Well I’m back after a much need layoff. It was not a lovely holiday in the BLH household. Sickness got to all of us and it sucked major arse to be honest. But let’s not dwell on that, I’m itching to talk some HAWKAY!
The previous meeting between the Edmonton Oilers and the Carolina Hurricanes resulted in a loss for the Oilers to the tune of 4-1 and that was a flattering scoreline. The Hurricanes manhandled the Oilers on that November evening and they were a handful again…
Truth be told, this was one of the most boring games I’ve ever seen and I lived through the Jacques Lemaire coaching era… ‘Twas fawking brutal. But this is the way that the Bill Peters led Carolina Hurricanes are finding success and a hat tip to them. Would you care if the Oilers were winning games but were horrible to watch? I might.
I’m concerned with the lack of scoring coming from the top six. Hall’s line and Nuge’s line were very noticeable but they couldn’t manage to tickle the twine against the lunch pail gang of defencemen Carolina was sending out. The team is averaging 2 goals FOR per game over the last 10 games. NOT GOOD.
On another note Rob Klinkhammer was back! I love what he does out there on the ice. He can skate and he can play an in-your-face game that Edmonton sorely lacks. It can’t be Hendricks providing the sandpaper game after game. I think that Khaira and Klinkhammer should get a bit more ice time personally. They’re big bodies that open up space for the skillers.
I got into it on Twitter regarding Justin Schultz and Darnell Nurse with a follower who is a pretty good guy but unfortunately seems to be a Schultz apologist. Yes, Schultz’s underlying numbers are decent but on the ice he’s not contributing apart from his lateral passes. If his only plus is being a guy that can make a pass then I’m sorry, he’s not worth $4M per year because there are others that could be had for cheaper that can bring more to the rink.
There was a point in the game (screen cap below) where Justin Schultz was for whatever reason sitting in between the hash marks in front of his own net and Carolina had the puck behind the Oilers’ net with enough time to grill a steak well done before Schultz reacted and got his ass in gear and back into position.
The gentleman I was debating with’s position was focusing on Darnell Nurse and why HE is out of position. I just thought that Nurse was taking the man who had the puck. Reacting to the situation on the ice, right? Well needless to say the debate went on for a while with it ending in sarcastic laughter. Meh.
I’m of the opinion (A majority one at that!) that Schultz is not a player that will be with the Oilers come next season perhaps come the trade deadline. I also believe that Brad Hunt is performing much better than Schultz and brings more to the table than #19. He’s replaced Schultz on the PP and for good reason. Versus the Hurricanes Justin Schultz only played 47 seconds of special teams deployment.
I like Hunt’s offense, he can move the puck, he’s physical, and he’s adept at taking the puck away. Plus he’s got some personality. Hunt is a guy you could def. sit down and have a beer with. The downside is he’s lacking in the positioning department.
All that said, Hunt had 5 shots, 2 hits and 2 PIM in 17:37 TOI versus the Hurricanes. He led the team in shots. But that pales in comparison to what Rej Sekera put up:
1 goal
4 shots
3 hits
3 blocks
2 takeaways
2 giveaways
How about that Cam Talbot? First shutout of the year and is he ever playing some decent hockey lately? 28 saves from 28 shots against Carolina feels pretty good, right? He’s got a .961 Sv% in his last three games and is looking to have recaptured the starter’s job in Edmonton. Is he coming around now?
How about them post-game metrics? (Carolina is ranked 7th in my fancy stats rankings, so no surprise that they out-shot the Oilers.) Sekera looked like he had some jump to his game. More jump, more often, is what I say.
DOH! I knew I was forgetting something when I posted. It’s all up now! Sekera’s stat line was fantasy gold!