Today, we pause and remember those who fought for us, our way of life and (in many, many cases) gave their lives for this country. We also take this opportunity to thank today’s men and women in uniform, who populate some of the most dangerous places on earth in order to keep the peace. We remember you and your selfless efforts today. God bless you and your family. You are the best of us.
The Edmonton Oilers reached a new low last night in Raleigh, unable to compete with the deep and effective Carolina Hurricanes. Mistakes ran like water through a mountain stream. What’s more, the list of injuries facing this team has reached the point where furrowed brows can be seen in the players and coaches. November routinely offers challenges to this organization and the team is 2-4-0 through six with no relief in sight.
THE ATHLETIC!
- New Lowetide: What should the Edmonton Oilers expect from Klim Kostin?
- New DNB: Oilers must learn how to cope without Evander Kane
- Lowetide: How close to balanced are the 2022-23 Edmonton Oilers?
- DNB: Oilers’ Evander Kane hospitalized after skate blade cuts his arm
- Lowetide: Oilers top prospect is unclear for the first time in a dozen years
- Lowetide: Oilers prospects crowding AHL roster, ice time at a premium
- DNB: Why Oilers’ latest ‘pathetic’ performance from Jack Campbell is a growing issue
- Lowetide: Oilers rookie Stuart Skinner is chasing history
- DNB: Devils stun Oilers in Edmonton: How 7 seconds changed the game
- DNB: Ryan Smyth on Oilers memories, keepsakes and the current team: Q&A
- Lowetide: Making room for Dylan Holloway
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers start October slow but finish month strong
- Lowetide: Oilers prospect Tyler Tullio adjusting quickly to AHL
- DNB: Oilers’ Skinner, an Edmonton native, closes door on Flames
- DNB: The Oilers have a third line that’s settling in
- Lowetide: Early season trade unlikely for the Oilers
- DNB: How the Oilers can manage Connor McDavid and star players’ workloads
- Jonathan Willis: Jakob Chychrun would look good on the Oilers, but is there a deal to be had?
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers reasonable expectations for every player in 2022-23
- Lowetide: Oilers top-20 prospects, summer 2022
WHAT TO EXPECT IN NOVEMBER
- At home to: NAS, NJD, DAL (Expected 2-1-0) (Actual 1-2-0)
- On the road to: WAS, TBY, CAR, FLA (Expected 1-2-1) (Actual 1-2-0)
- At home to: LAK, VEG (Expected 1-0-1) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: NJD, NYI, NYR (Expected (1-1-1) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: FLA (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: CHI (Expected (1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- November expected result: 7-4-3, 17 points in 14 games
- Actual November results: 2-4-0, 4 points in 6 games
- October results: 6-3-0, 12 points in 9 games
- Oilers in 2022-23: 8-7-0, 16 points in 15 games
I imagine we’ll see some improvement on Saturday, but this team has some real issues. Jack Campbell allowed several goals that an NHL goalie should stop and the defense took a lax attitude in some vital moments. I’m not one to say “they don’t care” or “they’re lollygaggers!” but I do think the team’s defense is overwhelmed with opponents speed. In related news, Philip Broberg is scheduled to play in Bakersfield this weekend. If the season ended today, based on winning percentage, Edmonton would win a wildcard spot as No. 7 seed in the west. That’s shocking and unlikely to remain the case.
THE GOALS AGAINST
- First goal against: McDavid gets beaten in a corner battle, Nurse can’t stop the pass, Barrie doesn’t feel the back door open. I don’t blame the goalie on this one.
- Second goal against: Draisaitl allows the cross-ice pass and a great shot is all that was needed. The 5-on-3 is desparate times, so no fault on the goalie in my opinion. Even the Derek Ryan penalty was more bad luck in my opinion.
- Third goal against: Svechnikov from just above the circles, Ceci backing up a little too much, fine shot, I believe the goalie has to stop that shot your mileage may vary.
- Fourth goal against: Holloway turns the puck over 100 feet from the net, shouldn’t be an issue there are plenty of men back. Passive defensive play by Kulak and Murray, and a very poor effort by Campbell and the Oilers were done by the end of the second period.
- Fifth goal against: Brilliant individual effort by Jordan Martinook. I don’t blame the goalie.
- Sixth goal against: Passive defense by Kulak and Bouchard, Campbell made the first two or three saves on Svechnikov and should have been on his ass. Devin Shore might have been better off attacking the guy with the puck than playing goalie, but the play was beyond broken.
- Seventh goal against: Nurse separates player from puck, Campbell has it with several good options. He chose wrong.
- Summary: I count three goals (Nos. 3, 4 and 7) that the goaltender should have kept out of the net. Final score was 7-2, so 4-2 isn’t a win, but watching Campbell currently it’s difficult to project him into a consistent starting role at this time. Plenty of track left, but I believe your starting goalie this morning in Edmonton is a rookie.
NUMBERS (five-on-five)
I’m not going to post the usual summary because there wasn’t enough good to report on, and the GA summary above details the issues. It was a poor game. Things I noticed: Connor McDavid was No. 4 in five-on-five TOI (and overall) and I wonder why; Nuge had the best Corsi and Fenwick; Dylan Holloway enjoyed the highest shot share; Zach Hyman was the only player over 50 percent expected goals; Holloway and Leon Draisaitl led with four HDSC (that stat in all game states). It’s mostly bad from the stats sheet.
KAILER YAMAMOTO
Jay Woodcroft mentioned in the post-game (and reported by Daniel Nugent-Bowman at The Athletic) that Kailer Yamamoto took a knock in the Tampa Bay game and flew back to Edmonton for evaluation on Thursday. Added to the Evander Kane news, the team’s vaunted forward depth is suddenly dangerously thin. Dylan Holloway had a strong game (in my opinion) and could be a Godsend. Edmonton needs a hero on right wing rfn.
DYLAN HOLLOWAY
That piece at the beginning of the article about Linus Omark could apply to all talented yet unproven players. In the case of Omark he was pure offense and that was always going to be an issue, but he could have had an NHL career. The Oilers of the time had enough to get by without him, but at the time I write that item, injuries meant Omark was an obvious option. Take a photo of that moment and then compare the Oilers insertion of Dylan Holloway into the top-six last night. I know Dylan Holloway is a better player than Omark, but it’s also true the GM and coach have to embrace the unproven talent when it’s time. In the case of Holloway, it’s time. I was wildly encouraged by the move.
JACK CAMPBELL
I saw someone ask online last night how long the Oilers will stick with Jack Campbell. I expect Stuart Skinner will get lots of starts in the coming days, but the Oilers will stick with Campbell all year and beyond. He posted strong games for weeks and months in Toronto and will again, barring injury. Regression doesn’t look close, but there’s time and the club has some other things to fix along the way.
3 stars tonight in San Diego for the Condors 2-0 win:
Hunter Drew – Gulls
Justin Kirkland – Gulls
Danny O’regan – Gulls
Lol, WTF?
The jury was mrs Drew, mrs Kirkland and mrs O’Regan.
Oilers new “#1 goalie” is so bad RN…
He couldn’t even save 15% or more by switching to Geico!
Have to say I got a little misty eyed watching Salming getting a standing ovation in Toronto, a crying Darryl Sittler helping him raise his hand and Mats Sundin crying as well.
His ALS is progressing fast as he started having diffuse symptoms in February and now he can’t eat or speak on his own. Terrible. Such a nightmare of a disease.
totally
.
It really is. Sobering and sad. Salming is a major player in NHL history, proving Europeans could come over and thrive. Along with Juha Widing, Inge Hammarstron, Thommie Bergman and WHA names like Andres Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson, he blazed a trail.
Great to see Kanes big smile today.
I don’t know but seems like this Edmonton period in his life is a good thing for him personally. No matter how ‘tough’ a person is, being pushed out by your peers is not a nice life experience. He seems to be widely accepted and embraced by his peers in Edmonton. Must be doing good things in his soul.
no Kassian, no Kane tomorrow for Tkachuk, will he act up?
T-birds beat the Yamamotos 7-2. Chiefs are the division cellar dwellers, a young team that is early in the development cycle.
Schaefer had one helper out of that point-fest, on the first goal of the game, the one that started a three goal blitzkrieg just over a minute in.
It wasn’t for lack of trying. He racked up seven shots. His best two chances in the stanza I saw were a wicked wrister point blank in the slot that was deflected into the netting, and two shifts later 4 on 4, he drove wide around the Dman and cut across the face of the crease… but it’s too tight and he’s stuffed. Showed some sweet jets though.
And I was happy to see him keep his nose clean. He lost his cool a bit against Portland and racked up the minutes, but despite there being some shenanigans in the 3rd, he stayed out of it, didn’t put the lead at risk.
surely Campbell is looking at changing to a stiffer trapper
“cut pretty much everything down to the bone”
besides the artery are we talking muscle? tendons? ligaments? nerves? anything else?
Well if you view that MD video posted a couple of days ago it would seem all of the above.
Summarizing!
Lachance tallied twice, earning him 1st star in a 7-2 romp.
Mazura scored St. Lawrence’s only goal in a 5-1 loss.
Brind’Amour and Wanner each had two assists. The former also went 17-of-29 (58.6%) on the dot.
Chiasson had an assist and the shootout winner in Brandon’s win.
Schaefer had an assist along with a game-high 7 SOG.
Määttä was held scoreless but did go 10-of-14 (71.4%) on the dot.
Münzenberger was not on the menu for Vermont today.
A massive thank you to al who serve or who have served
Al too but all for sure
Philp with a great forecheck, Kemp with a great pass over from the right side boards to the left boards Hamblin sneaks down with it but fires one cross-crease to Lavoie – great passes by Kemp and Hamblin and great finish by Laoive. Boom, 2-0;
While 4 of his first five goals were really floaters, this time, Kesselring seeks down to the Ovie spot as Demers gets the puck at the point and takes the past and one-times it home for this sixth.
Lavoie had drawn a PP but that’s negated by the 1-0 goal early in the 3rd.
Thoughts from the last half of the Warriors – Tigers game (5-4 shootout win)…
Wanner — His strength is defense and he was all over the puck tonight. Warriors coach relies more on Mateychuk for TOI and while Mateychuk is a left shot, he usually plays the right side. He has a more dynamic game and is a year younger than Wanner, but he’s not as strong as Wanner in his own end. They PK together and are sometimes out at EVs together. When they are, they effortlessly switch sides of the ice between the two of them (they both have a lot of range).
Wanner’s best offensive chance in that half game came with only 17 secs left as the Tigers lost him and he came down the slot and took a pass and one-timed a blast at the net, but missed. On the point Wanner favours a short back-swing slapper, which I always like to see.
Ancillary thoughts:
Tiger Gavin McKenna sure can skate, although I think right now Weisblatt is faster. Which you would expect since the latter is 18 and the former 14. Yes, you read that age right. McKenna has soft hands and can stickhandle heads up the whole time with the puck on a string. Wasn’t aggressive at looking for shooting opps though.
Braydon Yager… I don’t know how this kid doesn’t go in the 1st round. If he continues to rack up the points, maybe even Top 10. He can do some things.
Jagger Firkus touches the puck a lot and his speed was giving the Tigers fits. Used the Zegras slow down dangle in the shootout.
Ungar, the Warriors goalie, had a very nice game despite the score. The Warriors spent a lot of time under siege in the half game I saw (shots were 11-3 for MHT in the 3rd and only slightly better in the 2nd.) And he kept MJ in the game through OT including killing a penalty. Stopped 3 of 4 in the shootout.
Matcychuk is a high pick, isn’t he?
11th overall? 12th? Something like that.
Considering the amount of time the Warriors spent in their own end, I think the coach had the TOI wrong. Defense is not Mateychuk’s strength. He can carry the puck as well as any talented forward though.
Lol, and I switch to the Seattle game and they’re already up 6-1 after two. They were up 3-0 before 5 minutes of the game had elapsed. None of the six goals are from Schaefer though.
No score but just a dominant period by the Condors. Dostal with one highlight of the year save and a couple other really good saves. Shots 13-3 don’t really do the domination justice.
Bourgault all over the puck in the offensive zone (playing with Bourgault and Tulio).
Liked Broberg’s activation.
Liking Lavoie’s game as well – his skating seems much more powerful which is an absolute shocker given the injury he’s coming off.
I wonder if Lavoie worked with David Pelletier while rehabbing?
Kaldis, Tulio, Bourgault, Malone, Griffith come out for the PP.
McKegg, Savoie, Lavoie, Demers, Broberg – PP2
5 forwards on PP1?
How long has that been a thing?
Kaldis is a d-man.
I mis-read Kaldis as Kambeitz. Thanks.
Wanner have another apple? Sure, why not! Two so far for Maximus:
https://twitter.com/MJWARRIORS/status/1591270932966150144?cxt=HHwWgMDQzfGeqpUsAAAA
I believe that’s called a deft pass by Wanner there, or can a deft pass only be a backhand? As in, deft backhand. So many hockey words hey?
On November 11 –
My 18 year old ancestor from Parry Sound joined up for WW1 and he looked just like a tin soldier.
Less than a month after landing in France he was blown to pieces by German artillery shells – no body was ever found.
Broberg blocks a shot on the PK off his chest. He seems fine but Holt mentioned him coming back from a rib injury – boom, finally, we know what he was dealing with during camp.
Broberg back out on the same PK – made of steel…… lol
As long as it’s not stainless steel?!
Broberg takes a dump, goes around his net, carries it all the way in to the offensive zone and puts a shot on net – not overly dangerous but the type of activation we want to see from him (and that we didn’t during camp).
Takes a dump?
Mwahahahahaha!
Wut? Really? Am I the only 12 year old this blog?
In fact I know this not to be true, given the 2 negative reactions to the OP reports, lol.
For some reason, it heartens me to see Juolevi toiling in the AHL…..
Ummmm, Savoie just set up McKegg for a huge empty net goal but Dostal made a MIRACULOUS glove save – it may have been in the net though – Condors are challenging.
Tulio gets a bump to play top line with Malone and Bourgault….
Broberg is indeed in the lineup.
Engras as well, who has been called up from Ft. Wayne.
Brind’Amour picks up two late apples in a Quinnipiac win.
Meanwhile in the Medicine Man’s Hat, Wanner’s heater continues with a helper as his point shot is tipped home to break the ice:
https://twitter.com/MJWARRIORS/status/1591255220150943744?cxt=HHwWgICqgaSMo5UsAAAA
One thing I don’t like about the NHL is not being honest about injuries.
”Kane had a procedure after the injury”
im sorry having a vein cuff to repair a lacerated artery is not a procedure. It’s a surgery
Are you familiar with HIPAA in the US? It is not the NHL’s call whether or not they give out details of injuries.
Well, leadfarmer is American, lives in the US, and works in health care. I’m guessing he has.
Well then, he should know!
Well the HIPAA rule is based off consent, is it not? And doesn’t seem to prevent other leagues from being more descriptive. I’m guessing something like consent is easy to build into a CBA or SPC.
I think this is more about hockey culture than anything. For eg, this week Huberdeau’s injury was reported as an UBI and then he was seen with a walking boot.
I though gambling would force the NHL to be more honest about injuries but that has yet to manifest.
There is no doubting Tomas as Mazura tallies his first goal since last December–and first with St. Lawrence–to put his team on the board in the first.
Following a turnover behind the opposition net, he buries a centering feed:
https://twitter.com/SkatingSaints/status/1591228871726112768?cxt=HHwWgICl-cyOl5UsAAAA
Like Elvis Costello, Shane Lachance’s aim is true as he picks off a clearing attempt, walks in and snaps one home to open the scoring in period 1:
https://twitter.com/YtownPhantoms/status/1591223621250334720?cxt=HHwWgICy7f3clJUsAAAA
He now tallies on the PP early in the third to put Youngstown up 6-2:
https://mobile.twitter.com/YtownPhantoms/status/1591252648581562368?cxt=HHwWgIDUqcz2oZUsAAAA
lol. Great album.
NHL/NHLPA account the 2024 World Cup is not happening.
SON OF A………
I know some (many) had no time for this tournament and, ya, it would suck to not have one of the top countries there (Russia) but this was being planned as a true best on best, nation vs. nation tournament, really no different than the Olympics except being a stand alone.
Its been a damn decade since we’ve had that and it needs to happen – should be at least once ever four years.
So much for McDavid and Crosby representing Canada together while Crosby is still elite (he is but barely and, by the time 2024 rolls around….).
McDavid has NEVER represented Canada in such a tournament
Geez…
Chiasson procures an apple as the Kings of Wheat are in a 2-2 game and heading to OT:
https://mobile.twitter.com/TheWHL/status/1591185805573513216?cxt=HHwWgIDTjenDg5UsAAAA
It won’t show up in the stats column, but Chiasson pots the shootout winner for the Wheaties:
https://twitter.com/TheWHL/status/1591206539561676800?cxt=HHwWgMDRrdn6jJUsAAAA
Nugent Bowman had a bunch of Holland quotes and he said that Benson will be activated next week and will be on the roster.
I will be at the Condors@Gulls game tonight and hope to see Broberg et al.
Send updates!
Will be interesting to see how Chaulk deploys his forwards, and who gets the push, with Janmark and Kostin out – hopefully Tulio and Lavoie see some elevation.
I sure as hell hope Broberg is back tonight, as speculated.
Niemo
Bouchard
Murray
Been saying this for a while. These guys have a tough time against very fast, quick, forechecking. Especially on the road.
Not enough time for them to make clean outlet passes.
Usually results in them being on their heals most of the time.
Lost in all this is how good Holloway has been ( yes, some errors for sure)….
Too much speed and hockey IQ. Getting better every game.
Really need Broberg and Skinner to step up here.
The obvious glaring stat is 50+ points by Connor and Leon and the team is ~.500. People outside the org like to bang the 2 player team drum and there’s merit but i think it’s overblown. Stars are being stars and the team is built around them. Is Connor supposed to forecheck and scrum behind the net or turn pucks over? No. He does at times, but that’s not his primary role. That’s why i think the Yams hemming is overblown. You gotta score now and then but his turning over of pucks was incredibly useful for the best players in the world to get the jump on teams. Jesse too but man that kid can’t finish. Boxscore obsession is a bit much in this context.
Connor losing a battle at the boards is unfortunate but there were 2 d and all the daylight in the world on the first goal. Players with the puck all the time are going to turn it over more. Taylor Hall. 97 will never admit it but to succeed in the regular season, you only need the non-top players to not be a drag. Not there yet, it’s on the way.
OP-esque rant over (this is a playful joke). Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
You are really, really short changing the effort by the non McDavid, Drai crew…..
It takes special effort and *extreme* work to drag down 2 Gods back down to earth.
GF%:
McLeod 30%
JP 25%
Foggy 28%
Ryan 37%
Holloway 20%
We are now 15 games in…..
Your stats are scary. Lets try a different lens.
All stats 5v5 and from NST:
Clouder: 3-7
JP : 3-9
Foggy: 2-5
Ryan: 3-5
Holloway 2-8
These aren’t trending well you’re right, JP and Holloway especially, this after the Carolina game makes it look much more grim.
In other stats for nerds:
The only player in that list under 50% SCF and HD is Holloway. Ryan is under in HD chances 21 for 24 against. Dragging indeed…
JP’s on ice sv% is 0.889 with shooting percentage of 4.2%. PDO .932. Regression to the meat eventually, could help himself a tonne by scoring a damn goal. He’s halved his on ice sh% since last year which was down from 10% the year before.
xGF:
Clouder 52%
JP 49.5%
Foggy 50%
Ryan 46% (4.7 for, 5.3 against…)
Holloway 40%
I think we could agree green rook is figuring things out and has made some huge errors his team hasn’t been able to cover for. Rook needs to figure it out but I wasn’t an expert at my job in 15 days.
I think you are really really exaggerating how bad this is. Not good, however I would suggest 15 games IS too small a sample size and that Holloway is the only one that has been a genuine drag so far. When something like 2-5 goals in 15 games (at 5 on 5) is dragging ‘gods’ down to earth I’d put my mechanic hat on, point to the PK and say “there’s your problem.”
Also have time for the D being the issue, they’ve been porous and Campbell needs to be better. In general, I don’t love individual metrics like this because our game isn’t baseball.
Thanks for letting me dive.
Not particularly worried.
3 in 4 on the road against a top 4 team in Carolina. It got away from them but a goal here and there from Dylan or Hyman or Foegele and the tune maybe goes differently. Campbell was bad, so was the rest of the team. His mistakes are more magnified. Goalie stats are for nerds with this team, Gretzky’s words not mine. We outscore mistakes so there’s going to be some rough nights.
Very tough early season road trip. This team was much worse in much more favourable matchups last year and they pulled through. Calgary has been bad, Toronto has been mid.
Some context on Calgary’s start.
The toughest schedule in the league.
https://theathletic.com/3793887/2022/11/10/16-stats-flames-stars-kraken/
The point of me saying it was that these are good teams who will also improve inevitably so thanks for adding a source to my point.
My fav quote from this very subjective article: “They’ve played two games against an explosive Oilers team. “
I knew you were a fan.
A win tomorrow and a 2-2 roadtrip would be decent. It just happens that the loses were ugly and particularly triggering. Even 1-3 on this trip is digestible.
An honest post would also mention that the Oilers schedule strength isn’t far behind…..
Yes…they are explosive…at both ends of the ice.
Worth noting that the Oilers are among a large group of teams that essentially have had about an average degree of difficulty although the SE road trip should up the ante.
So you decided to move on from the other site that you posted a week ago because this one reflected your opinion more??
No.
The other site says the same thing.
The Flames have had the toughest schedule while the Oilers are just above average which would be an update since this site tracks on a daily basis.
http://powerrankingsguru.com/nhl/strength-of-schedule.php
One thing for sure. Calgary sure had a tough schedule in the playoffs last spring.
As I recall, the Oilers hit a brick wall too 😜
And your Canucks and Golden Knights didn’t even make the playoffs…
If toughest schedule in the league means a month at home, so be it.
The Flames have had rest and recovery all month long. They finally were on the road this week; and they lost every game.
I don’t have an Athletic sub so I can’t read the article, but I’d question the methodology. A month at home does not equal tough – I don’t care who you’re playing. The Flames are supposed to be a “top team” as well.
The Oilers have played 9 games at home and 6 on the road.
I know your memory gets fuzzy later in the day but we were talking about the Flames schedule, not the Oilers.
Kane speaking on Oilers Plus – he’s in good spirits. He knew right away it was bad (with blood shooting up) and was quite aware to put pressure (presuming he had cut an artery).
”oh ya, cut everything down to the bone”. Took a vein from his arm to re-attach the artery. He did get lucky (he says) and should heal fully to 100%.
I simply have not seen the man so many people were describing before he joined the oilers. This guy is glue!
Lines at practice (per Nugent Bowman)
Oilers lines and pairings at practice in Sunrise, Fla.:
RNH-McDavid-Puljujarvi
Holloway-Draisaitl-Hyman
Foegele-McLeod-Kostin
Janmark-Shore-Ryan
Nurse-Ceci
Kulak-Bouchard
Niemelainen/Murray-Barrie
Skinner
Campbell
_____________
I hope to see Kostin play. From watching him as a Condor, he can make an impact in the offensive zone – big, fast, aggressive and skilled. He will likely NOT help reduce scoring chances against though. He’s been better in that area but he has a penchant for poor play away from the puck and lazy minor penalties.
Maybe getting another NHL chances will keep him consistently committed – long shot but you never know.
As the Oilers’ umpteenth injection of tweener Euro, my hopes for Kostin are not high.
Always ready to be surprised.
LT had a good piece on him over at The Athletic today.
Nope, definitely not expecting big things offensively but he does have a skill-set that could make an impact for the Oilers, in particular given the player he’s replacing (Kane).
He can provide some sized speed and aggression and has a good shot and some skill. 2-way commitment (and lazy penalties) is a major issue but we’ll see how it goes…
Kosygin isn’t replacing Kane if he’s playing on the 3rd line with Foegele and McLeod.
2017 Oilers go 2 rounds and we claim the DoD is behind us. Only to miss playoffs.
After 3 rounds last year we claim we r a true contender. Now all of a sudden the team is amiss and the playoffs are no gurantee.
You have the 2 Top scorers in the NHL – and still are barely above .500.
My concern as well. Another drop back. Something isn’t working and it wasn’t injuries
They are probably sick as usual, but other teams don’t implode every time because of that
I would say the team by and large has played very well, but that they’ve:
1) had a challenging schedule, especially of late
2) their goaltending has been losing them games
With average goaltending this team is 10-5 instead of 8-7.
Truly an unfair sport. Flashes of brilliance are why we watch but in the end little fuck ups are what actually matter.
I thought Campbell had good moments early in the game. Made some huge saves.
The third goal was the back breaker; a shot that shouldn’t go in that has the goalie looking at his glove. News flash Jack – the glove is on your hand!
I’d run Campbell again in the next game if he’s feeling ok. The oilers need to play more straight ahead and not overthink (over pass) the game.
Ya, during the 1st period I was actually finding myself getting a bit gitty at the thought maybe we had a real NHL goalie after all, who simply had some bad days earlier. That lasted until the 19:40 mark. My gosh, 20 seconds (!!!) to go in the period and my gittyness is suddenly depleted…felt like it was the beginning of the end. It was.
Not sure about playing him again right away. Could be a confidence builder but if it backfires, the hue & cry would be for someone’s head.
Holloway needs to start cashing which should give him confidence moving forward. Kane will be missed Holland at some point needs to trade or bring up someone from the minors that is physical as well as having turbulence in his game. It’s a long season and it takes all kinds to make or break a team internally.
Holland has brought up that player – Klim Kostin has alot of aggression in his game and, in many ways, plays similar to Evander Kane.
I am on board with what Leon and Holland stated. Getting behind and players fighting to produce offense is a bad recipe for team defense, especially when are Dmen and a goalie is not at all confident. I am hoping Woody resets the team focus to work together behind our blueline and break out together versus attempting so many stretch passes.
Skinner is now the starter. Not even close
let’s hope he can run with it for a while until Campbell regains some semblance of confidence and skill
That’s what we thought about a week ago and, then, Skinner let in 9 goals in two games – didn’t play terribly but let in the goals. Then Jack had a very good game against Tampa and earned the next start – we saw what happened.
Truth be told, neither goalie has being able to run with that job.
I will say that, even when Skinner lets in a pile, it just does’t seem as “bad” or with as much culpability as when Jack does.
My family is in DR at the moment. My mother (a prairie girl and St. Albert resident for the past 50 years) recited a tearful In Flander’s Fields from memory as we gatherd at 11 o’clock for a few moments of silence
i showed her your post
Thanks LT
We Are The Dead.
That line always gives me chills.
For as much this is a hockey blog, LT does a great job of being a touchstone for important days.
This whole team needs a major kick in the ass bottom to top.
mcDavid had reduced time on ice last night because he was getting his ass kicked by Svechnikov, who is clearly an Oilers and McDavid killer
for the life of me I cannot understand how this team cannot play structured hockey in their own end for years and years and years. My nine-year-old routinely points out all the mistakes they make in their own end. To quote the goalie it is pathetic
After back to back 24-minute outings in 1-goal games, McD was dialled back to 18 minutes in a blowout. Seems reasonable.
One surprising aspect: 97 led all forwards in SH TOI at 1:47, actually tied with Foegele. Until recently both were very occasional PKers.
Respectfully, you don’t think McD’s line was getting crushed by the Svechnikov line last night?
So crushed that there was no point in playing him 9 minutes in the 3rd period as so often happens. I think JW was wise to dial him back in a lost cause.
Agreed
🙂
while I have your ear, I would value your opinion on how to right the ship…?
or just patience – I am trying that.
thankz
Yes no point in playing the big boys in the last 10 mins. Especially after JW loaded up the top line and it got crushed. Bruce I thought your game grades were bang on except for Leon who you gave a 5. I did like his hits last night but that stupid selfish hooking penalty he took was too much and my dog had to leave the room after I voiced my displeasure. Pure frustration from Leon. Being a Messier fan I remember Mark taking stupid penalties like that so it’s something we have to live with when most of the time he is winning games for the Oilers.
Last night’s game was available on delay, so I got to watch it. Thank you nhl66.
I actually thought it was a pretty courageous effort by our team. They were clearly affected by playing with 10 forwards and the emotions of the Kane injury in the prior contest.
They say the first thing to go in hockey when you’re tired is your head, then your hands and then finally your feet. I thought last night was a perfect example of that heuristic. That’s a game you need the goalie to steal and Campbell isn’t there yet and the Canes were highly motivated.
I think going 7-11 in those circumstances was an error by Woody. Obviously he thought the forwards had more in the tank than they did. He needs a more cautious read of his roster there.
And for much of the game, especially the early half of the first two periods they were able to skate and check with the Canes. That took some real intestinal fortitude, in my opinion.
The brightest spot for me (and probably for most) was the play of young Holloway. I know many have said this before, including myself, but man he sure looks like Taylor Hall with his stride and posture. His first three steps are incredible.
And he had a real chance to write himself into the record books. I believe he would’ve been the eighth player in all of NHL history to score his first goal on a penalty shot. (Btw… The first penalty shot to go in an NHL net was scored by a guy named Scotty Bowman, unbelievably, but not that Scotty Bowman, lol).
Defence and puck management are still an issue for Dylan, but I give full credit to Jay for allowing him to adjust to the speed of the NHL on the 4th line. I don’t think we’d be seeing as strong an effort as we saw last night without that apprenticeship.
On to Sunrise. Hopefully it will be the dawning of a new day for the tired squad, and our young rookie forward. Coz I get the feeling that once Holloway gets that first one, we will see him torch goalies and light the lamp ably thereafter.
Thanks for a positive comment
Your points are probably true. I have no more room for this crap. It’s been living rent free in my fan cave for far too long
Now that doesn’t mean the old ‘I’m done with this team, never watching again until, I’m switching teams’ lines
Just no more excuses. I can’t accept the arguments of apologists anymore
Outside of Edmonton the league says the same thing. The Oilers are praised for the talent, and not thought highly of as a team because they refuse to play mature NHL hockey. They’d rather stay wonder boys forever, the up and comers, the future, incoming gray hair and wrinkles be damned
All teams lose. Great teams don’t lose much. Yesterday’s game perhaps was not a game likely to be won as you point out
BUT, many good teams don’t shit the bed in those contests, they just don’t win. That’s the difference. The Oilers are playing a lot of very poor games, and there are no legitimate reasons for it. Even teams with weak rosters and no name goalies can show up to play, play smart, and win more games than they should
The Oilers are firmly entrenched in the opposite of that
It occurs to me that while the Oilers have had good coaches, established coaches that have won, and now a rookie, maybe the problem is Connor. And to an extent Leon
Your freaking out aren’t you? What I mean is that it isn’t easy to coach a generational player, and an overconfident super high skilled guy who loves media attention and is always out there with his opinions
Maybe the issue is that they haven’t found their Sather. The admiral, father figure, anchor. The fella that could tailor the team to suit what the generational does best. That can take the super skills and big personalities and get them to do what is needed to win a cup
Create a master plan and bring everyone together, keep them in line, and plug holes with the right guys
Connor and Leon still make far too many basic mistakes, too often on the wrong side of players. The team follows their lead. They need to clean their games up, and lead the others to dial it in.
Now maybe Connor gets a pass, but don’t then give him C defensive duties, like Gretz who didn’t have them. Get him a winger to do that and let him freelance like Gretz. Or if not make him do his defensive duties, because he’s not consistent enough. Connor’s line’s goal share should be obscene, not somewhat positive
Leon has to clean his game up. He’s not that talented to freelance. He needs to be the two way outscoring bull. He needs less TOI, maybe he has the energy, but his skating so lumbering I think he starts conserving energy. He needs to be more assertive and clean in his minutes and 24 is too much for that to happen given his style and skating
That means playing all lines more. Holland has had had enough time to make good lines. After several seasons the cap isn’t an excuse anymore for lower contracts especially, it means you didn’t want to deal with cap issues aggressively enough
Nurse also has to be used correctly because while he’s their best overall D, he’s not CFP. I just saw a chart where his zone denials were lower than Kulak, Ceci, and two Oiler who’s names weren’t visible (filipovic). Someone needs to get him to his best usage and game and keep him there, it’s been a yo-yo up to now
If Holland hasn’t got enough competent players to stabilize the team and play by now, Nicholson needs to ask him to move upstairs and get in someone who wouldn’t sign an 80 game 30 year old goalie to a 5 year deal, because he’s a nice guy, for example
New Jersey drafted almost all for their forwards, and acquired almost all of their D. They are way freakin better in a pretty big hurry. Not gonna win the cup but if they get goalering they are for reals
Edmonton’s ‘main’ problem is D. The dial has to pushed forward because draft and develop is too slow to solve all problems. Bro Niems are the only ‘leftorium’ left. And they are no where close to being strong contributors. Niems tops out as a 3D anyway with that level of skating. Nor are any RD anywhere near close to strong at the NHL level
Trader Joe wouldn’t be sitting on his hands, or getting woodsheded
I believe what you are asking of Connor and Leon is to play the game that they elevate too in the playoffs for 82 regular season games (plus 25 or so playoff games).
I would also stop well short of just anointing the NJ Devils better than the Oilers based off off of 15 games. That team has made the playoffs once in the last 10 years and lost in the first round that season. Lets take a step back before we make any sort of definitive assessment on a month’s play, right?
I am asking that they play less like the playoffs and more conservatively
The key is to not have to be in turbo mode so much. Play a solid structural game, and let the hyper skill put the team over. Leon keeps talking about it and also playing in a very sloppy way
I didn’t say NJ was better. That’s your emotional response to what I said
Your entitled to your views. But as stated earlier I’m done with apologists and the arguments there
We have seen this for freakin years. I mentioned NJ because they sucked and got busy and fixed it. Actually The Avs did the same thing and traded up to a stellar D group and won a cup
There is no reason for this start. No injuries, no gaping holes. Just a poor mix of players and what is probably a giant mistake in the goalie for the next 5. Too many underconfident guys and guys with poor hockey IQ that can’t play a system game to game or use the puck well
They should be solid as a team, basically the same roster and already a half year and deep playoff run with coaches
Seriously, what more does it take? To play good hockey 76 games a season say?
They’ll make the playoffs, probably, and get bounced is my prediction, because of sloppy defensive play, as always
Are you sure?
I’m sorry you are tired of opposing views. I wonder if others are tired of the catastrophists? Those posting on emotion and then accusing others of it (see above re: NJ being way better).
NJ has been a tire fire for a decade – they have made the playoffs once in the past 10 seasons and lost in the first round. I’m not sure they “got busy and fixed it” – it took them a decade and, again, a hot 15 games to start a season isn’t proof of their contendingship any more than 15 games of meh performance is proof for the opposite of the Oilers, right?
People now have no real comprehension what was done in the name of freedom in past wars. My father and both grandfathers served at different times, and though they rarely talked about it, the scars were evident.
Watching videos from WWII now it is shocking how young they were. No real way to communicate with loved ones. Just hoping that somehow they could prevail and also survive. Staggering courage.
I didn’t see much of the Oilers game thankfully. They need to ride Skinner for some time and hope that goes well. A trade for a solid defence man is obviously needed at some point. Losing Kane hurts but the forwards should be fine. They just need to play with more structure. If the head coach had been in charge for several years we would say the players are tuning him out, but that surely can’t be the case here. Maybe a trade will wake them up.
The similarities year after year are so eerily similar that you gotta wonder what’s in the water. I kid I kid I kid.
Except when it comes to Goalies. This literally happens with every single one of them and I’m at a loss why. It’s not that I expected a Vezina winner, but I truly didn’t expect Koskie + Talbot 3.0 to start off a nice long term contract. Like LT says he’ll figure it out eventually. But Sit him until he stops starting into his glove after giving up a muffin. Zero confidence and it’s a killer. Maybe it’s time to turf our goalie coach?
On the plus side the PK has rebounded nicely against some good offensive teams. Drai brain fart on the 5v3 aside.
Im not too worried yet, anyone else notice that tire fire 180km to the South? Seven straight blown lead losses… AND the model had them compelting for Stanley! What! What! What?
Marathon not a sprint, we’ve seen swoons every year before. They’ll figure it out 👍
“Brain fart” defined as “beaten by a bullet pass by a guy who had several options”?
He cheated down extremely low, was below the hash marks which is much too low on a 5v3.
Being down that low “created” options. I could also note that even with cheating that low he and Kulak (can’t remember the Dman) didn’t actually cut off the the cross seem so it was a double fail.
No need to defend a bad play, it happens and it wasn’t the end of the world.
The team is reminding me a lot of pre-woody Oilers. A lot of low-percentage ESPN hilite passes, with no emphasis on maintaining control and letting puck possession create openings.
I know the PK has been awful but the careless turnovers are making the games uphill both ways difficult. I guess this is a part of the (re)learning process. Learn what works by experiencing what doesn’t.
Again.
100%. But how many times do they need to learn the same lesson.
Prospectagogo!
Petrov, after being the sole performer last night, gets to relax offstage whilst the other eight NA prospects will take their hour upon the stage this day.
Brandon (Chiasson) @ 1:30 p.m.*
Youngstown (Lachance) @ 5 p.m.
Vermont (Münzenberger, Määttä) @ 5 p.m.
St. Lawrence (Mazura) @ 5 p.m.
Quinnipiac (Brind’Amour) @ 5 p.m.
Moose Jaw (Wanner) @ 7 p.m.
Seattle (Schaefer) @ 8 p.m.
All times, as always, are Leslieville time.
* – Should a matinee on a stat holiday be called a “statinee”?
Is it just me or does Leslieville sound like it could’ve been stripped from a Simpson’s episode?
Maximum Wanner, not only popping as a top 4 2-way guy, but continuing his late season and playoff offensive spike is a story. 4 goals and 4 assists in 9 games and a plus 7.
Also throwing mammoth hits out there.
The WHL is a LONG ways from the NHL but, one step at a time, and love the up arrow on this one.
If the Oilers could convert on breakaways the game might have been different.
Campbell is a tire fire but he stopped the first 16 shots or whatever in the first. Then the late goal is a killer. 20 seconds left in the first, can’t let it happen.
The team responds to the goaltending – I remember seeing this with late (Oilers) career Dubnyk and Talbot as well. As soon as a weak goal happens, the team melts.
I can only buy the injury excuse so far. Boston started the season without Marchand, McAvoy and Grzelcyk and dominated.
The same issues plague this team year in and year out, experienced coach after experienced coach.
At one point do they become confident?
Exactly.
Every team has injuries…..see Washington
So tired of the excuses.
Lots of bad hockey recently but they’re 6-4 in their last ten. Teams go through this. Go find other contenders. They lose 2 games in a row or 3 of 4 once and a while. And when they do that, the turn over pucks, their goalie bites it hard, they get sloppy.
82 games, people.