.”
Big Game
Truth be told, they’ve played nine periods of hockey in this second round series and the Anaheim Ducks have won at least five, maybe six of them. That Edmonton is ahead 2-1 in games has much to do with goalie Cam Talbot stealing Game 2 with 39 saves, and that lucky Adam Larsson winner (off Josh Manson’s shin pad) in Game 1.
“We have to put together a good game here tonight,” McDavid said. “Even if we don’t win we have to show we can play with them, dominate them. This is a huge swing game — 2-2 is a huge difference from 3-1.”
In a way, we’re getting into Corsi territory when we talk about who has played better, as opposed to the ultimate number come playoff time: Who has more wins.
“We’re up 2-1. It really doesn’t matter who’s had more shots or who’s outplayed who,” centre Mark Letestu said. “We feel we can play better, but if we outplay them and they win, it’s all for naught.”
Lineup Change
Corey Perry is in tonight, reunited with Getzlaf on the first line alongside Rakell. Patrick Eaves, seen in a walking boot these past few days, is out of the lineup. Kevin Bieksa (knee) also will not play for Anaheim, while Edmonton’s lineup looks to be the same.
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