For me, last night was a highly enjoyable experience. A tense, tight-checking game with terrific defensive plays (McDavid versus Eichel, Jeff Skinner’s shift) and is an indication that Kris Knoblauch’s attention to detail is becoming part of the sustainable game for this edition of the Oilers.
That runs counter with many of the comments I read online last night. I saw two teams rattle and hum with playoff fury in early December. That was a gift game for this blog’s author, I was both exhausted and entertained at the final whistle. If this team wins Stanley in the spring, remember the work ethic shown last night. It represents a team that is both willing to make the effort and aware that positioning and contesting all plays is key. Man that was a game.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN DECEMBER
- On the road to: VEG (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-1-0)
- At home to: CBJ, STL, TBAY (Expected 2-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: MIN (Expected 0-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: VEG, FLA, BOS, SJS, OTT (Expected 4-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: LAK, ANA (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: UTA (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- Overall expected result: 9-4-0, 18 points in 13 games
- December results: 0-1-0
- Oilers in 2024-25: 13-10-2, 28 points in 25 games
The biggest story coming out of last night’s game surrounds the standings. Edmonton had a chance to close the gap between themselves and the VGK to a mere three points. It is now seven. Opportunity missed. It’s less a tragedy than a reminder that winning the division is damned difficult (Oilers haven’t done it since I was in my mid-20’s). Edmonton sent Drake Caggiula back to Bakersfield after the game, meaning Zach Hyman will be back for the Columbus game. That’s a good arrow.
THE NUMBERS
Stuart Skinner played well, gave his team a chance to win a tight playoff-style game. The lone goal that cashed was a broken play, Skinner caught between defending the pass (that option remained at the time of the shot) and the shot that beat him. I’ll ask Bruce McCurdy (former goalie) about the play on the Lowdown today. In my opinion, Skinner is the best option for the Oilers considering age, ability and cap hit. Plus the organization has invested in him (35 playoff games) and have a stretch where he’s inexpensive and under control. Wobble early destabilized the position for a time, but I believe Skinner has his game back now. I’d run him as No. 1 until he gets expensive, and if the Oilers win Stanley before the money gets dear, I’d sign him long-term. I know that runs counter to many who post here, but the blog is 21 years old and I’ve always told you my opinion. Too late to stop now.
I was impressed with all of the defensemen in this game, great attention to detail with any criticism a bit much compared to all of the good work accomplished. This defensive group felt loose from the start, but have tightened up like Archie Bell and the Drells in the last few weeks. Not absolutely certain the Oilers should offload any of the six defenders from last night, so would suggest an upgrade over Travis Dermott at the deadline. If that upgrade means Troy Stecher (I hope he’s okay by the way) is the No. 7 defenseman, so be it.
It brings us to a fact we haven’t been forced to admit for about 15 years. Do you remember when Charlie Huddy was on the Oilers staff? In those years, Edmonton would acquire a Steve Staios or recall a Marc-Andre Bergeron and somehow remain a solid defensive six. Now, Craig MacTavish was meticulous in rewarding responsible play, but those Huddy years (2000-09) saw some chaos (Tom Poti) and some wild, wild west heroes (Igor Ulanov) play their best hockey. I do think we’re back to that kind of defensive coaching now. That’s my way of saying that maybe Vincent Desharnais will never be better than he was a year ago, and maybe Ty Emberson fell ass over tea kettle into the best damn situation possible.
One of the keys to victory for Vegas last night (they are a terrific team, even before we talk about their brilliant goaltender, Adin Hill) was the hard match of the Jack Eichel line versus Connor McDavid. McDavid v Eichel took 14 minutes of five-on-five time away from these Oilers, with Brayden McNabb and Shea Theodore on defense not far behind. In the game between these two teams earlier this season, in Edmonton, Knoblauch got some clean air for the captain versus the Nicolas Roy line and found a way to wrap 97 around the Hanifin-Pietrangelo pairing (McDavid’s line would score against that duo). Bruce Cassidy is freaking diabolical. His team could win Stanley this season. So can the Oilers.
Kris Knoblauch and his staff are impressive. Jeff Skinner had his best game as an Oilers player, Leon Draisaitl’s turnover at the blue line was noticeable because it’s a rare thing this season. I’m wildly encouraged by this team, and by last night’s game. I’d like this staff to spend some time with MacT and talk about line matching and populating trios with defensive awareness marbled on each line, but other than that I’d give them the key to the highway. I wrote about the third line at The Athletic today, it’ll be up a little later and I’ll add a link in the comments section. For now, I’ll just say they were the Oilers best line last night.
Last night? Music! For this observer, I’ll take this kind of 200-foot game over the French in World War II (all cannons pointed in the same direction) all day. ALL day.
Lowdown hits at noon, Sports 1440. Bruce McCurdy from the Cult of Hockey at the Edmonton Journal will be our guest, and we’ll chat NBA, MLB and of course give you the floor to vent your opinion to the world. I’m at Lowetide on twitter, in the comments section here and on the Sports 1440 text line at 1.833.401.1440 directly. We can be heard at sports1440.ca; iHeartRadio; Radioplayer Canada, we tweet out the show after it’s done and you can catch us on Apple and Spotify.
New for The Athletic: Why the Edmonton Oilers’ third line is a productive and underrated unit
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5966301/2024/12/04/edmonton-oilers-janmark-brown-henrique/
@PierreVLeBrun
Team Canada forwards for 4 Nations made official:
Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Brad Marchand, Brayden Point, Seth Jarvis, Brandon Hagel, Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, Mitch Marner, Mark Stone, Antony Cirelli, Travis Konecny
Team Canada D for 4 Nations made official:
Devon Toews, Cale Makar, Shea Theodore, Alex Pietrangelo, Josh Morrissey, Colton Parayko, Travis Sanheim
Team Canada goalies for 4 Nations made official:
Jordan Binnington, Adin Hill, Sam Montembeault
@PierreVLeBrun
Team USA forwards for 4 Nations made official:
Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews, Matthew Tkachuk, Brady Tkachuk, Matt Boldy, Kyle Connor, Jake Guentzel, Jack Hughes, J.T. Miller, Chris Kreider, Dylan Larkin, Brock Nelson, Vincent Trocheck
Team USA D for 4 Nations made official:
Quinn Hughes, Adam Fox, Charlie McAvoy, Brock Faber, Jaccob Slavin, Zach Werenski, Noah Hanifin
Team USA goalies for 4 Nations made official:
Connor Hellebuyck, Jake Oettinger, Jeremy Swayman
Maybe already mentioned elsewhere in the comments, but how can a team with Connor McDavid be in the bottom three teams for least penalties drawn? McDavid alone should ensure that they are in the top three for drawn penalties.
It might have been a few years ago now (I’m getting old), but I remember someone posting that McDavid was like 37th in the league in drawing penalties and I laughed and laughed.
I believe he did lead the league 2 years back, I should see if I can find the stats
Solid game last night, but it is sure frustrating watching a team with 2 offensive stars struggling to score, and not just this game.
I caught Rupp on Gregor and he was talking about this. I have commented a lot about not liking the offensive approach. Like the PP it’s stale, and teams know what to do (well better teams) to stymie them. We see the same reaction from the Oilers – Connor and Leon go kamikaze and play gets more individualistic, forcing to score. Sometimes it works, for me relies too much on good luck and bounces
Connor and Leon and occasionally others can do great things for sure. But that isn’t a strategy, it’s relying on their superior skill, and that means it can be game planned. It’s why they can struggle so much to score in certain games. Games like playoff games against teams like that
But you have to break teams like Vegas down when they do that if you want to have the ability to play any type of game that championship teams usually can. Either starting in the D zone with quality breakouts to beat the D set up, or in the O zone by trying to make the plays that can score against a clogged net, time and again, not once or twice
And it’s no accident how Vegas plays. It starts with McCrimmon – the huge D and big goalies that play deep, zero room out front. I don’t know who is in charge of offensive tactics, but they need a refresh. Or a second tactic to go to when they need to that gets done. To me it seems they have enough players that can play the way I’m thinking, have been adding them, others like Nuge that are going to listen and give their all
They can’t just get different players because cap and there’s a limit as to what’s available and assets. And they have added players like Perry that play that way and know how to, Arvi. Better finishers like Jeff S. It’s on the coaches to find the answers and get the guys doing it. Maybe they are, I hope they are. Sometimes it’s the way they are being asked to play that’s a big part of the issue. Being so much better defensively is great, but it has to mesh with the offensive end of the game. A lack of consistent traffic is something I notice quite a bit, getting to the right spots at the right time, Gregor and Rupp spoke about it and I agree. Could be a system thing
They played a great game last night. But I am thinking of the playoffs, and we’ve seen that movie before, holding them back from their goal. Getting pushed to the walls, can’t penetrate the slot, not being able to finish the chances they do get. It’s the last step as I see it, and it’s a big thing
Getting to Game 7 was great, but for the players and a lot of fans, there is only one satisfying outcome at this point. They aren’t the only team that can’t get over the hump and winning the Cup is the only thing left, but who cares about the other guys except HH
I don’t think it’s wise to ignore the other guys.
The Oilers beat the Canucks primarily because they correctly identified that Silovs couldn’t make stops through traffic and kept firing pucks at him from high in the zone.
The other guys have figured out Hyman by focusing on keeping him away from the front of the net.
Before injury he was averaging 2.55 shots/GP while last season he averaged 3.63.
That his shooting percentage has dropped in unison from 18.6 to 5.9 is likely to also be a function of him being forced to shoot from outside.
Just a couple of examples of responding to what the other guys are doing can pay dividends.
Ekholm was a lock for Team Sweden (in my opinion) and he’s been officially named – he will be joined by Viktor Arvidsson.
@PierreVLeBrun
Sweden forwards announced for 4 Nations:
William Nylander, Mika Zibanejad, Filip Forsberg, William Karlsson, Jesper Bratt, Leo Carlsson, Joel Eriksson Ek, Adrian Kempe, Elias Lindholm, Elias Pettersson, Gustav Nyquist, Lucas Raymond and Viktor Arvidsson.
@PierreVLeBrun
Sweden goalies:
Filip Gustavsson, Jacob Markstrom, Linus Ullmark
@PierreVLeBrun
Sweden D:
Victor Hedman, Gustav Forsling, Erik Karlsson, Rasmus Andersson, Rasmus Dahlin, Mattias Ekholm and Jonas Brodin
Arvidsson making the team smells of a conspiracy against the Oilers by increasing the odds he gets hurt for more of the season. Or, flip the conspiracy and maybe the Oilers got him added to the Swedish team so that they can play the salary cap game to have Arvidsson become available in time for the playoffs if he gets injured playing in the 4 Nations Face-Off. I kid about both, of course. Congratulations to Arvidsson, if he plays, I hope it helps him get into game shape for an early stretch drive, and back to the type of player we thought he was going to be.
The 4 Nations Cup roster to be revealed later today.
Justin Bourne’s projection:
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/team-canada-at-4-nations-face-off-final-roster-projection/
@PierreVLeBrun
All 13 Finland forwards for 4 Nations:
Sebastian Aho, Aleksander Barkov, Roope Hintz, Mikko Rantanen, Joel Armia, Mikael Granlund, Erik Haula, Kaapo Kakko, Artturi Lehkonen, Anton Lundell, Patrik Laine, Eetu Luostarinen and Teuvo Teravainen
@PierreVLeBrun
Finland D:
Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lindell, Jani Hakanpaa, Niko Mikkola, Olli Maatta, Rasmus Ristolainen, Juuso Valimaki
@PierreVLeBrun
Finland goalies:
Juuse Saros, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Kevin Lankinen
On another note…
Who/why do you think is Nurse’s best defence partner on the team?
Stu had a good game, again his inability to hold structure held him back from having a great game.
If he keeps structure and doesn’t leave the big gaping hole between his legs the goal doesn’t go in. His legs are doing the elementary tango while his stick is leading the Orchestra. If he keeps his blade down and defends his five hole as he’s moving it’s a simple routine save. Fire the goalie coach into the sun imo.
Vegas is a tough out, they deserved a better outcome but they got Hasek’d again.
After watching the replays a number of times, Skinner was at the top of the crease squared up and cutting down the angle for the potential shot initially. When the pass across was blocked and Barbashev ended up with the puck again, Skinner had to back up to help cut down the opening on the short side if Barbashev chose to shoot as he approached the net. He also had to get set to be able to push off if Barbashev attempted to pass. It also looked like Skinner was caught between starting to slide across on the initial pass attempt and realizing the puck bounced right back to Barbashev and he’d have to stay on Barbashev’s side of the ice. That play was less than one second from initial pass to second attempt. I don’t know what reaction times should allow for and I’m not a goalie, but it looked to me that Skinner played it as best as can be expected and this was just dumb luck for Barbashev.
I have noticed that when Stu’s in transition often his stick is not being positioned intentionally, and that that tends to create unnecessary gaps.
Stu’s lateral movement is also a far cry from what I’ve observed from other goalies in this league. On occasion he maintains the standard butterfly through a minimal push from one side but other times it’s all scramble. And it’s seems there’s no telling when he’ll do which.
That’s a coin flip game against a top tier team. If you play like that you beat top teams at least half the time and mediocre or bad teams every time. So even if we are super generous and say half the teams are top tier, that’s a .750 club if they can play in like this consistently. Which is effectively what they’ve done for a few years now over a big enough sample.
Exactly. But I would go even higher. Holding a powerhouse like Vegas to one goal and limited dangerous chances is an impressive feat. Consistent attention to defensive detail was apparent from start to finish. I think an Oilers team that can do that every game wins 80% of their games in this league.
Not getting the win is unfortunate, but luck will have its way from time to time. Playing like they did last night is the key to a championship.
Personally, I didn’t love the goal on Skinner last night. Ya, it was a bit of a weird/fluky bounce but, at the same time, a very saveable puck to my eye.
With that said, I think Skinner has a good game overall last night – some big saves to ensure that Vegas couldn’t extend the lead and, really, he’s unfortunate to not have a win on the record from last night.
At the same time, well, Hill was the better goalie last night as he didn’t have a weird/fluky one leak in but he was lucky as the Oilers missed a couple tap in goals (Bouchard, Brown) that should have gone in.
Overall, Skinner’s game has picked up – that’s 4 out of the last 5 with save percentages well over .900.
I agree about Skinner being the “best option” – I don’t think management has even contemplated a big splash upgrade. Maybe a McKenzie level add (to tandem with) but not a big-splash upgrade.
Games like this worry me especially if it comes down to a game 7 where a leaky goal or two cost you the season.
The Stanley Cup has NEVER been won or lost in December.
Going down 0-3 in the Finals on the other hand…
I’m hearing/reading alot of opinions that last night was a “playoff style” game. I do think it was a great game with some elements of playoff-style, for example, very tight checking with every shot being contested.
At the same time, not many playoff games have hit totals near 11-6, right?
I saw progress last night. It could have been 0-3 or 0-6. But it was only one nothing. Not the right result. They probably deserved at least a point for that effort. It might have been 0-0 after three periods of tight hockey. The way I saw that goal, is that Bouchard played it near perfectly, he took the pass away and Skinner either didn’t trust in Bouchard’s ability to do his part, or didn’t understand his part in the play. He just needed to do one thing, stop the shot and he should have known where it would be coming from. To his credit he only let the one in and he didn’t get any run support, through no lack of effort I might add. Aiden Hill was perfect and will be one of the Canadian goaltenders in the Four nations.
So he should have played Barbashev even after he passed the puck?
Did the pass get across to the intended target? Bouchard did his job. It was unfortunate the puck ended up on Barbashev’s stick. IMO Skinner shouldn’t have bitten on playing the pass, because there was no pass.
Nonsense. Once the pass was made SSkinner had to play it. Was his recovery good enough is the real question. Some have stated that Skinner is not much of a reactionary goalie. I don’t know about that, but I do agree it was bad luck for the Oilers that the blocked pass end up back on Barbashev’s stick.
Ok. His recovery wasn’t good enough. I don’t want to continue beating a dead horse. But the pass was never made. I can’t for the life of me understand how you think the pass was made, there was no pass. Skinner overreacted to the pass when he should have been tracking the puck. It was bad luck the puck ended up on Barbashev’s stick. But he still could have recovered in time to make the save if he didn’t overplay the pass, that never was.
Barbashev did play a pass though, but it was blocked by Bouchard. Skinner reacted to the actual pass attempt and started moving across. He can’t assume that Bouchard will block it because those passes get through probably more than 50% of the time. For certain, the odds that the pass gets through are far greater than it is going to get blocked right back onto Barbashev’s stick right where he can immediately shoot it.
This may alter the balance of power in the WC.
Tyler Seguin
Seguin will be out of action for 4-6 months when he undergoes surgery Thursday for a left-side femoral acetabular impingement and hip labrum, per Lia Assimakopoulos of The Dallas Morning News on Wednesday.
No word on whether or not Nill will put Seguin on LTIR but his $9.85 million cap hit will be a temptation if any high octane players become available near the trade deadline.
Seguin, all things considered, was having a good season with 9 goals and 20 points in 19 GP so will be missed.
Dallas is under the cap at the moment and accruing cap space that yields $6.5 million at the deadline.
Sekeres and Price saying a Malkin trade to Dallas is a strong possibility.
Why are we below league average for P.P opportunities? Leon and Connor get mugged all game yet the Refs turn a blind eye. We do miss Kane and Hyman getting in the opposition goalies grill.
Coach said that Bouchard played that 2 on 1 perfectly. Some here may disagree but those coaching the player approve the play, with emphasis.
Broberg would have made a better play!
I hear the Oilers game will be a even later start as the Oliers will be honouring Broberg and Holloway before puck drop. Apparently they’re jet-setting in Holland and his quest Armstrong for this historic occasion.
I think you mean Godot will be honouring Broberg and Holloway in the parking lot.
Two games in a row where the good guys were able to impost their will on the opposition (despite last night’s outcome). Feels like the template is there, and there’s a desire from the team to play that way.
With Hyman likely due back next game, curious to see where Kapanen slots in. I’d argue he has more utility in this lineup then Perry does, but I’m not the one making those decisions…
Knoblauch did play Kapanen with Leon & Connor as well as Perry. But with Hyman coming back that won’t be happening anymore. I expect to see Kapanen with Leon & Podz on Hymans return.
Good tight checking game, agreed.
The most frustrating thing about last night’s game was until 97-29 were paired up together, there was no chance in hell anyone on the good side was going to score. We signed couple aging vets that have a history of scoring and yet they can’t seem to piss a drop.
I think Cassie said that Hill was sitting deep in the crease.
In a game like that, I’d like to see 97 dance less and force less, and go back to the D for a point shot. The Knights where blocking well, but other than Bouch, there were very few pt shots taken and plenty of rebounds for the taking. Nurse missed the net a couple times.
I thought Janmark was playing very well. I would have liked to see him with 97-29. I do see the wisdom of having him on a separate line as is the puck carrier with speed getting the puck deep. But those two lines weren’t getting it done; Brown especially.
For me the positive was that they stayed in the game and stayed disciplined defensively enough to win it. The hope I can take is that they were frustrated – again – enough to want to do what they will have to do offensively beat mud D like that. What they want to do isn’t effective enough, or reliable enough
As you mentioned point shots, but there has to be traffic, and the other players have to learn where to be to put in rebounds and loose pucks. To my eye they aren’t in the right spots and either can’t get a good enough shot off, or don’t get the puck cleanly enough
Except Perry. He always does those things. Of course he’s not what he once was, but often the rest of the guys aren’t using his screens well enough
They need to get up ice quicker and beat the D set up, one of the first things KK mentioned when he was hired. And they have to bury some rushes when they get them. I don’t think they support the puck well enough as a group, which is part of the issue
I noticed Vegas was better at giving the puck carrier outlets and were in spots a pass could actually get to, more than the Oilers. They understand what they are trying to do. I think the Oilers need to work on that. Then they would be more effective against teams just collapsing. Too much individual effort from the Duo, they need to be cagier and use the others more. Of course the others have to be getting in place properly for them to do that. The group needs plans to get chances through and execute them quicker, look around less
Great game last night! Unfortunate to not have been able to get one or two past Hill last night! This game will go a long way for this group! They could’ve easily laid an egg, finishing up a successful short roadie with 2 wins out of 3. Especially with the ability get the Vegas Flu. Anyone else do a mini freak out with about 3:44 mins left when Jack rattled out a “Skinner to the net”? I was thinking whoa Knobber, he’s pulling the goalie with that much time left. But it was the other Skinner. Anyway, the Oil will be a different team the next time they play the Knights. Hopefully it will include Hyman and Arvy on the wings and perhaps the upgrade on D that we are all patiently waiting for!
What is with Bouchard’s new move on sliding to break up a 2 on 1. He has done it twice in the last few games and has been scored on both times. STAY ON YOUR FEET!
Nurse was doing that a lot last year and then stopped it seems this year. It doesn’t work more times than it does.
The diff last night ( Obviously) was the Vegas goalie, and the inability of the Oilers being able to beat him.
Brown just can’t be the 2nd line RWer. How many chances did he have last night? A lot.
Try Skinner in that spot. Albeit a Lefty he will be able to shoot quicker off that side anyways.
Fun game to watch. Lots of back and forth in the 1st 2 periods. Oil dominated the 3rd.
There was really no hitting last night. A bit odd when these 2 teams play.
Hope Hyman is back for Columbus.
LT. any idea what type of injury Arvidson has and how long he will be out?
Not clear on the injury, and I do know there isn’t much intel being passed along to media. I suspect it might be something we’re talking about for some time. Could it be an LTIR thing impacting the deadline? Oilers non-verbal invites such talk.
Tks LT
I remember good old Tom Wilkinson of the Eskimos used to say he sprained some fat when he was injured. Maybe Arvidsson sprained some fat.
The coach disagrees with you on the first point and said that Bouch played it perfectly and I agree.
That is not an uncommon technique defending a 2 on 1 and it is indeed very effective if the slide is timed properly.
Rob Brown says he hated it when d-men slid when he was attacking on a 2 on 1.
Sounds like Hyman is likely back next game with the Caggiula assignment to the AHL (although it could just be single day cap structuring and he’s called back up to play Thursday) but, in any event, it seems time for Skinner to be back in the top 6 for a look. His 2-way game is looking diligent and both Brown and Kapanen had wonderful opportunities last night that Skinner likely finishes.
Adding Hyman and Skinner to the top six, in replacement of those two (and removing Caggiula), makes all four lines better.
Kapanen has been fantastic while Skinner has been as frustrated as anyone at the bench after his own missed opportunities.
For me, that’s an aggresive use of the word “fantastic”.
I think Kapanen has been solid but Jeff Skinner is a superior offensive player and goal scorer – their careers objectively prove that.\
I think Kapanen could work well on a 3rd line and I think Skinner could work well in the top 6.
I’m liking Skinner with Henrique. Brown has always had good chemistry with Henrique, that could be the third line. With Caggiula being sent down, Janmark can join Ryan & Perry. There’s the bottom six. Skinner had some wonderful opportunities as well, that he didn’t finish.
Great game. Can’t watch Brown on Drais’ wing for another however. He is kryptonite.
Yes Brown has no business on that line.
That was an excellent hockey game last night. I had a few thoughts while watching.
-It’s been hard to get into games as a fan given the consequences aren’t high at the moment… can only imagine how the players feel. Looks like the intensity is ramping up
-That was a mistake by Drai. A good play by Bouch with a tough bounce. Skinner had little chance he was sliding across the ice, making the correct read and then the puck came right back to Barbashev, he couldn’t have predicted a 2 on 1 to go back to the passer and stop his slide.
-VGK packs the front of the net. In the NBA they created illegal defense to kill this strategy. Unlikely to happen or even work on the NHL
Skinner needed to read what was going on in front of him and track the puck. Why was he sliding across? The pass wasn’t getting across, Bouch took care of that.
He was sliding across to take away the shot. The pass was also taken away. Probably exactly how they’ve been coached and then the puck bounced right back to Barbashev who shot. Skinner going one way and then having to stop motion to close five hole unexpectedly made it a unique scenario. Physics won.
Well, if the pass, as you say, was taken away. Then why was he going in the direction of the pass? The shot was from Barbashev. Answer the question. Physics has nothing to do with it. I guess they need to practice this scenario because Skinner often bits on the pass.
Hard to be mad about that game, the Oilers played really well, and one turnover was the difference
I’m really liking Kapanen on the McDavid line. His reads are great and the play isn’t dieing on his stick like we’ve seen with RNH and Hyman too often this season. Kapanen also looked great with 97 and 29 when they loaded up in the third
If Hyman must go back on the McDavid line, I’d give Kapanen a try with Leon to see if there is chemistry there
Kapanen seems like he could be a good fit on Draisaitl’s wing. Fast, decent size, plays in straight lines and can score if he gets the puck in the right spot. He’s got some similarities to Podkolzin although not nearly as physical.
If J.Skinner could find an ounce of chemistry with Henrique..
Hits per 60, Oilers forwards:
Podkolzin 10.41
Kapanen 9.86
Caggiuka 9.39
Ryan 3.46
…& no I didnt skip to the bottom of the list, Ryan is actually 4th. 2 of the top 3 werent here 2 weeks ago (& 1 of them is gone today).
As to your other point, I saw plenty of chem between Henrique & J.Skinner last night. That line (with Janmark at RW) had a very strong game.
With two defensively responsibly forecheckers is exactly where Skinner needs to be.. Hope it works
Both of J Skinner & Henrique had solid games and so did Janmark. They were the best line on the night.
Watched the back half of the game and it was entertaining. The Oilers were clearly the better team in the third. Somewhat unlucky not to tie it, I think RNH’s chance on the doorstep late was as good of a chance as Brown’s, and he did everything right. Hill made the save.
On that chance though, Louie mentioned it was one of the only onetimers from the point the Oilers managed in the game. Vegas is obviously employing their protect the house strategy with the Oilers, anything close to the net is contested, blocked, hacked and slashed. The Oilers continue to play into that system as they look for backdoor plays. I’m not going to tell them how to play – they have the skill to make these, but at some point if a team is in full on collapse mode I think you need to punish them with shots. If they start peppering the Knights with blasts from the point/high slot that potentially breaks up the strategy and allows the Oilers to get better looks.
They can’t just play into that style with the same attacks over and over. At some point they need to switch it up. They get a lot of point shots but not a lot of point one timers – they should be building that into their game at this point to create more chaos in the offensive zone and break down this sort of defensive strategy.
Hill didn’t have many tough stops through 2 periods, but he was all-world in the 3rd period.
That doorstep stop on Nuge was saved by his goal stick that he positioned above the pad. Nuge elevated above the pad and was denied by the deliberate stick position. A great shot by Nuge to elevate in the microsecond of available time, and a better save by Hill.
Hill understands where the shot is coming from.
Nuge was in pretty close, tough to elevate over the pad.
Agreed. It seems the Oil have designated Bouch as the only one allowed to ‘one time’ and opponents have picked up on this, taking away time and space.
Unleash the other hounds!!
I thought I saw a one-time from Kapanen? Could be wrong, and of course you are likely talking about “from the point” in this regard.
Louie I think was specifically talking about shots/onetimers from the point. That bouch one timer created that RNH chance.
I liked how they were playing but I also thought they were forcing some chances and nothing was clean. They need to find clean chances – if a team is collapsing like Vegas does (and has learned this is a way to beat Edmonton) maybe one timers from further out breaks down the strategy. Appreciate the discussion all!
I’d love to see some new wrinkles offensively, especially better screens. There is often no one around the front of the net on point shots
To go along with what you’re saying, the forwards need to battle for positioning… create some confusion and chaos in front of the net… get the screens set, open up shooting and passing lanes by drawing defenders to the net front, get tips and deflections, hold body and stick position for rebounds.
Prospectinga!
A troika of OHL’ers are in the spotlight. It’s not the Kingston Trio–last Oilers prospect from there was John Hultberg, IIRC–but two-thirds London and t’other Ottawa.
London has won 18 straight and should O’Reilly continue to score, a score of consecutive wins is attainable. Nicholl continues to operate at a p/g pace this season.
The House of Stone is not yet a house on fire with three goals in nine GP.
London (O’Reilly, Nicholl) @ 4:30 p.m.
Ottawa (Stonehouse) @ 5 p.m.
Both times, as usual, are Telfordville time.
I’m usually on skinners case for bad goals but I’m surprised how many people were on him for that one. That was a broken play that he was not able to be set on. Would be nice to have the save but that’s a very tough one,
Yes, bad luck that the puck went right back toBarbashev more than anything
Can’t be mad about last night. Maybe a couple of bad misses, Brown’s on the doorstep the most egregious. They play like that and some teams will be demolished.
On penalties. Noticed lots of heavy stick work by the Knights. In the city of gambling, I wonder what the over-under was on no penalties called between these two teams on a Tuesday night in December. The league should look at this game the same as a game that has 20 penalties called. It’s an outlier for sure. Just sayin’…
Brown’s shooting gaffs were spectacular and noticeable (there were a few, including the egregious one you mention)… not bad luck, just bad shots. Troubling for sure.
I think the refs must have been told not to call anything. There were penalties on both sides that should have been called. It sure was a great game.