Four games in and we are feeling… uneasy. Nervous, maybe? Disappointed, perhaps? Hard to tell really. Inconclusive, even, when you weigh in all the information. Maybe we could bring in a collective therapist with no line of sight to who we are and the current state of our situation to make a decisive call. Yeah, that would solve everything.

Puck circumference and vision tests aside, there has been a lot to talk about over the first week of postseason hockey for the Edmonton Oilers. Connor McDavid is hobbled, the team can’t seem to kill a penalty, and while we love a Kasperi Kapanen and Vasily Podkolzin show, it cannot be the headliner with the firepower on this team.

The Oilers now sit on the brink of bowing out early for the first time in multiple years. Full credit to an Anaheim team that has all the youth, skill, and wherewithal to take advantage of the low-pressure position they are in.

The script (not a literal script, chill out) has completely flipped. An Oilers power play that has been lethal for years has gone relatively quiet across the series, and the Ducks are whipping the puck around with the man advantage like their forefathers, Charlie Conway and Adam Banks. The blue line of the Ducks, which was supposed to be leaky, has looked pretty solid while the Oilers are struggling and have been caved in in their own zone.

But all hope is not lost. This team has shown their ability to flip a switch and rally back from big playoff holes, and it is time to do it again. Game 5 on Monday, diaper up.

Charles freaking Bonnet. That’s right, you know him, and some of you love him. We are speaking, of course, of the Genevan naturalist and philosophical writer who did most of his most prominent work in the 1700’s. Much of his work focused on caterpillars, butterflies, and aphids, sure. We all know THAT stuff and have no problem with it – he’s Charles Bonnet, the guy can do no wrong. Except when he does, in fact, do wrong.

In 1760, while observing his 87-year-old grandfather, Bonnet discovered what is now referred to as Charles Bonnet Syndrome. A phenomenon in which people who experience visual impairment or loss hallucinate complex visual representations of what they cannot physically see. So, essentially, their mind makes up what they can’t actually see based on memory or external stimuli.

Sounds a little far-fetched to me! Maybe our guy Bonnet made it up (he didn’t). Maybe while working with his fancy plants and insects, he found a way to give his grandfather some super sight power (again, he didn’t — that’s nuts), and MAYBE ol’ Bonnet is still alive today (he isn’t) and found Jake Brenk and François St-Laurent before Sunday’s game and imbued him with the same abilities (no, what are you even talking about?).

Bonnet, you, my friend, are the Chump of the Week.

Daisy: We welcome you into another edition of The Panel. Today’s topic is the Oilers’ extremely lacklustre penalty kill and the impact it is having on this series. Mr. Todd, why don’t you start things off?

Todd: Yeah, thanks Charles. You’re looking great, by the way, really slimming down.

Daisy: Uh, thanks?

Todd: Anyways, the Oilers’ penalty kill is humming along at a brutal 6-for-12, a 50 per cent clip. Unacceptable even with the firepower and two balanced units that the Ducks have. There needs to be a way to tighten up that system and keep pucks out of the net.

Daisy: So, what is it that is causing so many high danger chances? How do they fix the penalty kill?

Todd: I think it is a mix of a few things. Attention to detail, reaction time, and speed are all contributors. But most of all, I think it is the system they play, paired with those other things, that is causing the most damage.

Daisy: And what system is that?

Todd: Well, they shifted from the Wedge +1 system that was so valuable at deterring the super popular 1-3-1 power play setups that so many teams use now and adopted a slightly more traditional 2-2 box/diamond. They have been exposed by this shift for most of the year, and it has gotten exponentially worse in this first round. This system opens up those bumper positions, where Gauthier and others are getting prime looks, and leaves the four guys on the ice and whoever is in net super vulnerable. On top of it, it looks to me that they are in a weird middle ground where they are pseudo-selling out to pressure the puck but not doing it with enough pace and urgency to make the sell-out worth it. As a result, the Ducks have been given time to react and find openings because the penalty killers aren’t closing lanes quickly enough.

Daisy: Interesting. King-size, what is your take? In agreement?

Jackson: Yeah, absolutely. And just to picky-back on that –

Daisy: I think you mean piggy.

Todd: Kinda like you a few months ago!

Daisy: My good god. Will you shut up?

Jackson: Sorry, piggy-back. It is too late in the season and in this series, I think, to completely change a whole special teams system. I think they stick with the 2-2 box but focus on closing lanes with sticks and getting in shooting lanes. That has to be the focus. Kind of like exactly what the Ducks have been doing with their exceptional stick work. And another thing, on the topic of selling out, if my wife tells me that I am a “sell-out” because I allow Save-on-Foods to tattoo their Score and Win rules and terms on my torso to pay for a year of groceries and threatens to leave me because she can’t “look at me” any more, she is crazy, right?

Daisy: Okay, so a few solid points and then something so ridiculous we are all dumber for having heard it. Seems about right. And also seems like a good place to end our segment. This has once again been both incredibly frustrating and yet, kind of, helpful. Thank you all for watching, and we will see you next week.

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