Here we sit, roughly 15 minutes before game number nine of the season and I can’t help but think about how much things have changed. We all knew that Connor was a true phenom and would change the Oilers all by himself but how many predicted that the change would be so dramatic and fast? I sure as hell did not! I expected improvement but not top of the western conference 10% of the way through the year.
After two shut-outs in the last three games I think the vast majority of Oiler fans are expecting another win tonight for the guys and if I was inclined to disagree, I’m not, by the way, I would be hard pressed to mount much of an argument in my favor.
I’m not expecting a blowout but I do think Edmonton is clearly the better team here and will win the 6th straight game to finish October with an 8-1 record. We are about two and a half hours from finding out either way! Craig Andersen returned to the Senators line-up after taking a short leave of absence to be with his ill wife. Best of luck to both of them as they continue through treatment and recovery.
Through the first twenty minutes the Oilers and Senators have not managed to bulge the twine in either net. In the period the Oilers were the better team for the most part. Except when they had the man advantage. Only managing two shots in six minutes of power-play time. On the plus side, the Oilers lead in shots, 7 to 4, in hits, 9 to 8, and are killing it in the face-off circle going 12-3 in the opening frame.
Connor, as always, had a couple good moments in the period. First, he stormed through basically the entire Senators team, going around Erik Karlsson-like he was standing still for a wrap around attempt. Then later in the period he drew the third power-play when he caught Derrick Brassard flat-footed in the neutral zone and made a nice move to the inside. That forced Brassard to take the hooking penalty.
Only other item of note in the first was a very minor fight between Zach Kassian and Mark Borowiecki. Wouldn’t say there was a winner or loser but Kassian was the only one to land a punch in the fight… Still goes down as a disappointing draw.
The second period proved little better as far as game action was concerned. The Nuge made a fantastic move that I am still not quite sure how he pulled off. He had two defenders all over him and he still managed to extract himself and the puck for a clear straight shot on the net. Unfortunately for the Oilers that was their best chance of the middle frame.
Ottawa scored the only goal of the game near the mid-way mark of the middle period off of some nice board work from Kyle Turris and Tom Pyatt. The result was a fantastic behind the back out front of the Oiler net to Mike Hoffman who beat Talbot short side to light the lamp.
The second ended with little else happening in the way of action and the Oilers went into the third period trailing for the first time this season, excluding the blow-out loss to Buffalo back in game three.
I read somewhere a few weeks back, I believe from Lowetide, that there are 25 games you will win no matter what and 25 you will lose no matter what. The rest are what make the difference between the play-offs and golfing early. Last night’s was one of the 25 that you lose no matter what.
Edmonton clearly was the better team on the night but there was zero chance that anything was getting past Craig Andersen in his first game back. The Oilers fired a ton of rubber at him in the third but to no avail. This was pre-destined. Andersen was on fire and when he did seem to be in some kind of trouble his defense cleared the puck out of danger quickly.
Hard to get too down on the game when Edmonton was playing fairly well against the boring trap coached Senators but it just wasn’t in the stars last night. Thankfully the next game is against the much-maligned Toronto Maple Leafs and I fully expect the Oilers to come out flying. Especially Connor McDavid, who will likely be playing in front of a lot of friends and family, after being held off the score sheet last night for the third time. I almost feel bad for what he will do to his hometown team tomorrow night.
The thing that fans need to remember is that one game does not make a season. We still have 73 left to go and there will be losses. Of that, we can be sure. How the guys respond Tuesday is the next big test for us. What happens Oilers fans? Let us know in the comments!
This is my first post in a very long time, and what better way to get back in the groove than recapping the action from the second round of the battle of Alberta? I am stoked for the new beginning that the season brings and I feel some genuine enthusiasm for the first time in a long time. We all know the moves that were made throughout the off season so no need to cover old material. I intend to write this post period by period, meaning that I will do the write up as the game takes place. So if you are expecting the final score in the first paragraph that isn’t going to be happening tonight. Back with more after the first period ends folks.
*Just a quick note before the puck drop. The opening night show at Roger’s was much better than what I’d seen from the Flames organization. Looked like a 90’s laser show… Really disappointing after the amazing show on the ice at the Oilers new digs. Although the short moment of the silence for recently deceased former Alberta Premier, Jim Prentice was a nice touch.*
FIRST PERIOD
The Flames came out flying as was to be expected and opened the scoring a little under two minutes into the period to take the 1 to 0 lead. Both teams were getting their chances and it has been fast and furious for the first 10 minutes of the period. Our savior, Captain Connor nearly tied the game on a partial break but was foiled by Brian Elliot on not one but two shots. A few minutes later Connor went in on a clear breakaway and this time did not disappoint the Oilers faithful going top shelf glove side on Elliot with a beauty of a backhand shot.
Oilers have been vastly outshot to this point of the period but have started to control the play a fair bit more than at the start of the period. And just like that the Flames storm back and regain the lead off of a shot from Frolik that Talbot clearly didn’t see until it was coming out of his net. Benoit Pouliot took the first penalty of the game, being called for interference with right around eight minutes remaining in the period.
The penalty kill was up to the challenge however and never looked to be in serious damage of giving up the goal. Nice to have Anton Lander in the game tonight if for no other reason than his PK and face-off abilities. With a little under four minutes remaining in the first the Flames are clearly the controlling team thus far in the game and are still out shooting the Oilers by nearly double. At the end of the period, the shots stand at 24 to 12 for the Flames. The game was not nearly as lopsided as the shot totals might indicate however. Cam Talbot played fairly well and seemed to be a little bit calmer than he was in the home opener on Wednesday. I anticipate the Oil will come out a bit hungrier to start the second and this game will go down to the wire people. More after the second.
SECOND PERIOD
To start the second period it looks like McDavid is definitely motivated along with the rest of the team as they come out flying for the first two minutes before a Calgary Flames penalty brought play to a halt. With the man advantage the Oilers did very little and managed only two shots and neither from a dangerous area. Edmonton is really going to have to work on the special teams if they expect to win many games this season. With the firepower this team has, it should be academic for the most part.
The second power play for Edmonton was vastly different from the first attempt tonight and the boys were on point and controlled the puck in the offensive zone for the entire time until Ebs managed to net his second goal of the season, first of the game, from Draisaitl and McDavid. To not be out done, Benoit Pouliot takes his second penalty of the game, yet another bone-headed interference call 200 feet from his own net. For the life of me, I will never understand his habit of taking offensive zone penalties.
The duo of Anton Lander and Mark Letestu look really good on the PK as is expected from bother players. I like seeing Nuge out there short-handed as well as he applies tremendous pressure to the opposition and could end up popping a shortie for us with that style of play. Dennis (ref killer) Wideman tried to draw a third power play with some truly horrendous acting off a Tyler Pitlick and thankfully the refs seen right through that for a change.
The third penalty for the Oilers is another uneventful kill for the most part all things considered and the game remains tied at the halfway point of the second and beyond. Both teams are playing a fast entertaining game to this point and it doesn’t appear that is going to change at any point soon. Nuge has been flying throughout the second and has been one of the more noticeable Oilers not named McDavid. Oilers to the man advantage again and controlled play for the most part during the two minutes but could not manage to light the lamp mostly due to some nice shot blocking by the Flames.
The remainder of the period was fairly uneventful while still remaining up-tempo and physical. Good game by both squads in the middle frame. Looking forward to seeing what Connor and company have in stock for us in the third.
THIRD PERIOD
The third is underway and the Oilers start the same way as in the second. The McDavid line gains control of the puck and controls play in the offensive zone until the first whistle. Effective cycling by the second line leads to the first power play of the third period thanks to Monahan sitting in the sin bin for two minutes or less. The Oilers take their first lead of the game on the power play thanks to some beautiful passing from both Connor and Lucic in setting up Leon Draisaitl for a very easy tap in.
The power play looks vastly different from game one and has been very effective to this point tonight.
Connor is heading to the change room thanks to an errant stick from TJ Brodie. I would imagine he will return after repairs. Didn’t look overly serious. Nuge takes an uncharacteristic penalty and the Flames are headed back to the power play trailing by one.I can’t say enough good things about how good Letestu and Lander have been tonight on the penalty kill. Just really solid defensive zone play from both of them.
Mark Letestu with a tremendous effort as he pokes the puck away from the Flames and heads in on a short-handed breakaway and buries it. Oilers now lead the game 4 to 2 and are rolling, not allowing any shots against on the penalty kill.
Shortly after our favorite player draws a tripping penalty on Mark Giordano but for some insane reason, the ref calls the embellishment diving penalty on Connor. With 34 seconds remaining in the off-setting minors Jordan Eberle takes a neutral zone tripping penalty. Calgary controlling the play with the man advantage but still not generating much in the way of scoring chances.
With less than nine minutes remaining I would expect a lot more urgency from Calgary than what we have seen on this power play. Edmonton kills the penalty and shortly after Calgary scores from the left side when Jokipakka, or whatever his name is, fires a wrist shot off the end of Tyler Pitlick’s stick and over the glove of Talbot. Flames are really coming on at this point and Edmonton is working hard to protect their one goal lead. 4 minutes remaining and the Oil seem to have weathered the storm and the game is back to a bit more back and forth play giving them some
4 minutes remaining and the Oil seem to have weathered the storm and the game is back to a bit more back and forth play giving them some much-needed breathing room. All Flames now with 2:12 to remain and the Oilers are hanging on by the seat of their pants. Talbot still appears quite calm and manages to halt the play, gloving the puck up high off the glass. The Flames have the
All Flames now with 2:12 to remain and the Oilers are hanging on by the seat of their pants. Talbot still appears quite calm and manages to halt the play, gloving the puck up high off the glass. The Flames have the extra attacker with the net empty. Milan Lucic with some fantastic work along the boards to send Leon Draisaitl in alone on the empty net to take back their two-goal lead.
Thanks to some great work on the penalty kill and power play the Oilers win the second installment of the battle. Overall Edmonton played a good game and didn’t get discouraged like in seasons past when the opposition scored to take an early lead. This appears to be a different team but in reality, this was a game against a team that most predict to be out of the playoffs again this season. We will reserve judgment for later next week when we face some stiffer competition but through 120 minutes we are happy fans! On top of having a good couple of games to start the season is the four huge points against a western conference rival! These could be vital come late March and early April. I know that is getting ahead of things but that is big picture thinking. Thinking small picture, the Oilers defense has looked vastly improved over last season, albeit in a very small sample size. The addition of Russel has been awesome so far and he has played very well against his former team through two games. All around the defense just seems steadier and in a lot better position than previously seen. Our forwards are rolling with Connor having back to back three point nights, Leon Draisaitl matched that with three points of his own tonight with two goals and an apple. Next game is Sunday for the season opener for Sportsnet Hometown Hockey against the
On top of having a good couple of games to start the season is the four huge points against a western conference rival! These could be vital come late March and early April. I know that is getting ahead of things but that is big picture thinking. Thinking small picture, the Oilers defense has looked vastly improved over last season, albeit in a very small sample size. The addition of Russel has been awesome so far and he has played very well against his former team through two games. All around the defense just seems steadier and in a lot better position than previously seen. Our forwards are rolling with Connor having back to back three point nights, Leon Draisaitl matched that with three points of his own tonight with two goals and an apple. Next game is Sunday for the season opener for Sportsnet Hometown Hockey against the
Thinking small picture, the Oilers defense has looked vastly improved over last season, albeit in a very small sample size. The addition of Russel has been awesome so far and he has played very well against his former team through two games. All around the defense just seems steadier and in a lot better position than previously seen. Our forwards are rolling with Connor having back to back three point nights, Leon Draisaitl matched that with three points of his own tonight with two goals and an apple. Next game is Sunday for the season opener for Sportsnet Hometown Hockey against the
Next game is Sunday for the season opener for Sportsnet Hometown Hockey against the much-maligned Buffalo Sabres, losing Jack Eichel to a sprained ankle prior to the season opener and Evander Kane cracked three ribs in the season opener. Well, at least the night clubs should be a little quieter with Evander on the mend. Should be a good tilt and hopefully, the good guys can come away with another two points.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvcOg5Sgpxs
MY THREE STARS
Connor McDavid – he led the attack the entire night and was instrumental in the big win.
Leon Draisaitl – Scored twice including one on the power play and an empty netter. Added an assist and was 11 for 16 in the faceoff circle.
Kris Russel – notched his third assist of the early season and was solid defensively all night. A tremendous pickup.
Who are your three stars of the game and how long do you think we can keep the win streak going? let us know in the comments.
Click the pic and grab a 16-bit McDavid tee for the summer!
The 2016 NHL Awards is about to get underway momentarily and I am here to give you the highlights of the show and my take on the winners. This blog will be frequently updated through-out the evening so come back often and get the latest.
Before the show gets started I want to offer up congratulations to Bill Foley and his new Las Vegas franchise! Great stuff, if for no other reason that it should at least guarantee that our beloved Oilers don’t finish dead last again in 2017-18! Superb!
The first award of the evening is the Calder and the award that all the Edmonton Oilers fans are interested! The three finalists are our own, Connor McDavid, Shane Gostisbehere and the senior citizen Artemi Panarin. Of course the award has gone to the old man. Not taking anything away from the season that Panarin had but let’s be serious folks. Connor is the best player to enter the league in over a decade, if not longer!
Don’t worry about it Connor, there is always the Art Ross and Hart trophy you will win next year!
Am I the only one that is completely over Tony X? Good to see the NHL trying to grow the game and bring in new fans but enough is enough as far as I’m concerned! Just let it go people.
Ted Lindsay Award is up now. The three nominees are Patrick Kane, Jamie Benn, and Braden Holtby. If I am voting my choice is Patty Kane folks, and I suspect that will be the final result as well. And the winner is??? Patrick Kane, adding to his already impressive trophy case. Don’t forget folks, Kaner is the Art Ross winner this year as well!
Up next we have magician duo Penn and Teller for what I am not exactly sure. Watching their predictions they are making for the upcoming Las Vegas franchise is painful. Nominees for the GM of the year award are Jim Nill, Jim Rutherford and Washington’s, McLellan. No surprise here folks but Rutherford walks away with the hardware after his team wrapped up the Stanley Cup little over a week ago. Can’t say as this surprises me at all. I’m just thankful that Penn or Teller, whichever one never shuts up, is done talking!
The Bill Masterton trophy is up next. The three nominees this year are recently retired, Pascal Dupuis, Matt Zuccerello and the legendary Jaromir Jagr. Jagr wins! That to me is the first surprise of the evening. Jagr is a tremendous competitor but in my opinion this award was Dupuis’ or Zucc’s. Both returned from possible career ending injury or illness and although Duper retired I think he should have been the one being called on stage.
The Mark Messier leadership award is next. Thankfully it is presented by Moose. The three nominees for the trophy are Alex Ovechkin, Shea Weber, and John Tavares. I have no clue which way this one is going to go and really does anyone care? I mean leadership is tremendous and all but we are here for hockey awards, am I right?
The winner is Shea Weber, captain of the Nashville Predators. I guess at least this way Weber will finally win an award after being nominated for the Norris trophy three times only to lose out on all three occasions.
Moose and Tara Sloane stay on stage and get ready to present the King Clancy trophy for best community involvement or something along those lines. Henrik Sedin is the winner of the award and is obviously quite the humanitarian! Good work Sedin!!!
The NHL foundation player award is next folks. Mark Giordano, Matt Martin and PK Subban are the three nominees. This is another community service award and this years recipient is Mark Giordano! Good on you guys all for your awesome work!
Stay tuned for additional updates through out the evening folks! The awards show will continue!
The second game of the 2015/16 season is in the books and the boys are still in search of their first win. The game was another Western conference match-up The Edmonton Oilers vs Nashville Predators was the second of a three game road-trip to start the season. The game started roughly the same as Thursdays contest with our guys needing the first few minutes to get their legs moving. That is definitely a habit that Todd McLellan and his coaching staff will need to rectify in one heck of a hurry.
In the first period the Oilers were out shot eight to four and couldn’t get a lot going in the offensive zone. This is a trend that I don’t see continuing. Edmonton will eventually find their game and the offense will come. It just depends on how long it is going to take to happen. After the first the Oilers took control of the game for the final forty minutes. They out-shot the Predators 23 to 12 in the final two frames and had the lions share of scoring chances to my eye.
Unfortunately the scoring chances that are important are the two that Nashville managed to convert on. The game winning goal scored late in the second period was one that never should have happened. There is no way that Andrej Sekera should have chosen to use a half-assed hip check instead of playing the puck or taking the body. That goal against is on him entirely, if the team is going to continue to give the opposition free rein in our zone then they are going to make us pay for it.
The second goal was actually even worse than the first. I have two issues with said goal. First why the hell would Ference attempt the rebound off the boards like that instead of just hammering it around the boards to keep it out of the danger area? That is a pretty bad rookie mistake. Secondly what was Todd McLellan thinking when he dressed Ference in the first place? I get that they need to see what he really has left in the tank but what on God’s green earth would possess Todd to take out arguably the best defender we had in-game one in favour of the elder statesman? Can anyone answer me that one?
"Can't ask for more out of him. It (settles us down), you know you have a guy that will bail us out." @6Schultz6 on @ctalbot33's showing
Cam Talbot has arrived as advertised and has kept both games a lot closer than most would have predicted they would be. On every goal he has allowed this season there has been some sort of additional factor that places the blame squarely on someone else’s shoulder. He looks legit and I am very stoked to have him here!
Last game Madison unveiled the Three Beer League Heroes of the game and as such I will continue the trend.
Pekka Rinne – The guy had a 31 save shut-out. What else needs to be said. He is one of the five best goalies in the league and he showed it tonight folks.
Taylor Hall – I know a lot of people have deemed Hallsy as the goat this season but for me he was flying tonight. He had nine shots on the night and nearly set up the equalizer on the waived off RNH goal in the third. He led the team with 24:18 played and had a couple of seconds over six minutes on the power-play.
Filip Forsberg – Scored the second Predators goal on an errant pass from Andrew Ference. At least I think it was supposed to be a pass, not exactly sure what Andy was doing there.
Along with the Three Heroes of the night we are also giving out the much-anticipated golden plunger. This revered porcelain powerhouse is given out to the one player that best exemplified someone going number two.
Tonight I fully want to give this award to Andrew Ference for his complete lapse in judgement that resulted in the second goal against but I am having a very hard time looking past the play of our supposed top defender, Andrej Sekera. We all know that Ference didn’t play well but who really expected him to? Sekera on the other hand was brought in because he was supposed to lead the defense until players like Nurse and Klefbom prove ready to take the reins. The first goal was entirely on him and had he done something other than try a lame attempt at a hip check then the outcome could have been vastly different.
Again the team is improving and it is going to take time but they are heading in the right direction. Cam Talbot is keeping them in the games and that is all that we can ask for from him. We have hung in well against teams that have traditionally beaten up on our team and even pushed back some. That is music to this Oilers fan. Obviously I would like to see a different end result but it will come soon enough people.
I wrote a post on my site yesterday urging fans to keep calm. It is only the second game people and there are some very nice indicators to be sure! If you need the reassurance then head over to www.justoil.net and check it out!
Thanks for reading folks, throw me a follow on twitter, @justoil78 and let me know what you think the future will hold for the Oilers!
This is probably my favorite season primer post that I am writing this season, obviously other than the hometown Oilers which goes without saying. Well I guess it doesn’t go without saying cause I just did. Why is this my favorite you ask? Well mostly because despite finishing second in the Pacific and earning a play-off spot this team seems to be set on self-destruct. No team in the league did as much to make their team worse than Vancouver Canucks and that sounds great to this Oilers fan!
Key Additions: C Brandon Sutter, LW Brandon Prust, D Matt Bartkowski and G Richard Bachman
Key Departures: C Nick Bonino, D Kevin Bieksa, G Eddie Lack, C Shawn Matthias, RW Zack Kassian, C Brad Richardson
Roster Contenders: LW Hunter Shinkaruk, RW Jake Virtanen, C Brendan Gaunce, and D Taylor Fedun
The Canucks finished the 2014/15 season with a 49-29-5 record. Good enough for 101 points and second in the Pacific division, 5th in the Western conference and 8th overall in the league. Eighteen of those wins came thanks to departed goaltender Eddie Lack who led the team in GAA and save percentage in the regular season.
The top line provided a lot of offense with Henrik and Daniel Sedin being joined by right-wing Radim Vrbata. The trio combined for a total of 69 goals and 212 points. So it is easy to see that as this line goes so does the team. The Canucks will need huge years from all three to again be in the play-offs next April.
As for the aforementioned off-season moves let’s look at what GM Jim Benning did that have me so puzzled. First off he traded Kevin Bieksa to Anaheim for a 2016 second round draft pick. While this may help in the long run it hurts the team in the here and now. Bieksa while getting up there in years, he’s 34, he was still a big part of the Canucks defense playing over twenty minutes a night and was used on both the power-play and penalty kill. Next up was the July 1st trade that sent RW Zack Kassian to Montreal for LW Brandon Prust. This was also another loss for Benning in my opinion. While I don’t like Kassian in any way shape or form I have to admit that he is a much better player than Brandon Prust. In 42 games last season Kassian had 10 goals and 6 assists. Prust only managed 4 goals and 14 assists over the full 82 game schedule. Next is the ultra boneheaded play of the summer for Jim Benning. He sent center Nick Bonino and AHL defensive standout Adam Clendening to Pittsburgh for center Brandon Sutter and a 3rd round pick. This is a no-brainer for me, Sutter is a third line center on virtually any NHL team and Bonino was the Canucks 2nd line pivot last season and was also fourth in scoring behind only the top line guys. Add Clendening who had an amazing AHL season to the deal and it is clearly in favour of the Pens. Even with the addition of the draft pick this trade is still lopsided in Pittsburgh’s favour.
Potential Lineup:
Daniel Sedin – Henrik Sedin – Radim Vrbata
Chris Higgins – Brandon Sutter – Alex Burrows
Brandon Prust – Bo Horvat – Jannik Hansen
Sven Baertschi – Linden Vey – Derek Dorsett
Alex Edler – Christ Tanev
Dam Hamhuis – Yannick Weber
Luca Sbisa – Matt Bartkowski
Ryan Miller
Jacob Markstrom
Finishing second in the Pacific division last year is likely a lot higher than most had predicted for the Canucks. In my estimation after the off-season that this team had we are likely looking at a massive reduction in wins and points this season. At best I think we will see the Canucks in 5th place in the standings but more than likely I see them finishing 6th.
The players to watch for this team are, as always, the Sedin twins. If they can remain at or near the top of the league in scoring they could claw their way to fifth. As the twins go so does this team but I think even with the on ice magic between the two isn’t going to be anywhere near enough to save the Canuckleheads this year. As I stated in season predictions for the Pacific division over at JustOil.net, at least all the fires the rioters start will keep all the homeless warm this winter…
