The Edmonton Oilers had a tough time with the St. Louis Blues, but they weren’t alone. The 1979-80 Blues had Mike Liut in goal, and he was outstanding. Bernie Federko was the famous forward, but the Blues boasted names like Wayne Babych, Perry Turnbull and Tony Currie. In those years, St. Louis didn’t have a dominant defenseman, so weren’t an elite contender like the New York Islanders, Boston Bruins or Montreal Canadiens.
Still, they gave the expansion Oilers fits.
In the first game ever played between the two teams, it was 2-1 Blues, Liut strong and Turnbull with two assists. Next time Liut stopped 24 of 26 and another Saskatoon Blades center (Ralph Klassen, Federko also played his junior hockey for the Blades) scored twice. Third game of 1979-80? A 6-3 blowout, Mike Zuke with a pair for the winners and Wayne Gretzky went 1-2-3 in a losing effort.
In the final meeting of Edmonton’s first season, the Oilers managed a 5-5 tie, Gretzky and Callighen both 1-2-3 and Jim Corsi grabbed the tie against Liut. The Blues were murder.
THE ATHLETIC!
- New Lowetide: How good is Matvey Petrov and is he on an NHL trajectory?
- Lowetide: Will Ken Holland make an early-season trade to bolster the Oilers?
- New DNB: Oilers lament Connor McDavid not drawing penalties
- New Jonathan Willis: How the Decade of Darkness did — and didn’t — set up the current success
- New Lowetide: Why can’t the Oilers put together an effective third line?
- DNB: Oilers’ Stuart Skinner on the right track after second NHL start
- DNB: What I believe and what I know about the Oilers after 10 games
- Lowetide: How close to balanced are the 2021-22 Oilers?
- DNB: Connor McDavid’s otherworldly goal
- DNB: Kevin Lowe Q&A
- Lowetide: Is this Connor McDavid’s peak season, and how good could it be?
- Lowetide: Who is the Oilers’ top prospect now that Evan Bouchard has graduated?
- DNB: Oilers’ Tyson Barrie says what needs to be said as NHL faces reckoning
- Lowetide: Did Oilers general manager Ken Holland win the offseason?
- DNB: The Duncan Keith-Cody Ceci pair have helped to overcome a notable loss
- Jonathan Willis: Seven Oilers surprises so far in 2021-22
WHAT TO EXPECT IN NOVEMBER
- At home to: SEA, NAS, NYR (Expected 2-1-0) (Actual 3-0-0)
- On the road to: DET, BOS, BUF, STL, WPG (Expected 3-2-0) (Actual 1-2-0)
- At home to: WPG, CHI (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: DAL, ARI, VEG (Expected 2-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- Overall expected result: 8-5-0, 16 points in 13 games
- Actual November results: 4-2-0, eight points in six games
- Oilers in 2021-22: 10-3-0, 20 points in 13 games
Edmonton is 59-66-15 against the Blues all time, that’s the eighth most miserable record in team history. From the worst to the Blues, it’s Boston, Minnesota Wild, Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, Washington Capitals, Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs and then the Blues.
OILERS FORWARDS FIVE ON FIVE
Faced with this set of numbers, I might try to run Draisaitl-McDavid-Puljujarvi and Foegele-Nuge-Hyman on the top two lines. That leaves Perlini-McLeod-Yamamoto and Benson-Ryan-Sceviour with the injured Kassian/Shore and Kyle Turris as extras. Dave Tippett doesn’t really use a fourth line so it’s easy to scrap it for parts before the anthem.
OILERS PAIRINGS
Darnell Nurse-Evan Bouchard (7-6 five on five goal differential), Duncan Keith-Cody Ceci (10-11) and Slater Koekkoek-Tyson Barrie (3-4) are the most common pairings, although Keith-Barrie (8-2 shots in 9:36) duo looks good in a very small sample. Nurse-Barrie (5-5) is waiting around every corner just to add some chaos at both ends of the ice.
CONDORS BLUE
If you were looking at this without knowing the back story on any of these men, Philip Broberg is easily the first recall. Do you remember Evan Bouchard’s first half (18-29, -11) as an AHL rookie, and his second half improvement (23-22, +1)?
I think Niemelainen is in the window for recall, and Samorukov could get the call before either man if the organization decides the big man has played enough hockey to be considered NHL-ready. Samorukov’s skill set is a perfect fit for Edmonton’s needs, but some extra weeks with Dave Manson is all positive.
Nice to see Nuge get that goal last night. Well deserved. Yamamoto and MacLeod too.
This game could prove to be a pivotal one for the aforementioned as it might be the catalyst they needed to get the ball rolling. After all, there’s no Corsi or stat line on confidence and these guys just got a nice jolt to the ol’ confidence boost.
What can be said about Draisaitl? Unbelievable how he’s playing and to look at him you would think it’s altogether too easy for him. Imagine being the opposition when it comes to those guys? Gee, who do we cover? This Hart Trophy player or the other one?
I’d imagine Buffalo are still kicking themselves silly over that draft. Maybe even Florida too but that’s debatable.
MacLeod, like Skinner, needs at-bats. We need to develop these guys rather than trying to trade or buy our way out of the weaknesses that the team has. Develop what you have properly and there is less need to incur the risks of trading young assets for expensive older players.
I don’t think the Oilers should be rushing to trade for a goaltender, given how well Koskinen is playing and the importance of continuing to develop Skinner. I think Skinner has shown much more poise this year than last year (in his one game NHL audition), and there is value in trying to give him every opportunity to gain traction as an NHL player.
One does not want to give up a good young defenseman for another goalie who will not turn the dial. Let those young defensemen continue to develop in the AHL and only trade one when absolutely necessary.
Puljujarvi’s value is persistently evident on the whole sheet of ice. What a player he is becoming! When one looks at Puljujarvi’s performance, game in and game out, one fully realizes what often was, and is, missing from Taylor Hall’s performance. Puljujarvi is a coach’s dream and, like Draisaitl, an excellent team player. He is a keeper and should be signed to a long-term deal.
I think that Draisaitl, Nuge and Yamamoto have re-discovered their chemistry. It is important for Yamamoto to find his groove again.
While McDavid is deserving of many of the accolades he gets, I think it is increasingly instructive to compare what he is doing on the full sheet of ice to what Draisaitl does on a full sheet of ice. Draisaitl is the more complete player, by far, and may in fact be the more valuable player. He does not complain; he performs and he is currently out-performing McDavid in a noticeable way. I am certainly not pleased with the non-calls on McDavid, and the league really has to do something to improve consistency in rule enforcement, but where or where is the NHLPA in all of this?
Is Fehr sleeping at the controls again? Surely the players themselves want the rules to be enforced?
More faceoff fun:
After so many years of regularly being punked on the dot, the Oilers are now a top-5 team in that regard.
No surprise that Carolina, Toronto and Boston are there too.
Surprising though that Florida and Washington, as successful as they’ve been so far this season, are in the bottom five.
Individually:
Ryan, Draisaitl and McDavid all show up in the top 30 FO% in the league (min. 100 FO’s). Ryan leads the trio at 59.0%, good for 10th.
Oh, and look who’s at #1 league-wide. Again.
And who’s the best German on faceoffs this year? Hint: It’s not Draisaitl.
I got a little pushback before for criticizing him but I’ll happily celebrate an amazing game from Duncan Keith. He was sneaky good at maintaining possession and preventing forecheckers from getting a sniff. It’s only the eye test but boy did I see him good tonight. He appeared to calm a couple sequences that ultimately led to a goal for the good guys.
Also, Koski was gangbusters in that 1st period. This game couldn’t have gotten away from them early but Miko made 4-5 AAA stops. Just wow. That he let in 4 goals absolutely doesn’t tell the story of how good he was.
What a delight to watch. Also, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Nuge play this well.
Amen Admiral Ackbar
Astute analysis as always
A Canucks coach firing tomorrow morning maybe??
I know someone who would be perfect for the role!
Of firing the coach? Or being the new one?
He would love to do both.
Fire up the ol’ Skype.
Very impressed with the forechecking and backchecking tonight, especially from the top two lines. Looks like a bit of ‘dog-after-a-bone Hymanitis’ is spreading on the team.
And, by the way, RNH needs to work on his celly. Maybe he forgot how it’s done. 😀
Totally agree VO!
Nuge was sensational tonight. He made at least 5 incredible passes and was shooting like a mad man. That has to be one of the best 1 G 0 A games I’ve ever seen.
How amazing was he with his timing all night? Just a little pause before making the perfect pass. It was like watching a midfielder making a volley. Beautiful!
Ryan McLeod can play hockey in the NHL. He’s legit. I think he’s always going to be a guy who looks like he should be a bit better, but what he is, on a team with 97 and 29 at C, is just fine. Keep it up!
Best game he has played in years.
And Nuge was knocking down pucks on the forecheck/backcheck too. That line was exceptional.
Agree on McLeod, he’s played well the last few games and is definitely contributing right now.
Well, that was fun….certainly glad we won. Not thrilled to see the 2 goal lead blown, probably should have been playing a more lockdown style than maintaining the full offense style (especially on the road).
Great night for Yamo and McLeod and Nuge, great night for sure. Can’t say anything more about Draisaitl than has already been well stated by others, I’m just super happy he’s the guy we drafted…duh! Honourable mention … we certainly have felt the pain of losing in the final minute, so we know how sh*tty the Blues are feeling…too bad for them!!!
GO OILERS GO!
the drai – nuge – yam line had energy, poise and skill on full display tonight.
Oilers as a team were 62.3% on faceoffs.
Control the puck, control your destiny.
Now the long bus ride to Winterpeg. 😀
Something to watch for on Tuesday:
The Jets PK is horrawful this year, 30th overall with only a 65.8% success rate.
Now watch the Oilers get exactly one PP…
With those awful PK stats for the Jets, not only will the Oilers get 1 PP, but they will also get scored on shorthanded I bet.
Maybe they’ll give ’em a few, but call an even up call during the PP. It’ll show up as a full PP, but they only get 30 seconds of 5v4.
Connor Mcdavid is on pace for 151 points this year… he is second on the team in scoring. I just had this discussion with a friend of mine, when draisaitl was drafted I was over the moon they took him over Bennett. But I really thought he would top out as a big 2 way 60 point centre behind nuge.. I cannot believe how good this player has become. This team, led by 97/29 is an absolute pleasure to watch. But dammit Yamo, I was specifically waiting till overtime to crack my second beer!
Same here.
and then it was well maybe we got a Anze Kopitar
and then it was holy crap he’s better than Kopitar
He’s in peak Forsberg territory now
He’s even better than Joe Colborne!
I remember when he got 72 pts. People said he might become Kopitar one day. Funny stuff.
I think Drai’s gone stratospheric partly because of McD – the intensity, singular focus, creativity and healthy rivalry of being alongside a maestro. I’m reminded of Messier, Malkin, Jagr, Pippen, etc. Glad they’re Oilers
Full credit to draisatl for putting all the work in. I think you’re right about McDavid and him pushing each other, but I think there should be a hat tip to Hall for being a good “veteran” presence on his left side during his second season.
I found it amusing listening to MacTavish the other night admit to Gene that even he didn’t see Draisaitl becoming the player that he is either.
I actually met MacT when he and Billy Moores came to town to scout Draisaitl, who at the time was with PA.
Outstanding gentlemen, both.
I bet. He has been pretty enjoyable to listen to as an analyst between the intermissions with Gene. Sometimes he hesistates but I think it’s because he’s remembering he’s on tv and is thinking of a more tv appropriate way to respond. Seems like he would be an enjoyable guy to talk hockey with in person.
are you from PA
Nope. Go south a few hours.
I do love me some Waskesiu though.
It seems both Lowe and MacT had an eye for D but not forwards so much
Don’t beat yourself up. Someone compared him to Joe Colborne once upon a time.
For all you young uns who weren’t around in the 80’s this is what it was like. I predict you’ll see a few 7-2 games for the Oil this year as well.
Heck of an entertaining game and finally scored some 5v5 goals in bunches but if they want to make it past the first round this spring they need to get the defense figured out
I would like to see their A game at least once by the 20 game mark.
Bouchard with over 4 mins on PK. Didn’t imagine that before the season started.
Leads the team with 2:59 per game – 4 second more than Nurse (likely a function of Nurse taking more penalties).
Keith/Ceci about 45 second less than Nurse/Bouch who are clear PK1.
Bouichard is also the right D, and Nurse is the left D. At home, the bench is on the left side, nearer Nurse 2/3rds fo the game.
I was really worried about the pk before the season started as we lost Larsson who was our best regular pk d with Pkga/60 of 5.59
Bouchard is 3.22!!!
wooooot!!
Dimitri Filipovic
@DimFilipovic
· 8m
Leon Draisaitl this season:
•14 games
•15 goals
•16 assists
This is unbelievable.
“Draisatl is pretty great, but will he be able to catch up to Auston Matthews?:
-13 games
-6 goals
-6 assists”
-Eastern Media, no doubt
What a mega start to the season.
His defensive game is Selke worthy.
Koskinnen is weird. I can’t see us winning a playoff round with him in net. He does make some good saves. But he’s a nightmare with the puck. He’s dangerous every time he skates behind the net with the puck. He’s forever bobbling the puck and his rebound control is almost non existent. Some of the best chances tonight for the Blues can be attributed to his brutal puck management.
I can’t imagine watching that game and coming to the conclusion that the goaltender is the issue. He had a great game and I can’t believe I’m saying that about a goalie who gave up 4 goals
Definitely can’t complain our goalie was outplayed tonight.
I know he’s 9-1 but he doesn’t track the puck well which leads to juicy rebounds. Anyway he was the better Goaltender tonight and a hat tip to him.
Hell of a game. Not sure that’ll work in the playoffs but they have time to tighten that up. Still don’t think they’ll played a 60 minute game yet. When they do they’ll be very tough to beat.
What a confidence builder for McLeod and the third line.
Serious question: did Drai instruct the team to give up the lead for dramatic effect?
He was trying to figure out who needs the winning goal the most.
RNH?
Drai: Nah.
McLeod?
Drai: Nah. Yam needs it.
but he hasn’t scored.
Drai: Hold on, it’s coming.
Driamatic or Automatic – your choice.
On the new tiered points system, how many do the Oilers get for this win?
I mean, the beat a top team, that made the playoffs last year, on the road, near the end of a tough road trip and playing their back-up against the starter.
On the other hand, the opponent was on a back to back (but the Oilers on a 4th in 6).
You forgot to account that it was the oilers playing.. any win has an asterisk and shouldn’t count for more that 1.5 points in the standings
well It is the Oilers so I’m thinking 1/2 a point
STL is a western team so they are worth no points, unfortunately.
Oil keep winning against playoff teams from last year….
And still perfect against conference opponents.
The only three losses this year were vs. the East.
IS THAT A GOOD THING OR A BAD THING?!?!
Whale of a hockey game. Woulda been nice to not blow a 4-2 lead but it’s all the same in the standings
Draisaitl, at this moment, is the best hockey player in the world. He has been spectacular lately. For him to drive that puck wide, momentarily lose the puck, and still have the presence of mind to spin and find Yamamoto is beguiling.
He is, and its not close….. as good as McDavid is.
The way Drai is playing, best player in the world.
Love Drai, and what he’s done is incredible, but has the quality of competition differed between his line and McDavid’s?
Opponents seemingly continue to forget about Drai, at their peril.
As much as we like to malign #flattop, this is one of those quotes (from Staples way back in May 2017) that often comes to mind when Leon has a big game.
source: https://edmontonjournal.com/sports/hockey/nhl/cult-of-hockey/ten-great-moves-by-edmonton-oilers-coach-todd-mclellan-this-year
Great that the Oil won, but giving up a 2-goal lead with 11 minutes left isn’t good enough.
Yeah I’m not sure what they were doing pushing like they were down two goals there.
Shouldn’t be giving up odd man rushes with a two goal lead.
At least they seem to be able to score at will. hahah
It is good enough when you score and win in regulation – to me.
If you think that is a sound strategy then so be it I suppose.
Strategy – I’m pretty confident we both know that’s not a strategy.
At the same time, its hard to win hockey games in the NHL and this game was on the road against at top team and they did enough to win the game – again.
I don’t know about anyone else but, for me:
1) in the moments after the game, I’m going to focus my energy on the huge regulation win and excitment of an amazing goal to win it in the last minutes; and
2) Overall, I’m going to focus on the fact the Oilers are at top 3 team in the league and 11-3. They are winning games at a rapid pace and I’m going to enjoy that even though, I don’t konw, Keith makes too much money and Bear isn’t here and Ceci was crappy in Ottawa, etc.
Are there areas of concern? Of course. At the same time there are many many many areas of excitement as well.
So…they did that on purpose?
Plenty good enough!
Their record when leading after 2 since 2020 is dynamite, though
Finishing it off in regulation is important too….. regulation wins are key!
Leon Draisaitl is the runaway Hart Trophy leader.
Runaway?? LOL
In my opinion, absolutely.
Maybe Rocket Richard too? McDavid gonna have to pick it up if he wants to defend his Art Ross!
He is so dominant on both sides of the puck. If that DRY line really gets going — and it looks like they will — he will win the Hart.
I’m amazed by his back checking. Tremendous. He’s now good — its seems — for at least 3-4 excellent back checks per game that result in a change in possession.
They looked mentally tired in the third. Cheating too. They dug deep in the end. Don’t think I’d be betting on them next game, though, lol. Not much naphtha left in the lantern.
What we need is for HH to place a wager on the Jets.
Well, gotta say I prefer a 2-2 road trip with wins vs. Boston and St. Louis to a 2-2 road trip with wins against Detroit/Buffalo and losses to Boston/St. Louis.
Not a masterpiece, but a big win vs. a strong team tonight.
On the road trip so far:
Wins in Boston and St. Louis.
Losses in Detroit and Buffalo.
Anyone see that coming?
Not lowetide, lol.
Definitely not our lovable host!
in other news, still undefeated against western teams!
Is Drai good at hockey?
No, he’s amazing.
Well we can’t say they aren’t entertaining. Frustrating, heart-attack inducing, but definitely entertaining.
Nice job by the good guys at 5v5 against a strong team. That’s two on this road trip.
I almost feel bad for the Blues. Been listening to Panger and their broadcast too…
Wow. Pulled that game out of the fire. Not pretty but a win’s a win.
YAMAMOTOOOOOOOO!
YES!
I’d feel better if there was 2 point 7 seconds left in this game
*edit-all good
game,set, match
Great for Yamo. Hopefully he builds on that goal.
yammmmmaaaMoooottooooo
Yamo, you magnificent bastard!
That pass was dirrrrrrrty.
YEAH-mamoto!
un-fuckin-believable
Oilers 21-22: There Will Be Goals!
Yamamoto scores! Great play and pass by Draisaitl. GWG baby!!
Yamfry with the go ahead
woooooooooooooooooooooot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!