It was a very good night for the Edmonton Oilers. It was a very good night for Stuart Skinner. It was an outstanding night for Connor Brown. I think the team’s chances of winning the Stanley Cup improved too, as there was good news all over the place.
The big star of the night? The fans. Connor Brown’s goal set off a celebration that transcended fan appreciation to become a celebration for all of us who have faced great challenges in achieving a goal. It may not be an actual NHL goal as it was for Brown, but we’ve all been there. For fans to notice, in a heartbeat, close to 20,000 voices raised to celebrate with him, well, that’s a very good moment for humanity. If you were part of the celebration, you should be damn proud of yourself today. A cheer can be a hug, and Brown needed it. Now, get another one, young man!
THE ATHLETIC!
- New DNB: Oilers’ Connor Brown finally scores first of the season: ‘I never was just OK with not scoring’
- Lowetide: What to expect from Oilers’ 2024 NHL Draft without a first-round pick
- DNB: Edmonton Oilers notebook: Adam Henrique’s family adjustment, Connor McDavid’s motivation
- Lowetide: What will Adam Henrique bring to the Oilers down the stretch?
- DNB: Why the Oilers’ old-turned-new second line should be here to stay
- Lowetide: What’s next for Edmonton Oilers prospect Dylan Holloway?
- DNB: Why the Edmonton Oilers look done adding before NHL trade deadline
- DNB: How Oilers’ trade for Adam Henrique, Sam Carrick improves forward depth
- DNB: Oilers defense secures third-period comeback and OT win vs. Bruins
- DNB: How Calvin Pickard has affirmed his spot on the Oilers
- Lowetide: Is Edmonton Oilers prospect Raphael Lavoie a tweener?
- Lowetide: What’s the ideal deployment for Edmonton Oilers’ Evander Kane?
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers enter spring signing season under pressure
- DNB: Goals aren’t coming for Connor McDavid. He’s helping the Oilers more than ever
- Lowetide: Where can the Edmonton Oilers improve their draft strategy in 2024?
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers top 20 prospects ranking, winter 2023
WHAT TO EXPECT IN MARCH
- On the road to: SEA (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 1-0-0)
- At home to: PIT (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 1-0-0)
- On the road to: BOS, CBJ, BUF, PIT (Expected 2-1-1) (Actual 2-1-1)
- At home to: WAS, COL, MON, BUF (Expected 2-1-1) (Actual 1-0-0)
- On the road to: TOR, OTT, WPG (Expected 1-2-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: LAK, ANA (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- Overall expected result: 8-5-2, 18 points in 15 games
- Actual March results: 5-1-1, 11 points in seven games
- Oilers in 2023-24: 40-21-3, 83 points in 64 games
The Oilers are in a great spotnow, six points up on Vegas and LAK with a game in hand on both teams. Edmonton gained a point on Van last night, who are 5-3-2 in their last 10 and that’s the closest to a slump we’ve seen from them in ages (or so it seems). Edmonton is 7-2-1 in the last 10, best among contenders in the division.
THE NUMBERS
Ken Holland had a good, good, good, good night. Some of his best that needed to come in showed signs of life. History tells us the power of the Connor Brown goal, and the fact Evander Kane and Adam Henrique contributed, might lead to a strong third line for the rest of the season and into the playoffs. You know, sometimes a line (1990 Kid Line) rises up to become more than the sum of its parts. Perhaps we saw the genesis of that last night against the Washington Capitals. I’m happy for Connor Brown.
I’d like to talk about Zach Hyman. He’s just so good. He had seven HDSC’s last night according to NST. He has 46 goals this season. It’s gotten to the point that when anyone RH’ed scores for Edmonton I assume it’s him. He’s breathtaking in his determination. We all have our favourites. We always cheers for the merely mortal, because they are us. Cheering for Gretzky, Messier, Kurri and the elites of the 1980’s teams, or cheering for McDavid, Draisaitl or Bouchard is a universal experience. No sir. The character of a fan comes in the names one cheers for who are not elite, not so special they are universal. This is my way of saying I’ve seen enough. Zach Hyman, who doesn’t pass enough and that is a flaw, is also elite. He is universal. I love watching him play. I love watching him play the way one enjoys 97, or 29, or Jaromir Jagr when he was in the NHL. Ken Holland’s best move. What a player.
Stuart Skinner showed once again just how good he is and how far he’s come since that first wobbly NHL win. He allowed two baffling goals early, then shut the door in spectacular fashion. It was amazing to see him perform after the second goal, he just locked in and that was ballgame. Now, you’d want those early shots stopped, but the job of a goaltender is to have zero memory of the bad goals allowed and move on to the next shot. Skinner did that last night. Well done! It was a great night for the Oilers and the organization.
NOTES
A few quick things:
- Matvey Petrov scored his seventh goal last night. That’s in 40 games and just one on the power play. I’d estimate he has averaged less than 12 minutes a night at five-on-five as an AHL rookie, but let’s say that’s what he is playing. That’s .75 goals-60 and for the amount of time he plays, considering his age, that’s progress.
- Yesterday in the comments section there was a great conversation about Raphael Lavoie and bursts. I enjoyed it very much, great insight and information. I don’t know when I’ll get back to it, but will try to put it into “per-60” metric next time we discuss. Thanks to the terrific posters who contributed.
Lots to discuss today on the Lowdown, noon to 2 on Sports 1440. We’ll review the Oilers game with Bagged Milk, and look to the Blue Jays and see what’s happening with the team as the exhibition season rolls along. NFL free agency is slowing but there are still moves of interest. Dunking with Declan will look at the NBA and of course your comments drive the show. You can reach me at Lowetide on twitter, in the comments section or on the Sports 1440 text line at 1.833.401.1440 directly.
Its so much FUN when the out of town board falls just right.
Nice third by the Falmes and Wolf to remind VGK how much they miss Stone.
Minnesota won tonight and are breathing down the Knights … I’m cheering for the Wild to reel them in, and then give the Canucks more than they can handle in the playoffs.
The LA Kings play the Sharks, the Ducks twice, the Flames twice, and the Blackhawks three times before the season ends.
The Vegans meanwhile have a murderer’s row of opponents.
Edmonton gets the LA Kings for the third straight year. Suck it, Will Farrell
I understand your assumption that LA finishes 3rd, but I’m no so sure about your assumption that the Oil can’t catch the Nucks.
They “will” catch the Canucks.
Hell might even reel the entire Western Conference in while they’re at it.
Woah, I’ll have a sample of that WC Kool-aid when the Oilers beat Colorado this weekend
Summarizing!
The good news: Stonehouse returned to the Ottawa lineup this eve.
The bad news: Despite a game-high 6 SOG, he was denied soup. He shall have to content himself with a handful of peanuts instead.
This work?
https://www.naturalstattrick.com/playerreport.php?fromseason=20232024&thruseason=20232024&stype=2&sit=5v5&stdoi=std&rate=n&v=t&playerid=8480803
Down vote George?
at 5v5 with McDavid. it’s 5-17-22
power play, it’s 6-21-27
I think it’s the goals and assists Bouchard has when that player was on the ice. In other words, Bouchard would have scored a goal and assist while Erne would have been on the ice.
There was always going to be a financial settlement and a cap hit back to the Hawks just like all those before (i.e. Evander Kane, M. Richards, etc.).
Although the Oilers have been benefiting from this, I still think its BS.
If the player did something egregious enough the permits a contract to be terminated, that player should not be permitted to play in the league for a period of time.
Should there not be a a high standard for a club to get out of a contract?
Yes, the Hawks get hit with a small cap hit but they got a $4MM cap commitment off the books and, from all accounts, it wasn’t really that bad of an incident.
Wait until Vegas terminates an anchor contract in February…..
Well to be fair, there are many opportunities for egregiousness in Vegas!
‘house always wins’
I have mentioned it’s hard when you have players like the Oilers do where to attribute credit for success goes, or how much credit. To me elite players maturing drive the bus forward, the GM gets credit for giving them enough to get over the top and a good enough coach. With elite players the GM often can’t take credit for them either, who wouldn’t have drafted Connor?
So, Connor leads the forwards in the league in +/- at +31, and after a slow start is 9 off the points lead. This is a big thing, good on him. Zach is 2nd +30, Leon 9th +23. Scoring a lot and not being near the top with this shows problems. As in the past
Even better, Connor’s PP PTS% is .3, MacKinnon .36, Kuch .39. Fantastic season for him
For team metrics, the Oilers are 4th in the league in Goal Diff. You still have to play the games and win them, but this is a major indicator of a strong team. Been waiting a long time for this
In Power Wins (2+ goals no EN) which I haven’t updated here because it hasn’t been long enough, I got results for yesterday, for western playoff teams:
Oilers 21
Dys 16
Jets 17
Avs 18
Knights 10
Stars 13
Fabulous. Dial the details in boys
All good stuff but, at the end of the day, the individual still need to perform in the playoffs. The Oilers were 3rd in the league in goal differential last season and didn’t get out of the 2nd round.
It was assumed we were getting Zack Hyman-lite, but I figured the ratio of goals between Hyman and Brown would be 2:1, not 45:1
I had mentioned a while back the coaches first job was to get as many players going as possible. Of course ultimately it’s on the players, but it is a big part of coaching. They all can do the XOs, it’s getting engagement and getting the most a player has. I think they have done that
Now I want to see them get the guys dialed in more on the details. That is how you win a championship. Last game was a fun ride, but they gave the Caps far too much , and far too many clean open looks from some sort of miscues
If they can make it hard for the other team to score all the time, and take care of the puck, I don’t see a better team, even if there are worthy opponents
A nod to Skinner who as a goalie, after a team scores 7 goals, is usually not the talk of the town unless its for bad things.
But I counted a full hat trick of robberies on Ovi, some of Stewie’s most elegant work of the year, matching his forward group for sublime play (after the first two shots established themselves.)
Hometown goalie doing everything he could to keep the all time goal record in Edmonton blue.
Great Oilers game all around last night.
The Connor Brown moment was just another example of the originality of Oiler fans that will be copied just like the crowd singing the National Anthem. The Flames fans have nothing zero ideas, it makes me laugh when they sing Country Road by John Denver. Someone should fill them in that it’s a ST.Louis Blues thing
Vegas will be most venerable in round 1, while Hertl and Stone might have some rust.
Good let someone else take them out. A ‘rusty’ Hertl or ‘rusty’ Stone will still be waaayyyy better than the 4th liners that they push out of the lineup.
Wash is not much of a team they don’t score much and they let a lot of goals in. Nice win but let’s see how they play against Colorado.
You must be a riot at parties.
And you must lie to your friends
…that escalated quickly.
Caps won the cup a mere 4 years ago. They are still in the measuring stick window.
I am not 100% sure how leap years work but I do not think the Caps won 4 years ago.
I’m not sure the first goal against wasn’t a bad goal, but I’m not sure it was either – it was a terrible angle and from distance but it clanked off the bar (perfect shot) – just a weird.
What I DO KNOW is that stop on Ovie on the 3rd shot was HUGE – if that goes in, Stu likely gets pulled and we have a totally different game.
What else I DO KNOW is that save on the 3rd shot, combined with the glove save on Ovi late may be the best combination of saves I’ve seen from one goalie in a game in recent memory – those were 10-bell saves – wow!
That first save on Ovi was a Cujo flashback as for his 3-4 10 bell saves on Ovi the closest memory of a Oiler Goalie making that many 10 bell saves would be Scrivens and his 59sv shutout game.
The only thing missing was Todd Marchant’s breakaway moments later.
And then the fist pump and smile by Sather.
I was thinking Ranford. But Cujo fits the bill as well.
Why is there a limit on the number of bells?
This one goes up to eleven….
That was an extremely entertaining hockey game to watch. Damn when this team is on I’m not sure there’s been a more electric hockey team since the 80s Oilers. I really hope they can translate that into a championship but I’m also just very proud to support a franchise that goes balls to the wall when it can. A team that is known for speed and goals, sublime passing. They could of course have done some differently in the past, things which lend themselves to winning, but in the end, on the ice, this is the team I want to be a fan of. Much of the most exciting hockey of the past half century has been Oiler hockey. Cmon!
It’s time for everyone’s favourite part of the program: Extremely Amateur Scouting By A Deeply Unqualified Infrequent Poster!
I caught the lesser of the two Condors games in good old my town last night. Shoulda gone Tuesday, I guess.
A few observations:
The lefty-lefty top pairing of Broberg/Gleason (Gleason on his off side) played just about half the game. Interestingly, Broberg/Kemp was the top PK unit. Obviously a premium put on some amount of the L/R pairing + Kemp’s reputation as more of a defensive ace when down a man.
Bro was as advertised, though his game was generally very simple. He did jump into the rush a time or three but I only saw one patented Broberg end-to-end attempt. He was mostly a disruptive force on the back end, great work using size and stick to seal off attackers on the boards so a support forward could swoop in and scoop up the puck. There were a couple times I wasn’t impressed with his gapping: if given the opportunity above his own blueline he would range to centre to snuff out a rush, but at and below the blue he tended to sag back. Could be coaching, that’s above my pay grade.
Lines (almost certainly with errors re: winger side):
Erne-Pederson-Tullio: top line, used liberally
Petrov-Holloway-Gagner
Lavoie-Grubbe-Griffith
Savoie-McKegg-Wright: somewhat less than a regular shift
These lines were shaken up when down by a goal at the start of the 3rd to:
(top line intact)
Lavoie-Holloway-Griffith
Wright-Grubbe-Gagner
Petrov-McKegg-Savoie: barely saw the ice
And, interestingly, with the extra attacker:
Erne/Holloway/Griffith/Pederson/Lavoie/Broberg
Goals against:
1: shot into traffic that didn’t reach the net, dropped flat on an attacker’s stick, slammed past Rodrigue in a flash
2: wash, rinse, repeat. I suppose you could fault Rodrigue for not being impermeable when the puck was right in front of him, but both times he was in position to stop the initial shot and it just dropped dead onto a Canuck stick
3: howler of a giveaway by Kemp, you’d swear he thought the green jersey was his teammate as he rimmed it up to the point for an effective 2-on-0 while his mates were changing. One long diagonal pass later, Rodrigue was unable to get alllll the way across to a wide-open Sheldon Dries, who is a deadly scorer at the AHL level
edit to add: 4: empty net on a turnover in the neutral zone
Goal for: good pressure by the mostly-NHL line, sloppy coverage by the Canucks and Petrov jumped on a loose puck netside. Straight to the roof from a sharp angle, no doubter.
Final random thoughts:
Wanner can really move out there, and also shook off a couple attempted hits with vigor. I liked what I saw.
Holloway was in attack mode and was unlucky not to produce more. He’s a puck magnet at this level.
Lavoie has some hands and I believe a good hard back-check in the 2nd got him bumped up the lineup. He has some Leon in him (bargain-bin version of course)… likes to slow it down, likes to use his body to get through traffic with the puck, likes to try things you might wish he didn’t.
Hoefenmayer let loose an absolute cannon that went bar-down but out, not in. That shot is definitely as advertised.
This is outstanding.
I was at this game as well and I agree with the above breakdown. Some additional observations: Carter Savoie has some sandpaper to his game and was getting under everyone’s skin. If he gets a shot in the NHL I think he will surprise some folks. Matvey’s goal showed some very very nice hands in close and Pappa Oiler was hustling for the entire game and should be the first call up. Was obvious to me they were really missing Xavier and Nemo, but that may just be me? Highlight of the night was when Erne and Dries were engaged in some post whistle shenanigan’s and on the way to the box, poor Mr.Dries tried his hardest to chirp Adam but the best he could muster was “You’re really fat”…
Thanks for this.
Thanks for the update. Seeing the game live is a bit different.
Gratz.
Is Kemp a realistic candidate for 3rd pair RHD with the Oilers next season?
LT you’re spot-on with your comment about who you cheer for. I’m dating myself, but I can remember my dad telling me the story of him ordering the Oilers jersey I was getting for Christmas, complete with “#27 Mellanby” crested on the back. The guy at the store thought he was joking, but that was my guy. Still have the jersey somewhere, and still get chirped by my friends for having the only one on the planet outside Scott Mellanby’s attic!
I’ve said for a while now, the reason Hyman works so well with 97 or 29 (or both) is that he doesn’t defer to them. Lots of other guys would feel like they need to get the puck on the stars’ sticks, and you see alot of awkward and forced passes that don’t work out. Hyman never met a puck he didn’t wanna shoot. I’d bet McDavid likes that about him too.
I don’t have an issue with Hyman shooting the puck. The only issue I have with Hyman is that he has blinders on when he has the puck in the ozone. He tends to try and be a one man cycle, instead of making an easier, and higher percentage, pass to one of his linemates.
He is good at it though.
Yes, I really want them to regularly add the classic Bruins set up out of the corner. It means though a player coming in at the right time to shoot before coverage and heads up in the corner to get it there
The why is that is one tactic to beat teams that do what Vegas does and get cleaner shots off
Who – good point. However, I have noticed that Hyman isn’t doing his one-man cycle around the net as much this year compared to the last couple years.
On a somewhat related note, I really hope that Hyman scores his 50th at home so that the fans can show their love.
Agreed. He’s much improved, and that’s probably growing into the team as much as it is growing or rounding out his game.
At home or even the first road game………In Toronto!
This remains the case but is much less the case when he first came to the Oil. Back then it was pure tunnel vision. Now he’s actually making nice feeds here and there.
Skinner must have heard Steve Lansky on the Lowdown yesterday
almost like Lansky is sending Personal Hate Mail through Lowtide to better the Oilers chances at a cup
First Nurse and now Skinner
keep hating on us Lansky
Loving the results
Went to bed after 2 and missed the Brown goal. Way to go, Oilers fans, very cool.
Was anyone at the game last night?
I’d like to hear what it was like to have been part of that surreal moment.
On TV it appeared that a portion of the crowd understood immediately, and 2 or 3 seconds later the full implication of #28’s goal enraptured the building in what became, spontaneously, “a good moment for humanity” as our host puts it.
That would’ve been an amazing experience to share with 20,000 other people.
I was at the game. I have an old oilers hat that is less than flattering. I’ve been wearing it to every game for the last 2 years (maybe 4 games) in the hopes of getting to “get rid of it”. I almost threw out my shoulder finally getting to toss it on the ice…. That was the second best moment of the night. The Brown goal was close to the loudest I’ve heard that building, playoffs included. What a night for the man, and the fans!
I was there, had a great seat in the lower bowl behind Edmonton’s bench. It was a terrific night for the fans in general, Brown’s goal being the icing on the cake. The ovation was very loud, & VERY long. Gave me the spinal chills. Others said they lost tears.
KK needs to get the Captain in the net in 10 to12 of the remaining 18 games. Skinner is already at 48 this season and this team needs him for the cup run.
2022-2023 Conference Finalists Reg Season Goalies
2022-2023 Conference Finalist Playoff Goalies
The goalie with the most regular season starts (Jake) cratered in the playoffs, while the goalie with very close to the least starts (Hill) got hot. Bob (50 starts) did not crater but did regress significantly.
I’d like to see Pickard start Saturday against the Avs to evaluate how he holds up against one of the league’s best teams.
Oilers play the Avs three times in the next few weeks. It’ll be like a mini playoff series.
I want to see the Oilers going withh their best against the Avalanche.
Maybe Pickard gets 1 of the 3 games,
I would venture that the gap between Skinner and Pickard is very very small.
I’d like to test the possibility that Calvin Pickard can perform and win in a big game, and could be relied upon to step up in the playoffs.
might as well be the first of three?
KK needs to get the Captain in the net in 10 to12 of the remaining 18 games. Skinner is already at 48 this season and this team needs him for the cup run
Unless there is an injury, not a chance he’s played more than half the games or likely even close to half.
He could play 7-8 tops, in my opinion.
The anthem singer was fantastic. Robert Clarke might be out of a job.
Adam Henrique unlocked Connor Brown.
Is he the Brown Whisperer?
Almost my first thought when the Oilers acquired Henrique was to pair him with Brown. I think I detailed here the other day that they were linemates (with Andrew Mangiapane) at the 2021 Worlds & absolutely crushed it. Given Brown’s lack of success with other EDM pivots, why not try it?
Was pleased to see Kris Knoblauch quickly arrive at a similar conclusion. Brown sat out Henrique’s debut but since getting back into the line-up has been paired up.
Smart coaching from a smart coach.
That’s funny, I was just thinking yesterday that Kane-Henrique-Brown feels like the 2nd line on a good Canada WHC team.
I thought Stecher acquitted himself pretty well especially playing left side. When they acquired him I was happy the reports said he was mobile
After watching him for a while, my impression wasn’t that he is a fast/quick skater, but a busy looking skater, like a younger Gagner. So I checked out Edge, and it turns out his skating is under the 50th percentile in every way
Someone noticed and commented on his pivots being a bit rough. He is a game rooster, has puck skills and plays with tempo. I see him as a 7 that can step in for Des, who had a rough game as I see it, and I would not be surprised if Stech is more effective, he’s is a better hockey player and plays quite a bit faster
Tempo is part of KK’s system. It may be part of why they are tinkering. Ceci is skating pretty well right now, but I also find he has a lower tempo
I thought Des lost a lot of puck battles in the game, Stech is aggressive and disrupts plays more, so the trade off is better hockey vs body size and blocking out. Could probably rotate them depending on opponent or how a series is unfolding, if the PK can be sorted
I thought Stecher looked very uncomfortable on his offside, but I don’t think that’s a fair trial for him. I think we need to see him on the right side a few times before passing judgment.
I always thought he looked decent in a 3rd pairing role when I’ve seen him play.
I think the Oilers see him as injury insurance only, unless Desharnais or Ceci really start to struggle. Desharnais has been scuffling lately.
Prospectant!
And then there were four whose NAmateur seasons continue, as Merrimack (Copponi) and Vermont (Münzenberger & Määttä) were eliminated yesternight. All three can returns as seniors next season.
Copponi: 30-7-25-32 (led team in assists & points)
Määttä: 26-4-5-9
Münzenberger: 32-1-2-3
Meanwhile, the House of Stone gets the spotlight tonight as he seeks a strong finish to an otherwise middling campaign. Puck drops at 5 p.m. St. Michael time.
Could Oilers sign Copponi and get him some games in Bakersfield this season? Should they?
If the Oilers had more spots open on their 50-man, maybe. Only one is open though.
I suppose it also depends on who gets cut loose for FA’s too.
Is there not an option to “sign” college free agents to an ATO for the rest of the current season plus an ELC that kicks in next year?
I do believe that’s an option. I’d forgotten about the ATO thing–thanks for the reminder.
I’d imagine signing an ATO negates college eligibility like a PTO does, but I can’t know. I will let someone else dig that up.
Yeahh, there is no going back.
Copponi needs more college time, probably multiple seasons.
Now, Munzenburger, I think he could be heading to the Condors shortly and perhaps get an AHL deal.
WAY to early to sign Copponi.
Let him go back to college for at least another year, if not two or even three.
Copponi is only eligible for one more NCAA year, as he has already completed three seasons.
However, Lachance still has three remaining.
Whoa, I thought he was a rookie.
Sorry.
Ovi must have had nightmares of Skinner last night. Was it 3 or 4 five alarm chances 74 stopped Ovi on? Man, what a performance.
Gretzky is sending Stu a couple of cases of wine for sure!
As Elgin R said, I was thinking that game by Stu was a Fuhr game. Let’s in some weak ones and shuts the door. It was an 80’s type game, entertaining, sphincter exercising, lots of goals and action
If I had to describe the game with a score, I would call it 7-5. The only reason it wasn’t was that Stu robber Ovi 3 times, and also others. This to me is key. He may never be a 100% solid goalie as 1 or 2 are, but he has started to make the saves he shouldn’t, which wasn’t happening much before. Maybe he becomes the modern Fuhr, and is the guy you want in the playoffs in your net, we will see
Same thought. I hope it’s true – fitting, accurate, a harbinger – and that it continues.
Kulak/Bouch were very good last night.
Maybe Evan Bouchard is just an elite offensive d-man and legit overall 1st pairing d-man all on his own. Maybe, just maybe, he isn’t just a function of Mattias Ekholm like some/many opine?
Bouchard, as were many others of his age, had to go through the disruption years which certainly hampered development. Bouch only has 248 NH games under his belt (is it LT who says that you really need 300 games to see what a dmen is?). Ekholm has been instrumental in being that vet ‘player-coach’ helping him to get better.
But, yes it appears that he now could be a guy who will help elevate his partner to the level required.
That’s good to know.
So we run 3 equal(?) pairings
Kulak-Bouch
Ekholm-Ceci
Nurse-Des/Stretch
and overload in important situations along the likes of stacking McDavid-Drai?
You may be getting too far over your skis.
Both had good games. Kulak has been on a nice run the last few weeks. Bouch was calm without being slow – had some very simple & effective clears of loose pucks in front of the net and was throwing darts all game to the forwards. But come playoffs I’ll take the stern Viking as my 1LD for $200 please Alex
Post-game, coach did offer up that Broberg really is their 4LD – he implied that he likes leftie/rightie.
I mentioned prior to the game the potential to call up Broberg to fill in for Ekholm – he’s been in BC the last few days and they had time to get him up (and cap space).
I do think calling up Broberg would be an option for them for future LD fill-ins, even though Skecher is the clear more established player.
Calling Broberg up as a fill-in definitely makes some sense.
For me though, I’d say it’s more important to get Stecher reps with his new teammates and coaches any time a lineup spot opens.
Sure, it would be nice to get Broberg additional reps too, but he’s played lots with his teammates over the last few years. Broberg would gain less than Stecher from a few games down the stretch IMO.
Imagine if the new guy remains stuck in the pressbox while the team calls up a guy from the minors to fill in. How To Lose A Player in one easy, though painful, lesson.
I took KK’s comment to mean he’ll have a fourth pairing for the playoffs which will allow him to balance L-R if a regular is unavailable.
Weird to see all-righty pairings at times last night. Last time I recall Oilers running such a pair for any stretch of time was when MacT/Huddy ran Steve Staios & Jason Smith as a partnership in 2005-06.
I took it the same way Bruce which is to say that Broberg could/would fill in over Stecher if a leftie was out.
There were some real odd ball pairs out there last night with Ekholm at home sick. But they got the job done.
Why would coach Kris say otherwise? If Broberg is no longer in their plans it’s time to cut bait on him.
Its notable that Coach brought up Broberg without any prodding or direct question about it – at least it was to me.
Injuries happen in the playoffs Coach Kris is preparing by keeping Boberg in the loop.
What a moment last for Brown – that was fun, wasn’t it?
It was fairly clear, at least in my mind, that this was coming.
He’s been playing good hockey for the last week or two and was earning his spot on that 3rd line with his play. His skating is, all of a sudden, leaps and bounds from where it was earlier and he’s been impacting the play offensively in recent times – helping create scoring chances. Absolutely tenacious hunting pucks in the neutral and offensive zones. He’s been looking like they guy they were hoping to get when they signed him.
Where he goes from here? Will be interesting to see.
You are right that Brown looks way more mobile these days. But I don’t care what he does in the regular season if his line goes Torres-Peca-Pisani in the playoffs. Results might be similar with hopefully with a different G7 outcome. Kane-Henrique-Brown do resemble that famous line from 06. Will be interesting to watch.
In the last three games, against teams that have sold off, at 5v5 the Kane-Henrique-Brown line has run
OFZ% of 58.3
CF % of 42.4%
FF % of 31.6%
SF% of 33.3%
SCF% of 26.7%
xGF% of 24.8%
HDCF% of 25%
SHT% of 25% (so they have four shots collectively).
GF% of 100% – yayayaya
PDO of 1.250 (even the Canucks are blushing)
OP, I mean this in the nicest possible way. Please explain your glowing eye test with this line getting fed left and right by every single stat save for the one that counts of course. Is the math wrong?
Also LTs numbers above show the trio as far and away the worst line combo last night so no I don’t think this is being tweaked by some long ago play.
That line was doing just fine and in the green on all metrics until their last shift of the night late in the 3rd when they went -8 corsi in 1 minute of a 7-2 game. Stats without context is a dangerous thing. Look at it yourself if you choose.
https://www.naturalstattrick.com/game.php?season=20232024&game=21043#lbshiftchartcf
I see that yea which is why I took the last three games and not just yesterday.
If you strip out the -8 the line had 2 FF, 2SCF and 1 shot. That’s below replacement level against a team who just sold off and is falling. The numbers don’t yet line up with an eye test saying the line has been coming around and CB has been contributing to several scoring chances. There aren’t any stats to support that narrative right now. Its all eye test which is very different than what we had with Stu, Bouch or McLeod at different points this season. We had numbers that bucked a funny eye test. There aren’t any numbers here and the Rels have them far and away the worst on the team.
We can all pull and cheer for CB sure, yes, that’s what fans do and I jumped off the couch when he scored. But pull the data on Kane and Henrique away from CB last night and you’ll see a few ticks higher on all the metrics for those players. Kane and Perry had at least three SCF in about 90 seconds of ice-time.
Hey I agree they were not amazing in their first game against Columbus (no one was) so let’s throw that one out. The whole team stunk. The PIT game was a shutout and the same thing happened as last night. Good overall results except for two terrible shifts back to back in the 2nd period where they went Corsi -9 in just over 2 minutes. Totally sewered their numbers. I don’t have access to the replays so maybe someone can have a look and see what went on in the 2 shifts with PIT and the last shift with WAS. Got 5 minutes OP 🙂
All three guys are very good veterans who have played at a high level with solid results. Brown’s offensive numbers don’t look much different than Hyman’s before he joined the Oilers and he been a solid defensive player his whole career. Kane is a top 6 winger and Henrique is an excellent two-way player as well. These guys should be just as good as Drai’s line (effectively lines 2A and 2B). That needs to happen as it’s the road to the SCF and I think they understand how important they are to team success. But what the hell is going on with these crazy bad random shifts????
Sorry but does the above ask us to look at data for a 1:45 sample size?
Seriously?
Brown has played very well the last 2 games and pretty good for a few weeks now and the possession stats for his line in a sample size spanning either 2 shifts or 3 games is, well, meaningless to me and I’ll trust the eye test.
Don’t care about those numbers in a 3-game sample size.
I care about what I am seeing on the ice and, to be clear here, I haven’t really spoken about/opined on the line itself – I’ve been speaking to what my eyes show me on Connor Brown himself, not the line as an whole.
Agree that that 3 game samples are pretty much meaningless and that Brown looks big, fast and effective. Significant change from October which I guess should have been expected. As Georgexs says below – Brown, Kane and Henrique are well above average players historically – looking forward to seeing how they do against COL as well.
I like to watch the game. I also thought that Brown had been playing well. I guess I’m doing it wrong.
Catching Andrej Update – Just, wow!
CB – 55 – 1 – 5 – 6, -8, PPP – 0
AS – 36 – 0 – 8 – 8, -15, PPP – 2
And the race is on and here comes Pride up the backstretch!
👍🏼👍🏼 for the George Jones lyrics!
Such an awesome game to watch. Between Browns goal, Skinner shutting the door and the rest of the team gelling. Great effort and looks good this time with Playoffs around the corner. What a show of class by the Oilers fans for Brown.
Skinner is channeling his inner Grant Fuhr – make the stops when you have to and let the offence win the game! I know that Ovi chose to ‘settle’ the puck down, but that dive to the right looked as good as any Fuhr windmill glove save.
The glove grab late in the third was also spectacular. Pulled me out of my seat.
8pm mid-week game. That’s usually a 1st period, then bed for me. I am so glad I stayed up. I had a feeling this was going to be a special game.
Goosebumps reminiscent of FA Cup final day, hearing the crowd. Universal recognition of hard work tangibly rewarded in a city, in a province, that makes hard work it’s identity.
Well done Connor. Not you 97. The other one…
In Ottawa over here. I had a nap after work, late night tea. So glad I stayed up for this one, I was so pumped I didn’t get to bed till 1:30am.
Playoff Simulation
Round 1: 4-1 (5-2 through 7 games)
Round 2: 2-1
Fun game. Good for Brown.
Skinner was unreal as you say LT.
Henrique, Carrick and Drai all over 60% on the draw.
Getbto go to the AV’s game. Cant wait.
Either Washington is a slow team, or the Oilers were just playing super-fast. But the speed was a factor last night. Hope they can keep up with the Av’s on Saturday night.
As far as I can tell the Avs are the fastest team in the league. But the Oilers aren’t far behind.