Peak Lowetide in the world of hockey cards featured the 1972 O-Pee-Chee collection. I collected all of the cards, and put them in a specific order. Lines 1-3, featuring Center, Left Wing, Right Wing, the two extra forwards; then the two defensive pairings, the extra man, and then Ed Giacomin (starting goalie) and Gilles Villemure (starting goalie sometimes).
So, Jean Ratelle led off the Rangers collection, followed by Vic Hadfield and Rod Gilbert. My recall is that the Walt Tkaczuk line (Dave Balon, Billy Fairbairn) followed, and then the determined Peter Stemkowski (Ted Irvine, Bruce MacGregor) trio. Glen Sather was one of the extra forwards, I do remember that much. Was Jack Egers the other extra? Can’t recall. Anyway, it was great fun and I reminisce about those days often. Now wait a minute here. Dave Balon was a Canucks winger in that series. I think Bobby Rousseau replaced him in the O-Pee-Chee set. Isn’t this fun? Okay. Let’s talk about tonight’s game.
THE ATHLETIC!
- New Lowetide: Oilers centre Ryan McLeod’s comparables and career trajectory
- New DNB: The Ben Stelter Fund is a legacy his family, Connor McDavid and the Oilers will proudly carry
- Lowetide: Is Edmonton Oilers’ 7-11 alignment here to stay?
- Lowetide: The Oilers’ asset cost in an Erik Karlsson trade and why it’s worth it
- DNB: What I’m hearing about Oilers’ interest in trading for Sharks’ Erik Karlsson
- Lowetide: Will Oilers prospect Phil Kemp have an NHL career?
- Lowetide: Connor McDavid’s top Oilers linemates and what it could mean for trade plans
- DNB: Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland NHL trade deadline Q&A
- Lowetide: Three ways the Oilers could improve without a big trade deadline deal
- Lowetide: How the Oilers finally found the key to five-on-five outscoring
- DNB: With Kailer Yamamoto nearing a return, which Oilers could be salary-cap casualties?
- Lowetide: Oilers prospect Raphael Lavoie turns a corner, now NHL-ready
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers are about to start a major makeover at right wing
- New DNB: How Oilers’ Stuart Skinner learned to be a pro — and an NHL All-Star
- Lowetide: Is Edmonton Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft saving another season?
- DNB: Why Ryan Nugent-Hopkins matters more to the Oilers now than ever before
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers ride high-flying offence to strong January finish
- DNB: Are the Oilers actually good again or are they simply benefitting from an easy schedule?
- Lowetide: Oilers rookies Philip Broberg, Dylan Holloway arriving right on time
- Lowetide: 3 trades that could help the Oilers this season and beyond
- DNB: Oilers’ Zach Hyman subscriber Q&A
- DNB: What I’m hearing on Oilers’ trade deadline plans
- DNB: Oilers must act at the trade deadline
- Lowetide: Oilers top 20 prospects, winter 2022
WHAT TO EXPECT IN FEBRUARY
- On the road to: DET, PHI, OTT, MTL (Expected 3-1-0) (Actual 2-1-1)
- At home to: DET, NYR (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-1)
- On the road to: COL (Expected 0-0-1) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: PHI (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: PIT, CBJ (Expected 1-0-1) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: BOS (Expected 0-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- February expected result: 6-3-2, 14 points in 11 games
- February actual result: 2-1-2, 6 points in five games
- January actual result: 8-2-2, 18 points in 12 games
- December results: 7-6-2, 16 points in 15 games
- November results: 7-7-0, 14 points in 14 games
- October results: 6-3-0, 12 points in 9 games
- Oilers in 2022-23: 30-19-6, 66 points in 55 games
The Oilers are playing a quality team tonight, NYR are 8-1-1 in their last 10 (Edmonton 6-1-3). I hope Connor McDavid scores one of those incredible goals he seems to save for original six teams. If the Oilers win tonight, the points pace will be 100 points. The game tonight and the Colorado game on Sunday are going to be tough, I have Edmonton going 0-1-1.
THE STRANGE, THE BIZARRE, THE UNEXPECTED
It appears the Oilers are going to overcome the cap issue that is keeping Kailer Yamamoto out of the lineup by sending Dylan Holloway and Vincent Desharnais to the minors. This is an unusual path. In the last 10 games at five-on-five, Desharnais has a goal share of 83 percent and Holloway has a 67 percent goal share in the same time period.
It does save Jesse Puljujarvi from waivers, and this unusual process tells me general manager Ken Holland suspects a claim for the giant Finn. There is a deal available based on Mark Spector’s reporting (please click on link, this blog respects 24-hour rule when discussing any article with new information) but general manager Ken Holland is keeping his options open. I will say I knew Eric Tulsky would have interest in an intriguing buy-low opportunity.
THE LAST 10 GAMES
I wrote about Ryan McLeod today at The Athletic, he is having a nice run over the last 10 games. At five-on-five, McLeod’s 2.29 goals-60 in that span ranks No. 4 among NHL forwards, and his 2.87 pts-60 is No. 2 among Oilers forwards. Warren Foegele (2.09 goals-60) is almost as hot and the two men (along with Dylan Holloway) have given the team a lift.
On defense, the last 10 games have shown some real separation among the blue at five-on-five goal share:
- Vincent Desharnais 83 pct
- Philip Broberg 77 pct
- Evan Bouchard 75 pct
- Darnell Nurse 54 pct
- Brett Kulak 44 pct
- Cody Ceci 44 pct
- Tyson Barrie 22 pct
Desharnais underlying numbers (expected goals five-on-five: 49.8 percent) trail his actual goals, so regression is out there waiting to strike. Barrie’s expected goals (63 percent) soar compared to actual results, that too shall regress.
For the season, I remain impressed with the Darnell Nurse five-on-five goal share (52 percent) and wonder if some Oilers fans will acknowledge his fine campaign. In his last three seasons, Nurse is 181-163 (52.6 percent) five-on-five goals. In that time, he is 96-80 (55 percent) with Connor McDavid, 85-83 (50.6 percent) without the captain.
You know, Nurse bet on himself twice when the organization wanted to kick the contract down the road. He waited, trusting his value would increase, and cashed in on a long-term deal. Now, I know Edmonton well, it’s where I’ve lived most of my adult life. I know there’s a real respect for that kind of man, someone who forges his own path, takes some risk and finds success.
For some reason, Darnell Nurse doesn’t get that kind of consideration. I read about his being selfish, shouldn’t have asked for the money he received. Let’s be clear: Nurse didn’t ask for the money, he and his agent negotiated it and found common ground with Oilers management based on the marketplace. It’s fine to be angry at the organization for putting off the contract, but Nurse? I don’t understand. Seems to me we should respect a man who worked hard to become what he is today. Something to think about.
You can’t count on the Oilers goaltending. Seems like a bit of a stretch for the Oilers getting to the cup with or without EK.
GF/g: 3.7 – 1st
PP: 31.5% – 1st
GA/g: 3.2 – 19th
PK: 74% – 27th
I hope they are sure nuclear offense can outshine standard team composition if they go in for Karlsson. I’m not saying it couldn’t gappen if they do and it’ll be entertaining as hell to watch….but no matter how hard I cheered for the Dutch in world cup just outrageous offensive skills never quite seemed like a winning it all formula. I do fear similar here.
Acciari was the type off non white whale targets that really might have tweaked weakness in less cost intensive manner.
I think I may actually prefer if going whaling they put package together for ekholm with kulak plus whatever required going other way.
I like Yamamoto, but he was awful tonight and has been all season. Yet he has been stapled to either the 1st or 2nd lines all year. Maybe trading injury prone Yamo might be a better idea than waiving hit leader, media enemy PJ?
So Minnesota bought a 4th round pick for $1.875 million? Why?
No idea
Why? Because it didn’t cost them $1.875 million.
The actual dollar cost was $74k.
They retained $557k in cap.
That makes sense
To send O’Reilly east. Minnesota still has hopes to make the playoffs, so they want the arms race to stay in the east.
If O’Reilly went ot Colorado, then everyone in the West would be forced to respond.
Hopefully this Leafs trade sets the bar for 3rd party teams retaining salary.
I hate losing but not sure I blame anyone or anything. We lost to a top team in the east which is a far better conference in ot. Is it really all that bad?
Yes it’s that bad. The Oilers are supposed to be a top team and they were up 4-1 after 1. There’s no painting that pretty.
Summarizing!
Lachance led the way with his 26th goal and two assists with 5 SOG.
Schaefer also had two helpers.
Chiasson tallied his 15th goal of the season.
Brind’Amour was held off the scoresheet but dominated the dot, going 12-for-17 (70.6%).
Mazura was a scratch once again.
Sick
Refs
How about the PK?
Are we sure this won’t cost us in the playoffs?
2023 Understatement of the Year candidates from Jack Michaels on playing the Rangers:
” It’s a step up in weight class from Detroit”
Litmus test will be the first two weeks in March.
We still have still have Philly and CBJ to play here in what has been an amazing February schedule
Prior to tonight ( Feb 17) , our last real team we faced was Tampa Bay.….on January 19th.
From Jan 20th on, it has been an incredible easy schedule mixed in with a week and a half off, for most of the boys, in the Caribbean.
Inert obligatory comment that Oilers deserve credit for winning games of any kind. Very true .
Analysts have short memories.
They remember Detroit but forget Vegas, Tampa and Seattle. Louie got into a lot of fights 🤷♂️
People get too carried away with the regular season. Harvesting points is all that matters.
Attention to detail a bit lax. Rangers are giving up 5 goals a game lately WITH Shesterkin in net lol. LA Kings 2.0 lol
The leafs now have 5 centers with over 50% win percentage on faceoffs and acciari gives them RH pk faceoff guy.
And like 2 picks in top 2 rounds of next 3 drafts….I actually kimd of hope they win a round. They’ve paid the freight
Someone was just beating the drum big time for Acciari in here.
Amazing to watch an NHL GM acquire Him and O’ Reilly.
As jealous as I am – and I am- hard not to be impressed with Dubas here.
Munny2.0 pointed him out. Definitely looked like ideal bottom 6 defensive center.
Too bad their defense and Goalies suck 👍
Classic Dubas fixing the wrong problem.
Dumbass
God you are a miserable tit lol
Jack Campbell rocking another sub 0.880 game.
Give the man some smelling salts.
Not good enough
Think of it this way if the Oilers have regular NHL goaltending they are running away with the Pacific.
Too much focus on the team when gloalerinf goes from NHL to ECHL game after game.
Goalies start playing consistently the team will win
are you actually pinning this loss on him? lol
Felt like giving Nurse the night off so I’ll pick on the goalie who’s been sub .900 in 4 of his last 5.
I don’t like his play. I don’t like Stu’s play lately.
Sub .900 is shit and they need to smarten up.
If they play better the Oilers will win 👌
Agreed, but the flip side is that if the Oilers play better team defense the goalering should be better and the Oilers will win
Was being down a player have an affect on tonight’s loss. If it did that’s a fail on holland
Apparently it is possible for a cap strapped team to acquire good players.
Just have to mortgage the future out of fear of losing your job. 😊 But in all seriousness, It’s go time for the Leafers.
Bring in a rusted out cry baby. It’s Simmons’s or Marleau 2.0.
Classic Dubas.
Dumbass still doesn’t realize it’s his shitty defense and goalies that’ll sink him lol.
No question,,,,,unsure what leaf’s amateur scouts will be doing for the next few years here.
Dubas has done what bloggers want Holland to do.
He’s all in.
When he fails Matthews bails to L.A. and Toronto begins its slide into Flames style mediocrity.
All of it goes back to Tavares. The dumbest of dumb signings. A lesson to Holland I reckon.
The most disappointing part of the game for me is when the team is up 4-1 and they refuse to play a smart game. Same old problem the team is happy to trade chances with a 3 goal lead until eventually the Rangers get enough chances to tie it. Can’t stand it when the Oilers top guys fly by a pile up in the neutral zone trying to poke the puck loose only for it to come out the other way for a three on two. Stop on the puck and make sure it goes the right way when you have the lead. You don’t need another goal!!! Jesus Christ will these guys ever learn?
It’s a systems problem. Woody needs to wake the fuck up.
I noticed it from puck drop tonight that the forwards were way too far from the defense on breakouts. Only exception was Ryan McLeod. Otherwise they were too far. Don’t think it’s a system problem as they were playing closer together and supporting all over the ice before all star break. Sometimes they forget what wins.. need to work together. Also falls apart a little when they get rewarded despite not playing the right way, as they were in the first period.
I’m so mad I’m gonna channel my inner Verdad.
Holland is inept
Blow this team up
Trade Nurse for Zegras
Campbell isn’t an NHL goalie
ok I feel better. We’re still in a good spot folks. After the TO trade, I’m guessing we make a harder push for Karlsson
Does Karlsson PK?
Once JP is traded, we go back to 11-7 and Desharnais gets recalled?
The forwards need to reintroduce themselves to the defense. Playing 50 feet apart is not the answer. Same old.
Completely dominated. Not even close. Lucky to get a point. This team is NOT a contender. Top 15? Sure.
Bob said guys have the flu.
Yeah that was it😃
Seems like the perfect time to hamstring the team with a shortened roster… 😒
You watched the first period. It’s there, but then it disappears.
NYR game is consistent, repeatable,
im not sure how the Oil get there, but they have it in them
The PP is great.
What makes you so certain they have it in them?
Where did all the team defence and attention to detail go? They better figure things out fast because Sunday will require changes.
Was that Draisaitl’s resignation letter from shootouts?
I thought that was dumb myself. Almost zero chance of scoring that way
Why weren’t Kane and Hyman picked for shootout over Ryan and Yamamoto? Seemed odd to me.
Ryan’s been hot and trying to get Yams jumpstarted. One can come up with reasons for just about any player.
Yamamoto = 4 goals this season. The point was too important to piss away on trying to “jumpstart” him. The team needs to make decisions based on winning. Oilers are slowly becoming the team that slips down the standings after the all-star break. Management and coaches need to figure out a line-up and a strategy that translates to wins, sooner than later. The details matter.
I assure you, Woodcroft did not base the decisions on losing.
And he is likely thinking winning longer term than your comment implies.
I assure you do not know what he based his decision on. To suggest that anyone thought it was based on losing is akin to selecting Yamamoto for a shootout opportunity.
And yet you did suggest that….
I would be more concerned about how far away this team is from competing with the big boys😉
Lol, what?
Don’t let the score fool you. NYR are on a whole different level😉
k, I’ll take your word.
Who are the next Oiler players off to Switzerland?
Lolol Are you still cheering for Schremp?
You mean playing the hottest (and one of the best) team in the league to a tie while shorthanded and the flu running through the team…….
Bob?
Because Kane has been awful in the shootout his entire career and Hyman, while not getting many chances, hasn’t scored when he has.
They are not great shootout players at all.
Well stone hands sure showed us.
I won’t judge the team on the OT or SO. It’s not 5v5 and it won’t happen in the playoffs.
They (essentially) tied a pretty damn good team and it was an exceptional game- really enjoyed it!
My only thought is the team looked tired in the 3rd. Did they play with 11F? Maybe this is a wake up call to KH. It’s time to make the move, I think it hurt the team tonight.
Sick
We are just coming off the All star break where most of the team had 1/3 of a month off….
7 straight extra time losses.
Glad you’re able to go home happy.
This here is a valid point frankly.
I don’t begrudge teams when they snag loser points but failing miserably at gaining the 2nd? Losing 7 straight With McDavid and Drasaitl at 3v3?
That shouldn’t happen. Be better.
Team needs to wake the fuck up on this one 👍
Otherwise whatever 👌
Foegele the goat, not blocking out Kakko on the 3rd GA, and cheating up ice, even though the puck was heading to the corner.
He gave Kakko possession.
Pathetic boys. Team is looking mighty weak in the last several games.
I don’t think it was pathetic. They played well enough to win. Some poor calls and some bad luck leading to a few goals. A few of our forwards not playing well at all now. Kane is not looking at all engaged. Too much ice time for Drai and Mcdavid. They looked spent in OT. Cap issues led to this loss imo.
Even the Oiler PR letting it slip ….significant step up in weight class playing the Rangers
Holland has to do something to get us back to 11 and 7. Too many passengers on our offense right now to play with less than a full deck there.
So who picks the shooters? Analytics? Leaving Kane and Hyman on the bench? So go full Crawford and leave Gretzky on the bench.
Kane is AWFUL in the shootout and Hyman has taken many and, well, hasn’t scored when he was.
Hyman has one move😉
Karlson would have scored…
I don’t understand the player selection for the shootout. Rangers trot out all their stud goal scorers. Meanwhile, Woodcroft is rewarding players for good effort? Ryan and Yamamoto? Hyman and Kane have to be ahead of those two.
apparently the extra point is not overly important. Both McDavid and Draisaitle sucks on the shootout is because they spend all their energy on 3-3
Hyman and Kane have been awful on shootouts for their career.
I 100% agree with the Derek Ryan pick.
Very tough loss. Av’s on Sunday. Uh oh.
Got a point. More than they deserved.
How does our team suck so bad in shootouts?!?!
Used to be our forte in the good old DOD…
It’s not the shootout you should be worried about😃
Absolutely pathetic loss.
If some part of you didn’t enjoy that game, you should probably step away from hockey for a while.
You know when I want the Oilers to catch fire in OT? In the playoffs!
That might have been a Stanley cup final preview. The Oilers have some holes but they are a pretty damn good team.
Watching a team dog it and abandon what they’re good at for 2 periods because they scored 4 in the first and think they can coast or sit back is deeply frustrating.
The only thing worse is that Jack and the NHL flacks think the “managing” of that game makes it better instead of a sham.
I don’t think that statement is a reflection of the game……
Some very uninspired shootout attempts by the Oil
sunuva
farg
this one stings
The first 5 Ranger shooters has been the ’27 Yankees
Draisaitl needs to take a break from the shootout.
You mean coach needs to stop picking him to shoot.
WTF Leon??
What the heck is drai thinking?
So, Nuge’s snapshot is back.
EK65 would have… Barried that.
Terrible. Giving that start away.
Only thing worse is having Jack trying to sell that as a “great game”.
YUCK.
Unreal save on Barrie
Just took my first breath in 4 min
And there’s the late hometown penalty finally
Witchy Nuge jumped the Fox.
Nuge really bailed his own ass out there
56 and 71, wow
Blue not playing as well as I’d like.
Offensive pressure on vacay thru 3rd.
Still feel this is great game between two good teams, and couldn’t always say that the past 15 years.
Three on three, somebody has to be there man, somebody has to make a move to beat their man, then it becomes a 2 on 1
Oil hit two posts. 13 and 37 missed on grade A shots. Puck bobbled on 29-91 2 on 1. Grrr ….