2020-21 Game 31: Oilers at Flames

by Lowetide

I think at some level we knew the Calgary Flames would have a major say in where the Oilers landed in the final standings. Through the season’s first half, Edmonton owns a 3-1 edge in four games. Calgary won the first game February 6 (6-4), then the Oilers won 2-1, 7-1 midway through the month. A close 3-2 win March 6 featured a brilliant third period goal (the winner) from Connor McDavid. The two biggest differences between last game and tonight: Zack Kassian could be in the lineup, and Darryl Sutter will be behind the Calgary bench.

THE ATHLETIC!

I’m proud to be writing for The Athletic, and pleased to be part of a great team with Daniel Nugent-Bowman and Jonathan Willis. Here is our recent work.

OILERS AFTER 31 GAMES

  • Oilers in 2015-16: 14-15-2, 30 points; goal differential -7
  • Oilers in 2016-17: 15-11-5, 35 points; goal differential +6
  • Oilers in 2017-18: 13-16-2, 28 points; goal differential -6
  • Oilers in 2018-19: 17-12-2, 36 points; goal differential +2
  • Oilers in 2019-20: 18-10-3, 39 points; goal differential +6
  • Oilers in 2020-21: 18-12-0, 36 points; goal differential +12

Amazing the Oilers have zero Bettman points more than halfway through the season. There are 17 in captivity in the Canadian Division, suspect that will have an impact on someone making the playoffs at the end of the year.

WHAT TO EXPECT IN MARCH

  • At home to: Toronto, Toronto, Calgary (Expected: 1-1-1) (Actual 1-2-0)
  • At home to: Ottawa, Ottawa, Ottawa (Expected: 2-1-0) (Actual 3-0-0)
  • On the road to: Vancouver, Calgary, Calgary (Expected: 2-1-0) (Actual 0-1-0)
  • At home to Winnipeg, Winnipeg (Expected: 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
  • On the road to: Montreal, Montreal, Montreal (Expected 2-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
  • On the road to: Toronto, Toronto (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
  • Overall expected result: 9-6-1, 19 points in 16 games
  • Current results: 4-3-0, 8 points in seven games

This is a tough week for the Oilers, very little rest and good teams everywhere. Calgary has won two in a row and is 5-3-2 in the last 10, while Winnipeg is 7-2-1 in its last 10 including a win against the division’s top team (TML). The Oilers are 6-4-0 in the last 10, and a strong week could see them pushing to the top of the division. On the other hand, several Oilers fans reported having bit right through their gums after Saturday night’s loss. It only hurts if it is the beginning of a losing streak.

OILERS 2020-21

This is five on five pts-60 for forwards, Corsi five on five for defensemen and five on five save percentage for goalies. The top line is going well, that second line with Ennis looks good but we don’t have enough sample.

  • Draisaitl-McDavid-Yamamoto: 87 minutes, 60.9 percent shots, 83 percent goals (10-2)
  • Ennis-Nuge-Puljujarvi: 44 minutes, 48.7 percent shots, 1-0 goals
  • Shore-Khaira-P Russell: 30 minutes, 50 percent shots, 2-0 goals
  • Neal-Haas-Chiasson: 49 minutes, 57.8 percent shots, 2-0 goals

These are good numbers across the board, I think many will be surprised to see all four units outscoring in their time together. I don’t think we’ll see these four lines tonight, coach Dave Tippett often tweaks after a loss. Zack Kassian, Dominik Kahun and Josh Archibald might make tonight’s lineup if they’re ready.

  • Nurse-Barrie: 341 minutes, 52.3 percent shots, 59.5 percent goals (25-17)
  • Lagesson-Larsson: 124 minutes, 43.7 shots, 77.8 percent goals (7-2)
  • Jones-Bear: 59 minutes, 59.6 shots, 0-2 goals

Numbers look good save for the black hole in possession on the second pairing. I would choose Jones-Larsson but am also thrilled that Tippett is running Jones-Bear because that duo should post strong numbers on the third pair. The shot differential is already excellent.

LOWDOWN WITH LOWETIDE

Was Saturday night a blip or the beginning of a slide? We’ll answer that question at 10 on TSN1260. I’ll also address toxic fan takes in the first segment today. Dom Cosentino from The Score will set up NFL free agency for us at 10:40, Jason Gregor from TSN1260’s Jason Gregor Show will talk Oilers and trade deadline at 11. Johnny Avello from DraftKings at the 11:25 to talk March Madness, he can’t fix your bracket but he can repair it. 10-1260 text, @Lowetide on twitter. See you on the radio!

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hunter1909

No one look now but:

Barrie is currently LEADING the NHL in Defenceman points.

Nurse is currently in the top 10 in NHL Defenceman points.

knighttown

funnest game of the seezen for sure. it had everything I love about hockey in my 115 years of watching. There was picks, there was tackles and there even was a stretch of hockey where injured brains outnumbered shots! If I want to see offense I’ll turn on CNN and watch butthurt liberals try to take away Dr Zoos. if you let the players play then it’s no different than the other sports where the best teams win. Results have to be about more than just speed, talent, scoring and checking. You need gritensity and let’s face it, them Oilers are a p400 while the Flames are a P60. Boom!

Cassandra

How is it possible there are downvotes to this?

McSorley33

If you find yourself complaining about the reffing, you clearly have not seen an NHL playoff game.

BornInAGretzkyJersey

Except he bowed out due to Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

He called the NHL a “garage league” due to reffing, but didn’t retire because of that stated truth.

Sierra

Telling people to just accept the way it is while also telling people to go tear down a statue? Think hard about what you are saying.

Sierra

exactly what I expected….

thebiggestmanintheworld

You don’t want to see McDavid and Draisaitl play when they actually call the rules properly?

You think the game is fine the way it’s officiated now?

Go find your closest Junior C team…they’ll give you what you’re looking for…

thebiggestmanintheworld

We’ve all seen playoff games. This isn’t the playoffs.

And if this is the standard now, what are the playoffs going to be like?

Munny

Some little old lady is on the post-game call-in show asking Rob Brown why no one stepped up and went after the Flames for what Ritchie did to Khaira.

Edit: apparently she knows Rob because she was a trainer when he was a kid, lol.

Last edited 3 years ago by Munny
Sierra

Because the only Oiler who could do so is Nurse and that is a terrible trade-off for the Oilers

Munny

The funny thing was listening to a bloodthirsty octogenarian.

Yegfoundation

17 red was real good this evening. Oilers gave him lots of room.

BornInAGretzkyJersey

Real good? Maybe for a $1.6M player… still not close to a $6M player.

Thanks Pete.

Yegfoundation

17 impacted the game, directly or indirectly involved in Flames goals and high danger opportunities.

What does how much Pete signed him for have to do with my comment?

Sierra

Exactly, 17 had an impact last night and his salary is irrelevant to that discussion.

tapper

It’s comedy/drama/reality TV, not true sports. Imagine that there is a second rule book, The Equalization Rule Book, with special appendices No Media For You: Avoiding Accountability, Race to the Bottom: On The Treatment of Superstars, and You *Can* Matter: Game Management Theory, then everything is good. Watch Connor and enjoy the farce that is the NHL, all in one.

Munny

Bear’s skate had broken when he went to the bench on the McDavid giveaway.

That’s why he wasn’t there according to Tipp.

And that wasn’t the only skate to break tonight either.

Crazy Pedestrian

Hmmm… so now we have a sabatage conspiracy??? ?

Someone REALLY doesn’t like the Oilers.

dangilitis

This team is 11-13 against non Senators teams, and while it still is impressive to go 7-0 against any team, that team is not playoff bound. 5-9 against current playoff teams.

godot10

Nugent-Hopkins Draisaitl. One need the big centre to control the rhythm of the game, with McDavid’s free jazz layered on top.

Sierra

Not exactly uplifting

BornInAGretzkyJersey

Still half a season to go.

This team is not cast from the DoD mould, they’re playoff bound barring catastrophe.

so polar

This still prorates to 1.2 more points than the Flames, who are the current 5th placed team. That’s still a playoff pace, even if you assume the Oilers continue to average less than a standings point per game against the Non-Ottawa portion of the div.

Crazy Pedestrian

NHL should be ashamed. If anyone wasn’t convinced before, this game is definitely an “Exhibit A” on corrupted refs.

fishman

Corrupt hard to believe. Incompetent believable.

quade

How about favouring more valuable markets? The amount of decisions that go against the oilers is overwhelming. The draft pick to Calgary…the reffing against Toronto and Calgary…the playoff decision last year that bumped us to the play in. The Anaheim series. It does make one wonder, no?

Last edited 3 years ago by quade
BornInAGretzkyJersey

Except… Calgary has one of the weakest markets in Canada.

They’re closer to Florida than Edmonton in that regard, and Vancouver is right there with them.

quade

Bigger city is all I mean. They seems to want to have bigger markets succeed.

BornInAGretzkyJersey

Market isn’t based on population but viewership or size of audience.

And unless the flickers are in the conference finals the yuppies and yokels in YYC don’t flood 17th Ave in support of their team anywhere near the way people flock to Edmonton to support the Oilers.

Foege Foegele Torpe

I’m not going to bitch about the awful piss poor reffing. Can’t control it.

I liked Ethan Bear alot more in Vcr, 3rd pairing minutes against the dregs.
Too much was asked of him tonight.
The D core was looking tired before Barrie was injured

Foege Foegele Torpe

Soo
Run RNH at 3C,
If not whats the alternative?
I’m afraid Khaira is going to be out awhile with that concussion
I just pray it isn’t one of those:
“hasn’t been the same since…”
That would be so unfair as he was playing some of the best hockey of his career to that point.

Last edited 3 years ago by Foege Foegele Torpe
Material Elvis

In MMA, they would give a fighter a 6 month medical suspension if they were knocked out like that. I think they are erring on the side of caution these days in hockey. The goal being to prevent a secondary concussion immediately after the primary event. Even throwing a hard hit can aggravate a head injury. So it might be awhile for his sake.

BornInAGretzkyJersey

He was lights out with his eyes wide open.

I hope he has a full and speedy recovery.

Foege Foegele Torpe

10 years ago Khaira would have been out playing the 3rd

Sierra

Here’s the thing, if RNH goes to 3C who plays 1LW and 2LW? Is the downgrade from RNH less than the upgrade to the 3rd line with RNH at centre?

Foege Foegele Torpe

Roger that, the options are not great.
But the probability of Haas @ 3C sawing off the competition is scaring me alot more than Ennis @ 1LW

BornInAGretzkyJersey

Ennis – CMD – Kassian
Kahun – Leon – KY
Archibald/Nygard – RNH – JP
Shore/Neal – Haas – Archibald/Chiasson

Maybe that’s a general template for a path forward.

Last edited 3 years ago by BornInAGretzkyJersey
Sierra

Why are you moVing JP to the 3rd line

hunter1909

HUNTER1909’s Death March™ 

Update: from Hunter1909’s Death March(since 2014)

With Oilers now on pace for a 65 point finish, here are the current leaders in the Death March game which might pay out to all winners at the end of the season. 

cheltimebaby; stephensheps; ArmchairGM; Victoria_oil; Ants of the sky; Marconiuse; JP

Will replace previous leaders:

JRizzer25; Hazwasted; KGB; Oilnc79; Unjustenrichment; Whale 

Pretendergast

Apparently you can run pick plays on faceoffs now. The amount of crap these guys got away with all game. What does the NHL think the game people want to see is. Should call it Interference.

BornInAGretzkyJersey

Drives me bananas that the refs manage the game instead of call the rulebook.

Why write the book in the first place if you’re going to pick and choose, or (worse yet) interpret?

Sierra

That’s just it, why does the NHL think this is the game people want to watch?

the other major league sports have it figured out, but not the Bettman NHL

Last edited 3 years ago by Sierra
prefonmich

Mcdavid missing his usual jump with 3 in 4 nights. Tough to lose two players in this intense a game.

Material Elvis

Fuck the Ring of Fire. Fuck the Flames.

OmJo

Oh does it ever burn…

Munny

Well.

fishman

Deep subject

BornInAGretzkyJersey

Turn it on it’s side and you have a cave.

BONE207

Fak.

DevilsLettuce

Nuge was crushed with the cross check… All legal.

hags9k

Hey Hrudey…Shut it!

Munny

I love 2021 Larsson

OriginalPouzar

This is Adam Larsson.

3 X $3.5M

BornInAGretzkyJersey

If you were Adam, would you sign that contract?

Honestly?

I’ve been advocating for him to get the KRusty extension minus the trade protection for a while, only way I can see him taking that AAV is with more years.

Would you do 5 x $3.5M? Do you think Larsson would?

I don’t. I think he’d bet on himself elsewhere if that was the offer.

OriginalPouzar

I’m not Adam Larsson – I don’t know what he signs.

He very well may prefer 3 to 5 years in any event – more likely to get another “material contract” at 31 than 33 and won’t be accepting an AAV in “Covid-market”.

BornInAGretzkyJersey

That’s a fair potential angle he could be considering.

Will be interesting to see how it all shakes out by next season.

BONE207

I’d 4×4 that guy

BONE207

When Poolparty gets knocked down I feel the earth move

Material Elvis

He was Tubthumping tonight.

OriginalPouzar

My goodness Bear is struggling with the puck.

Sierra

It’s Barrie’s fault

BONE207

Haas does this play often…rush towards the blue line, pass ahead of his wingers & fetch his own pass. Maybe he has trust issues

fishman

Need a 97 super skill goal!

oilsnc79

Usually after a hook, hold and slash making refs look silly

Sierra

Only in the NHL do the faster, more skilled teams end up with more penalties than the team playing rugby.

OriginalPouzar

Its maddening that Lucic is having an effective game.

LMHF#1

Sutter got these non-calls in LA too.

Not sure why the stripes are scared of a 5’11” old man…but sure seems that way.

BONE207

They will get the…cattle prod

Reja

Sutter family has a lot of pull in the league.

OriginalPouzar

That is made up.

OmJo

Is it tho?

OriginalPouzar

Yes

OmJo

Really really?

tapper

I bet Edm complained about all the holds at some points during 2nd or between periods.

oilsnc79

Fk, yamo ya cant touch the red shirt dont ya know that, santa gets angry..

fishman

All the shit they let go and then they call the cheesy ones. NHL officiating is minor league.

DevilsLettuce

These refs are paid off, this isn’t legit.

Crazy Pedestrian

Exactly what I said earlier…
Maybe Sutter got in their pockets

hags9k

Can’t beat the refs too.

Oil2Oilers

Every shift Kris Russell plays with Mcdavid is an affront to the hockey gods

StixMalone

Wow the refs are stupid…..

BONE207

So pulling Connor down on top of you isn’t holding??? Alright then…?

OriginalPouzar

Man, Bear, then Russell, with poor, poor offensive zone puck skills…… they can both do better.

Reja

They both look shell shocked.

Crazy Pedestrian

This appears to be one of those “curse” games where the Oilers are guaranteed to lose no matter what. A lot of things going wrong in this game. Injuries, Terrible giveaways by both the goalie AND McDavid, and refs totally playing the “fuck the oilers” card.

maybe they’ll get them back tomorrow.

OriginalPouzar

Wed.

godot10

Mike Smith and terrible giveaways is a feature, not a black swan. I’m sure Spector will find a way to blame the goal against on Koskinen.

OmJo

If Koskinen was better, he would have started this game instead thus Smith wouldn’t have been on the ice to give the puck away.

BornInAGretzkyJersey

Granted on Spec, but Smith has been solid this year. A pleasant and unexpected surprise given his age.

Give the man his due.

This hiccup is an aberration until proven otherwise.

OriginalPouzar

Bear’s “pop” came after he dedicated to working hard off the ice to give himself the best chance to succeed – changed his off-season habits, including training and nutrition. He credits that with him taking the steps he did for last season.

Gregor has mentioned a number of times that he came in to work heavy and not in his best shape.

quade

Please scratch him, Tippett. It seems like nhl coaches tend to make up their minds about players one time and then refuse to see whether the player has fallen back or stepped forward. Or is that just oilers coaches?

Bling

Is that true? I remember hearing the opposite, that Bear was in even better shape this year.

BornInAGretzkyJersey

I haven’t heard either, TBH.

I have heard frequently about how good of shape Bouchard was in at camp.

JimmyV1965

Gregor has mentioned on more than one occasion that Bear came into camp heavier than last year.

OriginalPouzar

Gregor has mentioned it a bunch of times.

Material Elvis

Eek Ennis. Those defensive zone turnovers on the boards will not make Tippett very happy.

BONE207

They piss me off for sure

DevilsLettuce

How come Lucic is allowed to free arm Nurse.

oilsnc79

Good job lars

quade

i still hope we win…but when does Bouch get in? Bear is losing us games and putting us in bad positions too often. Period.

Material Elvis

The Bear pinch, the Nurse slide, the Nuge screen.

BONE207

Let’s dance…?

SK Oiler Fan

I think Bear realized he was F’d, but then mysteriously froze and was all of the sudden 2 zones behind. Weird reaction

quade

Is bear a liability?

fishman

I think he has had a rough night. If Barrie is hurt he will stay in the line up. Not close to last year “Bear”

quade

He had a good three games against the sens…but they weren’t much of a test. He hasn’t confidence other than that since coming back.

godot10

Nope.

Sierra

Cue Godot in 3-2-1

Tarkus

Bad pinch by Bear. Bad screen by Nuge.

BornInAGretzkyJersey

That was brutal. Mikey no likey.

Munny

Well that crack high joy was short-lived

Last edited 3 years ago by Munny
DevilsLettuce

? ? ?

Material Elvis

I had to go downstairs because the F bombs were becoming more than “just audible”.

BONE207

Fak

BornInAGretzkyJersey

Markstrom’s glove looked as bad as Mikko’s on that weak goal the other night.

Not a fan of that technique, unless it’s advantage Oilers. Haha