Last night in Toronto, the Edmonton Oilers brought those old emotions early and often. I’ve watched pretty much every EDM AT TOR game since 1979, and last night’s game stood out in a good way. Connor McDavid was dancing, that first goal of the game was shock and awe, it took a moment for the eys and brain to get together and agree on what we just saw.
I remember many games the Oilers played well, including the brilliant ‘rats on ice’ game at MLG that included a Gretzky goal at the end of the first period with one second left and a Stan Weir penalty shot goal. Last night was one of the best I’ve seen.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN DECEMBER
- At home to: Wild, Kraken, Jets (Expected 2-1-0) 2-1-0
- At home to: Sabres, Red Wings (Expected 1-0-1) 1-0-1
- On the road to: TML, Canadiens, Penguins (Expected 2-1-0) 1-0-0
- On the road to: Bruins, Wild (Expected 1-1-0)
- At home to: VEG, Flames (Expected 1-0-1)
- On the road to: Flames, Jets (Expected 1-0-1)
- At home to: Bruins (Expected 1-0-0)
- Expected Record: 9-3-3, 21 points in 15 games
- Actual Record: 4-1-1, nine points in six games
- Season Record: 15-11-6, 36 points in 32 games
The Oilers are now on a 92-point pace. I believe they have figured it out and the last piece of the puzzle may be the goaltending. I don’t think Stan Bowman is done, but will say that Tristan Jarry looked capable last night. That’s one half of the goaltending taken care of, and one would expect Calvin Pickard to be on borrowed time. He can help himself enormously with a big game tonight in Montreal.
- Frederic-Henrique-Janmark 11:52, 5-4 shots, 0-1 goals, 34X, 3-3 HDSC
- Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Savoie 10:39, 8-4 shots, 2-0 goals, 57X, 5-2 HDSC
- Nuge-McDavid-Hyman 10:19, 4-4 shots, 3-1 goals, 57X, 4-1 HDSC
- Mangiapane-Lazar-Tomasel 7:09, 3-4 shots, 0-1 goals, 47X, 0-2 HDSC
The top two lines (McDavid and Draisaitl) were 5-1 goals and 9-3 HDSC. Amazing. That’s scintillating five-on-five play in any era. The Maple Leafs looked slow to my eye, and picked a bad day for slow boots. McDavid was a rocket on a rail all night long, and provided a classic goal. Leon had the big paddle going, Vasily Podkolzin scored twice and had all pistons firing. His eight goals in 32 games this year matches his 82-game total from a year ago.
Matt Savoie picked up an assist, on an anticipation play where he knocked down the puck at center ice, and that turnover was in the back of the net in three seconds. Helluva game by the top two lines. The Henrique line ate minutes and that has value, but the trio must impact the game more. Here’s an updated look at the centers five-on-five this season, December in brackets:
- Connor McDavid 20-19, 51 pct (8-3, 73 pct)
- Leon Draisaitl 23-11, 68 pct (7-2, 78 pct)
- Glimmer twins 10-9, 53 pct (1-1)
- The rest 16-38, 30 pct (3-5, 38 pct)
That’s a tale of two cities right there. The Glimmer Twins are shattering opponents at five-on-five in December, and the rest of the roster is not getting it done. I’m not sure what Stan Bowman is planning, but this bottom-six needs some tweaks. Credit to the Henrique line for eating minutes last night.
- Nurse-Regula 18:57, 6-9 shots, 3-1 shots, 59X, 5-4 HDSC
- Ekholm-Bouchard 15:39, 9-5 shots, 1-1 goals, 47X, 3-2 HDSC
- Stastney-Emberson 15:37, 9-9 shots, 0-1 goals, 26X, 2-6 HDSC
- Tristan Jarry 25 of 28 stops, .893
Evan Bouchard sent McDavid away on his iconic goal, and was the culprit on the first GA. For a fanbase that is split 50/50 on the time of day, Bouchard is the ultimate lightning rod player. I’m on the pro-side, while also hoping he can become more consistent. Darnell Nurse and Alec Regula have a good thing going nowadays. Since December 1, they are 4-2 goals in 95 minutes, 68 percent expected. Impressive. I liked young Spencer Stastney too, think that third pairing could be rock solid. Jarry looked fine to me, more athletic, calm feet, good glove. Leafs have some offensive talent, that’s not an easy team to play.
One final note: McDavid v Matthews was a hard match (11:01). TML won the shot share 6-3 and it was 1-1 goals in their time against each other five-on-five. McDavid vs. the rest of the field? In 5:06, the captain smashed 3-0 goals (4-4 shots). Kris Knoblauch needs to line match more at home. Stan Bowman needs to find him a checking line. The Oilers are rolling now. Montreal is always a tough out.
Sail on, Brett Kulak. I knew something was up when his skating went the wrong way. My memories of him with the Oilers will always be attached to terrific speed, smart plays and great effort. I always called him a third pairing blue who could step up, and while that’s true, the main point of Kulak was just how much he improved that third pairing. You can play against the soft parade, or you can thrive against it. Kulak thrived. Sail on, St. Albert Raider.
CONDORS
The goal shares took a hit last night, with some percentages going down by 10! Seth Griffiths even-strength goal share increased, he is on quite a roll. Ike Howard is such a talent and Quinn Hutson is leaping tall buildings in Bakersfield right now. Sam Poulin had a night.
Beau Akey now has the strongest even-strength goal share. His being paired with Atro Leppanen has improved both players stats significantly.
Connor Ingram had a long night, but Bakersfield got the win. I’ll do splits when he reaches game 20, but I think we’re looking at a player who missed too much time and will need the season to catch up. There’s a player here based on his previous numbers.
Stan Bowman – “when we signed 97 for 2 more years at a discount, it was agreed we’d give 97 latitude in the decisions the organization makes. Today, I am updating the Oilers organization that I am firing myself, on behalf of 97s recommendations”
Your hot your cold is the song of the season of the 2025 Edmonton Oilers.
The Frederic situation is reaching an untenable place.
He is somehow worse than he was in the playoffs, when all we were promised was who he was in Boston after a summer of rest.
33 games should be long enough to determine that he can’t play through this. This is who he is now.
I hope Knoblauch has the cajones to sit him, but he inexplicably trusts him to the ends of the earth, so I very much doubt that happens.
If he doesn’t get his act together, he’s going to be buyout fodder in the summer.
Frederic does not belong in the NHL
I mean, 3.85 for a 40 point player isn’t bad.
But ya, he’s gotta show up. At least Edmonton is a good city to not be under the heat lol
For 8 years.
Absolute insanity even if he was who they apparently think he is.
Prediction- Hutson for DiPietro trade
Or Hutson for Dobes
I can see something like that as well
The Oilers have a surplus of bodies when everybody is healthy, and a number of deficiencies, including a 3rd goalie in the system that is ready for NHL games
Ingram isn’t that, and maybe never will be. It’s reasonable to give Ingram more time, but the Oilers are exposed at the position right now
I’d argue young skaters are the biggest deficiency so I wouldn’t sacrifice any. Backups are easy to aquire in the offseason. No cup this year anyway.
That said Bowman is more likely to widen the gap to a cup than close it so probably doesn’t matter…
Wonder when load management will become more of a thing in nhl.
Such a waste to iinvest miles in the Ferarris in so many of these throw away games where they were never really in it
Games like last night where the other team gives our top players time and space can deceive about this team. Bottom 6 cannot piss a drop and games where you need someone other than glimmer twins and linemates to do something there is no one. Lines 3 and 4 had some
zone time but no real chances to speak of.
Bottom 6 contributes almost nothing. Very little threat to score, gets hemmed in and do not play a heavy game. Something needs to change at some point.
This is exactly the issue with what they can do. Any team, even a weak one like this, can beat them with basic mud hockey
They either learn, coach included, to handle it, or they will be another team that should have won that is on LT’s list
Bye Pick
Ingram is not ready.
Bowman will make a deal I think. Pick is no bueno on PK as my tracking thing indicates
Same team different goalie last night romps. Habe also B to B
I mean, that may be true, but not on the basis of this particular game. Expected goals for Montreal were 4.25, but the eye test saw him fend off a lot of high quality chances.
But do they match Oilers internal stats Stan mentioned? Why such a swing with goalie change and no disadvantage?
Indeed. His .852 tonight is in line with his season average. Fun story while it lasted but time to move on. Sail on Seattle Thunderbird.
You are far more in tune with goalies, but at some point just make saves, no?
Sakic did it last year if Bowman hits on Jarry I’ll give him a mulligan on Ingram. I’m sure there’s a goalie as we speak getting custom made pads ready for the New Year. You can put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Ingram is a buy low, wait it out
Given he needs more time which isn’t unexpected, we wait
Despite popularity Pick has bad numbers. To be a serious contender everything needs to be taken seriously, but not reactionary
Ingram cost nothing to acquire and Utah did him a solid by eating half his salary. He’s a free lottery ticket. No mulligans required.
Every goalie goes through stretches, but guys with long track records of success get more runway. Career backups who have bounced around for a decade get less. Pickard has the worst SP in the league for any guy playing 10 or more games (#57 of 57). Team leadership argued to keep him around but you just can’t have one decent game a month and stay in the show.
The game is over, why is Ekholm out there?
When looked back from 07/08 we had 1 season (11/12) were we had no viable 2.00 Evga/60 def pairs but had 1 viable better than median Pk pair.
25/26 we Had 1 both at EV & Pk kulak -Emberson.
Wondered how Regula – Nurse at 4.96 top 20 1 PKGA 12:06 .
2 PKGA in :27. The are at 14.34 PK GA/60 bottom 10 of 113 prs.
18 yrs 1 st time zero viable EV & PK def d pairs.
Did I mention Talon had CHI cup final roster in place before Daddy gave Bowman the job!
You did, but don’t forget Bowman had to make trades as it went along. And was able to win 3
Sounds like KK needs a sit down.Or Bowman. There is no need to swing this wildly
Freddy with the turn over leads to goal against. Signed for 8 years……
He should be riding the pine, and then if he had any GAF in him, would use some of his undeserved money to hire a skills coach. And a skating coach. If he isn’t willing to put in the work, the team should make him report to Fort Wayne until it is so uncomfortable for him that he will beg to terminate his contract. It is the worst contract ever signed by this team
NMC, unfortunately. As if it was just the term and money that made this such a horrible contract.
An NMC does not prevent him from taking permanent residence in the pressbox.
Even Lucic gave us a 50 point first season. I just don’t get it, listening to his defenders the guys prime Cam Neely and once he recovers from his high ankle amputation he’s gonna make a run at Wayne’s 215 points record.
Edmonton got fleeced by Boston in that trade. They knew he was damaged goods, and promptly traded him to a team who saw him good years ago.
then, they doubled-down on it instead of cutting their losses so the optics wouldn’t look so bad to the masses. “He’ll bounce back and return to form this season” they all proclaimed, “then his contract will look like a steal!”.
yeah… this contract is aging so poorly, it’s giving the Campbell signing a run for its money.
Make him skate his ass off in practice until he is in shape. Looks like a guy who signed a contract and spent the summer celebrating it
At the very least he should be in the press box for awhile. Maybe he can find his game practicing???? Mangy has not been much better. No one has really done anything in the bottom 6. Only guy I haven’t minded is Lazar. Really need to give some Condors a chance in the New Year.
Pickard better when he doesn’t have to rely on Nurse. Nurse with an awful game. Another one.
BOOM!! Hyman where he’s supposed to score from! Now make a game of this!
Well, at least we won’t lose 3-0 in back to back seasons here.
Hyman, putting in work from his office.
Get it to net quickly. That’s the bomb!
So we have yet to win the 2 nd game of a back to back this year. Guaranteed loss night.
29 and 97 only playing like there are 2 of them on the line together tonight.
Great read by Dobes to push out hard on yanmark and take everything away.
Dont see G be that aggressive much anymore
This is perhaps the area where we may feel the loss of Kulak the most. Can only play Bouch and Ek so much in games with so many penalties. Nurse and Regula then end up being top pk unit and they are. Not. Good.
All right boys, we gots ’em right where we wants ’em.
Getting kicked on special teams…….
Nurse again doing a whole lotta nothing on the pk. Absolutely useless.
Penalty for being to strong. Check to his pants…geez…fans called that.
Nice work Frederic. A bad penalty is exactly what this team needs when you otherwise continue jack shit
And of course, 3-0, the back breaker goal
Nice to see Frederic with some aggressiveness. Anderson should have gotten 2 as well for roughing.
So many missed shots on that PP
They’re not happy unless they’re passing through 2 sets of skates and sticks. Addicted to the high risk, low probability plays
Oilers need another look on the pp that they practice when that one is not working, like tonight.
As putrid as Oilers play has been so far they start the third on the PP and only down 2. Hope they come out with some fire.
Just heard Stauffer raving about Hutson. if they’re waiting until March to bring up any AHL players, that’s absolutely the wrong time. Hopefully our NHL forwards will be healthy by then, with less spots available. And, hopefully if they are in playoff position by then, getting a month’s NHL experience is probably not conducive to being thrown into the deep end of the playoffs
Our bottom 6 has been awful. Hard to believe they couldn’t fit Hutson in somewhere.
Yep. One of those guys has to be a better fit. Samanski, Howard, Hutson, Poulin, Marjala, Jarventie. Take your pick. It might take a few tries to know which works. Whoever is blocking them (KK or Bowman) needs to be held accountable because it sucks
Could do a wholesale swap and do no worse and reduce the cap $ spent by 75%
Playing very tight, tonight. Forcing plays and taking to many chances with low probabilities.
The good news is we are only down two with a pp coming up. We score here and the Habs are thinkin “here we go, again”. But we have to execute to make it a game. Hard hats on, fellas. Let’s reward picks brilliant breakaway efforts with atleast a point!
Montreal is playing playoff style hockey.
They’re making it hard for the Oilers to get looks from the inside ice.
With that Denidov goal. Is it just me or is that Deja vu?
Nurse just stands to the side of the net watching guys walk in a pick a corner without challenging them.
Yep, he’s usually backed into the crease. Hence why many pucks deflect off of him into the net. Opponents often work the puck to his side on the PP
Jeezuz, could be 6 zip based on the amount of ultra HDs gifted.
This team’s defensive floor is off the chart
Awful awful play that period. Starts with pp not working hard or smart enough.
Oilers are completely disconnected from each other tonight. How is this the same team as last night??
Poor preparation thus far
Third line has the right idea. Keep it simple. Outwork them and get shots.
Giveaway after giveaway. It’s killing them. This team can never win a back to back anymore…
Picks keeping us in this. Sheesh, think that’s four breakaways, right?
Pressing to much, rn. Settle down, guys. Play our game and quit the hopeful passes. We still got time to get back into this.
Who clearly isn’t watching this game and giving the thumbs down?
People who would still be mad if the Oilers won the cup one of the two years they made the finals 🙂
Also – I’m listening on the radio lol. Breakaways in a game are a 50/50 chance, yes, stats may show different but whatever.
This game should prob be more like 4-0.
Pickard’s job is safe tonight
My goodness, can they please win this game for Picks??
Oilers really really struggling with man on man
It is not speed, it is anticipation that is killing them. Montreal obviously did their homework and once again, KK’s team comes in without a strong game plan
Yep, they often look unprepared for their opponent. Take a period or 2 ro make any adjustments
Weaknesses are easily exposed
Forcing cross ice passes
at the point and then picking it off. Repeatedly. The safe play is to get it down deep again. Rather than adjusting, they kept making the same mistake. Why were the coaches not ready for this?
Mtl playing same as last game, crossing the line with the holding and cross checks but allowed to. Oilers need to play through it. Depth scoring would help.
Pickard battling. Oilers struggling
Pickard has not been the problem tonight. It could be 3 or 4 goals
Feels like Oil came into this game looking to get Drai his 1000. Montreal came in looking for a hard earned win.
Well that’s terrible leadership if that were true. This is not a team in a position in the standings to be focused on inevitable individual achievements over a team win
Pretty sure that’s not the case at all.
I know. The truth is that despite this team’s recent success, I still think games like tonight show how this team is hampered by static coaching by KK
Agreed, I feel like the Oilers could come in a little better prepared for different teams and their individual game plans. The Oilers can dominate and that is well established. I think the difference between the Oilers and the Avs this year is largely coaching and having a good game plan for each individual team.
I think it’s a carryover from feeling so good about their offensive game last night. I doubt anyone voiced it but it’s human nature to assume – point for Drai would be relatively easy..
Wow, 97. Pee wee hockey mistake
Those are the kinda plays that you make when your trying to hard…
Maybe now they’ll quit trying to force things and get into this game.
oof