2021-22 Game 19: Oilers at Coyotes

The Oilers are 1-1-0 without Darnell Nurse and 4-4-0 since that wild and crazy comeback against the New York Rangers. The game in Dallas featured stubborn individual efforts, wayward passing, forwards pulling the chute instead of hauling ass and defensemen getting passed like a house on the side of the road.

If the Oilers have any hopes of winning tonight, the execution and effort will need to be far better than fans saw from Texas on Tuesday.

THE ATHLETIC!

• New Lowetide: Is the Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl even better than we think? A look at his stunning historic comparables
• DNB: Philip Broberg’s first NHL game was as special as he’d hoped
• Lowetide: Philip Broberg is ready for his NHL audition
• Lowetide: Why Kailer Yamamoto is still on the Oilers’ No. 2 line
• Lowetide: Three auditioning Oilers who are finding their groove and hope to find their place
• Lowetide: Should the Oilers move Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to the 3rd line?
• DNB and Max Bultman: How Hockey Hall of Famer Ken Holland helped create ‘the Harvard of hockey management’
• 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?
• DNB: Oilers lament Connor McDavid not drawing penalties
• Jonathan Willis: How the Decade of Darkness did — and didn’t — set up the current success
• 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

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 2-3-0)
• At home to: WPG, CHI (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 2-0-0)
• On the road to: DAL, ARI, VEG (Expected 2-1-0) (Actual 0-1-0)
• Overall expected result: 8-5-0, 16 points in 13 games
• Actual November results: 7-4-0, 14 points in 11 games
• Oilers in 2021-22: 13-5-0, 26 points in 18 games

That might have been the worst game of the year, although the Detroit and Buffalo efforts were also poor. Edmonton’s road game turns them into road kill by the end of the first period, and last night the team couldn’t even manage a furious comeback. Nothing rhymed, the line shuffles made things worse and Duncan Keith got hurt. Positives? They were there, but it was a tough night to find them.

GOALIES

Stuart Skinner stopped 29 of 33, .879. He owns a .928 save percentage and played well in a game where the team in front of him was not sharp. Several 10-bell saves weren’t enough on the night, but there’s zero chance Skinner was part of the problem. One of the best Oilers on the night.

PAIRINGS

• Philip Broberg-Cody Ceci played 17:33, going 8-6 shots, 0-2 goals, 0-2 HDSC
• Kris Russell-Tyson Barrie played 10:48, going 2-3 shots, no goals and 0-1 HDSC.
• Duncan Keith-Evan Bouchard played 9:01, 5-6 shots, no goals and 1-3 HDSC.
• Kris Russell-Evan Bouchard played 7:01, 1-6 shots, 1-0 goals (!!) and 0-3 HDSC.
• Tyson Barrie-Cody Ceci played 3:24, going 1-2 shots, 0-1 goals and 0-1 HDSC.

Broberg was soft on the clear before the first Dallas goal, with he and Bouchard unable to box out two Stars net front. Lots of learning opportunities there.

On the second Dallas goal, Derek Ryan and Kailer Yamamoto were both isolated high and that allowed the key cross-ice pass for the hammer and goal.

On the third Stars tally, Colton Sceviour did a good job checking and Connor McDavid almost intercepted a pass, but once Denis Gurianov got the puck in the neutral zone he was gone baby gone. Tyson Barrie won’t want to watch the tape, and people will talk about his speed, but the real key to the goal is that Gurianov was in full stride going through the neutral zone so Barrie’s choices were tripping or an ‘also in photo’ after a breakaway goal.

The fourth goal included Zach Hyman losing a faceoff (Dave Tippett used the big stir stick for line shuffling in this game) and Cody Ceci unable to tie up Luke Glendening’s stick.

LINES

• Nuge-Draisaitl-Yamamoto: 10:25, 1-2 shots, no goals, no high danger
• Foegele-McLeod-Kassian: 9:19, 3-3 shots, no goals, no high danger
• Hyman-McDavid-Puljujarvi: 6:21, 6-5 shots, no goals, 1-2 HDSC
• Perlini-McDavid-Draisaitl: 3:49, 0-2 shots, no goals, 0-2 HDSC
• Sceviour-Ryan-Yamamoto: 3:09, 2-1 shots, no goals, 1-0 HDSC
• Perlini-Ryan-Sceviour: 2:15, 0-1 shots, no goals, 0-1 HDSC
• Draisaitl-McDavid-Puljujarvi: 2:06, nada
• Nuge-Draisaitl-Puljujarvi: 1:43, 2-1 shots, no goals, no high danger
• Perlini-McDavid-Sceviour: 1:31, 1-0 shots, 1-0 shots
• Nuge-Hyman-Puljujarvi: 1:16, 0-2 shots, 0-1 goals, 0-1 HDSC

I bet even Craig MacTavish thought there was too much line shuffling. Look, I’m not like most of the people who comment here on the Oilers, I respect Dave Tippett’s work. I think he has had poor moments, like abandoning the defensemen who got him into the playoffs during the Winnipeg series, and overworking the goalie who is hot.

He’s also found a way to deploy more young prospects in three years than any coach since Glen Sather, so that’s a positive. He is brilliant with special teams and that’s a big advantage.

Last night, I think Tippett was the man who tried to do too much. I’m not sure what the fascination is with Perlini, but he’s a big man who can skate and so was J. F. Jacques. Perlini has played 12 games as an Oilers winger and has 0-0-0 beside his name. Maybe he is J.F. Jacques.

I follow Tippett’s thinking on most things, but the Perlini push is a bit of a bridge too far from here. It was perhaps poetic justice that, on a night when the captain had his point streak ended, it was a simple chip pass by Jesse Puljujarvi that ignited Edmonton’s only goal.

Sometimes in life, we think too much. Perhaps this is an example.

WHAT ABOUT KEITH?

My first thought is that he won’t play tonight and probably not on the weekend. It’s too soon for Darnell Nurse to return but don’t rule that out completely, the guy is very durable.

After that, it gets messy. I imagine Tippett will run Russell-Barrie, Broberg-Ceci and Lagesson-Bouchard. I’d run Broberg-Bouchard, Russell-Ceci and Lagesson-Barrie. You?

LOWDOWN WITH LOWETIDE

It’ll be a morning of strong conversations and furrowed brows beginning at 10, TSN1260. Bruce McCurdy from the Cult of Hockey begins the proceedings at 10:20, we’ll talk of the Dallas game, the injuries and meeting the Coyotes in the middle of the desert on a dark November night when the top pairing isn’t known. Jose Romero from Arizona Central Sports kicks in at 10:40 with the latest on Phil Kessel’s team. At 11, Joe Osborne from OddShark tells us who is a good bet for Thanksgiving Thursday NFL games. We’ll have Crossfire! (pew! pew!) at 11:20. 10-1260 text, @Lowetide on twitter. See you on the radio!