Category Archives: Madison Moroz

Edmonton Oilers, Edmonton Oilers Post Game Report, Madison Moroz, NHL

BLH Post Gamer- G6 Edmonton Oilers Vs Vancouver Canucks

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korp

The Oilers came into tonight’s game on a high, coming off a fantastic win last night over their inter-province rivals the Calgary Flames. You could tell right off the bat, they were coming out with tons of confidence and didn’t really miss a step from the night before. Their puck movement was still on point and was looking better and better as the game progressed. The puck management aspect of the entire team is 100 times better then the first game as everyone is making much smarter decisions with the puck. There were a few hiccups along the way but that’s expected, but the progression has been excellent to see. Coming into this 2015/16 season who knew the Oilers would have solid goaltending? Nilsson has stood on his head and Talbot has provided that calming presence that’s been missing for the good part of a decade. If they keep it up, watch out Western Conference.

The Oilers were outshot 34 – 24 in this game but it certainly wasn’t an indication of who the better team was. The game was evenly matched throughout the night with each team having their fair share of opportunities but I’m giving the slight edge to the Oilers. There just appears to be a bigger sense of urgency with this team to get the puck, to win the puck battles and give that extra 10% to get that puck back, especially in the offensive zone where they have looked relentless at times. Everyone is pulling their own weight and making the most of their ice time. Even Luke Gazdic, who put in extensive time this off season to become a better hockey player, hasn’t looked lost on the ice. The ConYak Connection is looking deadlier an deadlier with the more minutes they play together. I’m going to make a bold prediction here and now, if they continue to play together, Yakupov cracks 30 goals, there is just an uncanny chemistry these two are building.

At certain points tonight, you could tell the Oilers were looking a little tired, especially in the second period where they were outplayed for the most part. It looked like the first back to back was wearing on them a little. As their legs started to slow down the passes became less crisp, but this is where McLellan’s team management has come into play, an area where I don’t think he is getting enough credit right now. He is finding a nice balance to this line up, placing Klinkhammer or Hendricks on the top line, on paper doesn’t seem like the brightest of ideas but so far it’s paying off. They are creating the time and space for Hall and RNH and are smart enough players that they know their roles on the ice. The way the coaching staff is handling the defensive minutes is paying dividends for them, not overplaying and not under playing anyone, but using everyone just the right amount. It shows in the way they were still able to find the energy to pull out a win in overtime tonight.

The game this evening was just another prime example of how simple hockey can in fact make it complicated for the opposing team. They made sure to get the puck behind the Canucks’ defenders and to put them on their heels and force turnovers.

Hall has looked like a man possessed as of late, using his hockey IQ and speed to get in quick and either win the puck battle or get the defence to cough it up. In an astounding margin the Canucks had 17 giveaways tonight compared to the Oilers 4, which is speaking volumes to the adjustments that McLellan is making with this team.

Quite amazing what a proven NHL head coach can do with a team like this, there were a few bumps in the road, but without those you don’t know what to tweak or to improve. The more this team plays, the more chemistry that is being established with an incredible sense of balance from the net out. There is trust in everyone to make the right play which is something this team has lacked in previous years.

Tonight’s Beer League Three Heroes are:

1. Anders Nilsson – The guy has been nothing short of spectacular in this first 2 starts with the Oilers, creating an actual goalie tandem for the Oilers to rely on, he has stopped 81 of 85  his first two starts. He doesn’t quite have the calming presence, but he’s making the saves and he is keeping them in the games and that’s all that matters.

2. Lauri Korpikoski – He has been a very solid pickup since the Oilers traded for him. He isn’t known for his offensive ability, but he’s been effective every shift, especially tonight. He netted the game winner in overtime off a sweet saucer pass from Sekera. If the Oilers can continue to get depth scoring from guys like him…. Don’t think they will continue to be taken lightly anymore.

3.Nail Yakupov – Everyone has just been ready to write this kid off as a bust but he is looking better after an odd start where he looked lost on the ice. Yak is finding his bearings and discovering real chemistry with Connor McDavid, as two nights in a row he has shown his ability to find the scoring areas and unleash his blistering NHL caliber shot.

Tonight, once again, I thought long and and hard and I just couldn’t find anyone to give the Golden Plunger award to, so instead I’m going to post a brief paragraph of some post game analytics from our resident fancy stats expert Walter Foddis!

Brief Post-Game Analytics

Top possession (SAT +/-) forwards: Klinkhammer +2, Gazdic +1, & Letestu 0.
Top possession defenders: Sekera +2 and Fayne 0.

Bottom possession forwards: Pouliot -12, Yakupov -9, & Nugent-Hopkins -6.
Bottom possession defenders: Reinhart & Gryba at -11.

When does a team who has played back-to-back games begin to show fatigue? Toward the end of the game, which is exactly what happened to the Oilers. Overall (5v5), the Canucks outshot the Oilers 44 to 31 in shot attempts (Oilers’ SAT%=41.3%) & 24 to 11 in scoring chances (SC%=38.3%; defined by war-on-ice.com). Edmonton fell behind in scoring chances at about 15 minutes, but then managed to keep pace until the last 5 minutes of the 2nd period. At that point, they did not get a single scoring chance for almost 25 minutes!

Despite being terribly out-chanced, the Oilers tied the Canucks in high-danger scoring chances (shots from the slot) with 8. Shot quality matters. That they paced the Canucks on this metric, and kept it low, suggests that the team did a good job of keeping shots to the outside. Regardless, goaltending and a little puck luck (e.g., Daniel Sedin’s over-the-crossbar scoop) was the difference. At even strength Nilsson stopped  27 of 28 shots for a 96.4 save%.

Edmonton had 2 shot attempts on 2 minutes of power-play, which translates to 60 shot attempts (SAT) per 60 minutes. This pales in comparison to their PP against Calgary in which they shot at a rate of 145 SAT/60. A rate of 100 SAT/60 would give the Oilers a top-5 PP, which is what I’m hoping they’ll achieve.

The top-line duo of Hall and Nugent-Hopkins were beat up possession-wise by the Sedin brothers and the Canucks top-2 defenders, Edler and Tanev. Their SAT differential against these 4 players was about 40%. McDavid and Yakupov also had a rough possession night; mostly up against Vrbata, Sutter, & Burroughs. Their SAT% against Vancouver’s 2nd line was about 37%

What more can you say about this team as of late? After that pummeling in Dallas they are really starting to get their feet underneath them. You can see there is a sense of trust and confidence in each other that was missing, not just in within the locker room but from the coaching staff as well. There is confidence being built knowing your goalie is there to make a save, knowing that your defence pairing is going to make the smart play, and knowing that the forwards are going to get on their horse to get back.

Tonight was a good win, not just because it was off a back to back, but because they weathered a pretty heavy storm in the second when their legs started to get weary. They stuck with the game plan, got their second wind; came out hard, and didn’t quit in the third or OT.

The next game is against the Detroit Red Wings Wednesday evening. Detroit started out hot winning 3 straight and have since cooled off losing 2 in a row. This is going to be a really good test for the Oilers, they are playing a younger, quicker, Red Wings team that they aren’t used to seeing. This might be a game where they have to just stand in the ring, square up, and be the aggressor. I can’t express this enough, the Oilers mustn’t stray away from the simple hockey they are playing. It’s imperative that they continue to hammer the puck deep and force the opposition’s defence to turn it over. The defence will be in tough as they are going to need to be able to hold down the fort in the defensive zone, this Red Wings team has some crafty snipers in Tomas Tatar, Henrik Zetterberg and Calder Trophy Candidate Dylan Larkin.

The boys just need to continue to keep the shots on the outside and letting whoever is in net see the puck. If the muckers and grinders keep playing physical, its going to create tons of frustration for Detroit. If they are suffocating them and jumping on every loose puck and making sure support is there, then this is a game the Oilers can win!

BLH note: Sure it would just be game 7 of 82 but if the Oilers won 3 in a row here, would that change the way other fans/teams look at this squad?

Thanks for reading tonight, let me know what you think @madi39 or in the comment section below!

 

Edmonton Oilers, Edmonton Oilers Post Game Report, Madison Moroz, NHL

BLH Post Gamer-G5 Edmonton Oilers Vs Calgary Flames

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OILERS WIN!!! OILERS WIN!!! OILERS WIN!!! PLAN THE PARADE ROUTE!!!!

Okay maybe just a little too excited, but its fantastic to see a game like that played by the Oilers, especially against the Flames. Tonight was about everything that I had pointed in my previous post gamer that these guys needed to do. I only caught a glimpse of it on 630 ched after the game and couldn’t tell who the player was, but he mentioned they just kept it simple when asked about why they were successful tonight. You could see the more they played, the more comfortable they got with the puck and they were instilling confidence in each other and building trust. Chemistry was seemingly building up, the Oilers were having fun out there, and Mclellan was so happy he started to play the drums on the bench!

https://twitter.com/myregularface/status/655602063775285248

Everyone from Cam Talbot and out played a fantastic calm and comfortable game tonight. The defence made Talbot’s job easy tonight and helped him get his first win as an Edmonton Oiler and it couldn’t’ have been more memorable. The blueliners were making sure the high quality chances were kept low and they were getting into the shooting lanes. I could be wrong but I believe both goals that went in were redirected off an Oiler.

The Flames’ big boys were held off the scoresheet, something that’ll be a big confidence booster for this defence which is still trying to find its legs. Tonight the defence stepped up and made sure to support each other, used the proper outlets and made the smart play more times than not with tape to tape passes for much cleaner puck movement and breakouts. Tonight was the game the coaching staff was finally looking for and it was excellent to hear the players give that nod to them and how important it was to win it not only for the the guys in the room.

The Oilers came out solid in the first, they were outshot 5-8 in the period but you could still tell they were the better team and that something was a brewing. You could see the speed and pace of play pick up with them, they were getting comfortable and as we found out, that’s a recipe for disaster for the opposition! There was no looking back at that point, as the Oilers impressed and dominated the second period, out shooting the Flames 14-5 and outplaying them in every aspect.

As good as the Oilers defence and goaltending was tonight, the offence was on fire, their puck movement was simple but exciting, it was smart and thought out. Every goal scored tonight, the Oilers battled and dug their heels in just that little extra to force the turnover or win that puck battle and not give up on the play. The top 6 tonight looked like what everyone had expected out of them, fast, skilled, smart and mind you this was done without Jordan Eberle.

Confidence was higher than ever and you could see it in the players body language and in the way they handled the puck. The biggest piece of evidence was the emergence of Connor McDavid on Hockey Night in Canada! What a time for him to put his stamp on the NHL eh? The biggest stage in the country an dhe embarrasses the Calgary Flames on national television.

I was massively impressed with how he played tonight, not just because he scored 2 goals and had an assist but because what he was able to do and how he changed the pace of the game. He finally gave himself the green light to just go with it and take charge. His linemate Nail Yakupov had his best game of the young season so far as well. Yak didn’t look lost, he had that little extra pep in his step and he was getting into the open areas and getting scoring chances. I will admit I jumped for joy when McDavid scored, but I was extremely happy to see Yak make the twine tickle and can only hope there’s more to come from him.

Note: Tonight all four #1 overall picks scored… I’d say that’s pretty remarkable and I’m willing to bet another team will never match the feat ever again.

Tonight’s three Beer League Heroes are:

1.Connor McDavid – Obvious choice, he was the best player on the ice narrowly beating Hall, but he was all over the placw making plays and being a difference maker. He needed this game, welcome to the BOA Connor! 2 goals and 1 assist! It was great to see high emotion out of him tonight, especially after he scored his 2nd goal, he was fired up!

2.Taylor Hall- Once again he’s impressed me immensely. Hall’s looking more and more to be a great leader for this team, he scored a goal and assisted on 2 others, one with an absolutely beautiful pass to McDavid to set him up for his second. He’s showing that he can be the driver of this bus, but if he’s not on it he has a fantastic co-pilot on the second line.

3. Justin Schultz – Might take some flack for this one, but something changed with him this year, he’s been aggressive, smart and has taken a much better approach to the game. He is quarterbacking this defence along with Klefbom and is a guy the Oilers needed to play with confidence. He didn’t put up any points tonight, but I’ve been impressed with him every game and tonight was his best.

Tonight there will be no Golden Plunger award!! Even though the third line didn’t play the greatest, they were still much more effective and played a good game, tonight is a celebration of a well deserved win.

I can’t say enough good things about tonight’s game, and you may think its may be easy with a 5-2 win, but every line from the first to the fourth was effective tonight with their minutes. The power play finally gained some traction, it only scored one goal tonight, but every time it was out there it was doing something positive and the PK looked fantastic like it has all year so far. Tonight was a win that was much needed for everyone, from Chiarelli to Talbot. For all that watched the game, it speaks for itself, seeing the Oilers not only take over a game, but dominate it in every aspect was a nice change of pace, we shouldn’t expect that against the Elite of the NHL just yet, but we should expect that if they’re playing like they did tonight. Lets just enjoy this win and be proud! All in all it was great to see the players smiling.

My apologies, in the previous post gamer I thought the Oilers next game was against the Canucks, but I was wrong obviously and now the next game is actually against the Canucks. The Oilers shouldn’t stray away from their game plan and should be coming into this game with a ton of confidence against a not so good Vancouver Canucks team. They just need to continue to keep things simple and use their speed and continue to put pucks on net. It will be interesting who plays in net, and how the Oilers do on their first of many back to backs this season. This is a game that is more than winnable and it’s not out of the realm of possibility to expect a similar result as last night.

Thanks for reading everyone, let me know what you think @madi39 or in the comment section below!

 

Edmonton Oilers, Edmonton Oilers Post Game Report, Madison Moroz, NHL

BLH Post Gamer- G4 Edmonton Oilers Vs St. Louis Blues.

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I don’t even know where to start with tonight. The Oilers came out like banshees the first 5 minutes and looked like this was going to be a good solid game for them. They were winning puck battles, putting pucks on net, putting the St. Louis defence on their heels and doing exactly what was needed for them to stand a chance tonight. The boys in orange had two good quality scoring chances with Lauri Korpikoski capitalizing on one that seemed to be just a harmless dump in.

Fast forward 2 minutes after the Oilers scored and everyone is caught staring at the puck like its a pair of Katy Perry’s rack and St Louis nets one to tie it up. To the Oilers credit they did keep a good strong 2 or 3 minutes after that and once again looked like they were going to be sustain some sort of momentum for the rest of the period. But the Blues did what they do best and enforced their will upon the Oilers to take over for the rest of the period, killing all Oilers momentum.

https://twitter.com/myregularface/status/654849090933673988

The second period was fantastic up until the Tarasenko rocket going top cheddar on Talbot, but in his defence that would’ve went in on 99.9% of all NHL goalies. That just seems to be the way its going though. In typical Oilers fashion all the momentum they had built up in the second killed by a lazy face-off draw. So instead of getting in the lane of the shooter and causing him to second guess the shot, they just became pylons screening Talbot. It’s these bad habits the Oilers have to break and they have to break them quick because elite teams like the Blues are just going to pounce on it every single time. All the air was out of the building by that time until… Hall scored that magnificent goal!

There were actual boo’s at some points of the third, not something McDavid was used to hearing in Erie I imagine. It’s just bad habit after bad habit costing this team games, every time the puck is ending up in the net but on the positive side, less times than before because there is some actual goaltending in the net for once. Not only that but with some sort of actual defensive system set up by Jay Woodcroft.

I’m not sure what the mentality of this team is going forward, but something has to give, something has to change or get better. It’s like they think since their defence is improved and the goaltending is improved they can sort of lean back on it and not be as aggressive on the offensive side. Right now it seems anyone not named hall, who leads the team with 20 shots in 4 games, is willing to put the puck on the net enough. Hall hasn’t played the greatest but he’s at least trying to keep things moving and trying to create something out of nothing. But tonight, once again, there just wasn’t enough of that urgency. And like the old hockey saying goes, Keep. It. Simple. Stupid.

To establish some sort of confidence especially against teams like the Blues they are going to need simplify everything, and once you start to gain that confidence, then throw in that curveball to your game and see how the opposing team reacts. Tonight’s game just reeked of everything the Oilers can do to sabotage themselves, it’s going to take some time for them to get out of the funk and get the bad habits out of their system, but how much time can we as fans allow? How much time do the young stars of this team have?

Tonight’s three Beer League Heroes are:

1.Vladimir Tarasenko – What more do you need to say about this kid? Has an unbelievable release, break away speed and is strong on his feet, he played excellent tonight and was all over the ice.

2.Brian Elliott – This guy has been an Oiler killer the last 6 games against them, he’s just a solid goalie who keeps his team in it every night, and tonight when the Oilers applied the pressure, he made sure not to fold and he kept things calm.

3.Taylor Hall – Appears to be the only Oiler trying to establish some offence by throwing everything he can at the net. He started off slow this game, but really picked it up and start gaining some traction and you could see his wheels started going.

Now for the Golden Plunger award….

EVERYONE, not named Taylor Hall or Cam Talbot. I admit Talbot had not his best game, but he was making saves and doing what he needed to keep them in it and was there for his team when the shite hit the fan. Yes, he had a crazy giveaway, but he wasn’t the issue tonight and hasn’t been since he’s arrived.

Taylor Hall tends to drive this bus most of the time and it would be nice if others would just hop on along for the ride sometimes and build off his momentum.The rest of the team, doesn’t matter if you’re Connor Mcdavid or Mark Letestu, someone has to step up along side and create some sort of force to reckon with. Tonight was just awful, do we need to play Where’s Waldo? No! Instead let’s play Where’s Pouliot? Where’s Yakupov? Where’s Eberle…just kidding. Point made, there are too many invisibles right now and players need to start making an impact if they aren’t scoring. No one could handle the puck tonight, could make a solid tape to tape pass Now it’s not time to hit the panic button but it might be time to wake up.

Overall, tonight playing in front of your home crowd for the first time of the young season and the last time in that arena, they come out with a stinker. It seems once the game gets close, the Oilers can’t hold on and  weather the storm. Its going to take time for everyone to gel again with the new system, new faces behind the bench, growing pains are the worst with this team it seems. The first 5-7 minutes of the game and the 15 minutes in the second is how they need to play every night. Wear down opponents, be relentless, show that you are there to play. Here’s to hoping the Oilers are just one game of away of showing the world who they are.

Now of course there are positive things to the start of this season, we have the #1 PK in the league, we have confident goaltenders who are keeping us in games and we have an improved defense and system in place.

The next game is Sunday against the Vancouver Canucks, a game the Oilers should be able to win. Its not a very good Vancouver team and should be a game the Oilers can build momentum off of and come away with a win. They have to be aggressive, relentless and play a simple game come Sunday and shove the puck down the Canucks throat. The Oilers can’t let them breathe and the must force the turnovers, use the speed they have and send some stretch passes on Vancouver’s d-core to cause some havoc.

Thanks for reading everyone, if you’d like let me know what you think @madi39 or in the comments below!

 

Edmonton Oilers, Edmonton Oilers Post Game Report, Madison Moroz, NHL

BLH Post Gamer:G3-Edmonton Oilers Vs Dallas Stars

 

Well tonight was interesting. I was definitely in a glass case of emotion as a fan and I can only imagine how everyone else felt. The Oilers didn’t come out too strong in the first, the shot count can be misconstrued as it was pointed out a lot how much the Dallas Stars just put the puck on net from anywhere; with the naked eye you could see a good high percentage of the shots weren’t high quality.

The defence was keeping a lot of shots to the outside and blocked 25 shots tonight. The boys on the back end were actually doing an average job of blocking off the shooting lanes but the Stars were just throwing everything and the kitchen sink at Nilsson tonight; who let in 2 softies, but absolutely stood on his head making 48 saves on 51 shots. It’s nice to see the Oilers get solid goaltending in net for once.

The boys in white came out rocking in the second though with much more energy, keeping pace in the period with the Stars in shots only being outshot 14-13. They got a much needed boost with two quick goals from Oscar Klefbom and Connor McDavid, who finally broke the goose egg with his first career NHL goal. They didn’t look back from that point, sustaining pressure, winning puck battles, making the smart and simple plays first, and sticking to the game plan.

Everyone seemed to have a nice kick of energy and we had hope could pull off a win. Then the third period started and my emotions were going all over the place, a lot of screaming and yelling at the TV. The Oil just didn’t appear to have the fire they came out with in the second and then they took a bad penalty and that deflated any sort of momentum they had built to that point.

I knew once Yakupov missed on that breakaway something bad was going to happen, I just didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.

You can only be outplayed and out shot for so long till another one goes in, killing all momentum and crushing my hopes and dreams for a win. I was on an emotional roller coaster tonight, but I was again pleased that this team efforts level is much better then its ever been the last 3 years, so there’s a positive right?

 

The Three Beer League Heroes tonight are:

1.Jason Spezza- He played a fantastic game tonight, he was all over the offensive zone, played great defensively and had a hat-trick for his first 3 goals of the season, he was by the far best player on the ice and well deserving of the first Hero.

2. Anders Nilsson– What can you say about a performance like that, he let in 2 softies in my opinion, but he battled hard for the full 60 minutes, made 48 saves tonight and stood on his head giving Edmonton a chance to stay in this game and he did just that. Thoroughly impressed with his compete level, something I don’t remember seeing with the Islanders.

3.Connor Mcdavid- Who else deserves this, after two LONG grueling games scores his first NHL goal, like 2 other phenom’s in Sidney Crosby and Wayne Gretzky. He still played a solid game and looks mature beyond his years, he’s only getting better as each game passes and more comfortable, tonight was the first night of him picking up some steam.

Tonight’s Golden Plunger Award goes to…..

Anton Lander. It never pleases me to give this award out especially to a guy who’s been working his tail off and earning his job every night. It’s not that he played horrible, it’s that he just didn’t make use out of any of his minutes he had out there, almost a third of them were shorthanded and he appeared to be benched in the third period. So the coaching staff saw something they didn’t like out of him tonight. He just didn’t have that pep, that puck prowess he usually has when he’s out there, winning puck battles and just being strong on the puck like he normally is.

Side note: Anton Slepyshev only played 5:27 tonight.

Overall with tonight’s loss, I was happy to see that we could battle back and square the game up and get some momentum from two of the players we need to step up in times of need. Still frustrated after the fact that they just didn’t have their legs tonight, and couldn’t keep a consistent flow of momentum going. Taylor hall wasn’t himself and you could see was not 100%.

The only positive out of the offence tonight was the Pouliot-McDavid-Yakupov line, who have some found good chemistry and I’m hoping they’re kept together to capitalize on this blossoming chemistry. No moral victories tonight, this was a loser’s loss because the Oilers simply weren’t the better team out there tonight.

I’ll say it again, the effort out of this team is still far more improved then what we are accustomed to and much better body language on the bench, especially from the Oilers emotional leader in Hall.

Next game is against the St. Louis Blues at the home opener on Thursday night. The Oilers have to come out crashing and full of life in this game if they want to stand a chance, they can’t surrender the same amount of shots as they did tonight and get away with it again. They have to tighten up defensively and start throwing more pucks on net, start shooting and start the crashing, its going to be the only way they can penetrate the Blues defensive system. Shots and speed, utilize the fact that they’re the quicker team and start creating breakdowns in their zone.

Thanks for reading feel free to let me know what you think @madi39 or in the comment section below!

 

Edmonton Oilers, Edmonton Oilers Post Game Report, Madison Moroz, NHL

BLH Post Gamer: G1 – Edmonton Oilers vs St. Louis Blues

Photo by Dilip Vishwanat

FINALLY!!! The hockey season is here and upon us, we have all waited months upon months especially since the drafting of Connor McDavid for this day.

Tonight’s game for the Edmonton Oilers started off a little shaky, a little slow it took the boys some time to get their feet underneath them and shake off the first game jitters and ring rust. Once they started going though they were able to sustain some pressure in the offensive zone and did a pretty good job defending a team in their own zone that has normally dominated them over the past few years.

There wasn’t too many quality chances in their own zone, they did a pretty good job of keeping shots to the outside and making sure Talbot was able to see them. They battled hard most of the night and didn’t shy away from any puck battles and took the hits when needed. I think they did a pretty good job for most the night doing what Todd McLellan calls “playing in the opposing teams equipment”  as they kept the pressure on every time they had the chance in the offensive zone and created some chances they just couldn’t finish.

It was a tough team to start out against that being a big, strong defensively Blues team that’s been together for a few years. But the younger, quicker Oilers didn’t back down, they stuck up for each other and I’ll say it again, their battle level was excellent today. It certainly wasn’t the Oilers of old.

The only goals that went in were just small break downs with a tired group of guys on the ice, but as Matt Hendricks said in his post game interview, they were hard working mistakes and those are tough to complain about.

The Debut of Connor Mcdavid was everything I believe everyone expected, his speed, skill and IQ were on display tonight. Making plays off the boards, trying to split the D using his speed, nad making smart simple passes. I was as impressed as I was going to be, unless he scored a Highlight reel goal, then I’d be going bananas over his first game, But we definitely saw why he’s being considered to be a generational player.

Every Game I’m going to give out the Three Beer League Heroes. Today’s Heroes are:

  1. Cam Talbot – Made 28 saves in his Edmonton Oilers debut, didnt look shaky and came as advertised: Calm, poised, and positionally sound with great rebound control. Talbot really kept the Oilers in the game and gave them confidence.
  2. Justin Schultz –  Is this the same guy from last year? He played aggressive and even physical at times. Jultz looked to be a lot smarter at picking and choosing went to jump into the play and to the shock of us all, he was blocking shots! He looked extremely confident tonight and had a heck of a game for the Oilers playing 22:15, playing both the PK and PP tonight.
  3. Robby Fabbri – Connor McDavid’s childhood friend scored his first NHL goal tonight off a great pass from Jori Lehtera which ended up being the game winner. He didn’t play much tonight but he made the most of his one chance.

https://twitter.com/myregularface/status/652310139974852610

To go along with the three heroes…comes the Golden Plunger Award and it goes to….*drum roll please*


It saddens me to give him the inaugural award because I have high hopes for him. He trained with Gary Roberts in the off season and you can see his skating has improved but tonight he was just useless. Not that he was killing the play but just more that he wasn’t doing much to create a play. Purcell was more or less trying to keep it status quo on the ice. Could have been because he was on the top line and he was afraid of making a mistake so he played it safe. But here’s to hoping Teddy doesn’t get this award again and he can show us that he’s got what it takes to play with skilled players like he did in Tampa.

Overall, I was pleased with the effort and general performance. Of course I wish the Oilers could have come out on top and battled their way to a win but tonight’s loss wasn’t a loss of normal like last year. This was a hard working, no quit, stick to the gameplan, tough luck loss.

The Oilers have to build off this as a positive and take it forward to Nashville which is going to be an even harder task, its another strong defensive team, that has depth and scoring ability with a world class goalie in net. I think next game they are going to have to throw more shots on net, and try to crash the net and get the gritty goals to go in. With that said, they also need to continue to use their speed and puck movement and open up their game a little bit more to see if they can create some more chances off the rush.

Thanks everyone for reading it, feel free to follow me on Twitter @madi39 and let me know what you think there or in the comments below!