J.T. Miller could be the inspiration the Edmonton Oilers need to defend against the Vancouver Canucks better.
EDMONTON -- It's time for the rubber to meet the road.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TWbJOomFms[/embed]
The Edmonton Oilers are on the brink of elimination - and will have their backs up against the wall going back home for Game six tomorrow night against the Vancouver Canucks. In Game five they were outplayed for 40 minutes and came away with the loss.
The Oilers are one loss away from the end of a rollercoaster season. They went from 31st overall to tying the record for longest win streak ever in the NHL's history - to then making it to the second round of the playoffs.
Ultimately, last night they were out-worked, but they can't let Saturday night hold the same result. They need to be better - everyone on the bench knows that.
One way they could potentially be better is defending. While their defending hasn't been poor - when it's the playoffs they should always be concerned with elevating their play.
That's where J.T. Miller comes in.
Miller has been exceptional at defending against Connor McDavid in this series. In fact, McDavid doesn't have a single even strength point when going head to head with Miller. How does he do it?
I think the clip below aptly shows what Miller does well.
Perhaps it's time for every Oilers' forward to go to the "Miller's School of Defending" and literally hang off of every player who enters the Oilers' zone.
Apparently it's not a penalty - so what's the worst that could happen?
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VUAjpcxiso[/embed]
The Oilers enter a must-win scenario on Saturday night, and need to do whatever they can to win.
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