OILERS AT BLUES G20 (12-13) 1.3.13
It’s a little strange writing a GDT where there’s nothing to ponder or worry over. I mean, where’s the angst? Even the fretful stuff isn’t really, RNH will score another goal in my lifetime and Devan Dubnyk’s EV SP will improve as his PP SP wanders down from the top of the mountain (currently 3rd in the NHL).
Hemsky looks like he’s been shot out of a cannon lately on those right side sorties, it’s a thing of beauty. I don’t really know how they can use the neutral zone better than that Gagner pass I keep talking about earlier in the season, but maybe they should try it once a period? It seems like a killer counter trey and I’m quite certain it is unstoppable if they don’t bugger the exchange. Hemsky is going to get a good chance.
The Nuge is in a slump and is probably hurt, but that said man he’s a terrific young hockey player. He does dozens of cool things every game. I love watching him win battles and bother on the forecheck. Wonderful.
Taylor Hall is such fun to watch. The late 5 on 3 was like a war zone and Hall (now taking some reps on D during the PP) was all over it. Michael Parkatti’s numbers show Hall’s line is still murdering opposition with his friends Nuge and Ebs. The 89-83 disconnect continues, as they pile up points while getting killed in SF/SA. It’s like the hockey Gods are toying with math and mean. STOP IT!
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- Jim Matheson: The Oilers did put in a waiver claim on Vancouver Canucks roughhouse winger Aaron Volpatti, but the Washington Capitals got to him first.
This confirms the Oilers are looking for a Coke Machine. Only a matter of time, could happen today. Bye, Magnus. I think the Oilers must have some gremlin who walks the halls screaming “we need more grit, they’re running our show” and as an advertising person I can tell you repeating the message is very effective in terms of swaying decisions.
Ralph Krueger, Craig MacTavish and our friend reason must find that gremlin and stop him at all costs. I bet they come home with a Coke Machine.
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What a crazy NW division. The difference from 1st to 5th place is 6 points and that’s not a lot my friends. The Oilers are within screaming distance of first place, and are not far from what was considered a hot start one year ago. I think that’s a major item we aren’t talking about: expectations have increased (as they should) and we tend to look at things with a more critical eye. If the Oilers can win tonight, and post another 22 points in their second twenty games, they’ll be at the 44 point mark with 8 games to play. Win 5 of those and the playoffs are possible.
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Jordan Eberle is right on track in terms of RE
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I sincerely hope all those old timey Dallas Stars were in town last night to enjoy the game. If I knew Mike Keane’s email address I’d send him the boxscore. Go home, Keane!
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Oh, one final thing. The Oilers may put in a waiver claim today on Tom Sestito, a Coke Machine (6.05, 228) drafted by Columbus in the third round in 2006.
First line gets a second line goal, they have been week but got one anyway. yeah! Hall nutmeg Schultz, you know the boys are going teasing about that. And now a Whitney sighting. WOW
Woot! Team slow gets a goal!
I hate it when they play like shit
Boy are these guys ever going to be something.
Hemsky is looking good, though..
Whitney (Smyth, Yakupov)
That was the slowest pass I’ve ever seen Yakupov dish out…. and still Jones couldn’t connect!
Started getting those legs moving in the last 5 minutes
Yakupov gets maligned like no other 1st overall pick ever, and he still gets points everywhere.
Where did that come from? 17 minutes into a snoozefest and we get that,
Not complaining.
keep it up boys.
If the Nugget ever gets that stick/shot figured out…
Wish there was 5 more minutes in that period they were cruzing at the end. Funny 2 goals down against a Hitchcock team and I am driven to drink, 2 goals up and I am ~ well drinking but for whole different reasons!
Corsi thus far… 22-16 for the Blues as the Oil rack up 5 shots in the last 5 minutes of the period.
hunter1909,
Imagine what he’ll be like when the game starts to slow down for him…scary
hopefully that goal wakes Whitney up.
i’ve been following STL pretty closely this year and when they lose games it tends to be be when Halak or Elliott post horrible save percentages.
Detroit has been the same way this year. Excellent teams that look worse this year than they really are, let down by horrible goaltending.
Agreed. If I were still in Edmonchuck I would by his Dad a vodka. Oh yeah there Muslim, some very good perogies will have to do.
Spector is promoted to the Desk?!
Steve Smith, I am a little disappointed in you for this one.
He sometimes goes off-script.
(Alternative response: I was under the influence of some very good perogies when I wrote that one.)
Big of the Oilers to be putting on another goal scoring clinic, so fans from all over the NHL can enjoy good hockey; especially Flame’s fans.
Ryan Whitney is a stud dman and he may be available…..
Eager with 30 seconds more than the Nuge that period.
Khabibulin, Quinn?
I look forwards to many years of teams playing the Oilers and saying “We played a solid game for 55 minutes, but a few breakdowns really killed us.” In post game interviews
Oilers didn’t give up a goal or a penalty on that shift, wasn’t happening earlier in the season.
That was often the script in the Glory Days.
Announcer messed-up. Dubnyk is still in net.
Or for the last five years for that matter…
Oh shit…Hall is hurt
Hall hand dammit
No shit.
Nice one Gagner. That’s 100% all yours.
Giveaway at the offensive blue line leads to a goal going the other way. *sigh*
Usually hit the treadmill to watch the first two periods. Last night, I actually broke the treadmill. Seriously. Fucking Oilers.
I’ve been hard on 89 for cheating for offence and abandoning his defensive dutiies, but there’s no denying he’s really working at –
Okay I’ll shut up right now. Great timing, Icecastles. Fucking Oilers.
Nice turn-over Gagner, bleh!
What was that MacT line about turnovers and donuts?
Not often you see the goalie on the wrong side of the blue line these days.
Has anyone else noticed the change in the comments section this year from the previous 2-3 years?
There are now more comments, but shorter comments. There is less acrimony, but also less math and reasoned argument. Still great, but different.
Smid gets caught twice on the same shift
Gagner kind of reminds me of Brett Favre… 4 touchdown passes and 3 interceptions a game.
if STL wants to play this particular style against the Oilers, i’ll be happy to watch.
it is the twitter-fication of Lowetide.
Steve Smith on Perogies thinks Oilers owe Dubbie a couple low event shutouts before the year is through.
Eager looks okay… LT was really worried about him.
I think the main reason is with the compressed season, there are fewer non-GDTs. The GDTs have always had a more conversational and off-the-cuff air to them.
Journal live chat is no longer, so I for one camped out here. And am enjoying it. Cheers
gagner making another stupid play
The Oilers PP must have some MacT input. Incredible
There is a massive difference in the comments from when I first started reading for better or worse. The short, sarcastic comments I think are due to this being a GDT and the Oilers ripping out our hearts and defecating on our souls for the past 6 (7?) years.
Smid’s having a terrible period
Oilers powerplay is looking like it will cost them this game.
And the mean regresses.
Back to Earth.
The hockey Gods have turned on us again. Let us pray.
petrell didn’t look good on that PK.
DD should have that, but it’s hard to fault him with the team playing this poorly
I am glad I took Woodguy’s advice earlier and bought more Whiskey. Still enjoying the STL broadcast team.
I’d like that 2 goal lead back, please.
The hockey gods didn’t build a team that struggles to manage a shot a period.
SHOOT THE PUCK.
Jesus Hall, I know you’re trying to get the Nugget going but you gotta shoot that.
Sigh.. someone had to shoot there.
I know the top line is great and routinely outshoots and outchances the opposition but maybe if they were split up they’d stop trying to pass the puck into the mother effing net.
Or maybe he can’t shoot since he”s down the tunnel.
Jones has both shots on net this period.
Yak must have borrowed Nuge’s stick…
Yak nearly put that through the net and boards.
Petrell has looked bad tonight. Some really bad plays and turn-overs.
He’s not alone, though..
And Eager checks himself off the puck in his own corner.
So tough, he even intimidates himself.
64 has been one of their best players tonight. I hope he’s rewarded accordingly.
Granted he doesn’t have much competition tonight
Ben Eager is getting too much ice time.
11 shots through 2 periods is weak even by Oilers standards.
VanOil,
Hard to shoot the puck when no one can make, or take, a pass
VanOil,
thats too bad as halak looks terrible
FO% 53-47 Blues, but it has been running around the 50% mark for most of the game.
Shots Attempted 45-31 Blues, was even worse earlier in the period
Eager’s ice time falls below Smytty and the Nuge. Jones, Gagner and Hemmer leading the forward pack.
Hall is hurt, I know that for sure. Hand?
Oil have a chance to steal one with one good period.
Looked higher up, forearm near his elbow, but it could’ve been on a nerve and he might be having trouble gripping his stick.
Anyone else have this ridiculous RDS2 blackout preventing them from watching the game?
Ben Eager is taking up too many roster spots.
Can we play straight time for the first 5 minutes of the third? Please?
Petrell is a weird player. Good size. Not horrible skating. Smart, good, perfect decisions on the PK, but dumb, HUA, WHY? decisions everywhere else.
Hall injury talk was making me sad but this story from FT making me happy:
Barbecue protests have also sprung up across the rest of Brazil. In the southern cowboy state of Rio Grande do Sul, a member of the Brazilian Communist party, a Rastafarian known as Jamaica, held a barbecue to get a pothole in front of his house fixed. After several unsuccessful calls to the local council, Jamaica sat down next to the hole last November, poured in some coals and began to roast a beef steak. Accompanied by a bottle of red wine, Jamaica sat there for four hours until the local press turned up. “I was also thinking about filling the hole with fish and bringing my rod,” he says.
See for the whole thing: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/5e6747d6-7af4-11e2-9c88-00144feabdc0.html#slide0
re: Petrell. Someone mentioned he seems to play EV minutes like its a PK. I agree with that, but he did have a fine game last night.
Good save by Doobie. That was a tough one to handle.
Eberle with double giveaways.
soft play Eberle, nice save Dubnyk
What… the.. fuck Eberle!?
Such horrid play.
has yak been dumped off the 3d line for Eager or promoted?
leg injury for hall, won’t be back. Cue Yakupov.
Terrible… that’s on DD.
This is the worst game they’ve played all year
There’s a player number 19 who’s every bit as bad as Whitney in the universe of the last goal.
They’re now going to lose this game; a game they should have won easily.
Biggest problem with Eager is that when he plays the body he completely forgets about the puck.. has led to Blues possession several times.
poor Dubnyk.
I don’t fault DD on the second goal, but that was a poor attempt
Ouch. That’s going to be hard to bounce back from. And Dubnyk had to have that. He seems to have a penchant to not hug the post nearly as tight as he should on sharp angle plays. Seen too many goals squeak in between the post and his body on what should have been easy positional saves.
Hall’s leg injury: saw the puck hit his hand. Did I miss something? And can we take it as maybe a good sign that it wasn’t his hand, which could easily have been another broken knuckle ala Horcoff?
pucks to the net by St. Louis.
pucks to the net is always a great decision.
Oilers shoot wide, high, or not at all.
Lowetide,
Why are the d letting their wingers play defence for them
going to need some luck to come back against STL playing with a lead.
Last few shifts have been better.
Continuous pressure for once and Gagner wastes it. This team is doing its best to annoy tonight with very few exceptions.
the only thing missing is Penner lazying it up out there.
Lucinius,
Smid wasn’t in good position. Hard to fault Gagner on that.
Where was this desperation the rest of the game??
Same old story: 1 step forward, 2 steps back
SHOOIT THE FUCKING PUCK GAGNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Seems like Yakupov is picking some things up a bit better game by game, will be curious to see LT’s RE for Yakupov next season, this summer.
GAme over. Smid has been terrible all night
Shitty, but you have to respect that play. There were three or four brilliant things there if you’re a Blues fan.
I remember a few years ago Edmonton was playing in Florida and was down 3-1. I turned the TV off with a minute and a half left. Learned later that Edmonton won won the game in OT.
I said then that never again will I say never. But there are some nights….
The score reflects the play of the two teams but not necessarily the play of the two goalies. Only 5 minutes of good hockey at the end of the first won’t win you many games.
I didn’t feel the hate for Dallas last night. The 90s are a long time ago. Frankly – I have more hate for Hitchcock. Give him the tools and he will create a monster. The Blues are the new Stars IMO.
Nuge isn’t snakebitten. He’s dragon-swallowed.
Take the 0 points and move on.
Lack lustre effort
As much fun as we had last night, Hall’s injury and the 3rd period are double downers tonight. The headline though is #4 and the injury.
Again.
Corsi 64-45. It was 60-32 at one point so some score effect there.
FOs 50-50.
VV hardly played after the first 5 minutes of the 3rd.
Yak ended up with 30 secs more than the Nuge tonight, whose minutes were managed carefully all game.
I found this to be one of those Bouncy-puck games which are horrible to watch. Both teams struggled with passing, over-skating the puck, generating flow etc… But the Blues supported the puck better and check like demons. They’re masters at getting body position on puck battles, especially along the walls.
The first part of being a good Defensemanis playing defense.
3 Thoughts:
1) luck continued through the 1st and came to an abrupt end in the 2nd
2) without Hall this team is an empty suit
3) this team, structured the way it is, will not win unless DD can do a lot better than .867
don’t you have to get shots on net to qualify as “snake-bitten” … he’s “sword-sheathed”
Slow starts in all three periods were killers. Thought Pecks looked good again tonight, 2 for 2 for him in my eyes. Smid had a tough one but i think we were beat by a better team. Hope Hall is not to bad, couple days off should help.
We all love Smid, but his play this season has regressed.
Is the contract situation distracting him??
At what point do we have to worry about whether or not they are going to keep him???
Coach Krueger says Taylor Hall is experiencing “tightness in his leg” and was taken out of the game as a “safety precaution”
“There’s a good chance he’ll be back in the lineup (on Sunday). We’ll see how the next 48 hours go.” – Krueger on Hall
Fresh from slaying their Dallas Stars dragon, Oiler’s started the game like they ended their last one by surprising an older, more NHL physically skilled Blues; but once Hall went down it was as if the air had been let out of their tires.
Blues are a very good team, no shame in losing to them.
If Hall’s out for any length of time, throw in the towel and tank, lol. They’re lost without him.
I thought the score flattered the team’s play last night. Dallas stopped playing after a few bad bounces and the score was out of reach. Dallas was actually outplaying the Oilers early in the game. This team has so many holes on it, yet management is content doing nothing. Take the 1st overall pick and roll with the punches, well I’m tired of this team getting punched over and over again.
Yes I’m bitter, faithfully watching a terrible team will do that to a person.
At no point. He’ll be re-signed.
hunter1909,
Hall, even though he scored, wasn’t having a very good game even before the injury. The entire team lacked the entire night.
fuzzy muppet,
If they don’t re-sign one of the few NHL defencemen they have they should just demo Rexall with the front office inside and play their games in Saskatoon.
I think there are two reasons for this.
1) Many “mathy” posters, most of who I learned from, do not post much anymore
2) A lot of the math is now referred to in shorthand. You can have a conversation about fancy stats without having to explain or defend them
Sure the odd person still comes in and says the earth is still flat or that smoking won’t kill you because their uncle Fred smoked 2 packs a day a died in a car accident at the age of 101, but most don’t.
I know myself I’m kinda of tired of explaining why I don’t think gritty crusty jammy play works better than shooty passy possessiony play.
There used to be lots of discussion involved to prove or disprove what someone is saying, but now its just the same post that has been posted 150,000 times.
The explosion of fancy stat hockey blogs will really good writers and very good math has made many things a given.
Things you can rely on:
DSF believes in shots, but only if they hit the net, ones that miss by 1 foot mean nothing.
Steve Smith will know what a word means, but won’t be sure you know what it means
Bookie will be wearing his v4.2 fanclub badge.
LT will say a 3 for 1 trade is right around the corner
Traktor will blame Horcoff
Hunter will blame everyone who ever played then say they’re all awesome when the Oilers win
People will tell you to just “watch the game”
Tambellini will assess his way to the fucking lottery for all 3 years of Hall and Eberle’s ELCs and people will tell you to be patient.
spoiler,
I sure hope so, but he doesn’t look the same as last year. Maybe it’s that Petry hasn’t progressed as we’d hoped he would??
They both look fine to me, considering the young forwards they’re out with and the comp they’re facing and the fact the coaching staff has asked Petry to cheat for O more.
Smid also BROKE UP a couple of odd man breaks tonight. The Blue player was damn lucky to get the one handed pass by him on the last one. I had no problem with his game, and certainly wouldn’t be criticizing him for the errant Gagner pass.
spoiler,
He is very important to this team, but what is his monetary value??
I’m very worried that the dopes in charge are either going to a) short-change him in negotiations and as a result trade him at the deadline or b) over-pay him for what he does bring.
This management team has done very little right in the last decade so I have no faith in them.
What would you offer him??
Here’s to hoping Jim can make up for the loss of Taylor:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na-ynto1aXI
It’s helping… but not enough.
Thanks it’s helping
Dennis King: Final chance tally: 20-18; 5-2 ST
The Oilers had 20 scoring chances? That’s it, I am officially a matheist.
WoodGuy
Absolute Classic!!
Actually think LT will say MAP is still a player, it’s too early to write him off, then move to 3-1 trade as an expected option
Woah, ok, that definitely doesn’t look right.
I got my sword sheathed twice this morning! It’s been a good day. Yesterday I had to sheath my own.
This metaphor is getting away from me.
fuzzy muppet,
I know I’d like to sign him for around 3 million per cap hit but I believe it will be around 3.5 – 4.0 m cap hit for 5 years similar to Meszaros with Philadelphia same draft class or Grossman or N.Schultz at 3.5 m
We also have some stupid numbers given on 2nd contracts for defenseman such as Luke Schenn at 3.6 cap hit is Smid better or worse than Schenn I don’t know.
Just my opionion