Tag Archives: Edmonton Oiler Post Game Report

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

BLH Post-Gamer G48 Oilers VS Lightning: Boyle-d Alive!

It’s always a disappointing feeling when you’ve worked so hard whilst feeling tired due to playing the night before when a teammate has a brain fart at a most critical moment in the game. That’s exactly what happened last night when Anders Nilsson, who is having an atrocious time in net recently, decided to give the game away to Brian Boyle so he could win it for Tampa. Let’s take a look at the sequence below.

https://twitter.com/DoleWhipz/status/689641387176902657

Two things jump out at me here.

1 – Nail Yakupov even on one leg should be able to catch Brian Boyle 999 times out of 1000. Even if his first inkling is to go to the net, he’s got to make a choice here and do it at full speed. Had he even got on his horse and tied Boyle’s stick up, that would’ve made a difference.

2 – What in the good Lord’s name was Nilsson thinking. The odds are in his favour if he stays in his net and if he’s going to commit to chasing down the puck, then bloody well commit! He half-assed it to the puck and when he got close enough and it was clear he was going to be beat, he still tried to go for the stick check.

So Yak is all ladder-legs here. Watching the puck… Is that what they teach the Oilers as soon as their drafted… “Wait to react, it always works!”

He knows exactly what Boyle is going to do with the puck and he’s committed to the net to back up his goalie but the problem is… HE’S NO WHERE NEAR THE NET!! He should be unlocking those knees and getting ready to block the shot that will undoubtedly be coming. But unfortunately his effort results in this:

Come on… What is that Yak? Block it if you’re going to block it.

So with the elephant out of the room let’s talk about the rest of the game. Overall I loved the pushback from the Oilers even though they were on the hind end of a back-to-back and it was their third game in four nights that included racking up some major points on the old air miles card. It’s not an easy flight from Cali to FLA, then again it’s not like these guys are flying coach.

In the absence of Ryan Hugent-Hopkins, I thought Matt Hendricks looked fine going 64% on the dot but the fancies did not like him or his line at all. He finished that game at 18%, Ebs at 12%, and Pouliot at 16%… Yowzas! But as bad as Ebs or Pouliot have been I did see flashes of improvement from them. I like how Pou has been asserting himself physically lately and Eberle is starting to get that hunger back in his eyes.

The top line of Hall/Draisaitl/Purcell didn’t start off well on that Nesterov goal but they didn’t get a lot of help from Jultz and Hunt on it either. The trio did however finish the game with the best fancies on the team as Hall was 59%, Draisaitl 62%, and Purcell with 61%.

I was really impressed with Draisaitl, his ability to protect the puck and his silky mitts are really impressive. He played really aggressive against the Lightning and I personally believe that the team has a better chance of success when they’re taking the game to their opposition as oppose to letting their opponents take the game to them and reacting to it. A pipe dream of mine is to see Jaromir Jagr in an Oilers jersey for one season so he can teach these kids a thing or two about the game on and off the ice.

**For future reference, “fancies” mean even strength Corsi for %. I get the #s from Oilersnerdalert’s post gamers here. He does such a fantastic job and it really helps me when I’m trying to filter through the eye test and the numbers test. You should definitely make his blog a daily stop!**

How about the games from Mark Letestu, Zack Kassian and Iiro Pakarinen? Outstanding! Both Kassian and Pakarinen came away from the contest with a goal and an assist but that wasn’t all for Kassian. He also racked up two PIMs, two shots, and four hits. A very complete game from him and he’s been nothing short of impressive since he’s been called up from Bakersfield.

And Iiro the Hero’s goal.

That line was buzzing all night and I’m jacked that there’s the possibility that we might have the makings of a good 3rd line right there. I’m hoping we see this group stay together for some time so a proper evaluation can be made but if they can continue to produce on the scoreboard and maintain a physical game, I reckon we’re gold!

Coach Todd was really working the bench this evening. He had 7 defenders to choose from and none of them played more than 20 minutes. I was really surprised to see that Sekera only played 17 minutes and Mark Fayne, whose play I’ve been really happy with lately, only had about 15 minutes. Justin Schultz and the revelation Brandon Davidson had the highest on the blue line with 19 and a half minutes. Brad Hunt managed 7 and half minutes with 4:46 of them being on the PP.

Speaking of Brad Hunt, this guy is supposed to be shooting the puck… Last night he had ZERO shots. Is it a problem with him not being able to get the shot off in time or the PP unit’s problem being unable to get him the puck?

Before we move on to talk about the next game I’d like to point out this slewfoot that Steven Stamkos put on Zack Kassian. Now I noticed that Kassian was going after Stammer continuously throughout the game when they were on the ice at the same time and Stamkos didn’t shy away from the hitting and stood his ground strongly but I don’t condone this sort of tactic. He was penalized for it but honestly, It’s no better than a hit from behind or a blindside hit. Check it out below and let me know what you think in the comments section!

Next up are the high-flying Dallas Stars who are 2-6-2 in their last ten and the season series is split 1-1. This could be a great opportunity for the Oilers to steal one from Jamie Benn and the boys. With Cam Talbot playing the way he is and the Oilers’ top line of Hall/Draisaitl/Purcell producing a bit more lately, it’s definitely in the realm of possibility.

Take Care!

BLH

NHL

BLH Post Gamer G35 Oilers VS Jets: Talbot 5000

Do you remember the old Rocky movies? You know how in every huge fight that Rocky eventually wins he takes a shit kicking beforehand? Well The Edmonton Oilers you’re watching these days are akin to Rocky when he’s fighting Spider Rico in that old church in the first movie. They’re just building up to the big fight with Apollo Creed. The weird thing is for the last ten years they’ve been the Rocky from the first fight with Clubber Lang or the Apollo Creed fighting Ivan Drago. Weak. Last week.

Oilers been taking a lot of punches these years… It’s about time they started punching back.

I mean the last half of the game versus the Jets was the Oilers holding on for dear life and Cam Talbot saving their asses… Again. Being outshot nearly 3-1 and not maintaining possession for any sustained period of time after the 30 minute mark  is not the way a successful team plays. Check out McLellan’s comments about the game below and tell me you’re not completely on board with what he’s selling.

Now I suppose we should be happy that the Oilers got away with another one and that’s two points in the books but you can be bloody sure that if the team continues to sell their goalies down the river that their goalies are going to lose their cool.

It’s an odd position to be in isn’t it? For years it was the team not having confidence in their goalies and now it’s the other way around.

We can’t short change the Jets here. They are a really good team and if they can find a way to resign two, if not, three of Byfuglien, Ladd, and Trouba this summer; they should be set. They’re big, fast, techincal, and very smart. If they can get their netminding sorted they could be a powerhouse in the West.

The Kingston Cannonball, The German Gretzky, and The Newfie had major success against the Jets last night. They put up eight points and 6 out of Edmonton’s 21 shots and continue to be a beacon of hope for these Oilers until Connor McDavid gets back. Did you put Purcell in your hockey pool like I told you to?

Grab a tee! Click the pic to get yours now!

Justin Schultz scored… Yeah. I don’t know what to say about this. Good for him? It took him over 20 games to get his first goal. This has to be unacceptable by the coach’s, the GM’s, and his own standards. Yet I’m not so sure he’s all that concerned about it. When you listen to his interviews there’s a lot of “hope” and “confidence” and “lucky” being thrown around out there and I don’t buy a single word of it. I don’t want to hear about hope, I want to hear a guy say to the world that he’s going to go out there and do something like score a goal. Not, “I hope the bounces come my way and I can be lucky enough to put one in.” I think that’s a bunch of BS and it screams ZERO CONFIDENCE to me. You know what I hope for? I hope that we’re lucky enough to see Schultz pull it together so that when he’s traded the team will actually get something of value back.

How about Darnell Nurse taking that shot in the wrist and then coming back like it was nothing? I’m certain he had one or two more blocks after that. The guy is an absolute stud and I’m so jacked, unlike others, that the Oilers took him instead of Valeri Nichushkin at the 2013 draft. In his 25 minutes on the ice last night he put up four blocks, 1 shot, a hit and a roughing penalty at the end of the game after Mark Scheifele slewfooted him. Scheifele is lucky he got as little as he did, I reckon Nurse was going to make an example out of him before everyone stepped in. Although I would’ve loved to have seen Trouba and Nurse drop the mitts.

Brrrr. Must be cold in Edmonton. Pick up a sweet hoodie by clicking the pic!

The return of Mark Fayne went largely unnoticed. Lol. That’s a good thing if you’re wondering. He went +2 on the night and not a gaff that I can think of. Good on him because that is what he is being played to do.

Lastly, the other player that I wanted to touch on was Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. He was 73% on the face-off dot, had two shots, two hits, and played over 20 minutes. That’s great because there are those out there that think he’s struggling this season and that with the emergence of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl that he should be trade bait. I am NOT one of them.

Any NHL player can have one good season, right? So at the moment we have a good idea of what we have in Leon and Connor but there’ll be a time when one or both aren’t going and if Nuge isn’t there to pick up the pace, the Oilers have trouble. We can afford to keep all three for another season at least and then if we need to, make a decision at that point. RNH is the best two-way forward on the team and is quickly emerging into one of the best in the league if not the best under 23 years of age.

We did read yesterday that Nashville is interested in him but is unwilling to move Josi, Weber, or Jones to get him. To that I say, fine. Try to go after Duchene, Stamkos, Johansen, and what ever other NHL superstar center with the conversation starting at Ryan Ellis or Mattias Ekholm. Good Luck!

So at the end of the day the Oilers sit in 2nd last place in the West three points above the Ducks but only 1 point out of a playoff spot. McDavid is skating (and shooting) again and I bet you that he’s back in the first half of January. You think the brass in Edmonton, let alone the NHL, is going to miss an opportunity to put the next great star in the all-star game? Especially one that features 3v3? Book it folks! McDavid will be back sooner rather than later.

Take Care and have a really great Christmas! Stay safe!

BLH