The Oilers ended December with 19 points in 15 games, and another big month is needed in January. The schedule is intense and we’ll find out much about the recent roster tweaks and see how they shime. It starts versus the Flyers.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN JANUARY
- At home to: Flyers, Preds (Expected 1-0-1)
- On the road to: Jets (Expected 1-0-0)
- At home to: Kings (Expected 1-0-0)
- On the road to: Blackhawks, Preds (Expected 1-1-0)
- At home to: NYI (Expected 0-0-1)
- On the road to: Canucks (Expected 1-0-0)
- At home to: Blues, Devils, Penguins, Caps (Expected 2-1-1)
- At home to: Ducks, Sharks, Wild (Expected 1-1-1)
- Expected Record: 8-3-4, 20 points in 15 games
- Actual Record:
- Season Record: 20-15-6, 46 points in 41 games
We are just a little shy of last month’s prediction (9-3-3), but the schedule is inviting this month. If the Oilers can get the third and fourth lines figured, this thing could fly.
Plenty of talk online yesterday about the recalls of left wing Ike Howard and right wing Quinn Hutson. Both men have been hammering on offense and outscoring at even strength all year. The encouraging thing about the recall is the coaching staff may finally be desperate enough to play the kids. One hopes the ‘new originals kid line’ gets 10+ minutes at five-on-five. I think that’s the only way running these young talents on a single line is to play them often versus the soft parade.
The hockey history involving the Philadelphia Flyers and Edmonton Oilers began in the 1980 playoffs. Philly swept the Oilers, who took two games to OT, the final one double overtime before Ken Linseman sent the Oilers to their summer. Behn Wilson scored a big goal in that game.
In 1985, Edmonton beat the Flyers 4-1 in the Stanley Cup Final, with Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey scoring 11 points in the five games, and Grant Fuhr (.902) outdueling Pelle Lindbergh (.885) and Bob Froese (.845).
The best Oilers team of my lifetime, and the best SCF involving the Oilers in my lifetime, was 1987. Seven games, 4-3 Edmonton, I didn’t breathe until Glenn Anderson’s goal in G7. Fuhr (.917) was brilliant, Ron Hextall (.903) was out of his mind and damn near robbed Edmonton of Stanley. Gretzky, Coffey, Kurri, Messier, Lowe, Huddy, Gregg, Nilsson, MacTavish, Pouzar, Ruotsalinen, Smith, Hunter, this was the pinnacle.
In life, true greatness arrives only by overcoming giant obstacles. Lore arrives only after difficult and memorable battles. Hextall, Mark Howe, Brian Propp, Brad McCrimmon, Pelle Eklund, Murray Craven, Doug Crossman, Brad Marsh, Peter Zezel, Scott Mellanby.
Of all my cherished memories of the 1980’s Oilers, at the very top is the 1987 team. A big reason for it was the formidable Flyers, champions in their own right, victors without a title. Respect the Flyers. Always.
Brett Kollman/ EJ Snyder’s bootleg Football site is a mechanics training ground.
When I first looked at NFL win mechanisms, I found 84% win rate with only (run Defence)Top RB efficiency Yd% (pervtouch), TD%, 1D%.
Gibbs had second greatest RB efficiency season in 24.
Joining top 9: Faulk 2, Holmes 2, Oj, J. Brown, CMC, Charles.
Draft media, “You do not draft a RB……
SB draft show pundits “Why Draft LB campbell, he has terrible 40.
Later “But he did have best short area measures.”
Parsons: “He is what fits winning NFC football, His speed fits what LB need. Lb do not go 40 yds down feild.”
WR, TE, RB. run specific 3D location routes of 3 levels.
The cover 2 has compressed the whole.feild.
T. Boles compressed area def is suited to that.
So elite QB is short full progression read, Load, react. With accuracy.
get most yds.
Merril Hodge: “many QBs look for the deeper pass. Brady quickly decides. Takes 5 yds if it is there. Better to be 2nd & 5 than 2nd & 10.
Qual of teamates matters: ST br (B2B 23,24j has a chance to be Top 6 TRec, Yds, TD, 1D 3 yrs in a row.
Joining: Rice & Harrison 4 in row; 3 St Sharpe, Rison,
B2B Lamb, Adams, Dehop, A. Brown, Biletnikoff, D. Maynard, Alworth, Powell.
Laporta 17 TD yr 1&2 joined Gronk & Ditka!
Anonymous Every industry is mechanics outcome route trees.
I hardly ever used a computer. I could see nature in 3D.
Doing plane geometry at NAIT, had to walk thru my method.
adept head, “Only u could invent a knew way!”
Penetration sports finding area to Crete higher scoring efficiency.
As D. Suter said to me, “ We are turning them into F…. Robots.”
Saw a video were the best description of Jokic:
He know our plays before we start.
Knows Each team area of weakness.
Knows were the play is going(I could do that in Rugby, Football.)
The key: He stays on his feet so he can beat us to location/ball.
Does not matter if Assit, rebound, Shot. If it gets pts, becomes the correct way.
Thinking it through:
Matinee games surely records favour eastern teams i bet.
2pm MST = 5 pm EST
2 pm EST = 11 am MST
So making western home games “matinees” in cross conference games surely neuters some of the inherent home ice advantages.
2 hour time difference between Mountain and East, not 3.
Yes, I think this is obvious. Not sure it’s wrong in isolation but the way the league is run with clear bias and managed by Toronto/American hockey people it’s really a very minor thing.
The game fi…er…management and teams running around with undeserved Stanleys is a problem for me. So much so I am completely apathetic at this point.
Just watched highlights but I see they are back to a half swarm. All 5 defenders with their skates pointed towards the puck carrier in the D zone the whole shift with no shoulder checks. The puck carrier is not scoring the goal! Why do they keep doing this?
Also, Flyers well prepared for the stretch pass. An easy breakup and transition to offense for the GA. The major flaw in the stretch pass – It can’t be your only breakout strategy otherwise it’s easily recognized and the defenders are always in position. Tochett was laughing all the way to the hotel bar tonight.
This team is so easy to game plan for 5 v 5
Summarizing!
Lafreniere scored his career-high 25th goal of the year and added an aPPle. He also dominated the dot, going 19-for-30 (63.3%). He was named 3rd star for his efforts.
Park did not earn soup but did win 8 of 13 draws (61.5%). Primarily a RW, he likely got some draws with three of Michigan’s forwards gone for the WJHC.
Berry, Fischer, and Wakely were also held soupless.
Barnett and Lewandowski did not dress.
Once I found Pff, Bootleg football, tracked Draft junkie players Parsons, etc mechanics comments I used same methodology from here looking at NFL.
found top QBs have 66% avg+ (means +1 TD vs Int) rate gms.
They have top 6 TD/gm, TD%, rate.
but 3.00+ TD/int ratio is elite.
Watched media sites list Mahomes in their elite list. 24 & 25.
He is 38% avg+, #14 1.6 TD/gm, #19 4.4 TD%, #18 91.7 rate, #20 2.18 TD/int. He has not been the same since Bienamy left KC!
People are betting, being lied to by Corp. media.
Using My Team, comp, sys xAvg. PHI has 6 70 pff Cov grade LB, CB, DB. All with desired 1TD allowed per 250 Cov snaps.
His SB performance was expected!
Mahomes is propped up by game management. Flash in the pan.
All penetration sports about compressed score areas.
I have looked at NHL, NFL extensively.
Soccer (Similiar to my HD SH area but larger) NHL (HDSH area called Rickisbox here) NBA (false 3Pt line devalued penetration) have nets 4 scoring.
NFL has a line.
Since I identified 2/3 of Final 4 winning teams 4wins are 6 to 3 Goalies allowed. The compressed area def system is critical.
Theory #50 repeat final 4 rosters is a bout Penetrating (improve target range), Targeting Open net space (Supressing bio evo hunt mechanics = hit body).
you have to understand that stopping Open SH is not a high success rate. Their was an oilers gm with 52 SH & 2 were open, 2 went in!
it was the extreme but The open SH xSave% baseline is critical.
Media is about audience counts. Talking offence sells. Def wins championships.
Looks like the present “soft” schedule predicted isn’t so soft after all.
So, the Nordiques were down 3-1 against the Whalers going into the 3rd period but scored 4 in the third to take the win.
Not unusual…but…the Avalanche are now +39…in. the. third. period.
Amazing.
MacKinnon with 1 G 3A.
Are we talking about the same Whalers who gave up 7 to the Habs and 5 to the juggernaut Penguins in the previous 2 games?
Positives:
Negatives:
Frederick with lowest minutes played today (just over 8) Obviously he is not contributing much. Would rather see Lazar with those minutes. Once Kappenen is back Freddy should join Mangi in the PB. It sucks that the two guys you just signed aren’t delivering but it is what it is….. Up to the player to earn the ice time.
As a boss when your feeling blue than why don’t you skid a few. Start benching players call up Clattenburg this team needs a spark.
They cannot bench players and call players up.
In order to call players up they need to send players out.
The Oilers have no cap space right now and, in fact, need to move someone off the roster (or to LTIR) just to activate Kap for this coming week.
It will require 3 more players out (likely) to activate Walman.
I know I’m just frustrated of watching a listless team there has to be someway of getting these guys going. They’ve played like less then crap since the Christmas break.
Best part of the game came early when Jack Michael’s confirmed the Josh Samanski is going to the Olympics.
Now I still don’t see this anywhere online – I don’t know why a couple of the countries don’t have their Olympic teams out online but it makes sense (he was on all lists I saw months ago before he’s had a great 3 months in the AHL) and I presume Jack isn’t putting that out there without team/official verification of some sort.
Germany is my dark horse pick. I have no idea which side of the bracket they are in. I foresee a top 4 for Leon and the Germans. Tobias Rieder scores a huge SH goal on a clear-cut breakaway from center ice somewhere along the way.
After watching today’s game I understand why Guerin decided not to take Fredrick for the Olympic team.
He was actually being considered????
Absolutely
not.
missed the game. read the comments, thank you. looks like I missed a mess of a game.
I think the inconsistency is 2 fold simple.
1 – Goaltending
2 – Depth
If you don’t get saves you will never consistently win. Let’s pray Jarry can get back healthy, he may be our only realistic option at average to above average goaltending.
If you don’t have depth, you are going to get inconsistent results and efforts. Obviously when Mcd Rips off 3 pts / game we tend to win. But that isn’t sustainable. Inconsistent D, below avg line 3 and 4. This is us.
I believe the deepest team we had was the 2024 Cup Final Team. Then they let the middle of the order leave ……
Would add a 3rd point. A lack of commitment to the defensive details which leads to completely disconnected play.
They want to get out of their zone before getting control of the puck and don’t support it. What I haven’t figured out is if that’s on the players or the coaches but it’s frustrating.
Reminds me a lot of watching Nashville in the last 1.5 years of Laviolette coaching the team. Forwards wanted the defense to get them the puck 140′ away and instead the play never came out of their zone.
Makes the team look very slow. And disinterested.
This may be the only point.
After the late November shellackings the team remembered how to play responsibly. The result, at least until Xmas? All the goalies looked good. All the D looked decent, some even good. McD went on a tear. Everything else, even the “third line problem,” stops being so important when the team (starting w the on-ice leadership) makes a “commitment to stopping goals” (I’m paraphrasing another commentator here).
Edmonton Oilers (42 GP)
SV%: 32/32 (0.8876)
xGA/60: 2.62 (20/32, highest to lowest.)
HDSV%: .7589 (32/32)
HDCA/60: 16.89 (10/32, highest to lowest)
Collectively, Oilers have both the worst SV% and HDSV% in entire league.
XGA/60 is actually 12th best in league. Not much variation in HDCa/60 amoungst teams.
The Oilers have goaltending woes.
I think it’s more than that. Also if this is season it’s a bit skewed as finals teams usually start slow, and the Oilers do as a habit. It’s not what’s going on now
Their team defense is unstable game to game. That makes the goalies job tougher. Still Su Pick were the answer. It looks more hopeful now if everyone in nets can stay healthy
This all night long.
Back in the day when the debates raged over Hall et al, and the AHL quality bottom players, the consensus was your best players aren’t the problem (well not usually) and the worst players aren’t either
If you believe are losing games because Regula is struggling (-1 was not the worst number from the D today) or Henri (or Mangi or Fred or whomever) sucks you aren’t focusing on the right things
Whatever the reason is this time for a string of poor games, at some point the leaders need to lead. I don’t like the panthers but they have had results. Maurice went on about Barkov, and what he means to the team and how he is their heart. He works his ass off and plays a responsible game first
That is what Connor and Leon need to do, now. We all and they all know offense won’t solve their problems, because they can’t score 5v5 against teams that close off the middle, especially if they get to obstruct and hack while doing it
A permanent commitment to not getting scored on, and adjusting to their new way of hockey life, will not kill their offense in the long run. It may increase it in not chasing so many games, playing less and more relaxed, more confidently. It’s been long enough guys, take the final step. Stan works 24/7 and is not afraid to make changes, so that’s also not a problem or excuse now
“That is what Connor and Leon need to do, now. We all and they all know offense won’t solve their problems, because they can’t score 5v5 against teams that close off the middle, especially if they get to obstruct and hack while doing it
A permanent commitment to not getting scored on…”
Bravo!
This was, to my eye, the problem in Oct-Nov. It was, to my eye, the problem in Game 7 2025 and Games 5&6 2024. When McDrai make that “permanent commitment” to not get scored on, the team will follow. Or get sacked.
Isn’t there a story about Yzerman not winning a Cup until he made that commitment? When McDrai get serious about Selke… maybe then a Cup.
Henrique is definitely 100% contributing to the losing, he makes some of the worst passes to no one ever seen.
They’re not simply losing because the best players aren’t 100% the best at all times in all aspects of the game.
This isn’t a if only Draisaitl and McDavid would morph into Barkov then everything would be roses.
The PK is awful, the 3rd and 4th lines are playing at the local outdoor rink level.
The Oilers have had results, two straight runs to the final. They decimated the western conference last season, then Hyman broke his wrist, Kane tuckered out, and the opposition had the better tender again.
Before today the Oilers goal share in the bottom 6 without 97 or 29 was 19gf and 44ga.
This isn’t a best players need to learn how to defend like Barkov issue.
Still the top players get outscored a lot. That no one else can play well is about coaching imo. Henri is not a bad player for example
I think Henri is the perfect example of a bad player. So it mangi, so is Fredric
I believe you need to play to the strengths of your stars. McD and Leon are high end race horses. If you want to turn them into clydesdales then you shouldn’t be paying for race horses you should just buy cheaper clydesdales in the first place.
McDavid, Drai and Bouch are not the problems on this team and if they are then allot of other teams would like their problems.
Add Nudge, Hyman, Ek, Walman to that list as well.
Hopefully Jarry is the guy to bring consistent confidence to the net but if not then the GM needs to find that.
Gm needs to find the right complimentary players and the coach needs to play to those players strengths. Mcdavid will never be Barkov but Barkov will never be Mcdavid.
You’re right but I’m not talking about becoming a Jacque Lemaire team. How about hit your defensive assignments consistently. The Leafs can’t get past it either. NHL hockey is a hard game
Agreed but all players miss assignments. High end skill players take more chances to create as well. Its funny if you look at Barkov and Mcdavid’s carers you will see Mcdavid has a much better plus/minus than Barkov and I would argue that Mcdavid faces the other teams top dmen and shut down forwards more than anyone.
They won’t even make the playoffs trying to win that way.
I guess you trade the Aces for a bunch of 10’s and Jack’s then. Its pretty clear in the stats that the team is massively winning with Drai and Mcdavid on 8ce and massively losing when they are not. Clearly Drai and Mcdavid are not the problem in any way shape or form. They are two of the best three players in the NHL.
You’re not seeing what I responded to.
Strongly disagree. If mcdavid and drai need to play less offense to play more “defence” we still lose games 3-1 instead of losing games 4-2.
no one outside of them is putting up goals. Barkov can play his “complete” game. The third and fourth lines will make up for the offense he doesn’t score. Our third and fourth lines will not only not score, they will also give up a few.
we need a 3rd and 4th line that is capable of occasionally scoring. The non mcdavid and drai minutes are shocking. We probably have the worst bottom six in the league.
Coach won’t be coming back after the Milan break, imo.
Sure hope so, he’s in over his head.
Definitely feels like it.
Who would replace him?
Gerard Gallant, or Todd Nelson.
You seriously think it’s Knob’s fault. Who put this mess together? Stan Bowman that’s who. His 3rd and 4th lines yesterday had one shot on goal. One effing shot!! You expect Knob to make chicken salad out of chicken sh*t??!! Come on. I strongly suggest you read Spector’s column from yesterday’s game. He gives some stats that are mind numbing. Yesterday’s game gives a perfect reflection of why 97 only signed a 2 year deal. In fact the last 4 games might be an even better example.
Here comes Kucherov.
Scored his 20th goal of the season along with 4 assists today.
Now 25 points in his last 10 games played.
Now 5th in league scoring despite missing the first 5 games of the season.
Yeh, he’s really pumping up his value, TB should get a haul for him next deadline.
Because as we were all made aware, signing Drai to an extension at 29 was a bad idea, so can’t imagine it’s a good idea for someone who will be 34
Given their history…see Stamkos for reference…Tampa will NOT sign him to an expensive long term extension but out of respect may allow him to play out the final year of his contract.
With his career earnings approaching $100 million, he may just retire or sign a Jamie Benn type contact.
Wow. Thats gotta be something like the best 10 game stretch for any player I can recall
An underrated misstep perhaps: Regula over Stetcher.
Not saying Stetcher would move the needle all too much, but boy, he’s bringing passion for Toronto.
Regula has been noticeably bad over the past three or so weeks, and Walman takes him out of the lineup without question. Can’t happen fast enough too.
So the kid line, eh?
Matt Savoie — TOI 8.1
xGF/60 0.22 | xGA/60 2.67
CF% 26.3 | FF% 10.0
GF–GA: 0–1
Quinn Hutson — TOI 9.3
xGF/60 0.19 | xGA/60 2.78
CF% 23.8 | FF% 7.7
GF–GA: 0–1
Isaac Howard — TOI 11.9
xGF/60 0.15 | xGA/60 2.48
CF% 19.2 | FF% 6.7
GF–GA: 0–1
This line never had the pedigree of Cogliano & Gagner, and the team was selling hope at this point. The games didn’t matter.
Why KK thought this was the best way to break this line in, I do not know. Is he trying to be the Art Howe as per Seymour Hoffman’s portrayal in Moneyball?
Agreed it was an odd choice.
Unless you move Nuge down to 3c, we don’t really have a suitable option for 3c.
he is in Buffalo
jeff jackson is a moron
He is also $5MM on the cap.
He is also a perimeter player who fades in the playoffs.
Does anybody still think the world would come to an end if Picks was put on waivers come the time? He has the odd game that he knocks it out of the park but the majority of the time below average. Actually I think his sv% is the 2nd worse in the entire league. With that said the team needs to be better bur might be different if they are not always chasing the game.
Goaltending for sure a problem but unfortunately far from the only one. Bowman seriously needs to reevaluate the player mix. D is inconsistent and too small especially with Walman missing so many games. Bottom six accomplish absolutely nothing. Too small, too slow and no aggression.
The three Smurfs all had a chance to block that last shot and all three of them stepped out of the way just as it got to them ..Laving Picard about 6 feet to react . these kids need to go back to the AHL and learn how to play the game right
Wow, previous to this game everyone was saying they are too good for the AHL. I believe their were comments on here about them “rotting” away in Bakersfield… 1 game and that’s it, judgment made..Hmm. agree they shouldn’t all play together. Savoie played well with Leon, maybe try:
Howard Mcdavid Hyman
Pods Drai. Savoie
Hutson Nudge Ross
The Oilers are terrible after breaks. Any break. Consistently. And for a number of years. Not sure why, but it’s an issue. (Understatement) They take a long time to get warmed up and playing ‘their game’ whatever their game is. This year is more of the same. Problem is there have been no lengthy winning streaks to make up for the poor starts after breaks. Need at least a 6-10 game streak to show that any more moves should be made by gm. If they don’t get a big winning streak, I’d be trying to get rid of dead weight at the deadline rather than loading up. This team, as constructed, has next to zero chance of get by any of the top 3 of the central.
They have not won 3 in a row all season. Had their best chance against the Flames before they laid an egg
This team is infuriating. 1-3 in four games out of the break, and haven’t looked good in any of them. They cannot play three consecutive good games. They cannot play two consecutive good periods.
With 29 playing like garbage, the strategy is literally “let Connor do it”
A fourth line that does less than nothing. A third line that does only a percentage point more. A defence that just forgets to play, and a goaltender that gives up a softie once per game.
They’ve blown the chance to take a steady lead in the Pacific. We’re lucky everyone else stinks too.
Bad D, Bad Goaltending the last 2 games. Here we go again
Just gross. Two organizational losses. I feel bad for Connor and a few others. I think I’m going to take a break from them, while they take their break from hockey.
Looks like the Oilers overdid LT’s dictum to respect the Flyers.
PATHETIC PERFORMANCE.
Ugh. Nothing like rolling into the new year getting absolutely handled twice on home ice.
Boo!
Does half the team have the flu????? Flyers are not exactly a great team but they are dominating this game. We always have a chance with 97 on the ice but the rest of the team are sleep walking. Seriously need some physical energy players in the line up. Oh yea that was supposed to be Frederick…..
They’ve seemed off for sure, and physical play is the best way to deal with the Flyers. Heading into this game the Flyers are a better team than the Oilers standings wise with a higher winning percentage. Maybe they don’t have as much firepower as the Oilers, but they had the answer today. As LT said, Respect the Flyers. Always.
With a couple days between games, I hope they get in at least 1 good practice and come out stronger vs the Preds Tuesday.
First shot! lol Have some pride, ffs. This team has so little gumption…
I was expecting more of a push back from Edmonton in the third. Terrible
The lack of any intensity is quite perplexing.
[slow clap]
Trailing the whole game it’s probably not good to be outshot by 6
Actually 8
What a gong show
This game is on the coaching. No adjustments, just watching all the poor decisions play out without any care.
And now look to KK to throw Hyman and a tired Drai/McDavid over for shift after shift, because changing up the look of the bottom 9 is too difficult
He freezes.
One of the big reasons they’ve lost in the finals.
I am not sure I believe that, particularly last year.
However, many teams can and have been doing more with less, so I am frankly tired of the excuses and deflection to the players when he is the one coaching their bad habits and strategy, and deciding on the lines.
KK’s best accomplishment this season was constructing 2 formidable forward lines centered by McDavid and Draisaitl, and then he broke one of them up for no apparent reason.
The players are pathetic.
No urgency.
They were the team with urgency in the first, then a couple of bad bounces and subpar goaltending put them in a 3-0 hole. KK chose the starter and stuck with him.
Then, as the game went on, it was apparent that the 2nd-4th lines were being outplayed, and he made no in-game changes.
Somehow they were down two goals after one.
KK not great this year, who might they replace him with?
Our fourth line is putrid. Guaranteed 90 seconds in our zone
Every shift is just watching them play defence.
Not a lotta hunger out there. Win a friggin puck battle, already!!!
Gotta want it more than this uninspired play…
We only have 4 or 5 players who are a threat to score. The rest just take up ice time. What a disappointing effort.
Bottom 6 needs a total makeover. Probably an offseason thing. Whose contract is up this summer besides Henri?
Podz shoot the damn puck!
See also: everyone else. Flyers 4th goal exhibit A for why you shoot from anywhere.
We need at least a point today.
Looks like Struds borrowed that jacket from a smaller man.
2nd line bleeding chances and now the penalty.
It’s one thing to try to win with only the top 2 lines producing. It’s another when the 2nd line isn’t going
Going into today:
Roslovic-Draisaitl-Podkolzin xGF 45%, goals 61.5% (8-5)
Savoie-Draisaitl-Podkolzin xGF 59%, goals 85.7% (6-1)
Breaking up the successful 2nd line with Roslovic has been a mistake thus far, not justified by eye test or by logic.
Meanwhile, Howard-Savoie-Hutson not working. Maybe put Roslovic between the young hungry wingers and put Savoie back on the 2nd line?
Can Rosco drive a line though? Is he a center?
I don’t know. Based on the players dressed today, though, it does a few things
I know the bottom 6 has been a liability, but the top 6 plays more time and getting them all going is important. The early success of Roslovic-Drai-Podkolzin was zoomed a bit by PDO and is now back to earth.
Developing Savoie long-term is far more important than getting Roslovic more 5 on 5 time
To me the obvious play is to put Savoie back with Drai, move Nuge to center the third line and test drive Howard/Roslovic/Hutson with McDavid to see if there’s a fit with any of the three, I’d start with Howard but doesn’t really matter who gets the first shot.
If neither works move Nuge back and find a center for the third line, either from the AHL or through trade, just make sure the guy’s an actual center.
This is the way
Nuge doesn’t exactly drive play, especially on a 3rd line. Then you’re breaking up both of the top lines that have consistently outplayed the top 6 opposition. I think it is unwise.
I also think it is unwise to continue to play Frederic, but he was far from the biggest problem today
The Canes are a far more disciplined team over the years than the Oilers. Ros lead them last season in 5v5 goals at 19, 9th in TOI. However, his 5v5 goal share was 46-55, 45.45%
This is why he bounces teams. He has skill, a shot and speed, but he’s not a good two way player. He’s like a better finishing Kapanen
When Leon is off he needs defensive help, which Podz is usually, he might not be 100% yet though
At least Bouchard looks frustrated by his own play. Maybe playoff Evan shows up for the third.
That would help.
It would not surprise me to see Savoie back with Dri in the third
Yes, I hope so. That would be good in-game coaching that should have happened a period ago. The change was too late against Calgary, will it be again?
Quite surprised that a coach that likes to pull out the blender kept that line together, especially after going down by 3. The kid line seems like a dick move as I’ve stated earlier.
Well guys your kid line has spent all of their time on the ice chasing the puck. I thought they were in the AHL to learn how to back check .This is men against boys when they are on the ice.
Brian Burke had reservations about the line, namely small players and not much NHL experience. He did say why not try it but didn’t expect much
I would not have put Savoie in the middle with 0 NHL experience with these 2. See above
Whatever you do, avoid comparing Abols and oranges.
Gene should definitely use that!
Best thing I’ve read here today! More, please.
BOOM! Perfectly placed Bouch Bomb! Bend but don’t break!
Flyers are driving the slot, wide or middle, counting on poor threat identification and/or poor back checks. It’s working. There were other close calls that didn’t go in.
Do you think Rick Tochett knows a thing or two about the Oilers’ vulnerabilities?
Just playing to the middle. All of the best coaches have their teams work for that. The Oilers despite the talk don’t try to generate chances to get much from the best scoring areas, rely on individual plays. It can get shut down if the whole team isn’t focused on it, and the lesser players can’t score
And KK should also know a thing or two on how to beat Tochet coached teams. It works both ways. Except one coach isn’t adapting.
Looking at the shot map the Flyers have 9 shots circles in and 3 goals from there, the Oilers 6 at best and 1 goal on the PP. Play on the perimeter and that’s what happens
Expected goals (money puck) are 0.82-0.69 in favour of the oilers, but it’s 1-3. NST has Philly at 2 HDCF and 3 goals.
Pickard is not an NHL starter and is a below average backup. I don’t know what Ingram is this year, we don’t have enough of a sample size, and his career has been uneven for obvious reasons. But like Skinner, we know what Pickard is, and he should not be splitting the crease even when he has a good game. That’s decision making based on emotion and “gut feeling” rather than rational use of evidence. Another example of how both poor coaching and substandard goaltending has beset this team this year, despite its obvious wrinkles
He’s not a starter.
He’s been a serviceable back-up the last bit but is struggling overall.
He’s competing with another goalie for 1B as the starer is hurt.
He’s going to lose.
The org is clearly leaning towards Ingram as they gave him 3 of 4 and went back to him after Pickard’s stay.
He has not been splitting the crease since Jarry went down – its been a 1A/1B for sure.
They have 3 days until the next game. No reason not to give Ingram another start. Was clearly the wrong call and may cost them 2 points
You are both correct to varying degrees. Stan is rebuilding the goalie position for the team, expect the addition of another reasonable bet before year end.
This is a great post.
The Oilers are making decisions based on comfort and vibes, heavily influenced by recency bias. By defaulting to Pickard, they gain no new information while wasting critical time that should be used to determine who Ingram actually is before the waiver clock forces their hand.
Starting Ingram last game clearly shows the opposite in that decision.
Remarkable how dumb Jack and Louie are.
They truly believe that because Darnell Nurse ended a 2-on-1 by taking a fight it was an “unofficial “ assist as the reason Sanheim made a horrendous turnover, Ekholm made a great play, and sent McDavid in alone.
No question about it.
The Philly feed is far more “enlightening”.
I don’t know if I should feel more offended or impressed =P
Well that’s one way to ignite the rocket boots, Beserker jailbreaks MachDavid with the unofficial assist to Nurse for getting everyone fired up after a donnybrook.