My dad used to have a saying when he saw anybody have a poor performance be it at hockey or otherwise. He’d call it a dog’s breakfast and then follow that up by calling the player a candyass and that’s sort of how I feel about the Oilers’ game against the Wild right now. Save for two players, Coach Tippett iced a lot of candyasses and the whole effort was a dog’s breakfast. The question is, why?
What has happened to Edmonton’s offense? Everybody was crying about their secondary offense, but what about the primary scorers? They’ve gone nearly 160 minutes without a goal and that includes a shootout! I’m not going to say I warned you, but if you’re a regular reader, you may have read something to the effect that the floor was going to fall out sooner or later and boy, has it ever. Guess what, it’s not getting easier with Washington coming to town next.
Once again the Oilers allowed the opposition to fire away from point-blank range while they were content to drift in point shots for the most part.
Of course, that wasn’t the only problem for them. They couldn’t make a tape-to-tape pass for the life of them. The powerplay looked like it was the very first time those players had played together, nobody was winning any board battles, and this team simply got caught running around in its own zone too many times. The effort really looked like something out of the McLellan era.
It wasn’t all bad, just 95% of the game. I loved Archibald’s hit that took Jordan Greenway out of the game and I was impressed with Brandon Manning’s effort. Especially on that drive to the net that took out Dubnyk. I hope that Devan is okay. His head really bounced off the ice on that play. Ryan Donato owes him big… Lastly, Mike Smith was once again the Oilers’ saving grace. This game could’ve got embarrassing on the scoreboard if not for the veteran goaltender and I don’t think he can be blamed for any of the three goals that Minnesota scored.
Knowing that a couple of key players in Nygard and Larsson will be back at some point and the record being a more than respectable 7-2-1, is it too early to start making roster changes?
An easier route might be to call someone up from Bakersfield, but they’re not really playing so great at the moment either. I’d leave those boys down there as they’ve got six games in the next two weeks.
Keep an eye on Carolina though. Their farm team just signed NHL vet Jamie McGinn to a PTO. That could possibly mean they want to see if he can perform well enough to trade one of their wingers and we know that Jesse Puljujarvi and Julien Gauthier (4g in 4gp for Charlotte) have had their names in the rumor mill since the summer if not longer. Is Gauthier the guy to help Edmonton’s bottom-six scoring though and is Carolina the only team calling Ken Holland about Pulju?
Dreger also says the Boston Bruins are looking for a Top 9 forward, thinks they would look at someone like Ho-Sang or Puljujarvi. #NHLBruins
Adds Mikko Rantanen’s injury looks like it will be week-to-week. Team is expected to reveal his status tomorrow. (2/2) #GoAvsGo https://t.co/3mMXu7BT5R
— NHL News/Rumors (@puck_report2) October 22, 2019
Game Grades
A – Multiple positive plays offensively and defensively leading to excellent scoring chances for and/or limiting scoring chances against.
B – Positively influenced the game with limited minor or major mistakes that didn’t lead to dangerous scoring chances against.
C – Low event night. Noticed on the roster sheet but not so much on the ice.
D – Limited positive influence while multiple errors lead to multiple goals and/or scoring chances.
F – Ate sh*t. Horrid effort.
Josh Archibald – C – That hit on Greenway was sublime. Everything else, not so much. Did get a chance on the 2nd line with Draisaitl and Nuge in the third period mind you.
Tomas Jurco – D – He was asserting himself physically and did have a shot that was blocked. However, that’s about the extent of his impact.
Markus Granlund – C – He was THAT close to potting a rebound early in the game but that’s about it.
Matt Benning – D – One of the more engaged Oilers on the night. Three shots, three hits, and three blocked shots in 13:49 of TOI.
Kris Russell – D – It was back to the old Russell in this one. The Wild forecheck had Russell making extended use of the glass and boards when clearing the zone.
Patrick Russell – D – In the third, he found himself promoted to the top line with McDavid and Neal. Good on him, but I don’t think that’s where he’s going to be the most effective. Nobody can ever question this guy’s effort though. Three shots and three blocks in a defensive effort. At 5×5, was on the ice for 5 shots for and only one against. He’s exactly the kind of player you want in your bottom six.
Jujhar Khaira – D – Oh boy… Minnesota had their way with JJ. He could not get a single thing going and his decision making has been puzzling lately. On more than one occasion, he stayed out a bit longer than he should’ve and became a liability to his teammates.
Riley Sheahan – D – This was Sheahan’s first really bad night for Edmonton. In the past, we could look beyond his lack of offense because at the other end of the ice he was performing well. A -27.08 CF% rel is a shocking stat, but he still performed on the faceoff dot (60%), so that’s a plus.
Brandon Manning – B – Every now and then you need an old school honest effort and tonight that’s what this gentleman gave his team. He knows he’s not as skilled as his teammates, but he doesn’t give a sh*t. He goes out and gives it his all. I’m not giving him a B-grade because he created so many chances or limited them in his own zone, I’m giving him that grade because he was one of two players who looked like they wanted to turn this game around.
Oscar Klefbom – D – A team-high 25:12 minutes of ice-time for the Super Swede. He also managed three shots on the net, but for whatever reason was having a tough go moving that puck. Whether that was because the forwards weren’t coming back to gather it or because Minny just had Edmonton’s number, I’ll leave that for more important people to figure out. He was on the ice for five shots for and 12 against at 5-on-5.
Alex Chiasson – D – He’s cooled right off. Tippett saw this and moved him to the 4th line in the 3rd where I noticed a distinct upgrade in effort.
James Neal – D – No shots eh… Well, that’s not going to work going forward. He’s got to find a way to discover that soft ice. Not sure I liked him on McDavid’s wing, the game doesn’t flow for those two like it does for Leon and Connor. That being said, he did have three hits in this one. So he’s still trying to get things going when the offense isn’t.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – C – 75% on the dot and a post hit when Stalock came in. Not as gritty tonight I found. He was the best of the three big boys though.
Ethan Bear – D – It was a down game for Bear. The Wild’s vets had him in knots. Got switched with Russell in the third and that didn’t work. Hopefully, he takes the lessons taught to him by the likes of Parise, Koivu, Zucker, and Staal and learns from them. Washington is no joke and if he thought those old Wild players made him look silly, the Capitals will make a Netflix special out of him.
Darnell Nurse – D – Tough break on Hunt’s goal. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. He was one of many that just didn’t have it. The puck jumping around for him and he was caught out of position on a number of instances.
Zack Kassian – D – Early on, I barely noticed him. In the third, when the game was all but lost, he started to pick up the intensity. I imagine that had a little to do with being taken out of the top-six.
Leon Draisaitl – D – Had a Volkswagen tied to his ass this whole game. Maybe, just maybe, playing him 27 minutes a night has come home to bite the Oilers coaching staff in the ass? On 19:55 on this night and a paltry 30% on the faceoffs. I’m hoping an evening or two in his own bed will refill his energy stores because Niklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Lars Eller are going to be his opposition next.
Connor McDavid – D – Three. Games. In. A. Row. With. No. Points. John Carlson, a defenseman for Washington, has surpassed him in the NHL scoring race… Connor had nothing in this game. He was a non-factor as the Wild must’ve watched what Winnipeg had done with the Oilers because it was a near-perfect emulation of that defensive tactic. Keep him to the outside and rough him up a bit, right? Where’s the eye of the tiger, Connor?
Mike Smith – B – Thank the hockey gords the Oilers signed this man. I do wonder if there’s any paint left on the walls in the Oilers locker room after this one though. That save off of Jason Zucker’s breakaway was fantastic!
When skill fails to show up, what are you left with? You’d better hope that it’s work ethic. This is what I mean when there’s all this talk about overloading the offense by signing an $11M Taylor Hall. Unfortunately against the Wild, nobody showed up. The lunch pail gang stayed home too and that’s a problem because the goaltenders and cagey vets are only going to put up with this for so long.
Stats courtesy of NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick
