The gales of November came slashing for the Edmonton Oilers last night, as the team’s penalty kill threatens to drown the good ship and crew like a hurricane west wind. At points last night it appeared the PK units were hoping to get the goal scored against them early, so they could get back to five-on-five. Bold move if it works, but for the listing Oildrop, a 5-4 loss was the final score. I’d say the penalty kill can go to hell, but it’s already there.
THE ATHLETIC!
- Lowetide: Oilers top prospect is unclear for the first time in a dozen years
- Lowetide: Oilers prospects crowding AHL roster, ice time at a premium
- DNB: Why Oilers’ latest ‘pathetic’ performance from Jack Campbell is a growing issue
- Lowetide: Oilers rookie Stuart Skinner is chasing history
- DNB: Devils stun Oilers in Edmonton: How 7 seconds changed the game
- DNB: Ryan Smyth on Oilers memories, keepsakes and the current team: Q&A
- Lowetide: Making room for Dylan Holloway
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers start October slow but finish month strong
- Lowetide: Oilers prospect Tyler Tullio adjusting quickly to AHL
- DNB: Oilers’ Skinner, an Edmonton native, closes door on Flames
- DNB: The Oilers have a third line that’s settling in
- Lowetide: Early season trade unlikely for the Oilers
- DNB: How the Oilers can manage Connor McDavid and star players’ workloads
- Jonathan Willis: Jakob Chychrun would look good on the Oilers, but is there a deal to be had?
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers reasonable expectations for every player in 2022-23
- Lowetide: Oilers top-20 prospects, summer 2022
WHAT TO EXPECT IN NOVEMBER
- At home to: NAS, NJD, DAL (Expected 2-1-0) (Actual 1-2-0)
- On the road to: WAS, TBY, CAR, FLA (Expected 1-2-1) (Actual 0-1-0)
- At home to: LAK, VEG (Expected 1-0-1) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: NJD, NYI, NYR (Expected (1-1-1) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: FLA (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: CHI (Expected (1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- November expected result: 7-4-3, 17 points in 14 games
- Actual November results: 1-3-0, 2 points in 4 games
- October results: 6-3-0, 12 points in 9 games
- Oilers in 2022-23: 7-6-0, 14 points in 13 games
The truth of it is I had last night as the road win, so now we’re all going to watch and see if the Oilers can steal a win from a tough bunch of teams who play in the American south. Lightning are 6-3-1 in their last 10 and has one home loss this year, Edmonton has made things tough on themselves and it could get worse. Does three losses in a row grow to four? Five? The team needs a goalie to steal a game, a depth forward to score twice, and for God sakes could the PK kill a penalty for once? It’s a long list.
SUMMARY
- Stuart Skinner had a great night at five-on-five, stopping 22 of 23 (.957). The penalty kill is so bad it’s becoming the lead story of the season. I don’t think the goalies are solely responsible for this issue, but it’s their problem. Need a fix, soon.
- Darnell Nurse had an assist, a couple of nice passes, battled the Ovechkin line to a draw at five-on-five over 10 minutes (the most among Edmonton’s blue). He was saloon doors on the PK.
- Cody Ceci took a costly penalty late in the game, a tough one because the officials were calling everything and the play wasn’t in a dangerous sequence. He had two shots on goal and a hit. Part of the poor PK.
- Ryan Murray took a penalty, had a hit and a blocked shot.
- Tyson Barrie had an assist, a shot, a HDSC and a giveaway. He’s playing well and looked good with Kulak, my guess is that’s second pair in Tampa Bay tonight.
- Brett Kulak was one of the culprits on the Foegele turnover and first goal of the game, but not the only one. Neither of the blue thought to hang around just in case. That’s a boner. Two shots, two giveaways and three blocked shots on the evening.
- Evan Bouchard got owned by Alex Ovechkin so badly if 8 had scored I would have considered it superior to the Malkin v. Klefbom show stopper a few years ago. One shot, one takeaway and he took a penalty. When Foegele turned over the puck on the 1-0, Bouchard should have been in the same area code. He is struggling and some are turning on him, not this corner of the Al Gore. He’s true blue brilliance and he’s going to play a hella long time.
- Evander Kane is hurt, and that’s having an impact on his effectiveness. He had an assist, a shot, three hits, but is not the power forward we saw last season or early this one. It might be an idea to rest him for a game.
- Leon Draisaitl scored a nifty goal, plus and assist. Four shots, three HDSC, three shot blocks and 58 percent in the faceoff circle. His post-game comments (DNB has them on his twitter) sums up this three game sequence and places 29 in the Mark Messier role. McCurdy has mentioned the connection before.
- Zach Hyman’s deft pass to Draisaitl was so effective. Two assists, one shot, two PIMS, TK. His determination to get to the puck and into the zone on the first Nuge goal was exceptional. He’s such a brilliant winger.
- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored twice, four shots, three HDSC, GV-TK. He is on pace for a 40-goal season.
- Connor McDavid’s goal was supreme. He also had an assist, five shots, four HDSC, drew a penalty, two giveaways. His line had great underlying numbers, hope we see it again.
- Jesse Puljujarvi had three shots, one HDSC, three hits and took some punishment too. He passed the puck well, not everything clicked but I’d like to see him with 97 again tonight.
- Warren Foegele’s mistake on the first goal can’t happen.
- Ryan McLeod had one shot, one HDSC, took and drew a penalty and skated miles. He and Derek Ryan advanced against the same defenseman on the PK early in the second, leaving a gap the Capitals exploited on the 2-0 goal.
- Derek Ryan had a shot and a takeway, I think most of the depth forwards could learn a thing or two from him about playing it safe.
- Devin Shore had a shot and a blocked shot, and a reasonable look down low with the puck on his stick.
- Dylan Holloway had one shot and was 2-0 faceoffs. I think he should move up the depth chart.
- Kailer Yamamoto took a penalty and had a disappointing night.
LOWETIDE AND JAMIESON
If it’s Tuesday, we’ll spend much of the time (10-2 TSN1260) talking Oilers. That includes Daniel Nugent-Bowman from The Athletic at 12:20 and hearing from you in regard to the Oilers losing streak and what it means. Bruce Arthur, Glen Suitor and Matthew Sciianitti on Canada Soccer. 10-1260 text, @Lowetide on twitter. See you on the radio!
https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/edmonton-oilers-evander-kane-releases-statement-after-wrist-injury-1.1875547
Bit of an update on Kane, though not really any more details or any kind of prognosis.
100% reading between the lines here, but it sounds possible he may not have too much damage to the wrist and may not miss a ton of time (this just based on the apparent mood of Evander and everyone else involved – and again, 100% my speculation based on the verbal i’ve seen).
Nuge/McDavid/Puljujarvi
Holloway/Drai/Hyman
Janmark/McLeod/Yamamoto
Kostin/Ryan/Foegele
I could see Janmark elevated above Holloway as well – coaches may remain hesitant for the tougher minutes.
Could be Hamblin over Kostin but Kostin is actually a decent style comparable to Kane – including in their penchant for taking minor penalties, lol…..
In fact, I could make arguments for all of those 3 lefts wingers in each of the 3 spots.
Foegele to the 4th line? I don’t think we’ll see that after the game he just had (SHG, out there protecting the lead in the dying seconds)
My total guess for the Thursday lines is:
Nuge-McDavid-Puljujarvi
Hyman-Draisaitl-Yamamoto
Janmark-McLeod-Foegele
Holloway-Hamblin-Ryan
I believe Tkachuk’s suspension ends just in time to face us. With no Kane. Dang
Here is a video by a doctor explaining the issues around a cut to the wrist area:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw09rhq_oR4
NHL Officiating is a gong show, that this standard is seen as remotely acceptable in the year 2022 is absolutely disgraceful.
I have a plan to address it and that starts at the fan level, it realistically has to start there, because there is no apparent will by the league to do anything.
I don’t have the time or energy this season and perhaps not for 3 seasons, but I think it has merits and could be the best avenue to really improve the game and fan experience. If I get really torqued it might finally spur me into action, but I think I will truly only be able to do anything once I’ve retired, which might not be for another 4 years, unfortunately.
I love this game so much, but it is so disgraceful how often it seems terribly managed. It disgusts me how little respect the skill players seem to be given by the officials. So many other sports do it so much better, there is simply no excuse for this other than incompetence (and a long-standing culture of officiating that accepts mediocrity – or worse) by the officials and their entire structure.
https://nhlwheelofjustice.netlify.app/
Crossing fingers and toes that Kane does not have complete tendon/muscle tears and the vascular injury is quick to be repaired.
Refs definitely did not have player safety in mind today. After the initial slew foot, Maroon skated through a player down on the ice. I love Patty, we all know there was no intent, but it was reckless and unnecessary. And the non-icing call with Barrie.
And forgot, the Kuch stick smash tantrum
x2 😉
And the un-gloved punch thrown at yamo after foegeles boarding play
Just what the doctor ordered a big game by Campbell on the road away from the pressures of a much to long of a homestand.
Hope Kane will be alright. That is two cut-to-the-hand freak injuries for the Oilers this year (the other being Broberg). Crazy…
Holland’s long game on the cap comes to fruition now. He gains cap flexibility for the team. The NHL is rough, and players inevitably get hurt. It’s actually quite innovative to run a tight cap at the start of the year (and the Oilers weren’t the only team to do it). That is the only time everyone is healthy. Now they have some flexibility.
Hopefully Kane comes back, but it’s likely someone else might be hurt at that time, so there still will be flexibility going forward. Looking forward to seeing Hamblin, Janmark and others create more competition on this team.
The other question I guess is the lines.
Do they go back essentially to the pre-Kane lines (McDavid-Puljujarvi, Draisaitl-Yamamto, McLeod-Ryan)? Or do they keep Hyman on RW, Yamamoto on the 3rd and move Holloway up?
Yamamoto moved back into the top 6 tonight, so I guess we should expect that as most likely on Thursday, FWIW.
Kostin or Janmark could also slide right up to the top 6.
Kostin actually is a fairly decent style comparison for Kane.
I see from your posts Kostin is your expectation.
Makes sense, but his 9 2-2-4 line (plus team worst -4) line made me hesitate.
Whoever is called up, I have a tough time seeing them inserted directly into the top 6.
I have posted many times that he can be a tire fire without the puck and from the redline back but (1) that plus/minus number comes almost entirely from one weekend (and one game where he was -4) and (2) to his credit, he has been MUCH better in that area over the last couple of weeks.
I think his positive attributes are exactly what the team needs in this call up but, 100%, there are some parts to his game that may keep him out of the NHL and, of course, we know what coach J thinks of James H.
We’ll see who the call-ups are soon enough.
Good to hear Kostin has been a bit better than the +/- indicates.
Ya, given the Oilers are way across the continent, I’d think we’d hear this morning – guys got to get on a plane…..
As a couple of folks have mentioned, unless Kane has a Kucherov-like recovery and doesn’t need to go on LTIR, the Oilers will have the cap space to call up 3 players (Kane’s replacement, plus two more to fill out the 23-man roster).
Janmark is obvious, the other two less so.
I’d guess Hamblin, Kostin and Malone are the main options. Maybe Griffith. Benson could also be activated without going to Bakersfield to rehab. Or, potentially they only add 2 players right now, even though they’ve got cap space for 3?
I’ll guess on Janmark and Hamblin being with the team for Thursday, maybe one other.
Janmark is the no-brainer.
I could see Kostin being the other – in particular with the size/aggression being lost in Kane.
Anyone else notice the slew-foot on Kane right before Maroon skates over his wrist?
Those bolts are so sneaky dirty…
Time for Holloway to secure a Calder nomination.
I noticed on Maroon’s Non-Goal that he drags his skate through the Goalie’s glove to keep the puck alive, if you go and watch the slo-mo of kane’s injury he does the same thing…he turns his blade and drags it in an attempt to keep the puck…
I’m not saying Maroon hurt Kane on purpose…not sure what I’m saying I just noticed a pattern.
Hoping Carolina and Florida have a very physical game tomorrow and decided in a prolonged shoot-out.
To those of you who slagged Foegele before today’s game, please do it again before our next game. Thanks. 😀
Lordy I hope Kane is going to ok. Love that guy since he came here. To make things a little easier, if he goes on LTIR we might finally have a 23 man roster to weather his absence, no? Takes a little pressure off …
Yup – Kane on LTIR would take the roster down to 20 and open up $5.5MM in the short term.
Janmark is a no-brainer and I would suggest Kostin would be with him. Hamlin could tag along – there would be room for all three.
I missed the game. What happened to Kane?
Maroon stepped on his wrist, there was a ton of blood, might have damn near sliced his hand off. He’s in surgery.
Thanks!
Brutal injury. I hope the surgery goes well.
For me, Foegele wins player of the game. His 1st Goal of the season (big goal too), bunches of big hits, great PK work. Personally I didn’t think the penalty he was assessed (boarding I think?) was justified… looked to me like he was actually super careful to hit him directly on the shoulder. It was a huge hit for sure, but legal.
He (and Ryan) have taken at least 2 of these types of hits this season without drawing penalties. The NHL “Officiating Standard” is a fictional notion.
Nurse was on for two goals agains at 5 on 5 and his possession numbers weren’t great. Kulak wasn’t on for any goals either way but he also didn’t have great possession numbers.
It will be really interesting if Nurse isn’t banged up and that was a legit coach’s call to have Kulak over Nurse late…..
I wonder if they call someone up? Malone or maybe Hamblin
only If Kane goes straight to LTIR no?
I have hard time seeing this be anything less than a couple of months if it’s a deep cut which is what the word seems to be and what it looked like on the ice. It also matches the talk about him having a “procedure” at the hospital.
That likely means a severed tendon and/or extensive muscle damage.
Hopefully no serious nerve damage since that could be a longterm issue, the superficial radial nerve runs in the area where he seemed to be cut and as the name suggest is superficial, but shouldn’t be a major issue since it’s only sensory if I remember correctly. Will be annoying but won’t end a hockey career. The nerves for motor function runs deeper, I hope they are intact.
And the radial artery ofc runs there as well.
Straight to LTIR seems like a slam dunk no?
Stiches alone take two weeks to heal, and you would think they would want a bit of time to rehab.
yeah probably, but wasn’t sure just how long the L in LTIR is. Thought there might be a 2-3 week out scenario where you don’t have to place him (but likely would anyway to allow rehab etc). And not hamper the team. Still don’t know what the injury is, so just holding out hope.
The thing is, if he just goes on regular IR because he may be back in a couple of weeks, well, that screws them in the interim as they can’t call anyone up to replace him.
They’d have to send Murray or Niemo down to bring up a forwards and, if its Murray that goes, they wouldn’t even have enough to bring up Hamblin (but could bring up Kostin).
Correct, they can only call someone up if Kane is out a min 10 games and 24 days and is on LTIR. That would open up cap space to call up two, heck, 3 players – Janmark and Kostin likely the first two and they might sneak Hamblin up too if they want/need.
I think they’ll want to keep Malone down to be with Bourgault, Tulio, Savoie, etc.
Lost Kane…but maybe gained good Campbell? Such a bittersweet win tonight and we pray Kane is only weeks not months.
Time for one of the bottom 6 guys to play with the big boys. But who? Holloway has my vote…we could use another speedy guy up there I think. Just keep your head up kid!
I know it was only 3-2 but it looked like we controlled most of that game. I didn’t feel like we were up against a juggernaut…we looked fast and determined. Only 10 forwards by the end of the game too. Great win boys.
Heal up Evander!
Campbell out goalies Vasilevskiy .
Oh ya !!
Ceci some big defensive plays, impressive to see how many had their legs today, McDavid is just a true hockey player, rink rat, lives for hockey, Puljujarvi pretty much always has game legs
Summarizing!
Wanner had likely his most productive WHL game ever, with 2 goals + 2 assists, a plus-3 and a team-high 5 SOG in a convincing Moose Jaw win. For his efforts, he was named 1st star.
The Oilers win phlegms lose. Good night. Get well soon Evander
LOVED THE EFFORT!
Gutsy win right there.
Big block by Foggy, big glove save by Soup.
More McLeon Points
Ok it’s over now. Onto the next one.
phew, all things considered, gutsy win. good job boice. Hope Kane is alright.
Nice block by Foegele to kill the very last play.
That’s a huge win right there.
Quality game by Campbell. PK can kill some things. That’s big to break the losing streak under difficult circumstances.
Campbell looks exhausted…normally don’t see an NHL goalie that red-faced…is conditioning an issue with him?
It’s a Red Headed Scottish thing.
He just had 30 seconds of intense physical activity (including the contortion of half his body on that last save) after playing a full hockey game stopping 30+ shots against the 2-time defending Stanley cup champions.
I certainly wouldn’t be red faced after that. Maybe he does have a conditioning issue.
It’s hard work out goalering Vasilevsky.
Campbell outstanding tonight. Great to see!
Big win. Lots of guys with plus performances tonight.
Foggy give up his body to block that shot!!!
Sway: held!
Holy moly what a finish! Well earned two points.
Huge win
5/5 on the PK and Foegele with big game
Whew. That was scary.
That was totally a penalty on Hyman.
Hyman blatantly tripped and no call.
Stressful watching Murray out there
No “game ending tripping call”.
Only game-ending cross checking calls.
shitty ice worked in our favor there…
For those of us that thought scratching Foegele was a legit option…. IDIOTS!!!
Of note: Murray with apx double the ice time of Niemo – both at 5 on 5 and overall…..
Why is it so difficult for the sportsnet guys to show the proper overhead angle slowed down. Let’s show them the angle from center again!
Boys look gassed. Gonna be a tense five minutes.
Ceci with some solid defending that shift.
That was a great sequence by Ceci
Team is looking gassed they gotta hang on a bit longer
Nice play by Ceci
Murray in a hurry, saved that goal for sure.
Hell of a play by Murray……Phil Kemp like!
Mason McTavish almost haha