First, calm your tits. Second, I’m going to give you my opinion on last night’s game and who to blame.
That was a poor effort from the Edmonton Oilers last night. The good part is that it’s just one game. The bad part is there’s a lot that needs fixing. Mattias Ekholm was missed in a big way, and nothing rhymed at five-on-five for the club. The goaltending remains a concern and the only good arrows came from the kids who didn’t play against the heart of the order. What a mess.
THE ATHLETIC!
- Lowetide: Why the Oilers’ opening-night roster is short two foundational pieces
- DNB: Why Raphael Lavoie didn’t make the Oilers and other roster questions ahead of regular-season opener
- Lowetide: Oilers’ Brady Stonehouse signing an important indicator for the future
- Lowetide: Why the Oilers’ veteran-laden AHL team offers better depth
- DNB: Jack Campbell has earned the right to start opening night for the Oilers
- Lowetide: Why Mattias Ekholm’s injury situation is a worry for the Oilers
- Lowetide: With Oilers rookies in short supply, expect more from sophomores
- DNB: Five intriguing Edmonton Oilers developments from the preseason
- Lowetide: Do the Edmonton Oilers have a blockbuster trade in their future?
- DNB: Oilers release Brandon Sutter from tryout offer
- Lowetide: Oilers reaching critical pressure point with prospect Raphael Lavoie
- DNB: A third Edmonton Oilers tenure, no matter the odds, is Sam Gagner’s goal
- Lowetide: Should the Edmonton Oilers alter how Connor McDavid is deployed?
- DNB: Oilers, Flames unveil Heritage Classic jerseys: How do we rate them?
- DNB: Vincent Desharnais Q&A
WHAT TO EXPECT IN OCTOBER
- On the road to: VAN (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-1-0)
- At home to: VAN (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: NAS, PHIL (Expected 2-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: WPG (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: MIN (Expected 0-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: NYR, CAL (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- Overall expected result: 6-2-0, 12 points in 8 games
- Actual October results: 0-1-0, 0 points in 1 game
- Oilers in 2023-24: 0-1-0, 0 points in 1 game
There is so much bad video and math is throwing out nasty things too. The Oilers lost the five-on-five game by a score of 5-0. Both goaltenders own a .750 save percentage. The team’s best player (Dylan Holloway) went to the locker room late with an apparent injury.
THE NUMBERS
I’m a father and a dog owner. I know about emergency cleanups. This is an all nighter. Jay Woodcroft hasn’t seen a pillow I’m sure. The blanket show didn’t arrive easily at anyone’s home last night. I’m going to tell you how I feel, and you can agree or disagree in the comments section.
I think the coaching staff bought into the idea that specific defensie alignments (man-to-man) would be better than others (zone) and that was the problem. In fact, the problem is execution. Many smart people spent the entire summer talking about the Whitecloud goal and why Darnell Nurse wandered to the blue line. That’s a tactic. The problem is the winger (Warren Foegele) didn’t check down, and Whitecloud sent a perfect shot that found the net.
The problem can be identified by Nurse turning the wrong way twice during the playoffs, effectively turning his back on the dangerous forward coming out of the corner. He cost himself on both plays and both were goals.
In hockey, one human heartbeat is the difference. The problem, as I see it, isn’t strategy. It’s execution. Darnell Nurse can’t make those mistakes. If he does, his playing time has to be squeezed. Difficult with Mattias Ekholm out I understand, but that’s the truth.
Placing that idea into last night’s game, Evan Bouchard should not be playing on the top pair again. For some time. He was overwhelmed and bad plays by him played out like the song that never ends.
I know this team will be embarrassed and say the right things. What this team needs is accountability. Woodcroft’s job has never been in peril before. If he can’t make these men accountable, beginning with the best players on the team, then we are watching the final games of his Oilers coaching career.
Holy hell it’ll be a barn burner today. Noon-2pm on Sports 1440, we’re going to open the taps and let the steam and hot water flood the hockey airwaves. Bagged Milk will join us from Oilers Nation, your calls and comments will rule the day and we’ll talk mlb playoffs and TNF. You can reach me in the comments section, @Lowetide on twitter, or text us 1.833.401.1440 directly.
Yesterday, we had a discussion about the Pride tape situation. I let it run because the NHL and NHLPA have handled this so badly a full airing was in order.
I request you move on. If it continues, the 30-day ban will be implemented. This is a site devoted to hockey. Let’s keep it that way. Please and thanks.
I think a good s***kicking is what this team might need. Over the years, this team consistently gets lazy when they start believing their own press clippings. The predictions on this team are crazy – Cup favorites, President’s Trophy favorites, McDavid 70 goals, Bouchard third in league D-man scoring…the list goes on. (DNB’s article the other day was particularly bad.)
I seem to recall that during the HOPE years, one year we blew out Calgary in the first game, and thought we were headed big places. The team got lazy and ended up with another lottery year.
I don’t care about the early losses. I don’t really care about the team’s regular season record, so long as we make the playoffs. This is just an 82-game training camp for that radically different sport: playoff hockey.
I’ve been a proponent of Woodcroft from day 1, I think in many ways he’s a great coach, and strives to be better in all facets of the game.
That being said, there seems to be this aire of arrogance and… almost a sense of entitlement based on having some amazing talent on his roster, and that has been bugging me a bit.
And on top of that, despite hiring some wicked smart people and touting analytics as a legitimate tool moving forward, here we are trying to figure out why Lavoie was waived while Erne might get a contract…
As much as this team seems to want to move forward and get our from under that old boys/smartest man in the room culture, it still seems to permeate a fair bit.
We need confidence, not arrogance, we need consistent decisions based on factual evidence, not “gut feelings” from dinosaurs.
“That being said, there seems to be this aire of arrogance and… almost a sense of entitlement based on having some amazing talent on his roster, and that has been bugging me a bit.
And on top of that, despite hiring some wicked smart people and touting analytics as a legitimate tool moving forward, here we are trying to figure out why Lavoie was waived while Erne might get a contract…”
These 2 items have been bothering me lately as well. I think there is an overconfidence that can work against the coaching and management staff. At the end of the day having talent is the path to winning. Coaches and managers can do more damage than good, if they’re not careful. Overconfidence leads to blind spots, which leads to losses. Keep it simple, demand the best and hold men accountable. That’s how shit gets done, in the past, present and the future.
Summarizing!
Despite putting five shots on goal, Stonehouse procured nary a point in a 4-2 win. He has no boxcars to speak of through four GP.
One thing that hasn’t really been discussed in this excitement about moving to a zone defense is the downside. From what I can gather it’s about 50/50 among high level teams. We know what zone hopes to accomplish but have we really thought about what a well executed man to man can do?
You do sacrifice possession which means we’ll score less.
Players are far more active in man and passive in zone. Do 97, 25, 29 and 27 have that in their games? They’ll spend entire shifts in their done “containing” when before their task was to go get the puck.
Get ready for nights like last night where what, three goals were Californians (cult of hockey term) where pucks are sifted in from the outside and either sneak through or are tipped or the rebound is banged in. Because more possession and more perimeter play means more of that stuff.
Zone works great AGAINST us because we want to create that Grade A but there are about 23 teams with which I think “man” is the better option because they’ll take what’s given.
I pray we didn’t just flush a damned good system because of a few breakdowns of execution against Vegas.
Great post. I love when folks post about tactics/strategy (a subject I know little about)
For me the easier the better. The top highest paid D is a reactive physical guy that isn’t a strong on ice thinker. Their best Offensive D isn’t a thinker, also instinctive. Drai is all over the place in his game. Connor can adapt but isn’t settled
So when your top 4 players are inconsistent especially when the chips are down, and the rest are learning or marginal, I hope this change helps
Also Curlock mentioned they went back to the O zone set up that worked better when Woody took over, after reverting to Tipp’s deployment last season
Strongly disagree. How many coaches has this group in their respective careers has stressed defense? None of them.
There may be less possession to start the year as they get used to playing with each other within the system, i.e the thinking, but when acclimated and playing as a team they’ll break up plays and get the puck going the other way, i.e. instinct.
Going back to last year is untenable, as much as some of our fans seem to want the 80s back with firewagon hockey and a dominant offense pushing the league aside to cup after cup, that’s not the reality today.
if the Oilers aren’t going to learn how to play as a team now, when are they?
I’d think think that getting schooled by the Knights in line and pairing matchups, Woodcroft shortening his bench and Marchessault’s quote about knowing how to get clean shots on net, would clue some of our fans into blindly thinking a few mis-steps less and we win that series.
I’m always confused by a team’s ability to only play one defensive system. Depending on the opponent and their style of game, could the Oilers play either defensive system?
Or would it be too difficult to switch throughout night to night?
Prospectio!
A quick one while I’m away.
The House of Stone will try to get off the schneid tonight. Puck drop @ 5 p.m. O’Morrow time.
The Oilers are such a Mickey Mouse organization. Kidding!
Edmonton Oilers
@EdmontonOilers
·
46m
We’re pleased to announce that Dani Rylan Kearney has been added to the #Oilers hockey operations department as a regional scout.
Dani played for @GoNUwhockey before founding & serving as commissioner of the National Women’s Hockey League.
——————————–
Daniel Nugent-Bowman
@DNBsports
·
12m
A progressive hire. The Oilers had been interested in having her join the organization for several months.
Listening to Woody and it sounds like its trending for Ekholm to play on Saturday
Yeah, but do you believe him?
(kidding)
The Oilers have lost 7-0 in the middle of a playoff series they went on to win. And not back in the 80s either, but more recently. McDavid and Draisaitl were on that team. Some times shit happens. Hockey–sports–isn’t about the bad games, all teams have them and can have them at any time. that’s why playoff series aren’t one game, or even three games. It’s all about what the players do next.
Nor should anyone expect playoff level consistency and intensity in game one. No one wants their team to peak now, do they? Or have the kind of season the Bruins and the Bolts have had before early payoff exits?
I mean feel free to go ahead and panic… or rip the team to shreds, curse the coach or management, fire the goalies into the sun, whatever… that’s your prerogative as a fan. but it shows a little rookie-ness in your fanning if you choose to do so.
IMO, our eyes should be on the next game and how the squad reacts. That’s far more critical than anything that happened last night.
Totally agree. So they better learn over the next few days the lesson they have not learned over the past several year. Show up instead of playing like it’s a throw away game in Rochester…..
That’s really the problem. This is like Gilligan Island re-reuns… we’ve seen this movie before… many, many times. It’s clearly cultural to that dressing room. Will they finally get off the island in October this time? Or drag out the mediocrity till Xmas like last year? I think they surprised Woody last year (no access to the re-runs) with how bad they can play. Very curious to see what the Manwood does this year.
Well, I would start with making them watch the game, then no sticks or pucks at practice. Then make them watch the game again, close the doors and let the captains deal with it.
After being blown out by the 49ers on Sunday night, Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy said he doesn’t believe in “burning the tape.” His team would be forced to watch the tape and learn from the mistakes.
In regards to last night’s loss, I’m seeing words like ‘flush’ it or ‘forget’ it. What say you? Should Jay use this as a teachable moment or scrub it from existence?
If I’m the HC, I only burn the tape if the team has already established a baseline of consistent performance and a bad loss present as an obvious outlier.
First game of the season? Sorry boys, this film session is going to sting. We’re not playing for participation medals.
I hope the Cowboys watch that tape over and over and over, lol. That said, McCarthy is not a good coach. And he likes to blame his players, when maybe some self-reflection might be apropos. I’m not sure using him as an example strengthens your argument.
He’s a Super Bowl winning coach. Take it FWIW.
At the pinnacle of the profession, I believe the actual ‘bad’ coaches are extremely rare, but certainly the Urban Meyer’s and Dallas Eakins’ occur from time to time.
Btw barring injuries, looking very much like it will come down to your Niners v my Eagles in the NFC again. Looking forward to their December slugfest.
Jalen Hurts and Brock Purdy. Who needs a 1st round pick to land a franchise quarterback!
Who was the best player taken in the NFL draft this spring?
It might be – Jalen Carter-DL – taken 9th overall.
Who has the highest grades of any interior DL in the NFL – above Aaron Donald -even?
Jalen Carter.
I am not a fan of the Eagles – but Howie Roseman is tearing up the league.
The Carson Wentz trade will live in infamy here.
And all Roseman is doing is picking the sliders! Jalen Reagor aside, he follows BPA to the letter. As a fellow Eagles fan, LT must love Roseman. He’s the personification of LT’s draft philosophies.
I loved Roseman’s comment when he picked Hurts in the second despite Wentz being the projected starter. “We want to be a QB factory.” Drafting a coach’s son who can squat 600lbs. Smart with a capital S
.
Love him, especially because he was demoted and still hung in there.
With the added bonus of a regular season matchup!! I agree, we’re the cream of the NFC crop. Again, lol.
McCarthy’s teams have never been “button-down” even when he was with the Pack. Gotta be able to do things like manage the clock. And they’re only good when they’re front-running. Those are things I usually ascribe to coaching. I think a lot of coaches could’ve won with Rodgers and that Packers team.
He doesn’t have Rodgers any more. In fact QB’s a big problem for Dem Boys. Dak came into the league as an improvisor and scrambler. And now that he can’t run any more, they think he will all of a sudden become a great pocket passer? They need to move on. And that fast, light defense isn’t really built to handle power teams either, which, happily, both your guys and my guys are.
And I also agree… clearly QB scouting and pick assignment needs to be completely re-thought by most NFL head offices.
Pfffttt, have a good look at the Detroit Lions, didn’t they beat the Super Bowl champs in their own backyard.
The Lions are a formidable young squad and I very much like how Campbell is building them in the Bill Parcells mould. That is a proven model. As much as I like the team however, they don’t have the depth of Philly and San Fran YET.
I don’t even bring it up. Move on…
Not after the first game. I would just say if you think you can win a Cup, you don’t get many games like that one, and definitely not anywhere near the playoffs
See how they respond. Man up time and it starts at the top. 20 games in if they have a vet player not performing well enough in their role then it’s time to get active at least in planning and making calls
Woody also needs to learn fast, can’t burn seasons because the coach is experimenting. Or being stubborn. Or uncreative. He does have 10 years behind an NHL bench, so not exactly a newbie
Very surprised there has not been one mention here of the least engaged Oiler on the ice last night.
Evander Kane was completely MIA and his fancies back that up.
If only there was some kind of defensive system where you ‘swarm’ the opposition. I would call it the ‘flock’ or the ‘crowd’ or something…
Heh Heh. Hey JT
I think that Woody was trying Crowd Flock lite last season
It seems McDavid saved his best shots for post game.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/mcdavid-fires-shots-canucks-coach
Man, if those are shots, then the Canucks are extremely soft.
Slot coverage was abysmal. If your D can’t read and pick up the biggest threat, then your forwards have to. Neither did very well last night. Let’s hope that lesson sinks in.
Zone takes a lot less thinking to play than man2man. If they can’t get that ….
Pretty scary if box plus one is too great an ask
True. But it is a change in mind set and it was happening in the preseason as well. Guys were getting “lost in space”, were being unmarked then as well. It just didn’t bite us then, but it sure bit hard last night.
There is a real aversion to being near each other. They were on the perimeter in every zone. Open middle ice. I thought the D system would help breakouts bcs the players are closer and move out together with short pass options
To me when a team shows up like that, plays that poorly top to bottom, it’s on firstly the GM and then the coaches
It’s only game 1, and may actually have a silver lining. Enough talk, enough philosophical thoughts to the media. Do your job. Their brains should have received a pretty good jolt and any subconscious thoughts of awesomeness should have met a massive reality check. If you can’t play the basics well you are winning nothing
It’s funny how we see players differently. I like how Holloway and Broberg play. Mistakes yes but when they settle they will be really good NHL hockey players. Some popular players to me are not good enough, too little hockey sense and game
Whatever it is that leads them to believe that certain players are helping and others aren’t needs to be the first thing purged by Jackson. Loyalty is good, but becoming better and winning cups trumps all, if people are treated respectfully. It’s freakin’ pro sports, moves happen, disappointments, life goes on and most guys get paid well for it
The best managers can figure out what their team lacks and find the right players to improve it more often than not. The best coaches get their team dialed in and working together. The Xs and Os are the easier part
lol
IMO it’s firstly on the players, and secondly on the coaches.
The GM because he supplies the players. If they aren’t adequate overall everyone suffers, coaches and the good players
The GM supplied the group of players (minus Yamamoto, Bjugstand, Kostin and Shore and plus Brown and Holloway) that finished last season 14-0-1.
This just in from the “Cup Half Full Department”:
The third line looked pretty good.
What do we thing about the fact that:
1) They talk so much about consistency of defensive effort and committing to reducing goals against and they leak 5 at evens and McDavid was part of the lack of commitment (as was most others including Kane, Bouchard, etc.)
2) They talk about learning from mistakes and playing a more mature game, Drai in particular, and then Drai continues what he did all exhibition season and take selfish and undisciplined and immature stick infraction penalties. I know the game was over by the time he did that last night but it’s exactly what he talked about in the off-season and he’s been getting worse from the playoffs to the exhibition season and to the regular season
Sounds like a job a coach could do.
Yep. I would say that was the theme of last nights comments. ( among others).
Talk is cheap.
Woody says he expects Holloway to play on the weekend so that is some good news (unless he ends up on LTIR this afternoon – JUST KIDDING- that was in jest).
Thanks for this….some good news.
— Also I just don’t like Campbells demeanour. He looks like a sucky baby in shock that just pooped his pants every time a goal is scored.
— Inread in the summer he spent a lot of time working on the psych of his role. To not expect perfection. To accept that goals are gojng to be scored. Control what you control. Don’t personalize the goals.
— He really doesn’t give a good vibe when he’s scored on. Part of the reason the team did well with Smith in net was he proved them an attitude of “yeah they scored but they aren’t fu$kng getting another one, I’ve got this boys”
— It’s depressing to see how depressed Campbell looks after they score on him Amd for sure the team feels this. Even if by all accounts they love him and want the best and he’s an awesome caring dude.
To me the managers didn’t do due diligence on Soupy. He’s talented but doesn’t have the mental side for the NHL
Great he’s a nice guy, but who cares if he can’t play well consistently? They can be friends still
When he said recently ‘the new me’ I knew nothing has changed much. Can’t remake your mental structure with a few weeks of sports psych help. Terrible signing with the cap and term, I hope Jackson is on it
There is a lot of information in seemingly innocuous comments. When the players wax poetic about the team and learning and growth, I get the impression they are still exactly where they were. You don’t hear Crosby talking like that, even Connor much. They make changes and do it on the ice and don’t say much. Well not Connor last night, but he will
I don’t think it was lack of due diligence, because this information about his confidence issues was pretty well known leading up to July 1. They just didn’t seem to care.
Or that. Same difference in the end
The second pairing is Kulak-Ceci. Look around at some cup champ rosters and see who sits in the second pairing. The team needs a top 4 RD to play with 25, and Ekholm needs to never get injured again.
25 needs someone who can take the pressure off of his regular misreads. I wonder if Desharnais might be the best option?
Broberg looked lost last night. Hope it gets better quickly
Campbell wasn’t good but he wasn’t “that bad”.
Bouchard and Nurse can’t play a top 4 role together. Bouchard needs Ekholm for awhile, I don’t know what Nurse needs. Fewer tough minutes, not sure if that’s with Ceci or Broberg or Desharnais on a second pair.
Really the team needs a #1 RD upgrade not a #2. But mainly someone to play well with Nurse. I’d try out what we have and if nothing rhymes a trade will be forced.
Also, as stated last night, the Oilers won’t win many games when the top line get lit up for two goals against.
McD was not good last night.
On the one hand, it’s only a single game.
On the other hand, when will the Oilers purge this sort of dogshit execution from their game?
since we’re in panic mode I have a “to do” list before Fiday. In no particular order, fire the coach, trade Nurse, trade Draisaitl,bring back Mike Smith, and if they lose I’ve got several more to dos
To your credit, at least you didn’t have ‘sign Adam Erne ‘ on your list….
I’m easy, talk Sunday
Ha
I predict a 10-0 shellacking on Saturday, not because they will necessarily bounce back but because running an 11-8 gf/ga after 2 games tracks.
10-0 for who?
Flush it – move on.
Come out engaged and ready to battle and impost your will on Saturday.
— I never subscribe to the “it was a poor effort”. Unless it’s the 3rd of 4 or late in season and team is checked out.
— Malarky to conclude it was for a lack of trying or players not giving 100%. The goalie sucked. They weren’t prepared. Their tactics suck. Their D got exposed. They panicked free seeing both goalies be sives. They weren’t mentally ready. The other team got lucky.
— it’s a bunch of things. But a poor effort isn’t one of them . Poor result to be sure.. But not for lack of trying.
You don’t classify Bouchard’s display as poor effort? Along with lack of preparation ,tactics, and general Give a F
If he was a rookie immediately after the game he’d be banished to the East Coast and never seen again.
Nhl players are not allowed to have multiple moments like that in one game
— your conflating poor execution and effort. It’s just correct to conclude the effort wasn’t there for a professional on the first day of regular season, wanting to win a cup.
— It’s just lazy IMO to say effort wasn’t there. Was he overwhelmed? Too high up the food chain? Flustered? Shitty coaching and structure. Not mentally prepared correctly? Trying to hard?
No they lost as a result of effort not being there.
Evan Bouchard’s agent could not even make that case for him last night….
Looks like my long comment was marked as spam. Which… in fairness… my comments have been called worse!
Ah, it’s back. Carry on.
Woodcroft’s job has never been in peril before. If he can’t make these men accountable, beginning with the best players on the team, then we are watching the final games of his Oilers coaching career.
This roster is deeply flawed again & you can change out the coach 1 more time, but coaches can’t make saves, coaches don’t sign #3 D men to $ 9 mill plus a year contracts, coaches can’t provide scoring depth
Nurse is a #3 D man and neither keeper is top 25 in the league… you go ahead and coach up this roster with this mess of a roster
to quote Harry Neal … Goaltending is 80% of the game … until you don’t have it … theni t is 100% … this is on Kenny Holland whos best before date was 2007
But, but… Jack Campbell’s pre-season and playoff relief appearances!
All I know for sure is that it wasn’t the goalies fault.
Wait,…
is Harpers Hairbag holding you prisoner?
As the last 1.5 years have shown in Canada, we as a nation are completely incapable of accepting the truth after it is presented to us (figured it out you were duped) .. maybe we can get fat boy Hitch out of retirement in time for a Christmas miracle redux
I rest my case
Perhaps this is what the team needed.
A resounding trolloping has a way of recorrecting an inflated hubris like no other thing can.
A commitment to execution, to the details of the game, and to compete level is necessary despite what any pundit says or whether you have the betting odds in your favor.
At the end of the day the third line of foegele-mcleod-holloway was fast, aggressive, and looked very promising.
A wise man once told me, if you remember your failures, others will forget them.
If the oilers can keep present in their minds the sting of the vegas loss, and the sting of the canucks loss then they can play to their strengths and move forwards.
Also i am willing to sacrifice a goat, or cow, or pig, or whatever if someone has one available if it means we get a healthy ekholm back asap.
here comes the next game boys! may victory be yours!
Trolloping?
Did they get attacked by a group of prostitutes?
you might wonder after some of the plays last night lol
You gotta go back to Jack in Edmonton. Let him reestablish his confidence or expose him for having none, either way. Let’s find out early.
This was to be the regular season I commit to not freaking out, even through January. Nice test for everyone now lol. I’m listening to my wife more in general and last year she told me to chill when they sucked and she was right.
Could very well foresee a “remember when they went on that heater after getting drubbed by Van in game 1?” scenario in the near future. Let’s go. Let’s get this seasons started! New Pornographers have a song for this, Jack(ie): Visualize success!
A night like last night everything went wrong and it’s hard to make a lot of specific statements. The Oilers started off well, got beat on a lovely pass on the 3rd shot against and the rest of the period didn’t go well. Then they started the second period and did well for five minutes, got beat, and the wheels totally came off.
Doesn’t matter if your defence is so bad that you have me playing RD, you can’t let in 4 goals in 16 shots in the NHL and both goalies did. And that doesn’t excuse the defence from their poor execution (props to the comment on the coach being in favour of their execution). Add to it that the forwards had some chances early in the first two periods and couldn’t bury one which let the game get further out of hand.
The math doesn’t mean much when half the game is garbage time but when even the score effects don’t make you look rosy, that’s an utter shellacking. Complete and thorough. No player can hide, no one can point fingers.
But you also know the team is obviously better than that. Literally every NHL team is. So I kind of think you need to put the game to bed, erase it from memory, and start over. If there were a couple things that didn’t rhyme, you can target that. When it’s ‘everything’? Just take your medicine, pick everything back up, and start over as you mean to go.
I’m a math guy but the numbers don’t mean anything in that game. It should just be recorded as an Ass Kicking. So I think Woodcroft’s (and the vet leaders’) job is to use it as a means to come together with renewed purpose, focusing on tomorrow and not the post-season, doing the job that needs to be done to get there.
(And if anyone can find Klefbom, see if he has any usable parts to give to Ekholm. I assume those Swedish defenceman just fit together like IKEA.)
when i go to natural stat trick i see shots close to even, scoring chances and high danger chances close to even. Not sure where you get the math is so awful. I think Vancouver had 3 lucky bounces lead to 3 of their first 4 goals, (Kulak losing a bouncing puck on two of them, the fourth one bouncing off Boeser’s shin pad into the net), and Demko made 2-3 stops neither Oilers goalie was able to match. Honestly my biggest worry is the PK looking as bad as it did.
Sorry, I should’ve been more specific. I mean usually when half the game or more is garbage time, the score adjusted metrics can’t fully compensate for that and the losing team ends up looking “rosy” or quite good. Here, even with that, the Oilers at best break even in corsi and lose the xG battle five on five.
Plus, if you look at the game flow on NST, you’ll see at the time the Canucks claimed the game in the second, the math was decidedly in the Canucks favour. The Oilers battle in corsi only helped them in the garbage time after that.
So the math on the game is a bit unreliable. But when you don’t even come out looking good with so much losing time, it’s a sign of a sound defeat.
Though I don’t disagree, the Canucks got bounces and the Oilers PK didn’t help.
The Pacific Division will be a 6-team race for 4 spots.
Vancouver, Calgary, LA, Seattle, Vegas & Edmonton are all legit.
In case you thought you only had to pay attention in April.
Yup. The Oilers should be aiming at winning the division. They should win the division, depending on Ekholm.
Last year I seem to recall Draisaitl doing his uninterested look in October and wondered out loud if he was doing in-game “load management” ha ha ha
Somebody may have mentioned a few times during the summer that Nurse Bouchard was a terrible idea.
1) The options are to play Broberg with Nurse
2) Trade some combination of Bouchard, Kulak, Ceci, prospects, picks for a right D
I think Broberg with Nurse can buy some time until a suitable right D becomes available on the market. Broberg and Ceci should be able to get the Oilers to the trade deadline. If Broberg is good enough, problem solved. If not, one has to pull the trigger on a deal.
Broberg is Ekholm’s replacement in a couple of years if he is not ready now to fill the slot with Nurse, so it would be foolish to trade him, because one is just creating a big hole two years from now.
it is honestly worth a try.
Blue Jays are officially in Peter Chiarelli Bobby Burgers la la land with this Shapiro presser. Nothing to see here! Smile and placate the plebes with corporate doublespeak.
Gurriel and Moreno for Varsho is the Griffin Reinhart trade redux. Bass PR debacle was positively Sourayesque. And the GM forcing the Manager’s in game personnel moves is straight out of the Puljujarvi playbook.
Oiler fans have seen this movie before. What a mess.
It’s one game, but last night’s issues (team defense, PK, goaltending in that order, IMO) are constant themes through the years. That’s concerning.
You forgot lack of effort.
The Oil played awful, absolutely awful, but I really have to give some credit to the Canucks. Their defensive coverage completely and entirely swallowed up the Oil. Their PK was also incredibly aggressive and gave the Oil very little room to do their thing. I’m sure there has been LOTS of studying done over the offseason on Oil PP again/
Not sure what to say about goaltending. Yeah, you definitely hope Soup made a couple of those saves. At least the whole team was bad, including backup goaltending, so it’s a whole team recovering and licking their wounds together rather than one guy feeling like he let everyone down.
Onto the next one!
What does that old wise man say, something about starting as you mean to go?
To Tampa Bay Buccaneers HC John McKay on his team’s historically inept play:
Q. What do you think of your team’s execution, coach?
A. I’m in favour of it.
Gold
As per Woody, all of these players did not take care of their day.
When they said the regular season doesn’t matter they took that too literally last night.
Hardly Campbell’s fault exclusively. Nobody marked anyone.
Expect a better performance Saturday, can’t be worse ha.
I don’t blame the goaltending at all yesterday. On the fifth goal Skinner had the angle on the popcorn guy in the crowd instead of the shooter but that’s about it. I thought the game unraveled from the back end making several errant passes after a good start to the game. The first goal was on Kulak who made a beer league play trying to swat the puck out of the air instead of getting his body in front of the puck. He then let his check get a free unmolested tap in. The Oilers got on the power play early with a chance to go up by one but a Leon Draisaitl errant pass attempt killed any chance of that. I thought the third line was buzzing early but couldn’t cash in. A few bad bounces and the game was out of reach. After that there was the classic Oiler parade to the penalty box once again led by Draisaitl who now has a reputation of taking stupid frustration penalties. We saw the Bouchard from last year show up again and were reminded of what he was before Ekholm showed up. This was another black mark on this leadership group who have a reputation now of not being ready to play. This will be a telling year if this group has the discipline and work ethic to get the job done. Especially in game 1 of a playoff series.
Stunning.
8 goals against in game 1 and it wasn’t anything to do with goaltending.
Okay, then.
Campbell and Skinner both let in 4 goals on 16 shots.
This battle to be the number one goalie is gonna be tight
Preseason game seven or eight I made a comment. The story of the preseason wasn’t really Lavoie or fourth line center, the story was how poor the Oilers were playing overall. The top six did not look good, the top 4 d, did not look good.
Too much ego, too much veteran casualness. Not enough new blood, or young blood work in their tails off providing energy in enthusiasm.
So now they’ll be off to a slow four or five games to get where they should’ve been after preseason
No new young blood, only 1 new Oiler.
Glen Sather used to switch out 3 or so players even after the most successful of seasons.
Woodcroft is no Glen Sather.
Threaten to fire the coach and see if the players fall in line.
Pre-season ready for the regular season isn’t going to cut it, coach.
neither is Ken Holland
8 wins that’s as close as Holland has come. Lowe came within 2 goals with a ragtag group. Holland can’t even dress a proper team this 11-7 Hokey Pokey stradegy needs to stop.
Team lost Games 1 to Kings and Knights too.
Have trouble being ready.
I think the last time the Oilers won game one of a series was 2017 against the Ducks. Since then it’s been 7 or 8 game one losses in a row.
Foegele was best the best Oiler to my eye, that whole 3rd line should of played 25mins.
Oilers need a mostly goalie.
On pace for a – 574 goal differential. 🙂
LT pretty much summed up my thoughts on both last year’s playoff run and last nights team.
Talk of a long term extension for Bouchard last summer was madness. He was propped up by Ekholm last year. He still has no clue how to play in his own end.
Nurse is what he is – all tools, no tool box. Ideally he’d be playing against lesser competition that can’t expose his lack of hockey sense:
The goals against were not the goalies fault, but it is also true that they were both outplayed by Demko who was riddled with flu. At some point you have to stop making excuses and just make some stops and keep your team in the game when they are having an off night.
After all these years you would think that McDavid and Draisaitl would have learned to stop taking retaliatory penalties. in a zone defense it is the centre’s job to protect the centre of the D-zone. Too often they were out of position on the periphery of the play. If those two don’t commit to it, then the Oilers are going to bleed chances against all season.
I keep hearing that it’s not the goalies’ fault they let in 8 goals.
Oh yeah, they both played great, no mistakes made in net.
This is a 3 – 2 league.
If both your goalies are letting in 4 a night, you’re not winning many games.
Luckily, the Oilers don’t have a goaltending issue to solve as it was everybody but the goalies fault so there’s no problem in net.
Sigh.
¯\__(ツ)__/¯
I don’t think anyone says that goaltending is not an issue or a problem, but in a ‘3-2’ league, we still would have lost 2-1 with goaltending ‘good enough’ to win.
goaltending WAS an issue last night, I’m not sure if it still will be. Stuart Skinner has struggled lately, and sometimes thats overwork, thats life changes, thats merely a slump. Jack Campbell was also struggling last night after a brilliant preseason and playoffs last year. Looking at the goals, some were more on the defense, but some were on the goalies and they (like everyone else) need to be better than a .750 save percentage.
The issue is, how many saves would Igor have made? or Vasy? or Sorokin?
Maybe they could singlehandedly win the game, and played out of their minds brilliant, but how many of the league’s top 5 goalies are available in a trade? Extend that out, how many of the league’s top 15? top 30? And how many of those goalies can you fit in with our virtually negative cap space?
You might say that we don’t need elite goaltending, we need middle ofthe road goaltending, and well…. thats what this is! This is average, middle of the road, not winning but not exactly losing games goalering. You could say that a great goalie would have made those saves, but its like blaming Ryan Mcleod for not being McDavid, and the truth is, you CANNOT upgrade goaltending right now. If you can, where is the move?
Goaltending is not at the forefront, because they didn’t lose the game by themselves, the defense put them into too many poor positions where saves were improbable, not likely. Skinner and Campbell did themselves no favours by whiffing on some that were definitely likely saves, but at the same time, if the defense isn’t defending it doesn’t matter who’s in net.
Other teams have goalies that outright steal games or at least give their team a save to keep them in the game.
That doesn’t happen with these 2.
There are other issues with the team, but quit telling me it’s not the goalies.
Nobody is panicking. Nobody is on ‘ the ledge’.
The team will bounce back on Saturday.
However, someone said it last night, we have seen this movie before.
Nuge- Drai- Hyman ….that Drai- Hyman duo together is just electric.
The call from the goals against demon is coming inside our top 6, again.
( granted Bouchard had a memorable night)
Like a re-run, our third line was our best line.
Please let Dylan Holloway not be injured….
Let’s wait to judge our goaltending.
Any word from Holloway, is he injured?
What time today is the Holland press conference where he signs Erne?
Ha!
We need to get Gagner up and running as soon as possible if Holloway is out for a extended period. If Gagner is not close Holland will need to sign another vet pto hit the waiver wire for a vet or trade draft picks for a vet because as he has stated there is no time for growing pains.
I think an injured Dallas Eakins Oilers team would have had their first and only win in October yesterday against the Oilers team that played last night.