January 19, 2021 /

2020-21 Edmonton Oilers GM4 Review: The Habs Are Legit

Let’s talk about the game though. Here are some of my observations in no order whatsoever,

  • It was a much better start to this game than the previous one. Edmonton looked competitive up until the goal from Romanov.
  • I don’t know what was said during the 1st intermission, but it zapped all of the mojo from the Oilers…
  • Tyson Barrie had himself quite a performance. Bringing the puck out of Edmonton’s end, he was caught twice with open-ice checks by a Montreal forechecker. How does that even happen?
  • Connor McDavid has turned up the physicality this season. I like it. He was credited with three hits and only one shot on net (???).
  • Loving Puljujarvi’s work ethic and never quit attitude this season, but we might have to do something about his stick. I don’t know if he’s using a new one or trying out some new changes with his old one, but we can’t have him whiffing on shots like that. The Oilers need those chances to hit the net!
  • Every game this season, this team has allowed more than 30 shots. It’s killing them. I was under the distinct impression that adding all of these skilled players and puck-moving defensemen would result in the Oilers spending less time in their own zone. It’s painfully obvious that is not the case against teams that are built for the playoffs like Montreal and to a lesser extent, Vancouver. I shudder to think about what the games against Calgary and Ottawa are going to look like.
  • They call it the sophomore slump for a reason. Ethan Bear and Caleb Jones are heading into their second full seasons in the NHL and it’s not going well for them right now, so I fully support Coach Tippett scratching them as do I support the bag skate that defense coach Jim Playfair put them through yesterday morning.
  • On the other hand, I am a bit concerned with the expectations some have of those two young men. Sure, Bear and Jones did well last year, that doesn’t mean that they automatically qualify to get slotted up another level though.
  • Realistically, Jones should be on the 3rd pair and Bear should be on the 2nd pair for at least one more season. After two years, one can confidently look at the results and green light that promotion if earned.
  • Lagesson was decent, but it’s pretty clear that he’s a no.7 in the NHL right now. He needs reps and I don’t think he’s going to get them in Edmonton, to be honest. I was taken aback a little when I heard he was going to draw into the lineup instead of Evan Bouchard though.
  • Kyle Turris was a little bit better but I don’t know if I’m the only one who noticed that he gets on the wrong side of the puck carrier a bit when the other team has possession. It allows the opponent to simply rotate his body, protect the puck, and move it on to a teammate.
  • Did you catch that glimpse of the old Zack Kassian? Josh Anderson smoked him on the near-side boards as Kass was getting the puck into MTL’s zone and as the play moved behind the Habs’ net Kassian picked up speed, got Anderson onto the railroad tracks (because he knew the new Canadien would be getting the puck as he pressured the defense from behind) and ran him right over. Good stuff. I’d like to see more.
  • Does anybody know what in Sam’s Hell the Oilers powerplay was doing all night? 0-7?! I get regressing to the mean… But that’s a bit ridiculous.
  • This team’s best players, amongst the best on the entire planet, couldn’t figure out how to use Tyson Barrie after watching their cross-seam passes get cut off time after time or the net-front jam play with Alex Chiasson get stymied over and over… Is it ego or are they really not that smart? Bob Stauffer always likes to say that the best players share…
  • For what it’s worth, the second PP unit looked better than the first…
  • Speaking of Stauffer, during the post-game wrap-up and then again on Twitter he said this team is a work in progress. That prompted this reply from long-time Boston-based Oilers fan and blogger, Alex Thomas,

  • A friend on Twitter quipped that considering how poorly Edmonton’s best players are playing right now, just think how good they’ll be when they’re in form…
  • Devin Shore is really growing on me. I like the meat and potatoes game he brings to the ice. I liked Archibald on his wing. Now to see if James Neal can help out there when he returns. I love Chiasson, but he’s not really meeting my expectations.
  • Yamamoto continues to impress with his aggressive hounding of the puck. I think I heard Stauffer say he’s +20 since being recalled last season… He’s the anti-Yak.
  • Adam Larsson only played 13 minutes… If that’s not an eardrum-breaking message being sent by the coaching staff, I don’t know what is.
  • Edmonton’s defense outshot its top-six forwards 12-8… I haven’t checked the passing stats mind you…
  • Mikko Koskinen kept losing track of the puck. I think on no fewer than three instances, the Canadiens put the puck on him and he couldn’t find it. Whether it’d bounced behind him or whatever, I saw him look absolutely lost at times in this one, but at other times, he was Edmonton’s saving grace.
  • I don’t think the Oilers should be ashamed to lose against this Montreal team. They are very good and are built for playoff hockey. The kind of hockey that is actually being played right now and will continue to be played until the Stanley Cup is awarded… Maybe this wasn’t the year to build a team full of skillers?
  • I reckon that it might be futile to get all worked up over a 1-3-0 start to the year for the Oilers. I think there’s a better team here but for whatever reason, they don’t know how to come into the season prepared and ready to go. So it could be reasonable to suggest that they’ll make up the lost points later on in the year. The worry is that they don’t wait too long to get their sea legs.

My Three Stars:

  1. Mikko Koskinen – If it weren’t for him, the game would’ve been 6-0 by the time the 3rd period started.
  2. Kris Russell – Solid veteran performance, exactly as expected. Rocked the PK as well as the PP (to everyone’s surprise). Two shots, two hits, and a blocked shot in 20 minutes of TOI. That shot that clanged off the crossbar late in the game would’ve been nice had it been a couple of inches lower.
  3. Joakim Nygard – He’s really coming on. He was an excellent disruptor last night with his speed and tenacious play on the puck. He might’ve found a home on the third line with Turris and Puljujarvi. They had a really good chance early in the game that came from a result of Nygard’s hard work in the muck along the boards and behind the net.

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CategoriesArmchair GM Beer League Hero Edmonton Oilers NHL

TagsEdmonton Oilers Montreal Canadiens NHL

Beer League Hero Written by:

I'm the Beer League Hero! I am from Camrose, Alberta but I make my home in Taipei City, Taiwan. I've been through the ups and downs and the highs and the Lowes, the Bonsignores and the McDavids, the Sathers and the Eakins but I'll never leave my Oilers, no matter what! They're with me until the end and then some. GO OILERS GO!