2021-22 Game 79: Oilers at Blue Jackets

by Lowetide

The Columbus Blue Jackets are playing in season No. 21 in the NHL, we understand their nickname more clearly now, we reference them often when discussing Connor McDavid’s greatest goal (I think the one against the Rangers this year might have been better). We have seen the CBJ make the playoffs just six times, with two trips to the second round.

The first franchise “saviour” was Rick Nash, he spent nine seasons with the organization. Averaging 35-32-67 per 82 games in Ohio, he played just four playoff games for the Jackets. The next time Columbus had a very high pick, it was 2010 and Ryan Johansen was the choice. He played almost five seasons with the team, getting into six playoff contests. Pierre-Luc Dubois was up next, 2017, and he played in 26 playoff games but things faded and he was traded. Next? Kent Johnson, drafted in 2021. In the last 20+ seasons, Oilers fans often use gallows humour to get by, and mention how difficult it has been for the fan to survive. Let me ask you: Would you trade the first 21 seasons of Blue Jackets performance for the Oilers since 2000?

I didn’t think so.

THE ATHLETIC!

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM APRIL

  • At home to: STL (Expected 0-0-1) (Actual 1-0-0)
  • On the road to: ANA, SJS, LAK (Expected 2-1-0) (Actual 3-0-0)
  • At home to: COL (Expected 0-1-0) (Actual 0-0-1)
  • On the road to: MIN, NAS (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 1-1-0)
  • At home to: VEG, DAL, COL (Expected 1-2-0) (Actual 3-0-0)
  • On the road to: CBJ, PIT (Expected 1-1-0) Actual 0-0-0)
  • At home to: SJS, VAN (Expected 2-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
  • Overall expected result: 7-6-1, 15 points in 14 games
  • Actual April results: 8-1-1, 17 points in 10 games
  • Oilers in 2021-22: 46-26-6, 98 points in 78 games

Edmonton could reach 100 points this afternoon, a significant achievement and a rare one over the last 20 years. The roster will be curious too, as Darnell Nurse is not in Columbus and the status of Jesse Puljujarvi is not known. It gives us a chance to look at the depth chart currently, and possible recalls if Edmonton goes deeper than the first round in this year’s playoffs.

PLAYOFF DEPTH CHART (PROJECTED)

Edmonton’s roster is set, but injuries could impact things. We may get some clues about what the coaching staff is thinking today, as Darnell Nurse won’t play and it’s uncertain Jesse Puljujarvi will return. Here’s the assumed opening night lineup, all players being healthy:

  • Evander Kane-Connor McDavid-Jesse Puljujarvi
  • Zach Hyman-Leon Draisaitl-Kailer Yamamoto
  • Warren Foegele-Nuge-Derek Ryan
  • Derick Brassard-Ryan McLeod-Zack Kassian
  • Darnell Nurse-Cody Ceci
  • Duncan Keith-Evan Bouchard
  • Brett Kulak-Tyson Barrie
  • Mike Smith (Mikko Koskinen)

The coaching staff might run Shore over Brassard, or use Russell as No. 7 defenseman with two men on the fourth line, but that’s a reasonable estimate of a healthy roster listed on Jay Woodcroft’s whiteboard in his office. His whiteboard at home might be different but the work one is in this range. Now, here are the extra’s on the current roster:

  • Devin Shore
  • Josh Archibald
  • Kyle Turris (LTIR)
  • Kris Russell

That brings us to the top recall options. Some are obvious, others not so much, and on defense it really is wide open. Here are the top-10 recall options for Edmonton based on importance of role and scarcity of options.

  1. G Stuart Skinner. He has allowed two goals in his last 80 shots, and picked up a shutout against the Stockton Heat last night. He’s the last chance Texaco in net, with Ilya Konovalov having played just once in April. Olivier Rodrigue is on the Bakersfield roster after the Wichita Thunder (ECHL) season ended. Ryan Fanti is not on the roster.
  2. LD Philip Broberg. He’s back (1-1-2 in two games) and has enjoyed a strong AHL season, but needs to get games and eat minutes in Bakersfield before any recall this spring. It sounds like Darnell Nurse will miss the rest of the regular season, and that buys time, but the depth chart below Broberg is not strong. Based on last night’s game, I would place Mike Kesselring and Vincent Desharnais in the recall mix, and that’s damn dangerous because they’ve never played in the NHL. Dmitri Samorukov is done for the season, and Markus Niemelainen is currently unavailable but there is hope he’ll be back in the coming weeks. Slater Koekkoek’s status is unknown, he took a leave of absence several weeks ago and there is no word on any possible return.
  3. LC Brad Malone. I chose him over several other veteran candidates because he has more utility (center, can PK, has a good shot). Other candidates are Seth Griffith (he’s actual fire right now), Colton Sceviour.
  4. LW Tyler Benson. If we’re still considering him a prospect, then there is a scenario that could get him back to Edmonton due to injury. Cooper Marody is also available.

Any recall of a forward is likely to be a bottom-six option, as Edmonton would elevate a current third-line forward on the big club in to the McDavid or Draisaitl lines. YMMV, but for me Skinner, Broberg, Malone and Benson are the top recall options currently, with Markus Niemelainen in the mix as soon as he’s healthy and has played enough to get comfortable.

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Munny 2.0

Knights up 4-2 halfway through the 3rd. Preds lost in OT to the Wild.

Munny 2.0

SJS scores to get within one with 3mins to play

Funny Bissonness

Tied with .9 seconds left

Munny 2.0

and they’re going to OT lol

Thompson in net for the Ni by the way

Munny 2.0

Sharks damn near clueless at 3-on-3

jp

WTF?

I was going to reply a few minutes ago assuming a Vegas win.

Wow.

OTW and it’s all ‘OK’ I guess.

jp

Slashing in the balls, lol.

Munny 2.0

Pretty much lol

OriginalPouzar

DAL/VEG on Tuesday is a decent sized game for those two teams….

Munny 2.0

Yeah definitely huge. I mentioned it late last night.

Really we should be cheering for the Sharks here

Munny 2.0

Shoot-em up time

Munny 2.0

SHARKS WIN SHARKS WIN!!

lol

jp

Oh my god!!!

That is a huge lost point for Vegas.

Some years you just don’t have it… wow.

Neumann

Unreal collapse

Munny 2.0

Should knock their probability back down to single digits.

jp

Yeah. Just shocking.

They’re still ‘in it’ if they can beat Dallas on Tuesday, but they need every one of these points.

They’ve basically been choking, most of the season.

hunter1909

Eichel fails in the shoot out.

SJ win in the shoot out.

Vegas with 90 points and 3 road games trailing Dallas by 3 points.

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

meanashell11

Come on LT, approve!

meanashell11

It’s a quote from a Steve Martin movie!

meanashell11

Ha ha. Ok. No problem my friend! I respect you and this honored place. All good.

Tarkus

Summarizing!

The Bourg finished with 1+3 as Shawinigan erased a 5-1 third-period deficit and won 6-5 in a shootout. He had a game-high 8 SOG and was named 2nd star.

Tullio, despite a game-high (three-way tie) 5 SOG, was held pointless as Oshawa’s third-period comeback fell short in a 6-4 loss. The Generals head home now trailing 2-0 in their series.

Revolved

That was disappointing. Given how dominant they’ve been at home I’m wondering if someone more observant than myself can say what Woodcroft does with last change?

OriginalPouzar

From my civilian eye, its more about deploying the d-men against certain lines. The Nurse/Ceci pairing, in particular, hard-matched about top line(s).

meanashell11

It had nothing to do with last change. They out worked CBJ, they were out goalied and out reffed.

Harpers Hair

Connor McDavid just set a career high in points.

Not a peep?

geowal

Was never in doubt, still more to come.
Nice to see though.

meanashell11

Maybe because around here, we do not extrapolate everything into an “oh my” moment. It’s nice, and as McDavid would say, he would appreciate a Stanley Cup more. Now back to under the bridge with you.

Or as they would say in my day, “Into the mud, scum Queen”.

Last edited 2 years ago by meanashell11
Pretendergast

Peep

€√¥£€^$

Peep peep

rich tm

Peep peep peep

fishman

Jays lose in bottom of the 10 th. 2 run homer for Astros.

Tarkus

And Romano’s team-record consecutive saves streak ends at 31.

Hell of a run though…last blown save was last April 8th.

SayItAin'tSo, Gretz, SayItAin'tSo!

Hmmm post deleted ystd. Gonna guess it was the swearing which I’ll refrain from in the future, that’s on me, got too excited. Everything else is public record especially the bit about a pro-golfer. If it was the bit about the Raptors I stand by it and point to all the 80s Oilers and of course the Covid favorite – The Last Dance.

Winners want to play, not to sit out until it’s convenient.

Not a good omen to lose to a team like the jackets today. I’m not sure I liked the idea of Woody riding Smith as hard as he’s done lately when it was Mikko who salvaged the season earlier in March when Smith was healing up. Need to keep both men hot. But play has been great lately so shouldn’t read too much into it.

Anyway, onwards and upwards, Pittsburgh tomorrow.

Reja

I can see Mikko getting one more start if the Kings lose or we win. Woody will ride Smith hard in the Playoffs hopefully no injuries. The next start could be Mikko’s last start as a Oiler. A 901 save percentage just doesn’t cut it in todays game.

Harpers Hair

I can see Smith and Dustin Brown getting well acquainted in the playoffs.

Reja

Lemieux and Danault as well

leadfarmer

Yeah he gets the season finally and hopefully is not needed in playoffs. Question in if any team is desperate enough to give him a 1 year contract or will he get a PTO

OriginalPouzar

Mikko? I think will certainly get NHL contract offers for next season (and well in excess of league minimum) – I’d project his AAV in the $2MM range.

Reja

If you ask any fan that isn’t a Oiler fan they laugh at how we’re putting all our hopes on old man Smith who’s never won when it counts. They laugh even harder at how bad Mikko is once there’s any pressure involved and his gifting of the first goal of the game. Four years of Mikko have been more than enough. I wish him the best if he can land a back-up to a back-up job out East.

SayItAin'tSo, Gretz, SayItAin'tSo!

Understood and I shall refrain in the future.

Thanks for the clarification and apologies for the transgression.

JimmyV1965

This was a nothing game today so the result isn’t a bid deal. But it wasn’t a nothing game for koskinnen. He needed to inspire confidence that he can be relied upon. And while he wasn’t awful, he wasn’t good either.

This is why the team had a horrible stretch in the middle of the season. The Oilers absolutely dominated this game for long stretches, but the goalie failed the team at important moments. 

Sierra

I agree, they absolutely dominated for long stretches and only scored 2 goals, much like they did during the horrible stretch in the middle of the season.

Tarkus

The Bourg opens the third with his 33rd goal of the season less than a minute into the frame, capitalizing on a miscue by the goalie:

https://twitter.com/Cataractes_Shaw/status/1518335082959884289?cxt=HHwWgsCy3dTtmpIqAAAA

He then adds an aPPle for points on all 3 Shawinigan goals so far.

Last edited 2 years ago by Tarkus
verdad2.0

the team is garbage
a disgrace
Yammamoto is utterly useless
Koskinen garbage

Todd Macallan

Hahahahahaha

OriginalPouzar

Koskinen is not a goalie.

Woodcroft is an abject failure.

leadfarmer

if Holland doesn’t fire them into the sun by noon,
he should go get lunch

geowal

Only disgrace here is your comments on this webpage

Last edited 2 years ago by geowal
DevilsLettuce

Fire Holland by 10am!

Genjutsu

The mall’s on fire.

jp

the team is garbage

a disgrace

Did you enjoy the game on Friday?

Reja

I don’t see either one a Oiler next year.

€√¥£€^$

Ver mom was telling me the other day that you forgot to take out the garbage. Again!

rich tm

Hi verdad!

maudite

I’m late but:

Bahahaha

Reja

When Kane made that hit on the jacket D-man Blakenburg behind the net the kid winced in pain that you could actually feel through the T.V. Can’t wait for big boy Hockey now that we have Kane for a bit of push back on the first line.

OriginalPouzar

Until the 4th goal against, they actually played “better” than I thought they would – engaged early, had their legs – just one of those games where they couldn’t pull away and their goalie didn’t come up with as many big saves as most games recently.

To be honest, I was not a fan of some of the forward deployment today.

That first line was fire early and I’m not sure why Woody would spell Yamamoto for Kassian for shifts. In addition, I thought McLeod was one of the best forwards through two but he got moved out of the top 6 for Kassian’s bump.

That didn’t make sense (at least to me) and, for me, was a factor in the loss.

Oh well.

Tarkus

The Bourg with a nifty backhand setup for Shawinigan’s first goal:

https://twitter.com/Cataractes_Shaw/status/1518315380468600835?cxt=HHwWhsC-3enykZIqAAAA

Admiral Ackbar

This is definitely forget quickly territory. Horseshit ice, ridiculous too-many-men call, no finish.

winchester

Oilers the better team. Oh well.

Roslovich, a righty hand shot was available for cheap early this year. Something for the summer.

Diablo

Really doubt that … he’s from Columbus and is still on a cheap contract.

winchester

It was common knowledge. He fell out of favor, he was press boxed, and of course he was listed as trade bait. So pretty sure.

But as I said, perhaps something for discussion this summer as we all analyze the roster.

Prairie_Sentinel

I’ve seen that damn cannon way too much today.

Munny 2.0

Colorado so much better at this than we are

Tarkus

4-2 in O-hi-o…

Diablo

On to Pittsburg – I have confidence that our team will put this one behind them and be ready for the next one.

Munny 2.0

And thats the ballgame

Tarkus

I want the Oilers to acquire Kukan so they can have on their D:

Kukan
Kulak
Koekkoek
Keith

More K’s than Nolan Ryan!

OriginalPouzar

I wouldn’t mind seeing some McDavid/Drai shifts……… its been a while….. any of Kane, Hyman, Yamamoto – even McLeod to be honest.

khildahl

Louie is not gonna let that bad call go and I love it.

winchester

He has been pushing lately, or better described as just telling the truth. Seems each f the last 4 games he has commented on poor penalty calls.

OriginalPouzar

I think the Oilers will score but this might be one of those games where the puck just doesn’t go in – combo of luck and goalie.

We’ll see.

Pretendergast

Ah being out-goaltended. It’s been a while! So which coach/GM do we blame? I’m out of practice.

Reja

The last time Mikko started

Ice Sage

Koski’s been OK, Elvis is having an allstar game.

Reja

On the bright side will get a higher draft pick.

OriginalPouzar

I give credit for that one – well done!

Reja

Shirley you can’t be serious.

Munny 2.0

KRusty with another beauty chance

BornInAGretzkyJersey

Got ’em right where we want ’em…

Ice Sage

We’ll see. Elvis is a real hound-dog today

Diablo

That’s a win for the refs … awful penalty call.

Ice Sage

Yep happens 30 times a game for both sides. The bench-front is overlap territory (unless puck goes there) – brutal

Munny 2.0

And a streak ends

Prairie_Sentinel

Replay didn’t go far enough, looked like the sixth Oilers skater was jumping onto the ice at the end of the clip. And of course, we get scored on during the ensuing PK.

Diablo

Could’ve been called on both teams

OriginalPouzar

This “crackdown on too many men penalties” is annoying – no impact on play, etc., etc. – chincy and terrible.

Diablo

The refs are just inventing penalties now.

OriginalPouzar

I think I have read/heard this is a league-mandated “crackdown” on two many men penalties.

Its silly and annoying.

Ice Sage

Thats a chintzy call

Munny 2.0

three freakin games out of four?

Munny 2.0

Oh wow, horrible call

Munny 2.0

97 stoned

OriginalPouzar

On a game day? Tsk, tsk.

Ice Sage

It’s 4-20-4

Paulie

Oilers playing too loose here.

OriginalPouzar

Great pass by Barrie back to McDavid – shocked that didn’t lead to a goal.

Munny 2.0

Far side corner was open low

OriginalPouzar

To be honest, I don’t agree at all with Woody moving McLeod down (4C) to put Kass in the top 6 to start this period.

To me, McLeod was one of the team’s best forwards through 2 periods.

Munny 2.0

Relentless Hyman draws one

OriginalPouzar

Cue Godat with a Kass culpability reference.

I’m not sure if he was supposed to vacate so low to the goal line on that play or not.

Munny 2.0

He made about three pretty meh plays that shift where he could’ve done better.

godot10

2 games, no Jesse, 3 goals against he McDavid line. Did that line have 3 goals against in the last month with Jesse?

Yes, OP, Zack blew it. The other teams best forward is breaking for the net, one goes with him, than stand around and cover air.

Kassian is an absolute liability defensively. There is NO reliability in his game.

OriginalPouzar

That depends on if team structure calls for Kassian to vacate his primary defensive position to take that guy – there were 3 other players in the vicinity.

We don’t know what team structure calls for in that case.

godot10

One doesn’t allow the other team’s best forward a free unencumbered path to the net. One should maintain position between the player and the goaltender and/or the player and the puck. Kassian did neither.

All the other Oilers players were busy with assignments. Kassian’s man make it outnumbered. There was no logical reason not to go with him.

OriginalPouzar

You don’t know that the team structure calls for that – you just don’t.

No, other payers were not “busy with assignments” – they were scrambling out of their positions.

What you ask for Kass to do is interference.

godot10

No, body position.

No opposition team’s game plan has “let McDavid skate free and unencumbered and unattended into the rickibox”.

OriginalPouzar

Of course, that’s not the game-plan but, of course, its not necessarily Kass’ assignment and, going back to look, its 100% not and it was McDavid not digging in – the goal scorer was the center’s man – he was i the area and didn’t do his job.

OriginalPouzar
godot10

No, the mistake was Kassian’s letting the forward skate free to the front of the net. McDavid was supporting the down low coverage properly. It is next to impossible to McDavid or the centre to adjust for free flyers coming from the slot to the front of the net.

The winger has to mark that guy.

OriginalPouzar

Center has to mark that guy down in the low slot.

godot10

Wingers have to pick up the free flyers fromt the outside.

OriginalPouzar

Centers need to pick up the open guy in the low slot – McDavid, the center, was right beside him but not checking him.

Munny 2.0

Good wake-up call I hope

OriginalPouzar

Great recovery by Ceci and Kulak on that Nyquist speed rush.

OriginalPouzar

At 5 on 5, the 6 d-men are all between 9:30 and 11:15 (give or take a few seconds) – through 2.

OriginalPouzar

Woody has been going to Kass for shifts on the top line here or there for quite a while now.

Personally, I like Jesse and Yamo as the top 6 wingers (and McLeod as the fill in) but Woody is definitely experimenting with this.

Munny 2.0

I’d guess Kass was benched for much of the time he was out of the box and then Jay made sure he got a shift at the end so legs weren’t too tight going forward.

Last edited 2 years ago by Munny 2.0
Munny 2.0

CBJ had some good shifts that period, but we are far more. A better period than the first, and continues a trend of improving as the game goes on.

#adjustments

Munny 2.0

*had* not *are*

Okay *are*, too.

Munny 2.0

Barrie now top TOI for D, 2 minutes more than Russell. Barrie, Ceci and Kulak all real close. Keith, Boosh and Russell the next tier.

Paulie

Team work rate is off the charts since Woodcroft took over. Perhaps some of Kane’s influence too. Starts with Leon and Connor. Leon especially has been playing a hard physical game on the cycle, retrieving and maintaining possession around the goal line, reverse checks and the occasional flashes of nasty. Connor playing with more of an edge too. Will need that in the playoffs.