Oilers at Maple Leafs, G18 2024-25

by Lowetide
  • At home to: NJD, VEG (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-2-0)
  • On the road to: VAN (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 1-0-0)
  • At home to: NYI, NAS (Expected 2-0-0) (Actual 2-0-0)
  • On the road to: TOR, MTL, OTT (Expected 1-2-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
  • At home to: MIN, NYR (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
  • On the road to: UTA, COL (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
  • Overall expected result: 8-5-0, 16 points in 13 games
  • November results: 3-2-0, 6 points in 5 games
  • Oilers in 2024-25: 9-7-1, 19 points in 17 games
  1. Connor McDavid 2.40
  2. Leon Draisaitl 2.36
  3. Mattias Janmark 1.86
  4. Jeff Skinner 1.66
  5. Zach Hyman 1.17
  6. Connor Brown 1.16
  7. Viktor Arvidsson 1.1
  8. Corey Perry 1.04
  9. Vasily Podkolzin 0.93
  10. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 0.79
  11. Adam Henrique 0.59
  12. Derek Ryan 0.44
  • Ekholm-Bouchard: 56 pct goals, 63 pct expected goals in 294 minutes
  • Nurse-Kulak: 75 pct goals, 66 pct expected goals in 75 minutes
  • Stuart Skinner: .915 SP five-on-five in 501 minutes since mid-October (10 games)
  • Calvin Pickard: .930 SP five-on-five in 252 minutes since mid-October (5 games)

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Chelios is a Dinosaur

Bouchard needs to clean his game up. A wonderful talent but hockey is lost in moments and he is directly responsible for several games this season already. He is haemorrhaging team points and personally haemorrhaging tens of thousands of dollars with each mind numbing turnover.

Toronto is a very good team and Edmonton deserved that win. Bouchard handed it to them.

dangilitis

This wasn’t the game we were supposed to win on this road trip. Be frustrated if you must, but there are 4 pts in Montreal and Ottawa that I will be far more frustrated with if they piss away

SKOilerFan

97s effort and positioning on the 1st GA was not going to get it done either. Soft reaching from the wrong side of the puck.
Too many players on this team that have casual interest in playing hard in the D zone

SKOilerFan

Like any goalie would Skinner assumed that any D man in the NHL would get to that puck since #2 had a 20 ft head start on the opposition.
#2 is not a typical NHL D man. Has to be hard to play behind that much vapor lock.
Team Canada?? Ha, not a chance. They don’t take unpredictable players … or goalies

OriginalPouzar

Caggiula and Savoie score in the SO.

Bill

Looking at the box score, what the hades happened? Defensive breakdowns en masse or was Delia just not on tonight?

winston

Do we simply trade Bouch if he demands over $10MM/year? At this rate, he’s more of $7-8MM/year

Last edited 24 days ago by winston
OriginalPouzar

What contract range do you think he was in at the end of last season?

Lets not forget where he ended up last season after starting it essentially the same has he was this one.

Its frustrating that he doesn’t find his two-way game until December but I’d rather his struggles be in Oct/Nov than March-June.

OriginalPouzar

Condors 7-3 lead heading in to the 3rd, gone, 7-7.

OriginalPouzar

For the most part, the Oilers played a good and structured game for the most part, in particular missing Nurse but they let it get away from them with individual bad plays.

It started with the listless 5 min PP – needed to extend the lead there and they weren’t really close.

Bad decision by Bouchard (he makes that pass 5-6-7 times a game) and Stu can’t bail him out.

The tying goal is more on Skinner than anyone – caught in between. Bouch looked lazy but, once he was passed by Ekholm on the back-track who had the momentum and better angle, the second d-man should trail behind to clear a rebound or the get the trailer.

McDavid had a poor game.

Skinner had a poor game.

The PP didn’t score when needed.

Drai should have shot that puck – full knowledge that if that pass didn’t make it, its a 2 on 1 going back.

flea

Thought the Oilers played well and showed some resolve to tie it up. 3v3 is a coin flip, never going to judge goalies and players on the outcomes in bonus time. Skinner got beat by a top 20 offensive player on a 2 on 1. It happens, 3 OT games in a row and they lose one.

Can’t really fault Skinner on either of the third period goals, both are essentially breakaways. The team is usually pretty good at locking these games down but just had a lapse today. I thought up to that point it had been rocking chair hockey.

Some defensive miscues but they found a way to get a point on a good team despite some mistakes. Clean it up and go beat the Habs.

leadfarmer

Some will say well were shopping at the dollar store for goalies what do you expect
well take a look at other dollar store goalies like Stolarz and Lankinen.
Even Pickard who we found dumpster diving is playing better

LMHF#1

Oilers up 2-1, get a 5 minute powerplay, should be game over.

Absolutely pathetic.

And yeah, that OT GA was not good. Not at all.

SVR

Typical Stu Skinner. Plays well enough for most of the game, but inevitably gives up one or two that you’d like him to stop. Edmonton once again with the second best goalie on the ice. How much does Stolarz make?

who

Considering they lost Nurse early in the second, and then failed to score on the 5 minute powerplay, the Oilers should probably be happy to get a point.
Couple of observations:
1. McDavid was bad tonight. Turned over the puck on the first goal, took a dumb penalty, and just kept coughing the puck up all night. He really didn’t do much until the 55 minute mark.
2. Bouchard. How do you pay a defenseman 10 million dollars when you can’t trust him in the 3rd period of a tight game? That 2nd Leaf goal was just a total lack of awareness and poor game management. You don’t try and thread a pass through your own slot in that situation! Never mind the lack of effort on the third goal, or the toe drag at the offensive blueline with 6 seconds left in the period. Just brutal decision making!
3. Henrique and Skinner. Have these players added anything to the team this year? That second unit powerplay was comical to watch. At least when McLeod was here we had someone who could gain the zone with possession on PP2. Jackson signed too many guys based on their past performance instead of evaluating players on their future potential.

leadfarmer

Henrique has too many miles on him.
Skinner is absolutely horrendous defensively
Arvidsson is good, but not a guy who will play 70 games.
Mcleod was too inconsistent offensively but that speed gave the opponents fits

Neumann

That was a terrible penalty call… just as bad as the one on Hyman.

hunter1909

There are only so many retreads on a good team. Replacing underperforming young players with past their sell by date vets is a certain recipe for disaster.

kinger_OIL

— Leaf fan beside me after Oil tie it up “McDavid just threw Marners stick away”

— Me : “I guess you never played hockey growing up 1st rule : two hands on the stick at all times”

— Oil lacking a “je ne sais quoi”. I felt they had chance to bury and didnt.

— Man do leafs fans suck. At least the ones in the lower bowl where we were.

Last edited 24 days ago by kinger_OIL
edoil1

Just curious,for those much smarter then me.It seems the Oilers always lose in Toronto on their one game a year,in fact this seems to go back to the Gretzky era as I remember Tikkanen scoring to win one game,we probably lose 80% of them anyone?

Gerta Rauss

I’m much too lazy to look up their overall record but this goal in Jan 2020 is one of my favorites

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK7bH2lU7_E

That 3 game stretch was pretty special too – wins in Boston, Toronto then Montreal

edoil1

Yes,of course that one,thanks

leadfarmer

I know there’s gonna be a lot of vitriol at Bouch and he deserves it. But what the hell is Stu doing.
when night after night the opponents goalie is better, you have to wonder

dangilitis

You’re blaming Stu for the loss? He had little chance on the first 2. 3rd he didn’t read the breakaway that was completely misplayed by the D. 4th was a 2 on 1 and yes, an elite goalie stops that one, but 2 on 1 creates chaos.

northerndancer

I love hockey but man I hate those head shots and head injuries. To any player on any team. The anecdotal evidence and the science show that brain injuries can and often do have serious short and long term impacts on people’s lives. Damn.

leadfarmer

Wonder why some of these guys that lost their careers to head injuries haven’t sued for lost wages. Like Marc Savard Erik Lindros. Until the league starts giving out 40 game suspensions to repeat offenders they are just leaving themselves open

northerndancer

Having first hand knowledge of the struggles of several players from different sports and league it is incredibly difficult to get ’cause and effect’ sorts of evidence when it comes to brain injuries. (and I have a kid who is doing work to have MRI’s be able to see that sort of damage). The worst of the long term symptoms often don’t manifest themselves until years later. And it isn’t just sports, lots of workplace head injuries go unrecognized as they often come as a package with other more obvious injuries like broken jaws, smashed other parts. Most pro leagues are moving to recognize some of the risk but they have fought responsibility tooth and nail. Brain trauma can come from other sources too. But head shots in hockey are one thing we can address. I cringe when the ex-player colour guys talk about ‘he got his bell rung and is shaking it off’.

leadfarmer

It’s true. But the guys I listed very much lost their careers from head injuries and lost their paychecks because they weren’t protected.
Im sure he will get a 3-5 game suspension. But if you want to show you are taking suspensions seriously you need to suspend repeat headhunters for 20 games plus.
It’s one thing to be physical. But the only reason Reaves is in the league is because he takes liberties with the other teams players

edoil1

No need for it ,then they get the benefit of trading off a goon for a number 2 defenseman, that alone could have won them the game,overplaying Bouch ect.

OriginalPouzar

After the Condors, well more like Delia, give up a shortie, the 2nd unit with some great pressure, Hoeffenmayer takes it down from the right point and a great backhand pass right to a charging D’Amato who buries the 7-3.

Tarkus

Summarizing!

Akey and Fischer each picked up two assists.

Lachance (5) and Clattenburg (4) each tallied a goal. Clattenburg was named 1st star for his efforts.

Wakely and Mazura each had an assist.

Day rebounded with a 26-save performance in a 2-1 win. He was named 2nd star.

Berry, O’Reilly, Nicholl, Münzenberger, Määttä, and Copponi were not proffered soup and so shall have to subsist on uncooked macaroni instead.

OriginalPouzar

Tender can’t handle a Josh Brown shot and Griffith pokes in a very juicy rebound.

6-2.

General McDavid

Stu takes the team to Game 7 of the Cup Final. 34 games later he’s washed. Tough crowd.

Diablo

And then he lost game 7 on a rush shot from pretty much the same spot that Marner beat him from in OT tonight.

Lewis Grant

Kulak (who I have consistently defended for years) made the major mistake on that play. Reinhart is an elite shooter (57 goals!) and was in way closer than he should have been.

LMHF#1

He was bailed out in the playoffs by Cal Pickard.

General McDavid

The Blackhawks are the cautionary tale of the full on tank job.

Yep you got Bedard but the rest of the roster? Dreadful. We’re talking Kansas City Scouts bad.

Yes kids, that was an actual team in the NHL. The Cleveland Barons too!

Diablo

What does it say about Taylor Hall that he’s a healthy scratch on such a dreadful team?

General McDavid

He’s not playing very well?

leadfarmer

He’s done. Only so many injuries you can heal

hunter1909

Sorry to hear that.

Scungilli Slushy

Stan needs to start preparing to get two players, a RD and a goalie. They can’t ’hope’ Pick can stand in if Stu can’t stabilize, they can’t risk this season on it. Playoffs I mean. There are no more mulligans for this core

And it is not a certainty Stu will stabilize, because he hasn’t fully established. He has done well enough, helped them get to a final. But there is no guarantee that wasn’t his peak. 26 isn’t old, and it isn’t young for a goalie to take a net clearly

For some weird reason Canadian goalies these days can’t seem to get and keep it together mentally. 4 in the top 20 in SV% at this point, no clear 4 Nations starter

leadfarmer

This is the last season of the skinner experiment

Lewis Grant

I (seriously) agree with the half-serious comment that now is the time to sign Bouchard long-term.

Actually, the real time to sign him was before Tyson Barrie was traded, at a point when (lacking power play time) he had about 25 points in 60 games. I recall making that suggestion then. (That was one of the reasons I was opposed at the time to trading Barrie.)

I suspect my current suggestion won’t be taken any more, uh, seriously.

Neumann

It would be great to sign him to a contract while he is struggling. I’m sure his agent would advise against this.

Last edited 24 days ago by Neumann
Lewis Grant

The upside is, our (OT) loss is Team Canada’s gain.

After an effort like that, on HNIC in Toronto, Bouchard will surely not be chosen for Team Canada.

Nor should he be, even if he were playing like 2023-24 Bouchard. In a short tournament, Team Canada needs absolutely reliable defensemen, not flashy but flawed ones. (It’s the same reason Erik Karlsson probably won’t be picked for Sweden.)

Lewis Grant

And it wasn’t a one-off brain fart. Bouchard’s biggest flaw is his lack of urgency, and that’s exactly what this particular mistake illustrated.

Neumann

Karlson was selected in the first 6 for Sweden.

Lewis Grant

OK, oops, my bad. I recall reading an article in The Athletic suggesting that Karlsson wouldn’t be picked for that reason. So that author and I both made a mistake.

As did Team Sweden.

I guess Karlsson is such a big name that maybe Sweden can’t leave him off. And he hadn’t fallen off the cliff at the point when he was named to the team. But he’s not the kind of player you want in a short best-on-best tournament.

I would take Jonas Brodin, Rasmus Andersson, and Mattias Ekholm (and obviously Victor Hedman and Rasmus Dahlin and Hampus Lindholm) well before I would take Karlsson. I don’t think Karlsson is a Top 6 Swedish D-man, let alone a Top-6 Swedish player.

It would be like us naming Steven Stamkos in our Top 6. I’d still like to see Stamkos there as a 13th forward, but to name him in our Top 6 would only be for legacy/sentimental reasons, and would be a bad idea. Same with Karlsson, for similar reasons.

Last edited 24 days ago by Lewis Grant
Diablo

He’ll be a third pairing PP specialist.

Diablo

Honestly though , think having a rested team will be crucial to a long playoff run. I’m secretly hoping that Sweden passes on Ekholm too. None of Hyman, Nuge, Skinner or Bouchard will be selected after the starts they’ve had.

Diablo

That play didn’t bother me as much as the complete lack of effort to try to defend against the 3-2 breakaway.

There’s “lack of panic” and then there’s “I can’t be bothered, hopefully Stu’s got this.”

OriginalPouzar

I think Ekholm is close to a lock.

Diablo

I know – he’s a beast. His beard would earn a spot. Hope he stays healthy. Oilers are toast without him.

Lewis Grant

Despite his slump this year, I still think Hyman will be picked, and should be picked.

He’s got great chemistry with McDavid (important in a short tournament).

He really can play up and down the lineup.

He’s smart enough to play with everybody (e.g. led the NHL in expected goals last year).

And he brings an element of toughness and doggedness that many elite players lack.

He’s a bit like Patrice Bergeron, minus the elite defensive skills.

Brogan Rafferty's Uncle Steve

Bouch and Stu were a dynamic duo in the third.

doritogrande

Came back to point out that Connor was +1/-4 tonight.

“That’s not good enough.”

northerndancer

Two of the top 3 offensive players on the team made mistakes which ended up in the net. I thought that the team played well overall and lost a bit of momentum when Nurse went down.

Clarkenstein

Bouchard doesn’t process well.

northerndancer

He does seem surprised when he makes a big boo boo. As if ‘how did that happen?’. Maybe it is the confidence of years of unchallenged success. Other players seem to get to the ‘holy shit what have I done’ part a bit quicker and seem to react with more urgency.

godot10

And somehow, the blob is making that loss Stu’s fault…

Johnny skid

it’s the blob’s fault they lost.

General McDavid

Underrated Steve McQueen flick.

Fuhr and Lowething in Vegreville

I’m a huge Bouchard fan, and devils advocate on the tying goal, he should have known better, but bad bounce, blah blah blah, the go ahead goal his lack of try and coasting in just to watch Ekholm from the perimeter was just horrible. And as much as I want to love Skinner, at some point you have to realize he will never be the goalie that can make big saves when they need to be made. Average goalie, that’s it. That would be ok if he at least once in awhile made a tough save to keep us in it, it’s gotta be so frustrating for the team to have zero faith that your starting goalie will never make that big play.

Last edited 24 days ago by Fuhr and Lowething in Vegreville
Boil-in-the-Oil

Your namesake (Grant) was a tough goalie to cheer for, he made way too many mistakes that would make us all groan… but more often than not, late in the 3rd with a 1 goal lead, he was magic. One of his talents was having a short memory, Stu has trouble forgetting.

Last edited 24 days ago by Boil-in-the-Oil
Diablo

I hope Darnell is OK and can come back soon. Edmonton needs two pieces to win a Cup. Another top 4 defenseman so Bouchard can be stapled to the bench when he plays like he did tonight.

And a goalie to replace Skinner – he’s just not good enough to backstop a team to the Cup. Only a complete homer would think otherwise.

Scungilli Slushy

Glad for the point. Such a classic game, Connor and Leon lead the way, Leon with a high risk pass in OT that doesn’t work (fake a pass and shoot instead of trying to thread through 3 players that can turn up ice) and Stu hugging the left post leaving Marner a ton of net

Always the hard way as Connor says. THW. Crush the next two lads

nelson88

The Bouchard brain farts aside that was a good effort and decent result. Go Condors!!!!

prefonmich

Wasn’t a game lost by Skinner but Stolarz was the better goalie this game 100%

leadfarmer

when the opponents goalie is better every night you begin to wonder

Brogan Rafferty's Uncle Steve

Really stole defeat from the jaws of victory tonight.

oilinthepeg

haha. Be nice to get a save there…. oh, and hopefully plays like that get factored into Bouchard’s next contract. Sheeeesh. Winning games matters.

nelson88

Gotta wonder whether Skinner has been playing a bit too scared based on chance to represent Canada in 4 Nations. Hopefully that will resolve itself after the announcement

Reg Dunlop

Skinner looks like Ken Dryden against the Soviets in 72. A big no to him wearing the maple leaf.

drewbot

no chance Skinner gets within a mile of the net for that event.

nelson88

Agree he won’t be picked but he was in the preseason discussions and wonder how much that has been weighing on him.

Diablo

Statistically, he’s pretty much the worst starting goalie in the league.

fishman

See almost zero chance Skinner is on team Canada.

prefonmich

Skinner the goalie seems so confused on rush goals. He was playing totally upright. Strange.

JJS

Oilers controlled that game. Complete break downs by Bouch and Skinner in the third cost us. Becoming a bad trend.

LMHF#1

They didn’t score. Therefore they didn’t control.

Reja

It was in the net before Skinner moved sometimes your goalie needs to make a save.

danny

Skinner was too deep on that shot

DevilsLettuce

That was some sort of technique Skinner.

Chief Inspector

Time to run Pickard as number one and Skinner as number two for a stretch.

Reja

Let see what Pickard has if he’s a marshmallow like Skinner then Bowman needs to call in a favour.

GB&Q

comment image

fishman

Hate to say it but another game we have the second best goalie. No words to describe Bouch’s performance tonight….

Pretendergast

An unlucky deflection on the first. Tough look on the 2nd. The OT he played it correctly. Stu didnt stop the puck.

1 brain fart where i assume he thought Stu or Ek would get it erased a whole lotta good.

Not bothered, single moments.

fishman

Well 4 goals on 22 shots. No matter how you slice it thats just not good enough.

Reja

If he continues batting 880 he’s going directly to the AHL

Last edited 24 days ago by Reja
Diablo

Skinner is quite possibly the worst goalie I’ve ever seen.

drewbot

I respectfully disagree. He can certainly play like a bad AHL goalie for periods of time, but he does get his game together and be acceptable. The tremendous variance in his performance is a significant issue. The Oil need a quality stablemate who can take the net for long periods of time.

Last edited 24 days ago by drewbot
Pretendergast

He is truly a goalie in the national hockey league. What the hell was he doing on the Bouch missplay.

Reja

I used to love when playing against Murray Bannerman in Chicago.

OriginalPouzar

Take the point.

Move on.

Go get 4 points in Montreal and Ottawa.

Yukon Jerk

Good game, emotional
We’ll take the point

doritogrande

Lucky to get the point.

We’re so slow.

oil-in-the-blood

Since Bouch isnt benched he will prob score the OT winner because…. oil

OriginalPouzar

A bad couple of minutes there but the Oilers deserved at least a point in this one. Now, lets get two.