Stars at Oilers, G2, 09-10
Dustin Penner seems to like opening night. A year ago, he scored twice (including the winner at 19:54/3rd) against Colorado. This season he was back at it, scoring a goal and adding an assist while clearly playing well all night long.
Last season, Penner followed up the 2 goals on opening night with a prolonged slump (10 games) and inspired Craig MacTavish’s public rant that probably spelled the beginning of the end for Edmonton’s head coach.
It looks like Penner took some of the disappointment one year ago to heart, and has been playing well since the curtain raised on training camp 2009.
He’s in good shape, he’s a great and fun (if an unpredictable) interview and Dustin Penner has a chance to turn lemon into lemonade this season. If he can score consistently, post something close to the 29 goals he scored as a rookie on the way to the Stanley, Edmonton Oiler fans will cheer him until they’re hoarse.
The Edmonton Oilers badly need an offensive Dustin Penner, and this season they may get one.
Would it kill Khabibulin to make a save and actually control the rebound?
LT:
What about the first goal where he kicks the rebound right back to Morrow? Sure, we got an unlucky bounce, but there were about 3-4 times there he could have (and should have) been able to get a freaking whistle.
Pat Quinns face looked really really really red. More than usual. Hows his health these days?
It's good to be physical… if you can PK.
On the goal, it was tipped twice before going in. Can't blame the goalie on that one.
Do agree with PDO on rebound control, though.
Khabi needs to see Timmy Lupus work the glove.
#@!#%! i hate that #!@#@!#ing team.
'Nando can get up and walk around now, so it's getting better. We could use him on the PK.
Stone does look like he has a clue out there though.
I'm going to go ahead and not blame the goalie on that one. Two deflections, both from Oilers.
Could be. Khabibulin almost certainly got a better look at that than I did. What feed are you watching, LT?
Still and all, it looked like it went under his stick and between his feet.
Pat Quinns face looked really really really red. More than usual. Hows his health these days?
He missed the morning skate before the season opener because he "felt a bit ill" or something to that effect, so actually not too good presumably.
I get that Quinn wants "balanced lines" and some of it's working, but not Jacques on L1.
Is the simplest solution flipping Penner and Jacques.
Penner-Horcoff-Hemsky
Jacques-Brule-Nilsson
O'Sullivan-Comrie-Stone
Cogliano-Gagner-Stortini
Any chance Hemsky is disinterested and unhappy because he asked for a sniper to replace Penner and ended up with Jaques?
A nice pair of saves there for Khabibulin.
Penner is a better player this season.
DUSTIN PENNER!! Wow! That gets a guy excited in a hurry, thats for sure.
wow.
parentl you can only get a penalty if you wear blue.
Stars had 6 players on for about 15 second on their PP. Everyone in the building saw it except the refs.
Stars holding everywhere no calls.
Penner is the big M
Glad we traded Woywitka.
Penner (Nilsson)
Penner looking like Sundin 5 years ago walking out of the corner.
Not sure what Turco was falling over for though.
I don't know, Turco looked to be down early and not tight to the post there.
If Khabby keeps this up, there's going to be a lot of 5-4, 6-5 games played by the Oilers this year (if they keep scoring).
And an assist to Son of Schmilsson
Nice vision by Bobby Nilsson, sacrificing himself for the Penner goal.
Got some points on the play
?
Well, maybe we can be like Khabi's Blackhawks lat year – doesn't matter if you're letting a few softies in as long as the team is outscoring. I hate that philosophy, but high-scoring games *are* more exciting to watch.
That's two goals in two games for Penner. I know he had two in the season opener last year, but he just seems to have so much more compete in him this time around. Gawd, I hope he can keep it up for an extended stretch… if not the scoring, then the level of engagement in the game.
Sam Gagner with some rough stuff, boy is he ever answering the call.
Nifty back feed by Nilsson there to give Penner a lane to the net. Turco looked pretty weak on that one.
This team has had rotten luck with the bounces, terrible-looking penalty killing aside. Quite a few goals on absolute fluke deflections.
If they continue to play like this, perhaps with a better more polish regarding defensive zone coverage, I think that this team will have a winning record by season's end.
Gagner = Gilmour?
Attaboy Sammy. Hope the MIghty Quinn gives him a pat for that exchage
I wonder if Stortini thought he was going to score on that shot, and everyone would hail him as the next Mario Lemieux.
13 and 89 winning their share of battles, good to see.
12 not so much.
This is probably the worst quality High-Def feed I've ever seen. It looks more like regular cable except bigger.
2 down, 28 to go.
Bruce: As one of the suckers who paid for this game, I can tell you that the puck went between his right foot and the post.. perhaps ever so slightly under his pad.
Nice one Horcoff. He has been awefull tonight
Did fox sports just compare Stortini to Animal from the muppets?
What the hell was 10 doing there?
He hasn't been noticeable all night.
Someone needs to beat the shit out of Neal.
Schitzo.
Gagner = Weight.
Hopefully without the groin/hernia injury.
This announcer sucks.
Also let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Gilmour was elite at both ends of the ice, and started off as a defensive specialist that chipped in 40 points ala Madden.
I think the Dougy Weight projection would be accurate for Gagner if he bulks up more and continues with that fire.
Also I think that a line of Brule-Nilsson needs Penner to make it go. Jacques-Brule-Nilsson isn't a line I'd want to see out there too often.
I don't know about you guys, but I'm enjoying this game tremendously. These first two games have been a ton of fun to watch. Other than 1line almost everybody is contributing, battling and playing quick. I don't want to sound like a Canuck fan, but its a new era that's for sure.
Wow, two periods in and Hemsky's game sheet is a complete blank except for that -2. The line still has 0 shots, 1 hit, and 2 penalties. All -2, with Horc in the box for the third. Not good, not good at all.
Time to bring in the Slump Duster.
I vote that Stortini's new handle be Animal henceforth.
danny: after some delay great feed on Shawdirect satellite.
Liking all lines but #1. They all seem to be out of sync. Several times, including the first goal, JFJ is in front of the net defensively. Maybe he was just the first one back but…
Khabi is just not instilling confidence in anybody. Needs to make a few big saves.
Well, let's make sure to give the proper credit here. Nilsson made a sweet little pass, very creative. But Penner drive to the net and scored the goal.
I'm pretty far from a religious Lowetide commenter, so could someone kindly explain to me the origin of the "Zorg" nickname? I just saw it appearing out of the blue one day and I've been scratching my head ever since. Please and thank you kindly.
Jacques is still blowing people up, but the first line is completely out of sync. Hemsky is fighting the puck and doing dumb things it had started to look like he'd out grown at the blueline…
Dirty Burke
And Horcoff doing his best MAB impression with 10 seconds left in the period. What a terrible line tonight.
James L….. Zorg
Who was the idiot that turned the puck over in the defensive zone with a couple seconds left?
Hemmer did the head shake show-up when JFJ made an errant outlet pass to 83 at the stars blueline. Ales shouldnt be sulking when a plugger cant hit him far side. It shows where the guys head is at.
At this point, unless Edmonton finally gives him a guy similar to his style, I think he is gonna be an UFA in a couple seasons.
Hemmer needs to lose the prima donna attitude and get to work.
(few seasons)
Penner is a cycle player. Hemsky is a rush player. They don't mix.
You waste Penner if you play him with Hemsky. Hemsky doesn't use his left wing anyway.
Hemsky's "problem" is that Quinn's game is a more structured game, and Hemsky and structure don't mix.
Gagner is pretty good against bottom six competition with Stortini as a wingman protector.
You just know Hemsky's going to go end to end now and shut us all up.
Tom Renney about Zack Stortini on the PP and not Hemsky
With all due respect to Bruce, you replace Stortini in that quote with Petersen and it's like MacT never left.
Biggest problem with line 1 is that they spend too much time on the ice with 24 and 44.
No good break outs with speed. No good first pass.
83 is getting tough minutes with no one to play with, and I'm a 10 fan.
Quinn on PPV:
"We have to learn how to stop losing first"
Horcoff and Hemsky will be fine, over time (unless they have an injury we don't know about).
However, the other three lines look promising so it may be awhile before they get a Jacques replacement.
For the Oilers, I think it's really important that they come out and dominate in the third period. Solid PK, hard 5×5 and then cash on any PP chances.
If they lose tonight, and especially on something wonky, and we're going to be talking about fluke plays, big contracts and curses for another two days.
Shots for/against when 10-83 are on the ice according to the shift chart?
1-14
If we had an Alex Frolov right now this team would be scary.
lol… LT… is really important for your mental health that Khabibulin doesnt let in a softie.
Youve been very clear on your opinion but its becomming a bit of a running joke around here.
……and LT goes insane.
With all due respect to Bruce, you replace Stortini in that quote with Petersen and it's like MacT never left.
With all due respect to Toby Petersen, he played over 90 minutes PP TOI and had 1 point. So far this season Stortini has played 1:00 PP TOI and has 1 point.
I guess Zorg is playing with house money the rest of the way.
So…how about this Deslaurier guy….
Nikolai Khabibulin: Just not very good.
Discuss.
danny: Confidence is a big thing for a goalie, no?
Crap and a bigger piece of crap scores
I thought JDD was the one who was supposed to make us nervous.
What makes me hopeful for this season is that this team has clearly resolved it's special teams problems.
Maybe he just needs some Gatorade.
You can't get beat five hole from there…
Well Luongo has been pulled so far along with Theodore.
What does the MIghty Quinn do now?
I'm not worried about Bulin too much.
Old guys dont waiver as much as most confidence wise.
If he doesnt put up decent numbers though, Tambellini is going to look bad. there were a lot of pointers saying it could happen, and in a seaosn with many bargain options available.
I think the Oilers have to stay with him. They've signed him to a big free agent deal and it's very early, but a win tonight settles things down a little.
Plus of course they don't have a proven backup so it isn't like they can confidently run JDD out against Calgary Thursday.
Khabibulin will be fine. Our defense is throwing him to the wolves tonight.
You can't give the other team such constant possession and free puck movement in your own zone and expect them not to score.
The good part is that Quinn is pissed off. Bag skate tonight?
These guys won't quit, am I really watching the 2009-2010 Oilers?
I see what happened there. Hemsky aware of the -2 saddled on his line was waiting till the penalty expired to get them back a +1.
Each time we tie this game it seems like a minor miracle. Can we see some good defense and passable goaltending please?!?
Grebeshkov (Hemsky, Gilbert)
thank you hockey gods.
That PP was awful. Hemsky looks drunk.
The Keystone Cops powerplay routine cashes in.
Actually Varlamov let in 4 then Theodore got put in and gave up a few tonight. Wild game, and that big line in Washington is making my pool life hell.
Weird… wtf was Jacques, NOT doing in front of the net?
The Mighty Quinn might pull a Bill Laforge tonight and you could see Staios running around Rexall outside in his gear later on.
The critical thing here is that Dallas is one of the easier opponents for these fellows over the first dozen games of the season.
And they're not exactly ripping up the joint.
hahah smid…
perfect-match.com
lol…
crystal lergier
nice.
Horpensky is on boys.
Did Hemsky just take a shot on Khabibulin? Man.
Not watching the game, but based on the comments here and the box score… it sure sounds ridiculous.
Not going to win many game giving 6 PP opportunities.
As much as I despise him, the Oilers could sure use a Steve Ott.
Penner's been the best Oiler tonight imo.
remember the 'Canes p-kill in '05-06 ?
This one is nothing like that.
Watching our passive box on the PK is like watching 4 guys on sawhorses trying to play hockey.
Souray has to one of the best in the League at clearing the puck on the PK
Hemsky seems to be waking up.
Penner's getting a tonne of ice time tonight. He's got Horcoff beat by almost a minute.
thats a mistake JFJ
Well it's tied late folks. The Oilers were in the same slot on Saturday night and didn't get a point.
How will they do tonight?
h o r p e n s k y ?
JFJ was trapped on an icing. so dont get too excited.
LT – I'm voting for heartbreak.
Pat Quinn: will he make it? Film at 11.
Gags: lost in his own end. Glued to the puck
They just played another shift together, not quite 'trapped'.
Quinn doesn't believe in OT/Shootouts. So it's either score a goal or he makes the goalie let one in again.
Agreed, Hemsky looks to be sobering up.
I vote Hemsky realizes the season's actually started and he's not in pre-season anymore, and scoring late in the 3rd to rob Dallas of the point.
Ah who am I kidding, this is the North Stars. The Oilers are cursed! Ghost of Eddie Belfour etc. etc.
Man that's some truly ugly play in our own end. Renney better come up with a system that works soon…
Thank goodness Rexall has Digoxin gum.
O'Sullivan with the winner
I'm starting to like Stone.
Cmon, guys at least get us the point…
I'm starting to like Stone.
I'm still a little annoyed that he ruined my "respond to Schremp truthers by predicting great things for Ryan Stone, despite not having any evidence to that effect" joke by actually making the team.
Horcoff and Hemsky are a completely different combo with Penner there instead of Jacques.
That is pretty funny, Steve.
Horc needs to find his 2007 sticks.
Who was the Stars player who went 100% in the shootout for ages?
Schremp truthers. That's good all on its own.
Oilers get a point.
christ that was scary
THAT WAS NOT FUNNY, MR. KHABIBULIN.
woah. Khabibulin closeup. Looked like 'ol Crazy Eyes from Mr Deeds.
Jaysus. Khabby needs some stick'em.
Jussi Jokinen
Khabibulin reminds me of Jean Claude Van Damme in "Sudden Death".
This feed is driving me nuts. Penner tries a stuff shot, and Khabibulin deflects it over the glass, 200 feet away.
Khabibulin nearly scores on himself with one second left. Can you imagine … ?
Gnash – Jussi Jokinen
So does Quinn play it like MacT, that is, for the shootout?
Who was the Stars player who went 100% in the shootout for ages?
Technically, you could argue that Strudwick is 100% in the shootout….
Horpensky is on boys.
9:38 PM, October 06, 2009
Hemsky seems to be waking up.
9:45 PM, October 06, 2009
Agreed, Hemsky looks to be sobering up.
9:50 PM, October 06, 2009
Jokinen? That sounds right.
If it gets there, who are the Oilers shooters tonight?
LAK up on SJS 4-0 in the second. Lordy.
Smytty with his first tonight. Puck travelled 6 inches. Classic
Coach – It's almost as if he enjoys having skilled players on his line…
How was Habby on shootouts last year?
Holding!!
Hah. Hemsky after a couple of cycles – "Screw this shpeenddjdcb." and skates off.
Two giveaways by Staios within five feet of his own net in about hree minutes. Not good.
Don't forget Zubov, Jokinen and Zubov were freakishly good on the penalty shot.
Visnovski was made for 4 on 4
Nice block by that jerk Hemsky when are we trading that guy!?!?
Have only seen the third – is it just me but does Smid look … quite competent?
I like Staios out there. Calm, calm feet.
Smid didn't see or hear Visnovsky yelling for the cross-ice feed, but he's looked good. I think that he's learning a lot playing from a very cerebral defense partner.
You know except for that shot in OT I didn't even notice Smid all that much this game. I take that as a good thing, maybe the kid has turned that corner.
Quinn's list
Sundin
Tucker
Kaberle
Poor Staios, I think him and Moreau are going to get the Gator treatment next summer.
One way to fix your cap issues.
I'll never understand when there's less than 10 seconds left, and their tired, at the end of OT why players just don't start tackling the attacking team and don't touch the puck.
Good: Horpensky.
Bad: Staios
Ugly: Khabibulin almost scoring on himself to end the game with 1 second to go.
–
At least Dallas doesn't have Zubov any more…
Comrie any good in the shootout?
Apparently Khabibulin has holes in the bottom of his skates to drain the sweat. Ew.
SK – that wouldn't be sporting, sir. This is a gentleman's game.
Khabi's not too bad on the shootout.
Career he's 7-5 with 51 shots and 16 goals for a Sv% of 0.686.
He's #35 for active goalies. Roloson is $46.
Hemsky,Comrie,Gagner for the Oilers
Nilsson as 4th
Neal,Richards,Ribeiro for the stars
Eriksson as 4th
Only predictions we will see
Wow, Turco really lucked out with that one.
I'd like to see Souray blast one from the point while Turco is standing sidewyas like that.
If O'Sullivan could hit the net he'd have 5 goals on the season and be a perennial All-Star.
Fucking feed completely dies right as the shootout starts. Fuck sakes.
Patrick O'Sullivan: 7.5% of the time, it works every time.
Turco can eat it. Ales.
Lucky.
I'll take it.
Hemmer deked Turco out of his shoes. Neal hit the post, Oilers win!!
Woo Hoo!
Dallas can eat it.
I was 5 out of 6 in that prediction.
Nice!
A win. Nice. Penner was the best Oiler tonight.
Kinda fitting that Khabibulin doesn't even save the final shot
.
I'll take it.
For a minute there I was really jonesing for Garon.
http://www.mc79hockey.com/?p=3220
The way I saw it.
The only thing pretty was the result so we'll take that for tonight;)
Neal with a great game. Jamie Benn is a player.
Khabby with one foot out of the doghouse.
Souray had a good game too – low event, hardly noticed him. Except for the rag-dolling in the first.
So, based on eyeballs and Dennis' terrific counting, can we agree Jacques is not long for the 1line? What about the 1 pairing?
Phil I noticed Souray quite a bit in his own zone, especially on some breakouts. He's as good as any at breaking the cycle.
Hemsky with the shootout…trying to go high glove and fanned.
Breaks balance out but that was rather quick.
The Bulin wall is pretty bad, but it could be worse. We could have that piece of shit Luongo.
Defense – ugh.
If Viz is still hurting, they why play him? Can't they call up Peckham or Chorney and at least have a healthy skater?
Faceoffs haven't looked like a problem for the first two regular season game.. but I had really hoped that the coaching change would bring an improvement in special teams. The stats end up looking like an effective PP on the night, but it didn't seem dangerous to the eye.
So, based on eyeballs and Dennis' terrific counting, can we agree Jacques is not long for the 1line?
God I hope not. He's SO close to the longest single point career of any forward in NHL history. Hopefully someone asks him about and the Oilers stick it in their game notes.
Staios was truly awful tonight. I'm pretty sure that the pass button on his controller is broken beyond repair. Basically every time he was on the ice, it seemed tilted towards the Oiler zone, at least IMO. This is going to get worse before it gets better…
LT: you saw what happened when Quinn tried to sneak out the 22-67-12 trio that was a result of 27 moving up: 22 iced the puck and they were stuck out there and we all nearly vomited.
So, Quinn isn't gonna run his bench just for the sake of JFJ but I wonder where he falls when the flight lands.
Nice block by that jerk Hemsky when are we trading that guy!?!?
Have only seen the third
BDHS: Ales was waiting for you. He started to get involved around the time you tuned in. Or maybe it was around the time Penner moved onto his line.
Jacques looked absolutely overwhlemed out there tonight, just not making anything positive happen.
One plugger per line:
Stone 6 hits, coincidental major (fighting)
Stortini 4 hits, coincidental minor (roughing)
Brule 3 hits, 1 minor (holding)
JFJ 1 hit, 1 minor (hooking)
Hmmmm. Most of them seem to get it.
So, based on eyeballs and Dennis' terrific counting, can we agree Jacques is not long for the 1line? What about the 1 pairing?
Problem is there's almost nowhere else to put him. Pisani would really help in this regard:
Jacques – Brule – Pisani
all in all, it was a porous effort in the defensive end. It seemed that Dallas had free run of the shooting lanes the entire night. You gotta close those down if you have any hope of outscoring your opponent on a semi-regular basis.
Gnite all.
Just caught the game from the 3rd period on so that's all I can comment on but Grebeshkov looked wonderful, Staios looked particularly unwonderful, and Penner looked OK but certainly not best Oiler of my 25 minutes. Great to read that he scored again and apparently on a nice aggressive play. Another 4 goals for Khabby isn't flattering and this time the one goal I saw was a clean look and not one of those BS deflections from last game so that's not so great either. Good thing we got the breaks on the tying goal and Neal's post in the SO. Lastly, Dallas definitely carried play in the last 20, not as sure about OT, so I'm not going to get too excited quite yet.
Dennis: All the way to the PB would be my guess. Or maybe Quinn sews together a platoon of Stone/Jacques based on which one is having the better run.
Moreau will be back eventually, Pisani too and Pouliot is apparently close. I imagine Jacques has already made a list of possible HS's when those players come off the IR.
Game thoughts:
1. Penner had a nice game. He really seems committed to playing to his potential.
2. It was about time JF Jacques was removed from the 4th line. No surprise the 1st line considerably improved instantly. 13:44 is excessive amount of playing time for a 4th liner.
3. Stone is slow. I suspect his spot will be overtaken once Moreau/Pouliot are back.
4. Doesn't seem Quinn matches lines at all. Gagner takes a defensive zone face-off (Cogliano and Horcoff/Stortini) on the ice with 10 seconds left in regulation.
Brule on near the end of the OT, and a poor play by him nearly cost the extra point.
5. Not overly concerned with Khabibulin at this point. The season is still young, and many of his goals have been of the deflection variety. Obviously it wasn't nice seeing the 4th goal (legs were open akin Jenna Jameson), but I suspect he will rebound.
6. Seems like Pat Quinn isn't familiar enough with Steve Staios and his limitations. 23:25 TOI, 4 more minutes than 71.
7. Somewhat lucky to win tonight. Dallas dominated us on the shot clock (34-24) and were without Modano and Lethtinen. They got, as LT puts it, NHL players.
Kinda fitting that Khabibulin doesn't even save the final shot
Hockey is a game of inches. It's the difference between WINNING and LOSING…between LIVING and DYING
That's hockey gentlemen…that's…life.
Did fox sports just compare Stortini to Animal from the muppets?
Awesome! That is perfect.
Penner's been the best Oiler tonight imo.
As you have been saying LT – this is a good team that just needed a coach that could work with the players! :]
So, based on eyeballs and Dennis' terrific counting, can we agree Jacques is not long for the 1line? What about the 1 pairing?
Maybe Hemmer and Horc are dragging him down (not really serious here, but just a little). One wonders how the line might be if those two were on top of their game?.
Anaheim blows a 3-0 lead in 14 minutes and loses in OT.
Lordy.
Only saw 2/3 of the game, but can we all agree on the following:
1. Horpensky needs to be kept together. Jacques can play, but has poor hands and offensive play dies with him.
2. Staios looks like a worse option than Strudwick or the AHL'ers: Peckham, Arsene, etc. Age is killing him fast. He's still one of my favorites, and last season he was an NHL 3rd pairing guy, but this season…?
3. The team is more physical and is forechecking, and that might be a better way to hide the kids and the error prone play than playing a more "cerebral", "puck-possession" game.
4. The PK. Oh the PK.
Wow Quinn is tearing a strip off of his team in the post game presser…
I think we may see Staios going down in the coming weeks.
Can anyone watching/listening say what Quinn is going on about in the post-game?
Bookie,
I'm not liking Staios' game, but Quinn does. He played the crap out of Staios. So, I doubt he's going down.
I know that its against the law to criticize horcoff in these parts but if the oilers are going to make the playoffs he needs to be better than he's been in the past 2 games.
CM,
I think everyone here would agree that he didn't play well.
Can anyone watching/listening say what Quinn is going on about in the post-game?
We have to be better in our own end.
We are still learning and figuring out the system.
Sam Gagner doesn't suck
I forget what else he said cause i was working.
I think everyone here would agree that he didn't play well.
Yep, but does anyone have any insights on his normal 'coming out of training cam' trajectory. Is a slow start the norm?
I'm not liking Staios' game, but Quinn does. He played the crap out of Staios. So, I doubt he's going down.
Quinn does not handle the defense.
I don't mind leaving the lines for a few more games, with the exception of moving Staios down and not on the ice in the last 5 mins.
If you put Horpensky back together, Quinn will have to juggle more than one other line because Jacques-Brule-Bobby will get nothing done out there.
I'd prefer to role these lines and then shorten to moving Penner up and sitting Jacques and the rest of the "3rd" line.
Khabibulin will be fine btw, as soon as they realize that Staios & Souray against the toughs is not going to work.
So can somebody who knows how to use the magic tools give us some idea if Quinn is living up to his reputation of not line-matching? We've had two home games so far; is there anything to be concluded at this point, even tentatively?
Boy, that top line back at it in Washington tonight… If Backstrom stays healthy this year, at $2.4M he's got to be the best value in the league.
"Quinn does not handle the defense."
Picky, picky. But point taken. "Quinn/Renney" then. We are talking about sending a player down after all, which is -I suspect- more Quinn's decision than Renney's. And really, it's more Tambellini's decision than Quinn's, since it's a roster decision. One way or another, it's not happening.
PBoy this was great:
Staios was truly awful tonight. I'm pretty sure that the pass button on his controller is broken beyond repair.
Best description of Staios I've heard yet.