When you’re looking for a solution, and out of desperation tweak the lines, and you find instant chem, what’s that called? Music! Who knows why it happens, if we knew life would be far less interesting. On a night when the Oilers needed an inspired solution, Kris Knoblauch found one just in time. What a helluva thing.
THE ATHLETIC!
- New Lowetide: Did the Oilers solve Leon Draisaitl’s winger issues in New Jersey?
- Lowetide: What can Dylan Holloway bring the Oilers when he returns?
- DNB: Evan Bouchard is unlocking his potential on the Edmonton Oilers blue line
- Lowetide: Do the Edmonton Oilers have enough actual NHL players?
- Lowetide: Winning or development? Assessing Oilers’ AHL team and what it means for the future
- DNB: Add a middle-6 forward or 2 to the long list of Oilers needs
- DNB: Why Paul Coffey’s surprise Edmonton Oilers coaching opportunity is paying off
- Lowetide: How much has Oilers trading prospects and picks actually hurt?
- DNB: Stuart Skinner takes blame as goaltending leads to end of Oilers’ win streak
- Lowetide: Are the Edmonton Oilers able to make a strong trade this season?
- Lowetide: 3 young Edmonton Oilers prospects looking for full-time duty
- DNB: Calvin Pickard’s play and improved defending give Oilers time to make a goalie trade
- Lowetide: The Oilers’ 4 most famous midseason demotions in franchise history
- Lowetide: Oilers’ Evan Bouchard has the points. But is his recent defensive uptick legit?
- Lowetide: Oilers organizational depth chart reveal elite centres, real needs
- DNB: Oilers’ Philip Broberg seeking trade, per source: Why he could be on the move
- DNB: The Oilers penalty kill has finally found its groove. What’s changed?
- Lowetide: What do the Edmonton Oilers still need to be a Stanley Cup contender?
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers top 20 prospects ranking, winter 2023
WHAT TO EXPECT IN DECEMBER
- At home to: CAR, MIN, NJD, CHI, TBAY, FLA (Expected 3-3-0) (Actual 4-2-0)
- On the road to: NYI, NJD, NYR, SJS, LAK, ANA (Expected 3-3-0) (Actual 1-1-0)
- Overall expected result: 6-6-0, 12 points in 12 games
- Actual December results: 5-3-0, 10 points in 8 games
- Oilers in 2023-24: 14-15-1, 29 points in 30 games
That was a huge game. The script, as it appeared after two periods, looked all too familiar. McDavid scores, then Draisaitl, then Adam Erne, then McLeod. Wow. The Oilers gave up three goals at five-on-five, but scored six. What a night!
THE NUMBERS
That was a strong game by the Oilers, top to bottom. I thought the McDavid line was fantastic, all three men doing what makes them top-end talent. In the last 16 games, this line is 15-5 goals at five-on-five. Exceptional. Searing. I like the fact Knoblauch went back to this trio after just one game. Shows he is paying attention and willing to backtrack a decision. Coaches are stubborn mules, that ability to change course quickly is a good indicator.
Leon Draisaitl had an Old Man and the Sea epic game. Nothing rhymed early, the line looked defeated from the anthem through midway second period. Moving out Evander Kane and sliding Ryan McLeod in to the mix with LD and Foegele made all the difference. You can say ‘well it’s obvious, I knew it all along’ as some are already saying online, but Jay Woodcroft is a smart guy and he didn’t run them often enough to get this spike. It might be a one-time thing, but Draisaitl has done this before. Kailer Yamamoto’s recall late December 2019 ignited the 29-93-KY line and they ran hot until the pandemic shut everything down. I’m pleased there is a game tonight. We’ll see if they can repeat the feat in Manhattan.
Sam Gagner and Mattias Janmark played well with McLeod, less so with Evander Kane, who doesn’t look 100 percent. I don’t think it wise to run him on a skill line until he returns to full bloom.
Adam Erne scored, nice to see him get a goal. He has played well in the role given, and I suspect last night’s effort gets him a game this evening. Derek Ryan got hurt late, not sure if that will impact his status this evening.
Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard faced the Michael McLeod line, shocking to me since the Nico Hischier unit is the top trio in Newark. Both men plundered and looked good doing it.
Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci faced the Jack Hughes line and won the eight minute tangle, that’s great news. High event on the evening, this pairing is tied to Draisaitl so rode the waves in search of Moby Dick. Some chaos but generally solid performance.
Brett Kulak and Vincent Desharnais faced the Hischier line and won the day. Music! I think Lindy Ruff outfoxed himself a little there, although injury is a possible story. We never have all of the information on these things. Either way, well done by the third pair.
A most encouraging win for Edmonton. Another win tonight would be golden.
Noon to 2pm today, it’s Festivus Friday on the show. I got a lot of problems with you people! Steve Lansky, Tyler Yaremchuk and Declan Krueger’s Declanations all arrive on the show today, and we’ll have our final pre-Christmas ramblings. I can be reached at Lowetide on twitter, in the comments section or on the Sports 1440 text line at 1.833.401.1440 directly.
Was just watching the Post-Game Interviews. Never really noticed it enough to want to count, but Kane (in his 1:49s interview) said “uhh” or “umm” 29 times, Skinner (2:31s) and Knobby (3:27) both at 39 times, and Foegele (1:49) instead said “You know” 25 times.
“Obviously, uh, you know, they are a good team but uh, we, obviously, want them to play our style of game you know instead of uh, us… obviously getting caught up playing their, uh, you know, their style of game. Obviously, going into the break uh, you know, we wanted to go into it with a win and uh, get some rest before we come back in the new year”
-quote that could be said by probably 90% of current NHL players
LAVOIE !
Savoie can’t stay healthy – a great drive to the net and he almost buries the pass – going full speed, kind of tripped/pushed as he crashes in to the end boards. He was down for a while but looked OK as he got up on his own accord but he’s not in the game right now.
SCORE?
got it. 2-1 Tuscon
Bourgault gets a PP goal from Hofenmayer and Tulio early in the third. 2-2.
The BOURG !!
Condors lose the defensive zone draw, a shot from the sideboards gives Rodrigue trouble, a bad rebound (usually a strength) and the rebound is buried in to an open net.
Next 8 games:
@ SJ
@ L.A.
@ ANA
PHIL
OTT
@ CHI
@ DET
@ MTL
Maybe 5-2-1? That would firmly get us back in the hunt. Chicago and Anaheim are games they have to win, The rest …. we wait ..
Aim higher.
All those teams suck.
Strength of Schedule the rest of the way, Edm has the26th easiest in the League.
This was such a Great Road Trip.
Did we see McLeod and opportunity meet in real time?
Great game by Stu. !
You sure about that?
Well it was on Instagram. so must be true.
point is their sched def gets a bit softer !!
Yeah, so 26th easiest means 6th best vs low-quality teams?
Gawd, where’s HH to pontificate on this??
#1 was the hardest remaining schedule – New Jersey.
#32 was the easiest remaining schedule – L.A.
#26 – Oilers… 7th easiest schedule, I think.
Eat $hit Rags! Your ‘94 win wouldn’t have happened without all those former Oilers on your team. As far as I’m concerned, that was the Oilers 6th cup!
Still one of my favorite playoffs / Cup win. Rangers had 7 ex Oilers or something crazy like that?
MESSIER
GRAVES
TIKKANEN
ANDERSON
MCTAVISH
BEUKEBOOM
LOWE
Sather.
he wasn’t there for 1994
At MSG they did an intermission trivia, one of the questions was what following Ranger great isn’t a former Oiler 💩
Leetch… for you younguns, that’s a cross of the best of Nurse and Bouch… or a watered-down Coffey
Lavoie/Griffith with a skilled zone entry and change for the 4th line to cycle a bit.
Niemo with a REALLY NICE play at the offensive blue to side-step and open a lane and Grubbe tips in his shot.
McKegg/Tulio give the puck away on the forecheck but that’s OK, just a 2 on 2 against but Broberg just lets his man drive by him to the net and he jams in the centering pass.
Terrible on Broberg and he knew it!
I’m getting Dirty Harry vibes off K: quiet, lanky. Calm stare
Of course completely opposite as a person
He reminds me of the Reverend on deadwood for some reason
Go on, Spec, make my day…
Officially 10 saves on 10 shots for Rodrigue in the first.
He was helped by a couple posts and a quick whilstle on a loose rebound that was put in.
Too bad Nashville and Arizona keep winning. Still 5 points back (with 1 game in hand). Need one of those two to falter. At least the Oilers are still hanging around even after the terrible start to the year. Gap can definitely be overcome.
St. Louis was dead last in the league on Jan. 2 the year they won the cup. (Of course having the out-of-nowhere Red-Hot Binnington run did help)
Oilers play 33 of their remaining games against Western Conference teams. It was so nice of them to bundle the way they did with mediocre .500 records.
Will make a leapfrog that much easier come March.
What a blast this was. NJ and MSG, two wins and my wife was more on the edge of her seat than myself. She’s already talking about seeing playoff games and planning our trips around Oilers road trips.
Now we are sitting at a random bar on 7th Avenue ordering grub and a pint, what a life ❤️
Enjoy!
I’m jealous of the travel!
The wife was wearing my Gretzky Campbell Conf All Star retro jersey tonight too 🔥
This is just a fabulous post. 🙂
as Al Pacino said in Heat, “I am on the downhill side of my 2nd marriage” ….. But I still love it when couples can go on Great Date Nights and Both enjoy.
Jealous of that and that you saw 2 Oilers games !!
Been to MSG once for a Leafs game and the memory still sticks with me (was a hockey trip with my Dad, who passed this summer).
I hope you follow the Oilers around whenever you can. Maybe try Nashville?
Anyway, good for you. So glad you shared ! enjoy the Appy’s!
Sorry about your dad. I lost my father in 2020 and mom in 2023, so I know how deeply that resides inside a person’s being. My wife and I brought them with us in the form of Dads watch and mom’s pendant. They have been on our minds and in our conversations constantly.
You are a lucky man, never take it for granted
We all deserve a Christmas break.
A merry Christmas to all Oiler fans.
Missed the whole thing cause I was on a flight back to good ol Our Town. Merry Christmas Oilers!
2 and 3 on the ‘rip ! lets do er again after christmas
Awesome to beat the rangers on a back to back. I like you Oilers!
If that wasn’t a character win , I have no idea what a character win even is.
Finally, a goalie win!
Stu can wear that on his shoulders
A very solid win. Played the Rangers to a virtual saw-off until the third period — the first half of which was spent in the Rangers’ end.
Odd finish — they couldn’t hit an empty net and the Rangers manage to make it look close. But they won without having to heavily outplay the opposition for the entirety of the game.
Great game.
Merry Christmas to all,
and to Oil, a good night!
We got schooled by the Laviolettes for most of the first two periods. But the team showed a lot of character tonight, did their best to stick to the game plan and were rewarded. Credit to Skinner for outplaying Quick and keeping the Oil in it through the tough times.
Hard to criticize puck management with such bad ice so I’ll hold off on this game. NHL should be embarrassed to have their product showcased on TV on such ice.
Yes, Skinner was really good in the last 5 minutes despite the 2 GA… and I like how pissed off he was about that buzzer beater
He had two saves at 1-0, one on Zibby back door and the other on Kreider, both of which were key to the victory.
Rangers somehow stickworked the Oilers harder than I’ve ever seen to prevent the empty netter…
Oilers still somehow pull off the win.
That is such a massive win on their 3rd in 4 against the best team in the league.
Merry f*ing Christmas folks!
Wild end
no kidding. Oil missed what 5 or 6 empty nets?
that being said, full credit, they put their foot on the Rags throat when the bubble burst and needed every one of this goals.
4 goal 3rd periods is a thing – me likey!
best of the season to everyone
Rangers got goalie’d!
another meaningless win!!!
huzzah!!
No worries, you won’t see that turd tonight!
In no way is that man a turd!
He’s a cursen proven time and time again, yet skyrockets the comment section! Hah!
What a friggin game!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
aint over yet
empty net with 5 min remaining….just give the puck to Connor effin Brown ffs
Had to know this penalty was coming.
Was away from my computer, so I had written down all the comments I wanted to make:
This team is too inconsistent, may as well blow it up.
Skinner sucks.
Foegele sucks.
McLeod is not a top 6 player.
Kane just isn’t right. Need to sit him.
Kaner!!!
Foegele is an integral part of this team when it is clicking.
Playoffs baby!
The Highlander!!
Plan the parade!!!
Lots of passion here tonight!
Might have to pour a Dalmore!
Awesome to see the offence coming from the middle of the line up! Always going to lean on Connor and first line but nice to see the goals spread out! That type of play gets you to the play offs.
Fishman be like ‘the oilers can’t score on quick”… I kid, I kid, got to celebrate this one
After 8 shots on net in first half of the game I was worried we may not score tonight. Very happy to be WRONG!!!!!!!
What a game.
There’s two things about sports that kills me and yet keeps me coming back.
1. Upsets. I don’t bet, cause you never know who’s going to win on any given night.
2. The roller coasters. The Oilers speciality. Why can’t they just go 2-1 every three games for the rest of the season?
So if anyone is rich and highly superstitious, my career record in Oilers game attendance is trending towards 2-0 💪
If you quit your job and we all chip in for tickets…
Technically I get unlimited vacation but I’m not sure if anyone ever tested it 🤔
It’s not quite as as this (Draisaitl has barely been involved in the last 2), but it’s like Draisaitl has been able to turn some of those McLeod-Foegele Corsi’s into actual goals.
Whatever it is is working right now (and putting speed on Draisaitl’s wings does make a lot of sense).
And it’s so weird too because they had very little mustard in the first 2 periods. Yet here we are, McLeod plays wing and pots 3 in 2 games against good teams. Coaching prowess.
I’m loving the thread tonight. So good.
So I guess we aren’t on the wrong side of the goalie battle???
the team with the 2nd best goalie is easy to identify from this barstool
Looks like they found some wingers for Draisaitl.
Not only do we go ahead but I get Timmies points for Kane & McLeod. Just need a Bouch bomb for the hat trick
Oops, I mean Nurse. Bouch was on my list last night
Being third period killers works for me. Love it.
IT’S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!
!!! I think I just peed myself watching that one. THIS is the team we were expecting at season’s start!
Foegele has been every where this period and the Highlander benefits with a goal. Some Highland heat for Festivus!
Highlander from the lowlands!
Foegele has been a force this period..he’s everywhere
Mcleod buries the hard work
HEATER!
Again! McLeod. Man.