Dylan Holloway’s errant pass that landed in the Edmonton net two minutes into the proceedings served as his NHL welcome. He’s a rookie in his first regular season game. What happened to the other guys? I’m reminded of a training camp quote from Craig MacTavish years ago: “Everyone thinks he’s Gretzky.”
As the game went on, I tried to think of the last time an Oilers team was so frightening at five-on-five. One of those games is listed above. Whatever happens before Saturday, some hard work needs to be done by this team. Holy crap that was loose. Oilers won the game nine years ago, 4-3, goals from Ales Hemsky, Ladislav Smid, Jeff Petry and Ryan Jones. Devan Dubnyk stopped 29 of 32.
My three stars: 1. Connor McDavid. 2. Leon Draisaitl. 3. Jack Campbell.
Jesse Puljujarvi led Oilers with two five-on-five HDSC, and three shots and had one dynamite chance. A look at a unique player, one old timey and two modern comparables. https://t.co/ygQPAf0TnM
Evander Kane had an assist, three shots, two HDSC, a penalty and eight hits. Earned a penalty on a high stick to Quinn Hughes in a sequence that resulted in an Edmonton goal, but it wasn’t called. Refs got him back later on a bump to goalie Thatcher Demko that was little more than a love tap.
Connor McDavid was 3-1-4 on a brilliant night, five shots, two HDSC, a pair of penalties, five giveaways, five hits and a shot block. He was the biggest factor in the game, and the chief reason the better club went home empty handed. He did have five turnovers at five-on-five, Vancouver played him tough.
Leon Draisaitl went 1-2-3, with one shot, a penalty, two giveaways and two takeaways. He was 7-13 shots on a night when the Vancouver side owned possession (and 2-1 goals at five-on-five) but couldn’t overcome Edmonton’s special teams. Leon was 1-1-2 on the power play, and 0-1-1 on the PK.
Zach Hyman had two assists, two shots, one HDSC, drew a penalty, blocked two shots. Expected goals 55.94 percent. He does so many things, such a versatile and effective player.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had two shots, one HDSC, two GV, two TK and was 13-12 in the dot. Spent 5:30 on the PK (0-1 goals) and took a penalty. His value on the PP was on full display last night.
Jesse Puljujarvi had a strong night, posting two HDSC at five-on-five, three shots, five hits and a couple of blocked shots. Had one point-blank look that Demko was able to save, I thought he was effective. He was physical and seemed to be more imposing than in previous years. One game mind, but there was an edge we hadn’t seen before in his game. I’m probably reading too much into it.
Dylan Holloway made a rookie mistake and it cost the Oilers but was not fatal. He had two shots, two giveaways and four hits. Even on a night when the strongest memory was a negative, he touched the puck and was near it often, making skill plays. Young players make mistakes, I thought Woodcroft handled the rookie well after the miscue.
Ryan McLeod’s speed was on display and a big positive. He was 59 percent Corsi five-on-five, had a takeaway and placed Canucks defenders on their heels a few times in the Vancouver zone with his acceleration. PK about 5 minutes, no damage done by the Van City players.
Derek Ryan had two shots, drew a penalty and had a couple of hits. He was 0-1 on the PK in 2:31. He is a smart player and has some skill.
Devin Shore had one shot, a takeaway, a couple of hits and blocked a shot. A clean 1:04 on the PK.
Brad Malone won a faceoff and was 2-1 shots in 3:01 playing time five-on-five.
DEFENSE
Darnell Nurse went 1-1-2 on the night, two shots, one HDSC, took a penalty, two giveaways and a takeaway. Two hits, four blocked shots. Out of position and that led to a two-on-one on the JT Miller goal, the Vancouver forward was allowed to walk right down Broadway and get a fantastic angle. Scored a shorthanded goal that was a major part of the game story and showed good skill later after digging the puck out of the Vancouver corner and driving to the net. As with all defenders (to my eye) save Evan Bouchard, the outlet passing looked rusty.
Cody Ceci had one shot, drew a penalty and blocked a shot. He’s such a capable player, doesn’t try to do too much and makes good decisions. Led Edmonton in PK icetime (6:25, nine seconds more than Nurse) and played 6:43 clean versus the Elias Pettersson line (although 2-6 shots).
Ryan Murray made a fantastic deke in the high slot on an unexpected and delightful sortie. Took six hits (ouch!) had two shot blocks, slashed Curtis Lazar on a dangerous look but didn’t get a penalty. Veterans get those breaks.
Evan Bouchard was the one defenseman who made quality outlet passes. I thought that was going to be a key element for Edmonton this season, passing to the roadrunners, but it was not on display last night. He posted two shots (one point blank), had two giveaways, a takeaway and wasn’t rewarded for his passing on this night.
Brett Kulak had a giveaway, a blocked shot and a hit. He was 1-18 shots on the night including all disciplines, 1-12 at evens. That’s a difficult night, and he’s a good defenseman. He was 0-7 shots against Conor Garland (Bo Horvat’s line) but the only goal he was on the ice for was a GA on the PK.
Tyson Barrie had an assist on the PP but spent far too much time defending (1-12 shots five-on-five). He’s the puck mover on the pairing, has to be better.
GOALTENDER
Jack Campbell was brilliant, and brought to my mind the early days of Cam Talbot. Posted a .917 save percentage on a night when it seemed as though the Oilers skaters found a swim-up bar in the high slot. On a night when structure took a powder, Jack Campbell was money.
LOWETIDE AND JAMIESON
A busy day, 10-2 on TSN 1260. We’ll talk Oilers victory, MLB playoffs and NFL Thursday night game, as well as whatever you wish to discuss. 10-1260 text, @Lowetide on twitter. See you on the radio!
In contrast, on Nurse’s goal, Louie said Dr. Drai was the best passer in the game today.
OriginalPouzar
October 13, 2022 8:17 pm
Kane taking Jesse under his wing:
His latest project is linemate Jesse Puljujarvi, a younger player who has every physical tool, but lacks the swagger and confidence it takes to maximize the package. So far.
“I’m on Jesse,” Kane said. “’Finish your checks. Finish your checks.’ He has so much success when he does that, because he’s a big man. It creates more room for him and it creates a lot more room for his linemates.”
He’s lucky the other team never showed up to play…
Tarkus
October 13, 2022 7:47 pm
Summarizing!
Lachance’s assist was not on his list after all, so he ends up with just the goal. Petrov had the singular helper and a +3 with 4 SOG.
Tarkus
October 13, 2022 6:32 pm
Petrov with an apple as North Bay retakes the lead in period 2.
MrEd
October 13, 2022 6:18 pm
Sportsnet says RNH went 13-12 (52%) on the dot last night. I mention it because it looks like an unusually high proportion of draws (Leon took 18, McD took 12, Ryan took 8) and his success rate was also better than what we’re used to.
In a typical game last season, the Oilers had around 57 face offs, while last night there were 71 draws. With Leon playing mostly with Connor, Leon or Connor take a few less faceoff than they would when centering their own lines. Add in the 8 PK’s with RNH starting in the faceoff dot, for 7 of them, (he took one of the penalties himself), and it adds up to a big day for RNH on the dot. Even when RNH is on the ice with McLeod, both in the pre season and last night, RNH attempts the draw first.
Thanks for the post MrEd. Good to hear your voice. (vintage talking horse reference) And your comments BinaGJ and RB62
RNH looked like he had changed his stance (wider, lower, more active feet) from the past. In many instances faceoff success is a result of collective responsibility in a scrum, not a clean win or loss. If RNH is winning more than 50% including a bunch on the PK that will be another step up in what he brings to the game. Having written that, I have long argued that faceoffs are just one of many instances of a contested puck that happen in a game and the faceoff win/loss % is overvalued since we usually remember the losses leading directly to a goal/HDSC.
I wondered if maybe that’s something he focused on in the summer.
I think it’s also worth nothing that he hasn’t been a full-time centre for 3 years. Last season was his worst FO% since his rookie year, so it may be that it had slipped because he was a winger more than half the time (though he wasn’t great to begin with).
Zero PP faceoffs, but lots on the PK, isn’t good for the numbers either. Nuge getting back into the 50% range would be a plus for sure.
Bag of Pucks
October 13, 2022 5:48 pm
Sung to the tune of Elton John’s ‘Your Song,’ here’s a little ditty for those feeling gouged by last night’s concession offerings.
”I don’t have much money
But if I did
I’d buy us some tenders
that we both could dip.”
— He did this 8 minute piano solo rift that was amazing. I didn’t have an appreciation for his music talents other than of course his hit making ability. That piano solo made many in audience appreciate him on a different level
—. We didn’t buy anything at the concessions though…
The Oilers are going to need a #2LD at the trade deadline, I think. I don’t think Murray is good enough, and they don’t seem inclined to force Broberg’s timeline.
Nurse, Bouchard, and a bunch of 3rd pairing D will not cut it during the playoffs.
It is entirely possible that some folks are simply ill-suited at player prognostication and that they have lengthy track records proving this. These same folks are simply not self-aware and keep making similar repeated erroneous proclamations.
Its not arguable that Darnell Nurse isn’t a top pairing d-man. There are not 30 d-men overall “better” than him let alone 30 left shot d-man – its not even reasonably arguable that there are.
To Godot – Taking aside that Ceci is certainly not a 3rd pairing d-man, I think most of us would be shocked if a d-man wasn’t right at the top of Holland’s list in February…… now it he can find enough cap space to acquire a true top 4 guy….. that will be the main question.
One season away from being able to make real in-season moves (god willing no-one else with material AAV and term becomes unplayable……
Woody’s Oiler forward lines are a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get. We saw this in the playoffs last year.
The Oilers offense will be like the Patriots defense, where they sometimes just hang out near the line of scrimmage in indefinite formation until the last second before the snap. Taking the zone blitz idea to an extreme.
Because nobody has never really done or tried it befores doesn’t mean that it won’t work.
Quennevelle’s Hawks kept besting Hitchcock’s Blues because Quenneville was willing to adjust his lines for matchups and Hitchcock wouldn’t. Hitchcock had a particular view of his optimum deployment and stuck with it. Quenneville would search for matchup to take advantage of.
If the Oilers players can handle it, adhoc deployment actually should be an advantage.
100% agree regarding adhoc deployment. Woody did it the entire post season and will do it again this year. The advantage of having incredibly hockey smart forwards along with two of the best players in the game is that they float all boats.
Tarkus
October 13, 2022 4:51 pm
Lachance opens the scoring in period 1 with a 5-hole snipe:
I actuallydidn’t really want a win last night, especially not by relying on the McDrai combo. We’ve seen this too many times before. A talented Oilers team wins its first game, gets overconfident, sets then wrong tone, then loses many more games en route to 29th place finish. Obviously this year’s version of the team won’t finish 29th. But relying on talent and believing your press clippings is a lot worse than relying on hard work and acting like you haven’t earned a thing. (Darryl Sutter’s teams tend to do the latter pretty well.)
Don’t get me wrong. This Oilers team is a sheer pleasure to watch. McDavid is an absolute wizard, Drai is a beast, and they have the offensive power to spot other teams a 3-0 lead without losing the confidence that they can come back. It’s the most enjoyable Oilers hockey since the ’80s, and maybe the most enjoyable hockey, period, since the ’80s.
But the kind of game we saw last night is too much of the 2015-21 Oilers that doesn’t win in the playoffs.
2021-22 showed that the Oilers could dig deeper than that. They’ll have to, if they’re going to beat serious teams like Colorado or Tampa in the playoffs.
To clarify, I would have happily accepted a 2-0 lunch-pail hockey win that limited the Canucks to 18 shots. I love the highlight-reel goals as much as anyone, but I’d happily trade them for a Stanley Cup win.
— yeah I’m in this camp as per below See McD do amazing things with Drai. Run a blender and don’t create any secondary scoring. Play them way lots together.
In the DoD it was the Oilers complaining that they got a bad call, or bad break or P Kane or some other superstar made a great play late in the game to sink them. I think I like being on the other side of this scenario now.
Oh absolutely, I mean, I’ll take this team over the DoD any day. Great to see Canuck tears. (I wonder, where’s HH?)
And the confidence the Oilers have to come back from a big deficit is also way better than the DoD.
But they won’t win too many playoff games against elite teams after spotting them a 3-0 lead. They’ve got to tighten that up. Playoff hockey is a different animal. I wish it weren’t that way, and offensive genius alone could win Cups. But the NHL still seems to want old-school hockey come playoff time.
— the almost 13 minutes of Drai and McD together was not a good preview.
— The blended lines also not a good look.
— it’s all about winning but if the coach doesn’t think we have three lines it doesn’t excite me that the studs won the game. McD performance is good for many regular season wins.
— in the absence of three lines I just don’t see how playing McD and Drai together so much builds a cup team: they will just get exposed in playoffs: shit them down amd team is done.
McDavid and Draisaitl playing together wasn’t the reason they lost to Avalanche in the playoffs Kinger. That line did carry them past the Kings and Flames, though.
kgo
October 13, 2022 2:48 pm
So now we just have to wait until the next morning to watch all the post game interviews?…I like that, spreads out the glory and pleasure after a good win.
I watched them live with Oilers Plus – its certainly not expensive.
With that said, OT Openline on 630 ched was the same as always – they had Woody’s interview on live and, over the course of the next 30-40 minutes, had all the other players.
New Improved Darkness
October 13, 2022 1:34 pm
Paul Stewart — former NHL referee
First of all, the rule refers to normal height where the fouled player’s shoulders are when the shoulders aren’t being shrugged upwards and when he is upright and not stooped over at the time. That should be a self-explanatory definition, but I have heard hometown announcers — and coaches — “cleverly” try to argue the semantics of it.
At the moment of stick to face contact, Kane is fully erect with his stick horizontal to one of the jersey lines near the top of his hockey pants.
Quinn Hughes is at full leaning-tower of coyote bison-tongue trying to A) prevent Kane from establishing his stick on the ice at the bumper position and B) trying to get between Demko and the uncontested Oiler danger man a step outside the paint on the opposite side of the crease.
Kane’s stick was erect in the first place because they jammed the ref on the skate behind. As they round the corner together, it’s a high-danger moment, and Kane’s job is to get his stick onto the ice surface ASAP.
Kane clearly believes that if you plant your face into his stick while he’s holding it horizontally at hip level—with very little bend in the elbows—you get what you deserve.
If you used CGI to erase Hughes from the play, you would barely notice that Kane did anything interesting at all—until the extra chop as invisible Hughes goes down.
How did Hughes get his face way down there without “stooping over”? I guess desperate hands-outstretched coyote power strides count as an extreme inclination.
In 2018, the NFL is considering a player to have given himself up if he dives head first, the same way a player has given himself up when he slides feet first. That means a player can’t be hit after he goes into a head-first dive, and it also means the ball will be spotted at the point where the player began to dive, rather than at the point where the player finished moving forward.
Can’t be hit? Of course not. At the precise instant of dive initiation, the QB passes into bullet time, as everything else and everyone else around him freezes solid.
Unfortunately, nothing feels more like cement than swan diving into a linebacker fully rigidified by bullet time. Even worse, the bullet-time natural turf will shred you to pieces like a thousand unyielding Ginsu knives.
What you meant to say is, “Kane is STANDING fully erect.”
winchester
October 13, 2022 12:41 pm
Bismark, you did not get your wish of the Oilers scoring the first goal last night. Not once, twice, but three times. Even with Oilers giving out grade A shots like candy on Halloween; as an observer, I still knew the Oil would win. Surreal. Are we really here?
winchester
October 13, 2022 12:27 pm
I see Nurse received a fine, I thought it was coming as soon as he made that hit. Filthy, but made me chuckle. He should have got Stillman instead, who was handing out vicious cross checks. Anyway, a bit overboard on that one Doc.
Nurse is a huge leader on this team, and when he’s pissed, he’s a hard man to stop. He uses his speed to break for a short handed goal, almost screaming “give me the ***dam puck Leo”
Oilers paid the price for their earlier Rodney Dangerfield treatment of the Canucks. Fortunately, they did have the skill to back it up. But there is a lesson coming soon, a 8-3 drubbing or similar, it seems Oilers always need a reminder that while they are good, they still have to show up to work every night.
1) Glad for the two points but they sure got some breaks that helped the cause.
Sure the officiating was “uneven” both ways but missing that at least 4 min penalty changed the game – instead of being short for a LONG time the Oilers score on the play and the game changed.
Was I imagining it or do the Nucks miss the net or fluff on like 7-8 grade A chances including one timers?
2) Parlaying on point 1 above, there is a fine line between (a) good teams win games where they are not at their best and (b) continue to play like that and losses will pile up.
Here is hoping they tighten up a bit, shit, a lot, for Saturday night.
3) Its very disappointing that Kuzmenko looked so good – dynamic and dangerous – all night long. I saw him in exhibition and his shot is elite and he looked good but you never know if it will translate to the regular season when there is less time and space. With that said, the Oilers provided ALOT of time and space, most games will be tougher. He looks like a great find thought.
4) Woody admitted that, despite 11 forwards not being unusual for the group and 6D being normal, it “felt different” having a short bench last night.
No real practice today (although both Foegele and Yamamoto were skating) and we’ll see how they progress through the week. If both can’t get again on Saturday, I wonder who gets the emergency recall? I bet Kostin!
With all the preseason attention, I have not heard much on Kostin. If he was to step in and add some more quality to the line up, then ,,,,wow. I look forward to hearing some updates.
It was impossible for the Oilers to get in a rhythm with all the penalty calls against them. Wow do the Canucks luv to flop Pettersson is one of the best in the league. Anyhow with all the penalties and loose play defensively we were lucky to get the 2 points. I have a feeling the boys will be more disciplined against the Flames.
McSorley33
October 13, 2022 11:56 am
Yes, it is early….but Mr. Campbell just looks so calm.
I can’ t help but think his poise may rub off on the team.
Just a great performance yesterday but I think/hope his demeanor will
mean just as much going forward.
No panic boys. Keep calm and carry on type attitude …love it.
You mean like in Feb 2021, when Vancouver jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Smith and the Oilers by the 15 minute mark of the 3rd, and the Oilers came back to win 4-3. Vancouver had 22 shots on net in the 2nd and 3rd (same as yesterday) and didn’t score.
I thought Campbell made some big stops and looked elite. The second goal was a tough one on a great shot from Miller. Smith got roasted for two straight years on every goal he let in just like that. If he was in net for that one, there would be a different tone here today.
NHL goalies stop maybe half of those, so no shame in missing that one. Probably the biggest reason that I’m happy Smith retired is that I get to look forward to more realistic, unbiased expectations from our goaltenders.
The Oilers have to clean up the back end. I can’t believe they are still allowing that many 10 bell chances. What is it going to take to get them to take this seriously? It starts with the forwards. The defense is being hung out to dry by forwards who aren’t thinking, positioning, and anticipating when the team doesn’t have the puck.
Mike Smith might have let in a couple to challenge the team.
Victoria Oil
October 13, 2022 11:13 am
As an Oiler fan watching last night’s game, there were two things I appreciated: 1) knowing that they still had a good chance to get a point or two when they were down 3-0, and 2) not worrying about our goalie giving up a bad goal.
On an unrelated note, Holliway’s giveaway was bad but not nearly as bad as Jake Muzzin’s last night considering the game state and the experience level of the offender.
Very true that I don’t panic anymore, even when the Oilers are down 3-0. This team is too good. There will be absolute horrorshows throughout the season but at least squeaky bum time is severely reduced compared to the last few years.
I literally just checked twitter to see Manchester United’s lineup for today’s game so I thoroughly appreciate the squeaky bum time reference!
Bag of Pucks
October 13, 2022 10:46 am
Enjoying the radio discussion this morning about the organizational greed of the Oilers. Supply and demand wins again. Shocker.
Oilers are the heroin and we are the junkies.
Of course this stuff wouldn’t fly in a market that’s not a moonbase six months of the year, but that’s not the world where we live. https://youtu.be/IA-1PbsAZnU
Most important that it is well publicized, so that occasional ticket buyers are well aware in advance and can patronize a local restaurant instead, not ending up trapped and hungry at the arena. So I think it is good that it is being discussed. And who knows, if sales drop enough maybe they’ll rethink it
Going to an NFL game at Sofi later this year and I’m already prepping my mental circuit breakers for the inevitable concession prices overload. LA also has a ‘living wage’ charge added to most restaurant bills so my take is you just have to lean into it and enjoy the experience despite the price.
With the Oil, I’m content to watch most of the games at home. Attend a couple games a year and have always found the value proposition lacking. Lower bowl is largely boring corporate hob knobbing and scenesters and upper bowl is apparently fights now based on last night’s video. Suspect the price gouging plays a part in that.
Goddam, I lived 40 miles from NYC for 20 years and did not know that???
“Of course this stuff wouldn’t fly in a market……..”
Is NYC a moon base 6 months of the year? I don’t think so, so why does it fly there?
Let’s just all agree that entertainment is expensive. Even going to a simple movie is now $20 for a ticket. I remember $2 Tuesdays! That is why I stream!
It’s not a moonbase but it is one of the most expensive cities in the world. Edmonton has a low cost of living for a City its size for pretty much everything outside Rogers Place. This price gouging is an anomaly in this market imo
Aren’t the Oilers annually one of the highest priced teams for tickets and merch (currency adjusted)? I have no idea where they’re trending with concession prices but my wife has been bringing our own (much healthier) food to the movies for years! I try not to be one of the suckers that PT Barnum was referring to whenever possible. lol
The best way to protest is to not buy it. Eat before you get there. Have three beer at the bar/restaurant and one at the game instead of vice versa. Market forces are powerful and will be noticed. Complaining will be ignored.
I can’t remember the last time I consumed anything other than a water at a sporting event…. now, of course, that’s for personal consumption purposes but the point is that its really not that hard to go 3 or so hours without junk food, isn’t it?
Yes, I know, if you are taking kids, you might need to “nourish them” but there really isn’t any need to buy the stuff offered, if many cases. Sure, if you are looking to “have a night”, I guess, but this is a business and expenses are high….
The only real vote you have is the dollars you spend.
Litke 94
October 13, 2022 10:18 am
Interesting to see some of the differences between the visual and the numbers from last night’s game. To me, the biggest showcase of this is in the goalie data.
I was curious about the goals saved above expected data on MoneyPuck. I tend to like this data on goalies, as I think the end of year rankings on goalies using this metric tends to line up pretty well with the consensus on actual performance, albeit with bad teams sometimes unfairly sinking their goaltender (see: Gibson, John – who hasn’t been great but who I think can’t be as bad as MoneyPuck says he is sometimes)
Anyways, last night, MoneyPuck had both goaltenders letting in more goals than expected in all situations. Demko was expected to only let in 2.31, Campbell 2.87. By eye, that just doesn’t match with what I saw last night.
For Demko, between the 4 goals the Oilers actually scored on him (all legitimate strong chances), and the other chances he stopped like Puljujarvi point blank, Kane point blank, Murray’s deke, and a couple other net front deflections of skates, I just think that number had to have been a little bit higher than 2.3. For Campbell, I can see how the formula wouldn’t necessarily be able to factor in the variables on the first two goals against, but he also seemed shortchanged.
I recognize it’s a small sample, but it is something I am going to monitor going forward on a game by game basis just to see how it lines up.
TLDR: I think Campbell’s and Demko’s advanced metrics from last night didn’t capture how good each netminder played.
VanIsleOil
October 13, 2022 10:16 am
Man that Kuzmenko looked good, already top 6 and PP time, sure would have looked good in blue and orange.
Probably why he chose the Canucks. Going into the season, he would have gotten less assurances of playing in the top 6 and almost certainly would not be on the Oilers top PP unit.
I stand corrected. I own up to my oversights. I see also that Hoefenmeyer, Pouliot and Sproul have been so honored in recent years too. The award is no guarantee of NHL success.
Speaking of recent mistakes, in talking about the Knights, you lauded their 3rd line of Kessell (“Marchessault-Karlsson-Kessell (sic) in one helluva third line”) using TOI data. Expect Kessel only played 46-48 seconds with those 2 and played 10 minutes with Eichel. Are you going to own up to your mistakes?
I tried to tell HH that he was 1RW and he threw the TOI stats in my face that sure seemed like he just looked up online. I think the discrepancy comes from Eichel being on PP1 and Kessell being on PP2.
But they were lined up together all night at 5v5. I know because I saw it with my eyeballs..
I thought he looked good as well. I think he was always posited as an alternative to Kane, but once Kane signed he was never a realistic option.
I had a little chuckle at one moment where Kuzmenko took an extra whack at a puck that Campbell had covered. Ceci and Nurse squared up on him and he had this look of “ohhh I’m not in the KHL anymore” on his face.
hunter1909
October 13, 2022 10:05 am
HUNTER1909’S OILERS DYNASTY MARCH™THE CONTEST formerly now known as D#### M####™
Here is how it works.
Same rules same everything and all of the previous records will be retained for posterity. Here is how to play: Predict the total points that Oilers finish the season with.
Tie breakers: a) – How many points Connor McDavid gets b) – how many goals Leon Draisaitl scores c) – Where Oilers finish(1-16th in the West)
To Recap: 1 – Predict Oilers final regular season point total 2 – Connormcdavid points 3 – leondraisatl goals 4 – oilers finish in the West(1-16)
I think they donated the orange ones to the Ducks.
OmJo
October 13, 2022 10:00 am
For some reason, this article and the one from yesterday don’t appear on the main page. Using Edge on my phone. Works fine with Vivladi, and Chrome using my Chrome Chromebook.
Cahoon
October 13, 2022 9:52 am
Is the title a reference to the New Order song? I love that song, back in the day of 3 minute intros to songs hahaha.
cowboy bill
October 13, 2022 9:49 am
Didn’t like that the Oil failed to start the game on time. Sadly, it could have been the tribute to young Ben effected their start, allowing Vancouver to get the jump. Luckily, they were able to come back, that also may be a tribute to young Ben also.
Last edited 2 years ago by cowboy bill
dustrock
October 13, 2022 9:46 am
Kuzmenko couldn’t believe JT missed that cross-slot pass. As mentioned below, Canucks missed a couple of sitters, could have been worse.
Funny I thought Murray and Bouchard were playing well, and then it seemed by eye at least that they barely played in the 3rd period, Woody kept running Nurse-Ceci and Kulak-Barrie.
I think my preferred pairs would be Kulak-Bouchard, but I’m not an NHL coach, just a wild and crazy guy.
Ceci played 6:17 in the 2nd on 7 shifts generally spread throughout the whole period.. His longest tenure of game time not on the ice was 4 minutes about 2/3 of the way through the period. It seems like Barrie took one of Ceci’s shifts in that 4 minutes beside Nurse, but then Ceci was back on the ice with 4 and half minutes left in the period to kill the too many men penalty. Ceci was on for Nurse’s short-handed goal and had another full shift late in the second.
For the missed shift, he may have had an equipment issue, a minor tweak, or the coaches wanted to push the offense with Nurse Barrie for a shift after getting the score close at 3-2.
As one who hoped Murray would be picked at draft I’ve been rooting for him since he arrived. Kind of like a ‘do over’. My impression prior to last night was perhaps he wouldn’t mesh with the speed of this team though. And then THAT happened last night and I thought whoa! didn’t know that was part of his game so am hopeful again.
Brantford Boy
October 13, 2022 9:30 am
I sent a meme of Indiana Jones swapping the gold idol with a bag of sand on the Oilers 4-3 goal to my Canucks buddies. Thieves like us is right!
After watching about 75% of the preseason games I just thought how incredibly polished the power play looked. I wondered if it was the dressed competition in those games. Nope, it’s been weaponized. I also believe we’re in for some solid short handed numbers this year.
As for our hosts comments regarding JP. I was seeing the same thing. One only hopes this is the corner that’s finally turned. He looked great out there last night.
I honestly felt the Canucks were playing with fire not capitalizing on the PP more. Not because of missed opportunities, but because eventually we’d get some solid PK chances. I think they’ll get a ton of shorties,
The Oilers were puck watching in their own zone (and chasing the puck out of position). Horrendous defensively. And pretty lucky Kane didn’t get 4 minutes for high sticking Hughes. That goal turned the game around.
But the Canucks have big big problems defensively too. Demko will have to be Vezina quality for them to make a run at the playoffs. Pettersen was unstoppable though.
Oh they were lots of bad things, but I think they may get a lot of short handed goals regardless (maybe more if they play poorly if that results in more penalties taken). That’s not the goal, it’s just….a thing.
In yesterday’s GDT I said I anticipated an unstructured game with poor advanced stats, despite that coming away with two points in the standings due to talent alone, and many teaching points for Woodcroft.
I didn’t expect so many penalties against us… a result of the excitement and structural chaos I guess. That cross-seam pass for Van was there all night long. On repeat.
They can complain about the missed High Stick but the refs spent the rest of the game making it up to them and even then it was only 3-1. Not to mention most hockey players wouldn’t have made a grand show going full flop and stick drop about a bloody nose. Granted, it’s hard to judge a reaction like that fairly. Still seemed a bit dramatic.
W
October 13, 2022 9:18 am
The dream was always to mimic those teams of the 80’s, high octane offence, role players and a goalie that could make the big stop when needed. I think we are here.
Hard to say. IMO the ‘effective loose’ is the Pittsburgh Colorado mold with high pressure, constant turning over of pucks, and playing most of the game in the other end. I wouldn’t call that defensively sound and structured. I’d say Tampa was more defensively sound than Colorado. Maybe it’s just disagreeing on terminology.
Not to dress last night’s game up as something it wasn’t, but the 5v5 numbers (NST) look remarkably good (vs. the eye).
49% CF, only 43% shots, but 53% SCF% (20-18) and even HDCF% (6-6).
Otherwise, great to see the skill take over and win them the game. McDavid’s PP goal, after the puck went through all 5 Oilers within 6 seconds of the faceoff, was a thing of beauty.
That overall effort isn’t going to get them the win a lot of nights though.
I thought Campbell was really strong after those first 3 minutes or so as well.
Optimism is like heroin
October 13, 2022 9:14 am
Ok so as a kid growing up I loved goalies who were tough. Hextall was always my favorite and in that spirit Campbell made a fan of me with that check last night. Great stuff.
jtblack
October 13, 2022 8:53 am
Well. 97 & company gave us the blue print for 20 of our wins (outscore the mistakes).
The team will tighten up … gonna need to.
LOVE THIS TEAM! So many weapons and now a Goalie with little chaos.
This is true but, at the same time (1) they do take up 20% of the cap and should be the most important players to wins and (2) I would think that, over the years, if you substitute the top 2 players on most teams in that sentence, it rings true.
Sure, there are teams out there like the Blues last year that had really spread out scoring but, for the most part, team’s rely heavily on their top offensive producers (this in anecdotal – if there is evidence out there that I’m wrong, then I’m wrong…..).
It is only one team so not full proof, but last season, when Johnny Hockey was held off the score sheet, the Flames had 4 wins and 14 losses. That was 2 wins against Seattle, one against Ottawa and one against Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh win was 1-1 that went to a shootout. Tkachuk scored in two of those wins, so Calgary only won 2 games last season when both were held off the score sheet.
Seems like even a Sutter team relies heavily on the scoring of its stars.
Coilers2021
October 13, 2022 8:52 am
It was only game one and the team was shorthanded and there were likely some jitters amongst the group, but I have to credit Woodcroft and Co for not panicking at all when they were down 3-0.
I think he’s astute enough to realize the team needs a bit more polishing as the old trends of come-from-behind wins can’t be the norm again.
McDavid and Draisaitl are simply sublime. There aren’t enough words to describe their talent. Simply magical.
SoCaloil
October 13, 2022 8:50 am
hurray for the W but As our kind host states, that was looser then Crazy Horse at the Fillmore
positives for me are
1. Team didn’t give up
2. Jack Campbell settled in nicely
3. Woodies shuffle worked well
4. Humans wheels and Drais passing
Good golly. the high event open slot Grade A chances were tough to swallow. We were lucky rusty sticks had no finish otherwise it would have been 6-1
LT. you liked how woodie handled 55, care to elaborate. I though his ice time was limited due to minutes in the sin bin by his teammates. He got a few good shifts sprinkled in there
His strength is speed and he can’t use it on the PK.
Guys like Ryan, Shore, Nuge.
Obviously our No1 workhorse Hyman.
Pretendergast
October 13, 2022 8:49 am
So bizarre, I saw the Kulak Barrie pairing as effective and the Murray Bouchard pair as a tire fire. Granted the whole team was bad 5v5 but surprising to see the K-B numbers.
Eye test doesn’t match the stats, guess I have to retake analytics 101.
Durag
October 13, 2022 8:46 am
Game 1 and Jack Campbell has already pulled us out of the fire. I didn’t super love the 2nd goal on him, but my goodness he just became unbeatable at 3-0 down. I had him as my 2nd star behind the human cheat code.
Jesse was really impressive to me. He was absolutely suffocating on the forecheck. He can score 20 points all season and I’d still be happy having him on the top line if he’s going to have games like that.
I like the Nurse penalty at the end of the 1st. It was always going to be called, but it was a tone-shifter that the team needed. Weird to see him without the ‘A’ on his chest.
The Kane pass to McDavid was one of the dumbest plays I have seen, but you’ve gotta love him for it. Turned an empty net to put the game to bed into a potential 4 on 2 the other way, but he gets the captain the hat trick in the opener in front of the home crowd. The man has a sense for the moment.
I had to rewatch the replays to see that Nurse didn’t have the ‘A’. This is weird as the opening ceremony called out the players in order of jersey number. At the time, I wondered why Nurse didn’t skate out at 25 but the entire Assistant Captains came out collectively after the rest of the team, and Nurse was the the first to skate out before Draisaitl and Nuge. Maybe they were short on ‘A’s for the jersey?
No doubt, Keith’s biggest strength last year was starting the breakout…weak on the rush, weak without the puck.
Tarkus
October 13, 2022 8:39 am
Prospecting!
Tonight’s schedule features not one, not five, but two players coming back from long layoffs. In Matvey Petrov’s case, his Battalion played three games in three nights, the last one back on Saturday. Shane Lachance’s was even longer, a fortnight since his last game.
Youngstown (Lachance) @ 4 p.m.
North Bay (Petrov) @ 5 p.m.
HH must have bet on the Avs tonight. They are getting torched in Calgary.
NHL did not do the Aves any favour by scheduling the Aves back to back games
Who cares?
Schedule 2 games a day for the Avs.
Fuck those guys.
Seriously.
Interesting how weegar has gotten away with 2 pretty vicious cross-checks to Ave players in front of the phlegm net.
I hate to be redundant, but… who cares?
Cross-check all the Avs players.
Fuck those guys.
If he gets away with it playing the Aves, there is a good chance he will get away with it playing us. Can you see the point of mentioning this now?
This narrative the Huburdeau is the “best passer the flames organization has ever had” is wild stuff.
sutter being sutter. Let’s see what he says at the end of the season when he sees huburdeau unable to produce as he did in Florida
The best passer in Flames history is one Sergei Makarov…
In contrast, on Nurse’s goal, Louie said Dr. Drai was the best passer in the game today.
Kane taking Jesse under his wing:
His latest project is linemate Jesse Puljujarvi, a younger player who has every physical tool, but lacks the swagger and confidence it takes to maximize the package. So far.
“I’m on Jesse,” Kane said. “’Finish your checks. Finish your checks.’ He has so much success when he does that, because he’s a big man. It creates more room for him and it creates a lot more room for his linemates.”
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/oilers-kane-focused-on-motivating-teammates-you-cant-be-a-passenger/
Some detailed numbers (not traditionally available analytics) from last night’s game.
https://camcharron.com/2022/10/13/vancouver-canucks-3-edmonton-oilers-5-2022-10-12-recap/
A really great perspective on last nights game.
makes you think about bitching about some guys play.
https://camcharron.com/2022/10/13/vancouver-canucks-3-edmonton-oilers-5-2022-10-12-recap/
These types of stats are very valuable, more valuable than on-ice stats in my opinion. We need these types publicly available.
It’s interesting hearing JT Miller saying “we dominated these guys 5 on 5.”
Then comparing it to this and being like… “did you?”
How?
Great share, Bob!
I quite enjoyed that… although he seemed unaware of how much 97 and 29 played together
Markstrom picking up right were he left off the last time he played a meaningful game…..
He’s lucky the other team never showed up to play…
Summarizing!
Lachance’s assist was not on his list after all, so he ends up with just the goal. Petrov had the singular helper and a +3 with 4 SOG.
Petrov with an apple as North Bay retakes the lead in period 2.
Sportsnet says RNH went 13-12 (52%) on the dot last night. I mention it because it looks like an unusually high proportion of draws (Leon took 18, McD took 12, Ryan took 8) and his success rate was also better than what we’re used to.
In a typical game last season, the Oilers had around 57 face offs, while last night there were 71 draws. With Leon playing mostly with Connor, Leon or Connor take a few less faceoff than they would when centering their own lines. Add in the 8 PK’s with RNH starting in the faceoff dot, for 7 of them, (he took one of the penalties himself), and it adds up to a big day for RNH on the dot. Even when RNH is on the ice with McLeod, both in the pre season and last night, RNH attempts the draw first.
In 19/20 his FO% was a hair under 51%. He’s got it in him, but hasn’t been able to replicate that level consistently.
Thanks for the post MrEd. Good to hear your voice. (vintage talking horse reference) And your comments BinaGJ and RB62
RNH looked like he had changed his stance (wider, lower, more active feet) from the past. In many instances faceoff success is a result of collective responsibility in a scrum, not a clean win or loss. If RNH is winning more than 50% including a bunch on the PK that will be another step up in what he brings to the game. Having written that, I have long argued that faceoffs are just one of many instances of a contested puck that happen in a game and the faceoff win/loss % is overvalued since we usually remember the losses leading directly to a goal/HDSC.
RNH has struggled with shoulder issues since his first season, I suspect his FO proficiency has suffered as a result.
Agree. My wife noted that during the introductions last night he still looked like ‘baby Nuge’
I wondered if maybe that’s something he focused on in the summer.
I think it’s also worth nothing that he hasn’t been a full-time centre for 3 years. Last season was his worst FO% since his rookie year, so it may be that it had slipped because he was a winger more than half the time (though he wasn’t great to begin with).
Zero PP faceoffs, but lots on the PK, isn’t good for the numbers either. Nuge getting back into the 50% range would be a plus for sure.
Sung to the tune of Elton John’s ‘Your Song,’ here’s a little ditty for those feeling gouged by last night’s concession offerings.
”I don’t have much money
But if I did
I’d buy us some tenders
that we both could dip.”
— saw Elton John last month here in Toronto.
— He did this 8 minute piano solo rift that was amazing. I didn’t have an appreciation for his music talents other than of course his hit making ability. That piano solo made many in audience appreciate him on a different level
—. We didn’t buy anything at the concessions though…
The Oilers are going to need a #2LD at the trade deadline, I think. I don’t think Murray is good enough, and they don’t seem inclined to force Broberg’s timeline.
Nurse, Bouchard, and a bunch of 3rd pairing D will not cut it during the playoffs.
It’s entirely possible the Oilers will need a #1LD at the deadline.
I saw the #1LD play over 26mins and score 1+1 last night. Looked pretty good to me.
If he continues to play like a dink, he will get suspended.
Pronger got suspended a lot. Players learned to fear him.
It is entirely possible that some folks are simply ill-suited at player prognostication and that they have lengthy track records proving this. These same folks are simply not self-aware and keep making similar repeated erroneous proclamations.
Basically they never learn from their mistakes.
Entirely possible some have severe mental health issues and refuse to get help or treatment of any kind.
They feed off the illness and damage they cause to themselves and others.
It’s ok to ask for help. It doesn’t make you weak. It’s a sign great person awareness and fortitude.
Its not arguable that Darnell Nurse isn’t a top pairing d-man. There are not 30 d-men overall “better” than him let alone 30 left shot d-man – its not even reasonably arguable that there are.
To Godot – Taking aside that Ceci is certainly not a 3rd pairing d-man, I think most of us would be shocked if a d-man wasn’t right at the top of Holland’s list in February…… now it he can find enough cap space to acquire a true top 4 guy….. that will be the main question.
One season away from being able to make real in-season moves (god willing no-one else with material AAV and term becomes unplayable……
Ha ha. Your tears are extra bitter today.
Ceci is not a third pairing Dman no matter how often you say it.
Ceci is a fine defenceman. Very underrated.
Woody’s Oiler forward lines are a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get. We saw this in the playoffs last year.
The Oilers offense will be like the Patriots defense, where they sometimes just hang out near the line of scrimmage in indefinite formation until the last second before the snap. Taking the zone blitz idea to an extreme.
Because nobody has never really done or tried it befores doesn’t mean that it won’t work.
Quennevelle’s Hawks kept besting Hitchcock’s Blues because Quenneville was willing to adjust his lines for matchups and Hitchcock wouldn’t. Hitchcock had a particular view of his optimum deployment and stuck with it. Quenneville would search for matchup to take advantage of.
If the Oilers players can handle it, adhoc deployment actually should be an advantage.
100% agree regarding adhoc deployment. Woody did it the entire post season and will do it again this year. The advantage of having incredibly hockey smart forwards along with two of the best players in the game is that they float all boats.
Lachance opens the scoring in period 1 with a 5-hole snipe:
https://mobile.twitter.com/YtownPhantoms/status/1580687162726416384?cxt=HHwWgICgtbCm3e8rAAAA
…and picks up a helper in period 2.
https://mobile.twitter.com/YtownPhantoms/status/1580697761384521728?cxt=HHwWgICjyaaP4u8rAAAA
I actually didn’t really want a win last night, especially not by relying on the McDrai combo. We’ve seen this too many times before. A talented Oilers team wins its first game, gets overconfident, sets then wrong tone, then loses many more games en route to 29th place finish. Obviously this year’s version of the team won’t finish 29th. But relying on talent and believing your press clippings is a lot worse than relying on hard work and acting like you haven’t earned a thing. (Darryl Sutter’s teams tend to do the latter pretty well.)
Don’t get me wrong. This Oilers team is a sheer pleasure to watch. McDavid is an absolute wizard, Drai is a beast, and they have the offensive power to spot other teams a 3-0 lead without losing the confidence that they can come back. It’s the most enjoyable Oilers hockey since the ’80s, and maybe the most enjoyable hockey, period, since the ’80s.
But the kind of game we saw last night is too much of the 2015-21 Oilers that doesn’t win in the playoffs.
2021-22 showed that the Oilers could dig deeper than that. They’ll have to, if they’re going to beat serious teams like Colorado or Tampa in the playoffs.
To clarify, I would have happily accepted a 2-0 lunch-pail hockey win that limited the Canucks to 18 shots. I love the highlight-reel goals as much as anyone, but I’d happily trade them for a Stanley Cup win.
I hear Calgary has a team you might prefer to support?
I cannot remember the name of the Calgary NHL lunch pail team.
You must be a Lemaire trap fan low event boring 2-1 wins.
You must be fun at parties
Me and Darryl Sutter often compete over who can do more keg stands
Stay healthy and this lineup gets a minimum 6 games in any finals match up.
— yeah I’m in this camp as per below See McD do amazing things with Drai. Run a blender and don’t create any secondary scoring. Play them way lots together.
Didn’t the Oilers do a TON of exactly that last season? Including in the playoffs?
Of course, Zack Hyman and Evander Kane chipped in in the playoffs…. as they did last night.
Don’t get me wrong, the script isn’t the best but I’m not positive that last year’s team was all that much different.
In the DoD it was the Oilers complaining that they got a bad call, or bad break or P Kane or some other superstar made a great play late in the game to sink them. I think I like being on the other side of this scenario now.
Oh absolutely, I mean, I’ll take this team over the DoD any day. Great to see Canuck tears. (I wonder, where’s HH?)
And the confidence the Oilers have to come back from a big deficit is also way better than the DoD.
But they won’t win too many playoff games against elite teams after spotting them a 3-0 lead. They’ve got to tighten that up. Playoff hockey is a different animal. I wish it weren’t that way, and offensive genius alone could win Cups. But the NHL still seems to want old-school hockey come playoff time.
Expecting them to play lock-down defensive hockey for 82 regular season games plus playoffs is not reasonable.
Sweet world man.
They got 2 points!
— the almost 13 minutes of Drai and McD together was not a good preview.
— The blended lines also not a good look.
— it’s all about winning but if the coach doesn’t think we have three lines it doesn’t excite me that the studs won the game. McD performance is good for many regular season wins.
— in the absence of three lines I just don’t see how playing McD and Drai together so much builds a cup team: they will just get exposed in playoffs: shit them down amd team is done.
— yeah kinger and pool got what 4 shifts on the “top” line.
I agree. But you just knew Woody wanted that opening season win. Badly.
Different coach, it might be a worry, but he gets it, he’ll involve everybody.
I don’t see how a 5 straight goal comeback win doesn’t entertain you enough on the freaking first game out of 82 regular season lol
Watched a coach juggle lines that was missing two of the top 9 wingers on the club.
They came away with the victory.
Great job coach.
McDavid and Draisaitl playing together wasn’t the reason they lost to Avalanche in the playoffs Kinger. That line did carry them past the Kings and Flames, though.
So now we just have to wait until the next morning to watch all the post game interviews?…I like that, spreads out the glory and pleasure after a good win.
I watched them live with Oilers Plus – its certainly not expensive.
With that said, OT Openline on 630 ched was the same as always – they had Woody’s interview on live and, over the course of the next 30-40 minutes, had all the other players.
Paul Stewart — former NHL referee
At the moment of stick to face contact, Kane is fully erect with his stick horizontal to one of the jersey lines near the top of his hockey pants.
Quinn Hughes is at full leaning-tower of coyote bison-tongue trying to A) prevent Kane from establishing his stick on the ice at the bumper position and B) trying to get between Demko and the uncontested Oiler danger man a step outside the paint on the opposite side of the crease.
Kane’s stick was erect in the first place because they jammed the ref on the skate behind. As they round the corner together, it’s a high-danger moment, and Kane’s job is to get his stick onto the ice surface ASAP.
Kane clearly believes that if you plant your face into his stick while he’s holding it horizontally at hip level—with very little bend in the elbows—you get what you deserve.
If you used CGI to erase Hughes from the play, you would barely notice that Kane did anything interesting at all—until the extra chop as invisible Hughes goes down.
How did Hughes get his face way down there without “stooping over”? I guess desperate hands-outstretched coyote power strides count as an extreme inclination.
Can’t be hit? Of course not. At the precise instant of dive initiation, the QB passes into bullet time, as everything else and everyone else around him freezes solid.
Unfortunately, nothing feels more like cement than swan diving into a linebacker fully rigidified by bullet time. Even worse, the bullet-time natural turf will shred you to pieces like a thousand unyielding Ginsu knives.
I know what you are sayin here but still…….I remember this one fellow who kept hitting my hand with his face……I didnt do anything at all… I swear..
What you meant to say is, “Kane is STANDING fully erect.”
Bismark, you did not get your wish of the Oilers scoring the first goal last night. Not once, twice, but three times. Even with Oilers giving out grade A shots like candy on Halloween; as an observer, I still knew the Oil would win. Surreal. Are we really here?
I see Nurse received a fine, I thought it was coming as soon as he made that hit. Filthy, but made me chuckle. He should have got Stillman instead, who was handing out vicious cross checks. Anyway, a bit overboard on that one Doc.
Nurse is a huge leader on this team, and when he’s pissed, he’s a hard man to stop. He uses his speed to break for a short handed goal, almost screaming “give me the ***dam puck Leo”
Oilers paid the price for their earlier Rodney Dangerfield treatment of the Canucks. Fortunately, they did have the skill to back it up. But there is a lesson coming soon, a 8-3 drubbing or similar, it seems Oilers always need a reminder that while they are good, they still have to show up to work every night.
Nurse is on a 164 point clip.
82 assists, and
82 goals lol
1) Glad for the two points but they sure got some breaks that helped the cause.
Sure the officiating was “uneven” both ways but missing that at least 4 min penalty changed the game – instead of being short for a LONG time the Oilers score on the play and the game changed.
Was I imagining it or do the Nucks miss the net or fluff on like 7-8 grade A chances including one timers?
2) Parlaying on point 1 above, there is a fine line between (a) good teams win games where they are not at their best and (b) continue to play like that and losses will pile up.
Here is hoping they tighten up a bit, shit, a lot, for Saturday night.
3) Its very disappointing that Kuzmenko looked so good – dynamic and dangerous – all night long. I saw him in exhibition and his shot is elite and he looked good but you never know if it will translate to the regular season when there is less time and space. With that said, the Oilers provided ALOT of time and space, most games will be tougher. He looks like a great find thought.
4) Woody admitted that, despite 11 forwards not being unusual for the group and 6D being normal, it “felt different” having a short bench last night.
No real practice today (although both Foegele and Yamamoto were skating) and we’ll see how they progress through the week. If both can’t get again on Saturday, I wonder who gets the emergency recall? I bet Kostin!
5) Jack Campbell – GREAT start. Locked. It. Down!
With all the preseason attention, I have not heard much on Kostin. If he was to step in and add some more quality to the line up, then ,,,,wow. I look forward to hearing some updates.
Presuming he’s not recalled, I’ll be keeping my eye on Kostin in the American League.
Of course, the Condors’ first game is on at the exact same time as the Oil’s next game – blah.
I think the Condors play Sunday as well though.
It was impossible for the Oilers to get in a rhythm with all the penalty calls against them. Wow do the Canucks luv to flop Pettersson is one of the best in the league. Anyhow with all the penalties and loose play defensively we were lucky to get the 2 points. I have a feeling the boys will be more disciplined against the Flames.
Yes, it is early….but Mr. Campbell just looks so calm.
I can’ t help but think his poise may rub off on the team.
Just a great performance yesterday but I think/hope his demeanor will
mean just as much going forward.
No panic boys. Keep calm and carry on type attitude …love it.
Could be perfect tonic for this team
Hey Jack! Welcome to Edmonton, home of the grade A shooting opportunities!
Counting last night the man is 49-12-8 in the last 2 years. All he does is win baby.
He’s perfect, simple effective average minimum possibly better but none of those 1 and 2 goal early leads.
Make no mistake Kulak has been good for us – but.
Brett Kulak had a giveaway, a blocked shot and a hit. He was 1-18 shots on the night including all disciplines, 1-12 at evens.
Staring into the stands as a pass went thru his skates and a man scores directly behind him. ( Kuzmenko)
Summed up his night- seemed very unaware of the proceedings.
That might be one of the worst performances we have seen in a long time.
Very odd. Its game 1 . Flush it. We won.
He will be better.
If Koskinen was in net last night, and we were down three zip. I think the conversation is much different today.
Because both he and Smith would have allowed 3 more. And possibly missed that first shot that was a tester.
You mean like in Feb 2021, when Vancouver jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Smith and the Oilers by the 15 minute mark of the 3rd, and the Oilers came back to win 4-3. Vancouver had 22 shots on net in the 2nd and 3rd (same as yesterday) and didn’t score.
I just noticed I typed 15 minutes of the 3rd, when it was 3-0 by the 15 minute mark of the 1st.
I thought Campbell made some big stops and looked elite. The second goal was a tough one on a great shot from Miller. Smith got roasted for two straight years on every goal he let in just like that. If he was in net for that one, there would be a different tone here today.
NHL goalies stop maybe half of those, so no shame in missing that one. Probably the biggest reason that I’m happy Smith retired is that I get to look forward to more realistic, unbiased expectations from our goaltenders.
The Oilers have to clean up the back end. I can’t believe they are still allowing that many 10 bell chances. What is it going to take to get them to take this seriously? It starts with the forwards. The defense is being hung out to dry by forwards who aren’t thinking, positioning, and anticipating when the team doesn’t have the puck.
What is the Lowetide saying? “you develop a past?”
Koski certainly earned his nervous viewers.
Campbell is developing his.
Mike Smith might have let in a couple to challenge the team.
As an Oiler fan watching last night’s game, there were two things I appreciated: 1) knowing that they still had a good chance to get a point or two when they were down 3-0, and 2) not worrying about our goalie giving up a bad goal.
On an unrelated note, Holliway’s giveaway was bad but not nearly as bad as Jake Muzzin’s last night considering the game state and the experience level of the offender.
Very true that I don’t panic anymore, even when the Oilers are down 3-0. This team is too good. There will be absolute horrorshows throughout the season but at least squeaky bum time is severely reduced compared to the last few years.
I literally just checked twitter to see Manchester United’s lineup for today’s game so I thoroughly appreciate the squeaky bum time reference!
Enjoying the radio discussion this morning about the organizational greed of the Oilers. Supply and demand wins again. Shocker.
Oilers are the heroin and we are the junkies.
Of course this stuff wouldn’t fly in a market that’s not a moonbase six months of the year, but that’s not the world where we live. https://youtu.be/IA-1PbsAZnU
Great post.
It is disgusting.
Most important that it is well publicized, so that occasional ticket buyers are well aware in advance and can patronize a local restaurant instead, not ending up trapped and hungry at the arena. So I think it is good that it is being discussed. And who knows, if sales drop enough maybe they’ll rethink it
Going to an NFL game at Sofi later this year and I’m already prepping my mental circuit breakers for the inevitable concession prices overload. LA also has a ‘living wage’ charge added to most restaurant bills so my take is you just have to lean into it and enjoy the experience despite the price.
With the Oil, I’m content to watch most of the games at home. Attend a couple games a year and have always found the value proposition lacking. Lower bowl is largely boring corporate hob knobbing and scenesters and upper bowl is apparently fights now based on last night’s video. Suspect the price gouging plays a part in that.
Go to MSG then tell me the Oilers have high prices.
MSG is located in NYC…
Goddam, I lived 40 miles from NYC for 20 years and did not know that???
“Of course this stuff wouldn’t fly in a market……..”
Is NYC a moon base 6 months of the year? I don’t think so, so why does it fly there?
Let’s just all agree that entertainment is expensive. Even going to a simple movie is now $20 for a ticket. I remember $2 Tuesdays! That is why I stream!
It’s not a moonbase but it is one of the most expensive cities in the world. Edmonton has a low cost of living for a City its size for pretty much everything outside Rogers Place. This price gouging is an anomaly in this market imo
Aren’t the Oilers annually one of the highest priced teams for tickets and merch (currency adjusted)? I have no idea where they’re trending with concession prices but my wife has been bringing our own (much healthier) food to the movies for years! I try not to be one of the suckers that PT Barnum was referring to whenever possible. lol
Avoid MSG in my food. Got it!
Double post!
I can picture a 7th ring in hell where Burgers presides over things like concession menus and sexual assault settlement slush funds.
The best way to protest is to not buy it. Eat before you get there. Have three beer at the bar/restaurant and one at the game instead of vice versa. Market forces are powerful and will be noticed. Complaining will be ignored.
100% agree.
I agree. But for those not in the know on the $$, help them know so they can do the same
I can’t remember the last time I consumed anything other than a water at a sporting event…. now, of course, that’s for personal consumption purposes but the point is that its really not that hard to go 3 or so hours without junk food, isn’t it?
Yes, I know, if you are taking kids, you might need to “nourish them” but there really isn’t any need to buy the stuff offered, if many cases. Sure, if you are looking to “have a night”, I guess, but this is a business and expenses are high….
The only real vote you have is the dollars you spend.
Interesting to see some of the differences between the visual and the numbers from last night’s game. To me, the biggest showcase of this is in the goalie data.
I was curious about the goals saved above expected data on MoneyPuck. I tend to like this data on goalies, as I think the end of year rankings on goalies using this metric tends to line up pretty well with the consensus on actual performance, albeit with bad teams sometimes unfairly sinking their goaltender (see: Gibson, John – who hasn’t been great but who I think can’t be as bad as MoneyPuck says he is sometimes)
Anyways, last night, MoneyPuck had both goaltenders letting in more goals than expected in all situations. Demko was expected to only let in 2.31, Campbell 2.87. By eye, that just doesn’t match with what I saw last night.
For Demko, between the 4 goals the Oilers actually scored on him (all legitimate strong chances), and the other chances he stopped like Puljujarvi point blank, Kane point blank, Murray’s deke, and a couple other net front deflections of skates, I just think that number had to have been a little bit higher than 2.3. For Campbell, I can see how the formula wouldn’t necessarily be able to factor in the variables on the first two goals against, but he also seemed shortchanged.
I recognize it’s a small sample, but it is something I am going to monitor going forward on a game by game basis just to see how it lines up.
TLDR: I think Campbell’s and Demko’s advanced metrics from last night didn’t capture how good each netminder played.
Man that Kuzmenko looked good, already top 6 and PP time, sure would have looked good in blue and orange.
Probably why he chose the Canucks. Going into the season, he would have gotten less assurances of playing in the top 6 and almost certainly would not be on the Oilers top PP unit.
You had mentioned the other day there is no such thing as CHL Defenseman of the Year in reference to Nicolas Hague.
https://www.eliteprospects.com/awards/chl-jr?name=CHL%20Defenseman%20of%20the%20Year
I stand corrected. I own up to my oversights. I see also that Hoefenmeyer, Pouliot and Sproul have been so honored in recent years too. The award is no guarantee of NHL success.
Speaking of recent mistakes, in talking about the Knights, you lauded their 3rd line of Kessell (“Marchessault-Karlsson-Kessell (sic) in one helluva third line”) using TOI data. Expect Kessel only played 46-48 seconds with those 2 and played 10 minutes with Eichel. Are you going to own up to your mistakes?
I tried to tell HH that he was 1RW and he threw the TOI stats in my face that sure seemed like he just looked up online. I think the discrepancy comes from Eichel being on PP1 and Kessell being on PP2.
But they were lined up together all night at 5v5. I know because I saw it with my eyeballs..
You had mentioned the other day that Gustafsson was named the best SHL defenseman of the year. When really, he only won the Salming trophy:
https://www.eliteprospects.com/awards/shl?name=Swedish%20Defenseman%20of%20the%20Year%20(Salming%20Trophy)
Not the best defenseman of the SHL award:
https://www.eliteprospects.com/awards?name=SHL+Defenseman+of+the+Year
Having his buddy Podkolzin on the Canucks who he played with for 3 years in the KHL must have also been a big factor in choosing the Nucks.
That was definitely stated in the media when he signed with Van, they gave him powerplay and line assurances.
I thought he looked good as well. I think he was always posited as an alternative to Kane, but once Kane signed he was never a realistic option.
I had a little chuckle at one moment where Kuzmenko took an extra whack at a puck that Campbell had covered. Ceci and Nurse squared up on him and he had this look of “ohhh I’m not in the KHL anymore” on his face.
HUNTER1909’S OILERS DYNASTY MARCH™THE CONTEST formerly now known as D#### M####™
Here is how it works.
Same rules same everything and all of the previous records will be retained for posterity. Here is how to play: Predict the total points that Oilers finish the season with.
Tie breakers: a) – How many points Connor McDavid gets b) – how many goals Leon Draisaitl scores c) – Where Oilers finish(1-16th in the West)
To Recap: 1 – Predict Oilers final regular season point total 2 – Connormcdavid points 3 – leondraisatl goals 4 – oilers finish in the West(1-16)
DEADLINE!! PUCK DROP PENGUINS GAME 6!!
DEADLINE!! PUCK DROP PENGUINS GAME 6!!
You’re hard to catch. Did you see my prediction from yesterday?
If you have it correctly listed then yes, it is going to go on to the next part of the contest
What’s the prize this year?
Those home blues are spectacular
I think they donated the orange ones to the Ducks.
For some reason, this article and the one from yesterday don’t appear on the main page. Using Edge on my phone. Works fine with Vivladi, and Chrome using my Chrome Chromebook.
Is the title a reference to the New Order song? I love that song, back in the day of 3 minute intros to songs hahaha.
Didn’t like that the Oil failed to start the game on time. Sadly, it could have been the tribute to young Ben effected their start, allowing Vancouver to get the jump. Luckily, they were able to come back, that also may be a tribute to young Ben also.
Kuzmenko couldn’t believe JT missed that cross-slot pass. As mentioned below, Canucks missed a couple of sitters, could have been worse.
Funny I thought Murray and Bouchard were playing well, and then it seemed by eye at least that they barely played in the 3rd period, Woody kept running Nurse-Ceci and Kulak-Barrie.
I think my preferred pairs would be Kulak-Bouchard, but I’m not an NHL coach, just a wild and crazy guy.
It seemed to me that Ceci missed a big chunk of the 2nd period. I was relieved to see him in the 3rd.
I noticed that too. Was surprised to see he played 24 minutes to Nurse’s 26 by the end.
Ceci played 6:17 in the 2nd on 7 shifts generally spread throughout the whole period.. His longest tenure of game time not on the ice was 4 minutes about 2/3 of the way through the period. It seems like Barrie took one of Ceci’s shifts in that 4 minutes beside Nurse, but then Ceci was back on the ice with 4 and half minutes left in the period to kill the too many men penalty. Ceci was on for Nurse’s short-handed goal and had another full shift late in the second.
For the missed shift, he may have had an equipment issue, a minor tweak, or the coaches wanted to push the offense with Nurse Barrie for a shift after getting the score close at 3-2.
Thanks, good to know he didn’t actually miss much time.
Looks like he did play a lot less in the 2nd though FWIW (~6 min vs ~9 in the 1st/3rd). Maybe just Woodcroft chasing offense to get back in the game
As one who hoped Murray would be picked at draft I’ve been rooting for him since he arrived. Kind of like a ‘do over’. My impression prior to last night was perhaps he wouldn’t mesh with the speed of this team though. And then THAT happened last night and I thought whoa! didn’t know that was part of his game so am hopeful again.
I sent a meme of Indiana Jones swapping the gold idol with a bag of sand on the Oilers 4-3 goal to my Canucks buddies. Thieves like us is right!
After watching about 75% of the preseason games I just thought how incredibly polished the power play looked. I wondered if it was the dressed competition in those games. Nope, it’s been weaponized. I also believe we’re in for some solid short handed numbers this year.
As for our hosts comments regarding JP. I was seeing the same thing. One only hopes this is the corner that’s finally turned. He looked great out there last night.
Team needs to tighten up, bring on the Flames!
Go Oilers!
I honestly felt the Canucks were playing with fire not capitalizing on the PP more. Not because of missed opportunities, but because eventually we’d get some solid PK chances. I think they’ll get a ton of shorties,
The Oilers were puck watching in their own zone (and chasing the puck out of position). Horrendous defensively. And pretty lucky Kane didn’t get 4 minutes for high sticking Hughes. That goal turned the game around.
But the Canucks have big big problems defensively too. Demko will have to be Vezina quality for them to make a run at the playoffs. Pettersen was unstoppable though.
Oilers need to be a lot better against the Flames
Oh they were lots of bad things, but I think they may get a lot of short handed goals regardless (maybe more if they play poorly if that results in more penalties taken). That’s not the goal, it’s just….a thing.
In yesterday’s GDT I said I anticipated an unstructured game with poor advanced stats, despite that coming away with two points in the standings due to talent alone, and many teaching points for Woodcroft.
I didn’t expect so many penalties against us… a result of the excitement and structural chaos I guess. That cross-seam pass for Van was there all night long. On repeat.
Soup was fantastic.
It looked to me like Petterson picked/interfered with Kulak on the Kuzmenko goal.
Better team took the 2pts, if the Canucks were truly the better team they don’t lose the 3-0 lead.
Don’t the Canucks get a moral victory for that one? and is it worth the same amount of standings our detested moral victories used to get?
Yes and yes. They can have all the moral high ground they want.
They can complain about the missed High Stick but the refs spent the rest of the game making it up to them and even then it was only 3-1. Not to mention most hockey players wouldn’t have made a grand show going full flop and stick drop about a bloody nose. Granted, it’s hard to judge a reaction like that fairly. Still seemed a bit dramatic.
The dream was always to mimic those teams of the 80’s, high octane offence, role players and a goalie that could make the big stop when needed. I think we are here.
Was that the goal? Because I don’t think that wins Stanley in the modern era.
It’s about structure now. Defensively sound teams win the championship.
Hard to say. IMO the ‘effective loose’ is the Pittsburgh Colorado mold with high pressure, constant turning over of pucks, and playing most of the game in the other end. I wouldn’t call that defensively sound and structured. I’d say Tampa was more defensively sound than Colorado. Maybe it’s just disagreeing on terminology.
It was the dream, ask Katz.
It was the dream, ask the owner.
Not to dress last night’s game up as something it wasn’t, but the 5v5 numbers (NST) look remarkably good (vs. the eye).
49% CF, only 43% shots, but 53% SCF% (20-18) and even HDCF% (6-6).
Otherwise, great to see the skill take over and win them the game. McDavid’s PP goal, after the puck went through all 5 Oilers within 6 seconds of the faceoff, was a thing of beauty.
That overall effort isn’t going to get them the win a lot of nights though.
I thought Campbell was really strong after those first 3 minutes or so as well.
Ok so as a kid growing up I loved goalies who were tough. Hextall was always my favorite and in that spirit Campbell made a fan of me with that check last night. Great stuff.
Well. 97 & company gave us the blue print for 20 of our wins (outscore the mistakes).
The team will tighten up … gonna need to.
LOVE THIS TEAM! So many weapons and now a Goalie with little chaos.
Since 2015- tell me how 97 and 29 do and I will tell you if we win.
This is true but, at the same time (1) they do take up 20% of the cap and should be the most important players to wins and (2) I would think that, over the years, if you substitute the top 2 players on most teams in that sentence, it rings true.
Sure, there are teams out there like the Blues last year that had really spread out scoring but, for the most part, team’s rely heavily on their top offensive producers (this in anecdotal – if there is evidence out there that I’m wrong, then I’m wrong…..).
It is only one team so not full proof, but last season, when Johnny Hockey was held off the score sheet, the Flames had 4 wins and 14 losses. That was 2 wins against Seattle, one against Ottawa and one against Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh win was 1-1 that went to a shootout. Tkachuk scored in two of those wins, so Calgary only won 2 games last season when both were held off the score sheet.
Seems like even a Sutter team relies heavily on the scoring of its stars.
It was only game one and the team was shorthanded and there were likely some jitters amongst the group, but I have to credit Woodcroft and Co for not panicking at all when they were down 3-0.
I think he’s astute enough to realize the team needs a bit more polishing as the old trends of come-from-behind wins can’t be the norm again.
McDavid and Draisaitl are simply sublime. There aren’t enough words to describe their talent. Simply magical.
hurray for the W but As our kind host states, that was looser then Crazy Horse at the Fillmore
positives for me are
1. Team didn’t give up
2. Jack Campbell settled in nicely
3. Woodies shuffle worked well
4. Humans wheels and Drais passing
Good golly. the high event open slot Grade A chances were tough to swallow. We were lucky rusty sticks had no finish otherwise it would have been 6-1
LT. you liked how woodie handled 55, care to elaborate. I though his ice time was limited due to minutes in the sin bin by his teammates. He got a few good shifts sprinkled in there
Holloway and JP both suffered badly for ice time because of all the penalties.
The fact that Puljujarvi is still not trusted enough to kill penalties says a whole lot.
Always thought that was a natural place for speed and reach.
Might have something to do with communication barriers
5v5 defense is more about retaining the ozone, the PK is more about standing in lanes,
I think PJ is miscast ok PK.
His strength is speed and he can’t use it on the PK.
Guys like Ryan, Shore, Nuge.
Obviously our No1 workhorse Hyman.
So bizarre, I saw the Kulak Barrie pairing as effective and the Murray Bouchard pair as a tire fire. Granted the whole team was bad 5v5 but surprising to see the K-B numbers.
Eye test doesn’t match the stats, guess I have to retake analytics 101.
I had to rewatch the replays to see that Nurse didn’t have the ‘A’. This is weird as the opening ceremony called out the players in order of jersey number. At the time, I wondered why Nurse didn’t skate out at 25 but the entire Assistant Captains came out collectively after the rest of the team, and Nurse was the the first to skate out before Draisaitl and Nuge. Maybe they were short on ‘A’s for the jersey?
Yeah they mentioned Nurse, Nuge and Drai all as alternate captains. Maybe Nuge and Nurse will rotate home vs. road.
Yeah pretty sure teams can only have 2 assistant Cs in each game, so they must rotate.
“The door was open and the wind appeared, the candles blew and then disappeared, the curtains flew and then He appeared ……”
:):):)
Classic Oilers last night.
Soup looked alright in front of the Oilers’ “defence.” He had lots of training in Toronto.
Am I crazy in thinking the Oilers will miss Keith’s passing?
I was missing Keith’s steadiness back there
No doubt, Keith’s biggest strength last year was starting the breakout…weak on the rush, weak without the puck.
Prospecting!
Tonight’s schedule features not one, not five, but two players coming back from long layoffs. In Matvey Petrov’s case, his Battalion played three games in three nights, the last one back on Saturday. Shane Lachance’s was even longer, a fortnight since his last game.
Youngstown (Lachance) @ 4 p.m.
North Bay (Petrov) @ 5 p.m.
Both times, as always, are Marwayne time.
Now that’s how you go and piss off Dewberry
The tic tac toe play on the McD PP goal was filthy. May not see a better one this season.
Pure skill, training and awareness. Beauty
I think we’ll see it again. I’m pretty sure that’s one of the ‘new looks’ they’ve been talking about for the PP.
That play was filthy. I do think they’ll have plenty of opportunities to make filthier plays over the next 81 games.