Category Archives: Edmonton Oilers Post Game Report

Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, Edmonton Oilers Post Game Report, NHL

BLH Post Gamer G22 Oilers VS. Hurricanes: Yak Attacked by Zebra!

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Photo courtesy of Gregg Forwerck.
Photo courtesy of Gregg Forwerck.

The Carolina Hurricanes band of blue collar heroes took it to the Oilers tonight and tuned the boys in 4-1! I think this is a team that the Oilers should’ve beaten but I guess that either shows my ignorance to a team that is higher in the standings or the Oilers really played like crap.

https://twitter.com/cayman109/status/669695412958199808

From what I watched, the Oilers were 2nd best in every every aspect. They weren’t winning the puck battles, they weren’t making passes, they’re zone entries were horrible and they couldn’t keep the puck in the Hurricanes zone for any sustained periods of time. And when the puck was in the Oilers zone they were having a helluva time trying to get it out.

https://twitter.com/EdmontonOilers/status/669686824520945664/photo/1

Then Yak get’s clipped by the ref. Mercy killing is the way I see it. He’s done NOTHING since McDavid went down and I think the break he’ll get here will allow him to get his nerves in check, relax and just take a break from all the criticism he’s been taking.

Who’ll be recalled to replace Yak? It’s not like the Oilers have a lot of scoring depth in Bakersfield. I’d argue

Darnell Nurse is heating up! Grab a shirt or Hoodie and let him keep you warm too! Click the pic and get your 16-Bit Superstar shirt today!

that they bring in someone who is going to work his ass off and play physical. Someone to compliment Hendricks and Letestu. What about Moroz, Yakimov, or Hamilton? Or will it be Andrew Miller again? I’m thinking that Slepyshev could be an option but I’d like to see him spend some more time in the AHL. I’m curious to see Braden Christoffer again.

Is there a silver lining to the game? Taylor Hall and Leon Draisaitl were trying their damndest to spark some sort of offence for the Oilers and it looked like Jordan Eberle was really fired up in the third period. Darnell Nurse also looked good to my eye. The Oilers are lucky to have such high end prospects but the only problem with that is the time it takes for them to reach their potential.

Next up are the Detroit Red Wings. They’re 6-3-1 in their last 10 but they’re only .500 at home. So that’s a positive! Hopefully the boys can get back to the form they displayed versus the Capitals just a few days prior.

If you’re the fancy stats type, our beloved Walter Foddis does the post-game fancies and shares them with everyone. Check ’em out! Looks like the numbers are in agreement. The Oilers played like a steaming pile of chili poo!

Lastly, is it wrong to hope for some moves to be made? And by moves I mean trades. We know that Jultz is coming back and that there are too many defencemen on the current roster, so somebody will be moved. If we’re to go by Griffin Reinhart’s play tonight, I’d say his ticket to Bakersfield is already printed but that would be a huge kick in the balls to Chiarelli who more or less stuck his neck out for him at the draft when he told everyone that Reinhart would be on the Oilers this season.

What do you think? What moves should the Oilers be looking at coming up here! Let me know in the comments below!

Take care and please drive safe as Old Man Winter settles in. There’s no excuse to be driving like a maniac when the roads are in bad shape. Better safe that sorry.

BLH

Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, Edmonton Oilers Post Game Report, NHL

BLH Post Gamer G20 Oilers VS. Devils: Connor Who?

Photo courtesy of Andy Devlin

Is there a team you dread more than the New Jersey Devils when it comes to watching an NHL hockey game? Well that’s what I used to think when Lou Lamoriello was running the show in the Garden State. Geez, did you see the list of sh*t that the players were allowed to do and unallowed to do during the telecast last night? I mean honestly, if you’re injured you can’t join the team? Two Stanley Cups… Two! And that necessitates the kind of environment even the strictest of school masters wouldn’t be caught dead in? Good luck Toronto… Woof!

There was a game played and I missed the entire thing because I was teaching… So I’m catching up here.

The First Period

I’m going to go ahead and say that the most impressive part of it was that pass from Taylor Hall to Leon Draisaitl on the Oilers first goal. F’n beauty! I can also say I enjoyed the amount of possession the Oilers had during that period. It really seemed like they were giving the Devils’ young d-core a hard time with the urgency of their forecheck thus handcuffing them every time they tried to exit the defensive zone. On a bittersweet note, Nail Yakupov got four shots in that period which was equal to that of the entire New Jersey team. He wouldn’t have another shot the entire game.

Let’s see that Draisaitl goal though!

The Second Period

Zzzzzzzz… Kyle Palmieri scored on the power play for the Devils. Zzzzzzz…

Did anybody else think that Nilsson went down a tad… Check that. A shat load early? Palmieri had that whole corner to pick from the time he picked up the puck to the moment he shot it.

Just barely a minute later though… Draihalcell striked again! Leon with a deft little pass between the legs of the NJ defender, whilst being hit in the corner, to Teddy Purcell; who sucked Kinkaid in, leaving a pinching Oscar Klefbom WIDE open for Purcell to hit with a no-looker. K-bom tucks it home and Bob’s your uncle! Oilers led 2-1 at this point!

Anders Nilsson made a pretty crucial save not long after that goal. Brandon Davidson tried to skate the puck from his own zone through the neutral but got stopped at center ice by Jordan Tootoo who walked past him and proceeded to partake in a 2v1 with Josefson and Griffin Reinhart. To Davidson’s credit he hauled ass back and attempted a diving block from behind but ultimately failed, leaving Anders the Giant to save the day.

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At around the 10 min mark of the second it dawned on me that the Devils were doing to the Oilers what the Oilers had done to the Devils in the first period. They were suffocating them on the forecheck and not allowing the Oilers to get set or to move the puck efficiently. After a few more minutes of that Anton Lander takes another bad penalty…

What’s the over/under on Lander’s trade from the Oilers at this point? I mean he’s taking bad penalties on a nightly basis it seems and untimely ones to boot.

Edmonton ended the second frame with consecutive man advantages sans goals… Disappointing to say the least.

Earlier I noted that Yakupov wouldn’t get anymore shots on net but he had two glorious chances on the PP in the second stanza. He was set up for one-timers and both missed the net… Boo… At least he looks like he’s working his ass off out there.

The Third Period

The Devils started this period of by lulling the crowd to sleep and killing off the penalty they picked up at the end of the second. But they couldn’t help themselves and they took another penalty around the 3 minute mark for which they were punished accordingly.

SQUEEEEE!!!

Jordan Eberle scored what might be considered a Ryan Smyth Special meaning it was about as ugly as they come for #14 but a helluva bank shot off Stempniak’s skate. Check it out below!

The following shift Bobby Farnham got smoked by Griffin Reinhart and was a tad pissed and decided to take runs at whoever would stay in one place long enough. He was buzzing around all night and as much as it might annoy the hockey purists, I love players like him. The one problem with Farnham is that he’s lacking a moral compass. He’ll fight anybody anytime anywhere. He just doesn’t give a hoot. But as for his physical game. I dig it.

The game went back and forth for another 10 minutes or so until Mike Cammalleri decided to put a pass right on Mark Letestu’s stick in the slot of his own zone whilst attempting to break out. Letestu zipped it past the New Jersey netminder to make it 4-1. That was his first goal in the last 13 games and I’m sure a relief to everyone given Edmonton’s lack of depth scoring this year.

The Oilers scored one more, an empty netter from Taylor Hall to seal the deal.

So all-in-all a great effort from the boys in orange and blue. I think a lopsided victory in favor of the Oilers was really what the doctor ordered and it’s the kind of result that will carry with the boys going into Washington next week. Draisaitl and Hall continued their torrid scoring but Yakupov’s lack of is starting to get worrisome. Anders Nilsson’s performance was stellar and I’m really happy with the way the Oilers defence did given they were without Andrej Sekera. Lastly, when’s the last time the 4th line got over 7 minutes a night? Anton Lander had nearly the same amount of TOI as Leon Draisaitl but LD got 3 points and AL got a penalty.

Washington will be a different beast BUT we’ve seen that the Oilers can hang with the best of them this year and they will be looking to get revenge from the shellacking they took the last time the two teams got together. Is anybody else hoping Anders Nilsson gets the call again?

Have a good one folks!

BLH

Lots of big names on this list… Check out #33… 10 games played… #WheresSamBennett
Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, Edmonton Oilers Post Game Report, NHL

BLH Post Gamer G19 Oilers VS. Hawks: Robbed or Jobbed?

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Oilers be Oilering. Photo Courtesy of Andy Devlin

Did you get the distinct feeling that as soon as the Blackhawks took a two goal lead that that was it for the Oilers?

I did but you’d think I’d have learned by now. I mean how many games have they come back from to tie it up only to lose it late in the third? And that’s another thing, how many of you were down to the knuckles

The new McDavid inspired design!

from chewing your nails after Draisaitl scored to tie it up?

I mean I love it. I can finally sit down and watch a game and not be down in the dumps once the opposition

scores a goal or two because I know there’s a push back coming.

I know that when Taylor Hall is on the ice that he’s going to make something happen 75% of the time and when he’s out there with Leon Draisaitl that percentage goes up to 90%. When Anders Nilsson is in the net I’m not paranoid of letting in a bad goal. When Darnell Nurse is on the ice I’m not weary of the Oilers getting pushed around. And when Nail Yakupov is out there I’m not bored.

The point is that the team may still be in the basement but the world isn’t ending because of it. I don’t believe any fans think they’ll end the year in the same spot they are in now. In fact I believe that we’re going to see some moves and then we’re going to see the Oilers start their assault on the standings.

THE GAME

Period one was damn entertaining! Back and forth and no prisoners were taken! The Oilers outshot the Blackhawks like crazy (11-3) and were the aggressors the entire first period. No goals were scored but there was this sweet hit by Griffin Reinhart on Andrew Shaw.

The second period was nothing to fawn over from an Oilers fan’s perspective. Passes were being missed, coverage was being blown, and to be honest you could feel the tide turning a bit. The veteran laden team from Chicago laid into the Oilers and came away with two goals from Duncan Keith and Artemi Panarin.

Like I said earlier, I had a tough time not feeling that the game was in the bag for Chicago at that point. I mean the M.O. was to keep Kane and Panarin off the board right? With 5 minutes to go in the 2nd frame they both were on the scoresheet; the diminutive Russian twice.

BUT as the boys have done time and time again this year, they found a way to make magic happen! Brandon Davidson found Ebs coming off the bench and breaking down the middle uncovered, as he broke in on Corey Crawford unscathed, Eberle froze him with a little shimmy and then ROOF DADDY! Bingo bango the Oilers were back in it with intentions to win it.

The third period was not amazing to start but a shot high and wide by Leon Draisaitl led to a missed chance for the Blackhawks to move it out of the zone, which in turn seen the puck move to Teddy Purcell’s stick and then a quick little dink over to Darnell Nurse who literally went through every Chicago player that was on the ice like hot butter; then as he approached Crawford’s net he sent the biscuit towards the slot and who was awaiting said pass? Benny Pouliot! He tapped it home to tie the game up and Rexall blew up! Check out in the highlight below where Nurse goes through everyone. I’m surprised nobody picked up on this.

But it was for naught. Nearly 8 minutes later Andrew Shaw tucked one home and they were back up… I felt terrible at this point. The Oilers were ‘that’ close again only to find themselves down with only minutes to go in the third period. Hashtag Dispair.

DID YOU HEAR THAT? IT’S LEON DRAISAITL’S MUSIC!

Ze German saved the day for the Oilers and Rexall exploded again! Teddy Purcell (good lord this guy is on fire right now) finds the puck, holds off a Chicago defender with one arm and dishes it to Taylor Hall who with the slightest of touches puts it into the shooting path for Neon Leon Draisaitl and he fires that baby home!

It was at that point I went back to sitting on pins and needles. Could the Oilers hold off the champs and take this game to OT? The answer… Yes.

How many people were scared off of Leon Draisaitl at the draft because they thought his skating was weak? Well it’s been a year and some since he was selected by the Oilers and in that time his feet have grown wings. Wings attached to a an unstoppable locomotive.

Did you see the move he put on Jonathan Toews, one of the greatest two-way players in the league if not all-time, only to blow past him and create the best chance for the Oilers to win the game? If only Corey Crawford’s glove wasn’t so big Hall might’ve scored… I’m just kidding. That was an amazing save and it ultimately led to the goal by Marian Hossa to give Chicago the win… Boo.

All-in-all it was a great hockey game and I feel bad for the Oilers this year because things are seemingly coming together but they aren’t at the same time and they’re not getting any help from the refs. In fact I believe the refs are doing more harm than good at this point and should possibly be getting reviewed with a stronger magnifying glass by the powers that be. What I mean is that this isn’t the same team we watched in years past. There’s pushback, there’s more scoring, and the games are much closer. I read that out of the 19 games played this year 9 of them have been 1 goal games… Thus is progress.

Next up are the New Jersey Devils. I can see the Oilers stepping up and getting a win there but will it be a win with Jordan Eberle in the lineup or Travis Hamonic? I guess we’re going to see real soon here!

I hope you enjoyed the read!

Take Care!

BLH

Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, Edmonton Oilers Post Game Report, NHL

BLH Post Gamer G18 Oilers VS. Kings: Royally Flushed

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What if I told you that was the best performance I’ve seen from the Oilers this season? Would you believe me? No? Well what if I told you the team was without it’s top two centers? Would you believe me then? What if I said the team was playing with three rookies in the lineup and an underperforming goaltender? Would it still be my claim still be unbelievable? Not really.

The Oilers were without Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Benoit Pouliot was probably playing at about 60%. I heard on a couple occasions from Garry Galley, who was working between the benches, that Pou was as white as a ghost each time he came off the ice. It looked as if a few guys were less than stellar heath-wise tonight to boot.

But a gutsy performance no less.

The fact of the matter is the team is sticking with the big boys and not “folding their hands” when they’re down by a goal or two. This is very encouraging but it’s heartbreaking too because the Oilers just aren’t quite at that point where they can get over the final hump and pick up that goal to push them over the top or hold on long enough to force overtime.

Jim has it right. The veterans are the ones that were supposed to come in and shore up those rookie mistakes. The reality is, it’s the veterans that are making the rookie mistakes. I’m flabbergasted that Andrej Sekera is this bad at moving the puck, Mark Fayne as well. At what point are the Oilers going to stop cherry picking veteran defencemen from the Eastern Conference teams?

Speaking of Fayne, we haven’t seen him make a deplorable mistake in a couple games. Hopefully he can shake off the tough start the same way Teddy Purcell has. Wow! Teddy bear is on top of his game and really looking good! Would love to see him continue this for a little longer so that he’ll bring in a considerable return in a trade.

Trades… The 20 game mark is coming and bevy is about to burst in Edmonton. A few deals have been mentioned in the past week here at Beer League Heroes:

I don’t think the Oilers will go that far but then again the Jets got shellacked by the Predators yesterday and their fans were ready to jump ship and mortgage everything. I’m telling ya I think Chiarelli is going to try and get his Chara and that man is Dustin Byfuglien. I don’t know what the cost is on that fella player-wise but dollar-wise I think he’d be in the $6m to $7.5m range for at least 6 years; which would be a tough pill to swallow but it’s either that, offer-sheeting someone (Trouba, S.Jones, Lindholm, Vatanen, Gudbranson, Barrie, Spurgeon), or continue developing what they already have.

What do you think? Is it time for the Oilers to make a move or should they just be patient because the team isn’t going to make the playoffs anyhow?

Pretty disappointed with Eric Gryba tonight and Andrej Sekera. Is it McLellan’s system that is sending these dman flailing about when they get the puck? I mean they’ve both been in the league for more than a few years… Shouldn’t they be able to make a pass or clear the puck effectively?

I feel bad for Cam Talbot, he’s caught in that rut that is goalie sans confidence… And we know where that is going to take him… Probably to a better team where he’ll flourish, Am I right? I mean honestly, he was at fault for that first goal against. The guy is allergic to his posts or something. I don’t get it. The one thing I do give him credit for is not losing it completely. Sure he lets in the bad goal but he bounces back and makes a couple good ones later on.

Leon Draisaitl continues to impress alongside Taylor Hall. That first goal they combined on was pure class. It’s amazing the chemistry they’re building. I mean who would’ve thought before the season started that it would be Connor McDavid and Nail Yakupov becoming what they have become and it would be the German Gretzky and the Canadian Kurri who’d be lighting up the NHL and carrying the Oilers offence?

If those pairs can continue to produce points consistently, how long until RNH and Jordan Eberle are deemed surplus to requirement and shipped off for help on the backend? Just a little food for thought.

Walter Foddis’ Post Game Shooting Metrics

Next up the Chicago Blackhawks back home in the friendly confines of Rexall Place. Does anybody find it ironic that a team that has been in a constant rebuild for about a decade plays in an arena called Rexall Place?… Wrecks All… Place… I dunno, just an observation.

Now the reigning Stanley Cup champs are nothing to shake a stick at but their sitting at 9-7-1 and just keeping pace with the wildcard teams. I think the Oilers will stay with them again but they’re going to have to do something about Panarin and Kane. Shut them down and hopefully the rest will follow. Oh, and don’t let Corey Crawford steal the show again.

A three day break and the boys won’t have any excuses to sit back on either. I’m hoping Anders Nilsson gets the call again to be honest. Gotta go with the hot hand.

There are still a few hours left in the BLH Tee Shop SALE folks! Head on over and pick up a t-shirt for $14 or a hoodie for $35! They’re perfect gifts for christmas and we’ve got a shirt for every Oilers fan out there! And even if you’re not an Oilers fan, we’ve got a 16-bit Superstars shirt for your team too! Click on the pic below and head over to check out the inventory!

Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, Edmonton Oilers Post Game Report, NHL

BLH Post Gamer G17 Oilers VS. Coyotes: Blazing Arizona

From healthy scratch to honorary face-off taker! Mark Fayne everyone! Photo courtesy of Norm Hall

Ok be honest, how many people thought that the Oilers blew their respective loads in that first period? I mean right off the bat they were in the Coyotes zone and buzzing around like a bunch of pissed off hornets! I was jacked when they scored because that was a thing of beauty between Hall and Draisaitl.

But then everything started to come into perspective for a team on the latter half of a back-to-back. Darnell Nurse couldn’t get that puck to Sekera and Leon Draisaitl, for some reason, was already bolting the zone looking for the breakaway… OEL scooped up the pass meant for the right winger and deposited a seeing eye shot top cheese to tie the game up… Boo!

https://twitter.com/YotesHereToStay/status/665037948232925184

I had a feeling the team would start to slow down going into the 2nd period and slow down is what they did. The Coyotes took full advantage of a tired Oilers team and potted two more. The first was on the PP, Andrej Sekera couldn’t retrieve the puck on a Coyotes dump-in and uber rookie Max Domi thiefed it from under Sekera’s nose, proceeded towards the net; waited for Eric Gryba to commit, and then sauced a lovely little pass to a waiting and untouched Shane Doan. Bingo bango baby! Coyotes up by 1.

The next goal came not four minutes later as the Oilers 4th line couldn’t manage to keep the puck in the Arizona zone, the Coyotes Kyle Chipchura picked it up in the neutral zone and broke in to the Oilers zone versus Oscar Klefbom and Luke Gazdic… That just spells trouble right? So Chipchura stops up just at the top of the circle on the left wall and decides to let his teammates catch up, then he drops a pass off to John “Wayne Gretzky is my middle name” Scott; who in turn fires a shot at the Oilers net. Anders Nilsson’s lack of rebound control leads to Stefan Elliott tucking that baby away… Wait.. Yes, that’s right. DEFENCEMAN Stefan Elliott in the Oilers slot… Never let another man in your slot. That’s your slot. Dirty slot… Check it out the slotty action below.


You’re telling me Luke Gazdic couldn’t tie up Elliott’s stick enough on this one to prevent the puck from going in?… Yeeesh! Why did Benoit Pouliot choose this day to be hung over? Not that he would’ve prevented that goal but… You know what I mean.

I’m not sure what Pouliot’s deal was. He was too sick to play. Surely it wasn’t because he had a few too many “Arizona Iced Teas”. But I’m just taking the piss. So take it easy ultras.

Walter Foddis’ Post Game Shooting Metrics

That was about it for Edmonton. Their performance in the third period didn’t inspire a lot of confidence and I for one was happy for it all to end. Arizona did end up putting one more in the net though as Iiro Pakarinen unsuccessfully tried to knock the puck past the Mike Stone at centre ice which lead to the Coyotes dman bringing the puck back into Oilers zone. Stone tried to put the puck on the net but it pinballed around the slot for a few seconds before returning to Stone’s stick and then he fired it at the net where Domi was having his afternoon tea. Easy tap-in due to Nilsson’s inability to control the rebound. UGH!!!


I’m happy that game is done and over with. The Oilers are having a helluva time trying to defeat the Coyotes recently and it’s such a boring bloody game. The NHL wants to improve scoring, how about eliminating boring hockey teams? Nothing worse than watching defense first teams.

Oh hey, did you catch John Shannon saying that the Coyotes are looking to move… To a new arena soon… I’m not sure if anybody told him and it’s something I’m noticing all to much lately. The lack of regular season attendance in those southern markets. Just take a gander at the crowd’s at a Carolina, Anaheim, Florida, Dallas, or Arizona game. Not sure who’s counting the tickets at those games but I think they’re coming in a little high. Yet, if any of those teams make the playoffs it’s hockey central… Bloody shame I think it is. If the NHL and their owners are willing to foot the bill for teams like the Panthers and the Coyotes, they should just relocate them to Canadian cities. You can be damned sure that a team in Quebec City or Saskatoon wouldn’t have attendance problems apart from not having enough seats to accommodate everyone.

Ok. Take a breath…

I think the best Oiler on the night was Taylor Hall. He was flying out there and really trying to get his team to follow suit. Unfortunately for everyone involved, the team wasn’t having any of it. One name I didn’t hear a lot nor did I see a lot was Mark Fayne’s… Is that a good thing? Well they do say a defenceman has done his job well if you’re not talking about him…

Ah well, better luck versus the Kings on Saturday. I’m looking forward to a much better game from the rested Oilers and there must be some payback for that last game versus LA and the goal that Johnny Quick pulled out of the net.

The other thing I’m looking forward to… The 20 game mark. Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

Until then folks! Take care!

BLH

The BLH merch shop SALE is still on guys! One day left for you to head on over and pick up an Oilers themed tee for $14 or a 16-bit Superstars hoodie for $35! Up to 30% off on EVERYTHING!! Click the pic below to get yours now!

All the tees are $14!