My Dad owned a 1953 flathead Ford. The engine was unique. By 1965, the car was old and that engine would overheat. My Dad had a strict rule: no matter where we were going, if that old Mercury overheated, we pulled over to the side of the road and waited for it to cool down. Don’t touch the radiator cap! One day I’ll tell you all the radiator stories of my youth, but that’s for another day.
The Oilers ran hot last night, took too many penalties and lost the game. Sometimes you gain nothing from a game like that one, but these Oilers are a different team. I think these Oilers, last night, met a young team with a veteran coach whose game plan (as it has been for years against Edmonton) was to get the Oilers off their game. And it worked. But only for a time.
It was an important game for the OIlers, partly because you could see the players who weren’t engaged in winning puck battles. I suspect that’s the next set of tweaks. Connor McDavid was fire, the fans blood boiled and the Ducks were damned lucky to get out of town. Expect Stan Bowman to add some real live wires before the playoffs. Expect those who do not engage to be working down the line. Expect there’s a ruckus in the alley, and the sun will be here soon.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN NOVEMBER
On the road: NYR, NJD (Expected 1-1-0) 1-0-1
At home to: ANA, VAN, NYR, PHI (Expected 3-1-0) 0-1-0
On the road to: TOR, PHI, FLA, TBAY, CAR, STL (2-3-1)
At home to: VEG, SEA (1-0-1)
On the road to: SEA (1-0-0)
Expected Record: 8-5-2, 18 points in 15 games
Actual Record: 11-3-3, 25 points in 17 games
There is no sense in debating the criminality of the play. Connor McDavid’s reaction to the play is judge, jury and executioner. Vasily Podkolzin, God love him, understood in one heartbeat. No penality on the play? How about my fist is the penalty, wise guy! That’s real old time hockey, with Podkolzin filling the John Ferguson role. As an aside, Jesus, Mary and Joseph Podkolzin can fight. I’d expect we’ll see more of Podkolzin and Dach types and fewer Alex Formenton types in the days to come. You can check and sneer at the sime time. Does Esa Tikkanen have any draft eligible kids?
- Dach-Nuge-Kapanen 6:04, 7-1 shots, 85X
- Formenton-Dickinson-Joseph 4:19, 0-1 shots, 29X
- Podkolzin-McDavid-Draisaitl 2:34, 2-0, 60X
- Dach-McDavid-Draisaitl 2:25, 1-0 shots, 100X
I don’t know if there’s another Podkolzin-Dach out there, but if there is then Stan Bowman should go get him. The Oilers had 15 shots at five-on-five (just 34 minutes in the game state) and Dach had three, Podkolzin two (in 2:34!). Formenton played six minutes, that’s about five too many. In 187 minutes, Formenton’s line has been outshot 83-65 and at least part of that is his inability to win the puck, move the puck in a winning way, and positioning. Joffrey Lupul was hammered senseless on the blogs for this kind of thing back in the day. As a defensive forward, Formenton makes Ryan Jones look like a Selke winner. Babcock sees this, and Zach Hyman is close to coming back. Unless I’m missing something, Formenton should come out of the lineup.
- Mukhamadullin-Walman 8:26, 3-4 shots, 0-1 goals, 49X
- Ekholm-Bouchard 7:28, 3-2 shots, 0-1 goals 28X
- Shea-Murphy 7:16, 6-3 shots, 90X
- Ekholm-Murphy 3:25, 0-1 shots, 4X
- Shea-Bouchard 2:16, 1-1 shots, 61X
- Walman-Bouchard 2:00, 1-0 shots, 100X
- Mat Tomkins 9-11 .818 (five-on-five); 16-21 .762 (overall)
A tough night for the blue, as the Ducks have speed, size, young and come in waves. It’s your basic nightmare. The Anaheim defense is far better than I gave credit for, there are some excellent careers just getting underway on the other side.
Evan Bouchard is in such a zone right now, he’s dangerous every time he has the puck. His 2026-27 season may rival the upper echelon Paul Coffey years. Bouchard is currently running 1.76 points-game, that matches Coffey’s best (1985-86). Tomkins was left alone too many times, but one more save gets you a point in the standings.
On the Lowdown today, Steve Lansky is our feature guest at 1. We will preview the Elks-Lions Western Final, and talk about last night’s game, and what makes a great play-by-play broadcaster and what makes a great colorman. Noon to 2pm, Sports 1440 and YouTube.
Summarizing!
Fischer (who I didn’t know was playing tonight!) had a pair of assists and five SOG.
Berry scored his 1st of the season, which turned out to be the GWG.
Lafreniere (PP), Lewandowski and Harvey (SH) each drew an assist.
Even though Robinson was denied soup, he earned 2nd star honours.
Sharp, Wakely and Berzkalns were also not procurers of soup.
Cameron spectated.
Thank you Tarkus – love the recaps
All Hail Podzilla!!
Got a couple guitars Podz could tune for me
Actually fuk that. Here’s some pianos.
Lol!
He’ll “tune in” your guitars & your pianos
I will stand by the fact we should not be too upset by one goal loss where we were forced to play out 4th string goal, while being unjustly penalized for essentially an entire period because our team did not like our superstar being attacked.
Agreed, not too upset with a one goal loss playing our 4th stringer in the 4th game in 6.
Perfectly encapsulated
I wanted to say I’m deeply grateful to be able to watch the Elks tomorrow in the Western Conference final against the BC Lions and then directly after the Edmonton Oilers play the Vancouver Canucks. It’s a great day for Edmonton sports fans even better if both teams prevail.
Oh yeah. Go Elks !
The line `Tompkins was left alone too many times’ from the above Bouchard paragraph was especially noted on the Sennecke goal near the end of the 2nd period. Boosh battled 45 in front of the net, then stood still as the puck arrived which 45 deposits.
Boosh looks down like a dog pissed on his pantleg and filled his boot.
This type of effort on D has, will and should keep #2 away from Team Canada. Talk all you want about goals and assists, he is a slacker on D, this was not a misplay. Watch the video on Sportsnet, nobody there to help him by the blue paint.
This ignores a couple of facts.
Here is a question I would love an answer to: At what point does the offensive contribution of a player like Bouchard obliterate the defensive miscues? I think 89 percent without McDavid would certainly put Bouchard on the good side of the line.
By the way, Oilers are 21 percent goal share with both off the ice. Individual plays can have enormous importance while still being individual plays. Ask Cale Makar about his Olympics.
https://www.naturalstattrick.com/linestats.php?fromseason=20262027&thruseason=20262027&stype=2&sit=5v5&score=all&rate=n&team=EDM&vteam=ALL&view=wowy&loc=B&gpfilt=none&fd=2026-09-29&td=2027-04-10&tgp=2000&strict=incl&p1=8480803&p2=8478402&p3=0&p4=0&p5=0
Great post LT!
— many year ago I used to start all my comments with a “Great Post LT”
— some bad actors offered some alternate facts and claimed that I was “mocking” LT and hammered me.
— this was during the DoD when I wasn’t buying what the OBC was selling and I probably said some mean things because the organization sucked and there was too much obsequious commentary falsely believing that we were close with those clowns.
— so I stopped the “great post LT” even though every post is a great post.
I feel like he lost track of it with his back to the play. He is kind of staring at the goalie like he thinks it’s there or something.
Thank you for commenting on the one mistake. One mistake and you cannot let go of your narrative. A player is the sum of what they do well minus what they do not do well. You could look at the balance of work, or you can continue looking for singular evidence to support your position.
Now, there is room to discuss such a mistake, but to draw conclusions to Team Canada and now you cannot be taken seriously. .
Bouchard has been flat out amazing this year, on both sides of the puck. But yep, he made a mistake.
Last year you could tell a story like this every game, often more than once. That you can’t separate the last year version of Bouch in your head from the one incident you saw last night is telling.
You don’t think Makar makes the same type of mistakes? I just watched a game a few days ago where he left his man standing in front of the net to score.
Trying to fill in for HH I see.
Just as likely, it’s a new mask on an old and wrinkled face.
This type of fan assessment of Bouchard should be used as an example in behavioural economics classes when they discuss loss aversion.
Is Podkolzin’s contract the best in the NHL?
Second to McDavid’s maybe
The ice last night looked absolutely awful. Fix it by any means necessary.
I was wondering if there had been concerts in there while the Oilers were on the road trip. Otherwise there was no justification for it being that bad.
There were two sequences in last nights game where the officiating was especially egregious:
So, Edmonton is left a man short and killing a 5-minute major because Podkolzin won a fight decisively and later in the game lost a power play because the officials were called out for letting Anaheim cheat.
Absolute BS officiating.
Draisaitl should keep his mouth shut and not put his team in that position. I’m sure he would agree.
Might wanna know what the assistant captain said before you say that.
It’s funny, that second period is a killer for the Oilers again. They were out scored 3-1 by the Ducklings with fortunate bounces. What can they do about those second period lapses?
“Anaheim defense is far better than I gave credit for, there are some excellent careers just getting underway on the other side.”
Lacombe played over 33 minutes. He was excellent no doubt but add in some of our injured depth scoring and I don’t think those Duck defenders could handle it.
They’re better than I thought they’d be (fringe playoff), but their ceiling has still dropped imo.
Teams with 3 rookies playing D generally get better and their ceiling rises.
Or they may get exposed, get shredded over a 84 game season and their growth doesn’t follow the typical “general” arc
Well, that would not include the Ducks who played one (1) rookie D last night – Warren (11:32).
I did not say they all played last night.
However, the Ducks did have eight players 22 and under in the lineup which should bode well for their future.
Unless they way over spend on certain players and have to trade away assets because they can’t afford every one.
The way I see Helleson’s hit on McDavid is that it came too late. You see these type of hits all the time, the player gets there too late for the hit but decides to lay his shoulder into him anyway even when it’s totally unnessecary. It’s different when the hit is delivered infront of the goal post with deliberate attempt to injure. Loved Podz reaction. It’s sad that the officials choose to reward Helleson and the Ducks for his malicious afterthought and punish Podz & the Oilers, for it effected the outcome of the game.
It also makes me ponder. How can Gary Bettman consider NHL officials to be the best anywhere? LOL maybe because they’re his.
That whole sequence was absolutely ridiculous. Helleson takes out McDavid with a greasy play, Podkolzin comes over to address it and tunes Helleson, Helleson’s gloves came off and he tried to throw a punch, yet somehow only got an unsportsmanlike penalty while Podkolzin got ejected from the game for winning a fight decisively. How does a player not receive a fighting major when they drop their gloves and attempt to throw a punch?
Only in the NHL does that whole sequence end with Edmonton playing a man short for the rest of the game and Anaheim getting a 5-minute power play.
There was nothing wrong with Helleson’s hit, nor with Podkolzin’s response.
The hit was just a collision at the junction. Helleson’s was merely establishing position in space he was as entitled to as McDavid.
McDavid initiated the contact with his path, not Helleson. The space in front of the net is contested space. There is no right-of-way.
This was nothing like the Manning or the Giordano incidents.
The penalty calls on Podkolzin were over-the-top. It was a one-sided fight, not a one-way fight.
No siree. The shot was taken, both had to turn skates to miss the net post, he dropped his shoulder to put McDavid into the net then turned skates. If McDavid took out the goalie there based on the bump then what? They were both entitled to the space?
McDavid let up on his kamikaze style years ago. Recently hes cutting to the net again and I think it is too high risk.
However, if you are putting it on McDavid you are incorrect.
Honestly, as an Oilers fan, if an Oilers Dman did that, we’d all be cheering and we’d expect them to answer for it. It wasn’t an egregious hit or sequence. It was to fast of a sequence for Helleson to have purposefully put Mcdavid into the bar.
Helleson had to answer to Podz and he should have but the play wasn’t that bad.
https://youtube.com/shorts/xhf_ZCqeJiE?si=SRxn4lFzls1fYzZG
OK this made me laugh. Quinn Hughes taping a stick. Smooth on the ice, but guy looks like a grade 5 crafting.
Younger me found a survivor ’64 Biscayne sedan in the early 90s, with only 60k miles on her. $300 (which at the time was more than a month’s rent). Called my Dad to tell him about my find and he says “those old engines usually don’t last much more than that” which killed my buzz a bit.
He was right, but it provided a cool and reliable experience up to about 90k with excellent fuel consumption for a land yacht. I sold it to my buddy for $150 at around 75k and after he was done with it, he got $250 for it just for the grille and chrome pieces.
Simple cars, simpler times.
Good morning, LT. It’s been a few years. I always thought that Thunder on the Mountain was about a “rumpus” in the alley, but I defer to your better hearing. Just one comment after last night’s game. Major league baseball has done a heck of a job in two important areas: speeding up the game, and improving umpire professionalism. The NHL has a long, long way to go on both criteria. Our linesmen are fine, they call them as they see them, and they’re right almost all the time. But the refs! Just not good enough.
O’Reilly was made for games like last night.
I would like to see Mathieu Olivier on this team.
100% Mathieu Olivier. He would be perfect. Columbus isnt a strong organization, but there is ZERO chance they get rid of the NHL’s heavyweight champ, who is also an effective player.
Early returns on the Stastney trade is looking abysmal.
Sorry for the update.
Stastney vs Hållander (5v5)
Stat Stastney Hållander
GP 11 9
TOI (min) 184 86
TOI/GP 16:45 9:30
TOI/GP team rank 1/8 11/16
CF% 53.5 39.9
FF% 54.3 40.8
xGF% 56.7 40.8
SCF% 53.8 41.4
HDCF% 56.1 44.4
GF% 58.8 0.0
Points/60 0.98 0.00
Respectfully, this is a very lazy / shallow analysis.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think the trade was great. But Statsney’s numbers bigly inflated by his quality of teammates. He is playing more minutes because Pitts has shallow D depth.
Hallander’s on ice numbers suck because our bottom six/ nine is full of non-NHLers.
Hallander himself is pretty bland, not like he’s standing out in a individually good way.
Imo he’s in the non NHL’r bin as it stands.
As was Stastney when he was on the team.
Hallander is included in this statement. He’s done little to show that he’s more than a fringe players.
I think it’s way too early to know. Stastney is 6th in D total ice time over those 9 games. I think Hallander is fine Babs just doesnt know how to use him yet. Apparently he is a good PKer, maybe he’ll get used there when Formenton sits
Giving stashney the opportunity to play real nhl minutes was perhaps a factor in the trade? I liked stashney but I like muks upside more.
I don’t buy this. The only other likely “return” on Stastny was moving up on the waiver wire order when he got claimed by Pittsburgh or others. If he was still here would he be playing? I don’t think so, or if he would, it would be a wash with Emberson. Walman played last couple because he’s Walman, not because he’s better than Emberson.
I’m happy for Stastny that he has found a home in Pittsburgh, at least for the time being. That doesn’t make it a bad trade. Hallander is starting to remind me of Connor Brown or Tobias Rieder. I think he’ll come around.
Hallender’s numbers are those more redolent of Petrell.
Pens still have a couple defensemen on IR. I wonder how much ice time Stastney will have when their D core is healthier?
Comparing Dmen to Forwards makes zero sense to me.
Does anyone have with/without stats for the Formenton-Dickinson-Joseph line?
I’ve seen Formenton bad too, but wondering if he’s the one dragging the line down or whether the line as a whole is not working.
In theory, at least to me, Dickinson-Joseph should work. And Formenton is the weaklink. But maybe not.
Formenton-Dickinson-Joseph have only played ~38 minutes together and Dicky and Joseph have only player together w/o Formenton for ~6 minutes.
All the fancies are abysmal for both combos but it’s a tiny sample. I would trust your eye test over the numbers available so far.
It’s been a few years since I’ve enjoyed watching someone get pummeled like Podkolzin pummeled Helleson. I think watching Khaira skate back to the Oilers bench a few years back like a drunk bee kind of left me feeling sick and it’s always been in my mind when watching the knuckles fly since. This was legit though. This was a hit that could not be accepted and the refs were happy to accept it and honestly, even if it was legal, it needs to be answered.
Oilers aren’t going to win every game of the season and with the refs taking half the night off to celebrate Skilliter’s 900th game attended and the Oilers playing in front of their 4th goalie sometimes you have to check down to moral victories and positive takeaways. There were a few last night, even if there were no points to take home.
Agreed. Pod is what we were trying to acquire in Lucic all those years ago, eh?
He’s something else. Insane that he was available at all, let alone for what the Oilers paid for him.
Reffing was just absurd both ways. But the whole pods penalty was a head scratcher.
Formenton has been bad for 5-7 games now. Micheal’s game is really digressed.
Freddy could have come in handy last night, but not really sure he has much of a shot here anymore with Babs. Same can be said of Walman. Not sure either of those 2 can be traded. Walman has just lost his confidence completely. He is not adding anything right now and the guy sitting out is and was playing very good defensive hockey.
The goalie last night needed to make saves for sure on 1 if not 2 of those goals last night.
Can’t wait till Hyman and Savoie are both back and Levi as well. Sounds like Hyman in for Sat and Levi maybe Next week early. Jarry being sick didn’t help .
As for pickups, they sure do need another Podz/Dach type. They also could use a good 2nd line C man. I would love to see ( If Winnipeg keeps dropping) the Oilers trade for Lowry. Kill 2 birds with one stone.
Need the boys to come out on Sat night and crush the Knuckers.
Emberson is a pending UFA. Walman has six more years after this season, with two full NMC years.
Bowman created a problem that Babcock has to at least try to fix.
Nuge is light years ahead of Lowry as a 2C
Lowry has 6 points in 17 games
Nuge has 11pts in 8.
If we’re targeting a Jets C, I sure hope its Scheifele.
Well they already have two pretty good second line centers in Leon & Nuge that might be top line centers on a lot of teams.
— there is a charm in the still existing “coda” in the NHL for handing out retribution when your star receives a dirty hit.
— buddy knew it was coming : Podz “knew” his job and the beating was delivered with panache
— I seem to recall last year one incident where there wasn’t push back when McD received a hit and that was talked about.
Podz is a beaut and he understands the code! He is now too valuable to be duking it out on a regular basis but when he does look out!
It’s funny. I don’t view it as an antiquated “code ” it’s just common decency and backbone. Someone does your friend dirty. You jump in to defend them. That’s the way society should work. Actions have repercussions.
A big problem with the world today imo is people being aholes online with no blowback. It’s rewiring people’s brains to think that unacceptable behaviour is sustainable.
I for one cannot wait for the return of Hyman and Savoie so that Formenton can be sent down to the AHL. AF needs to learn how to play tough-competitive North American hockey.
Formenton played the last 3 years in the Swiss league (88 gms total), which is 2nd tier professional league at best. He has the wheels but not much else. Maybe he gets better in Bakersfield, maybe he gets claimed on waivers, who knows but if he on the Oilers playoff roster we are probably in trouble.
I like the fact that Bowman is looking under every rock for players. However signing the controversial Formenton upset some of the fan base (not me) and is now looking like a poor bet. Speed is highly valued but it has to lead to something. Formenton has accomplished little despite his quickness.
I agree with bowman bringing in several players to try at no cost. If form doesn’t workout just try another.
As opposed to signing players like magipaine then hoping they exceed reasonable expectations.
Ducks do have speed and size to agitate the Oilers. Plenty of other teams beating them through hard nose determination.
Thompkins was Okay, Brossoit was excellent but so many times it was simply luck of the bounce. Unlucky night several times over. Oilers did not shoot near enough, forgetting their style, too much waiting for perfection.
Of note, when Ducks and Carolina play their full pressure game, their defensemen also pinch aggressively. Oilers back off on the pressure pinch, its one of the reasons they are first in the league limiting rush chances against. However, I like the pressure pinch.
Still learning.
Coach playing Jones over others, its a tell. He wants the big wingers.
Nuge wants big wingers too.
Its a strange comment. Nuge is playing with Dach and Kapanan.
There were 3 or 4 occasions that I thought we had scored for sure only to have Broissoit make the save. Not going to totally blame the loss on Tompkins but Broissoit was better. As for the officiating, that was embarrassing for the league. Pretty sure Babcock will be looking for more beef in the lineup.
Tompkins needed to make 1 if not 2 of those saves. But 1 for sure
You need to remember he’s the fourth string netminder.
That was a loss that the Oilers can take as a positive. First, the message is that they are a team and will go to the wall for each other. Podkolzin did what was necessary, and it was poor refereeing that saw him kicked out. Helleson did have his gloves off in the fight, so the game misconduct should be appealed.
Second, it has to be obvious even to Babcock that there are guys who should not be playing on the team at the moment. No threat to score, not back checking, lost in their own zone. Formenton should be in Bako, maybe Michaels too, Joseph should play on the 4th, Hallander no higher than third line and Jones is a stick optional player.
It may be time for Samanski to come back too. He at least is a defensive wizard, and has shown offensive capability along with his skating.
Finally, against a deep, fast team at home, splitting 97-29 gives more offensive options. They have cooled down as a line, now that teams know they only need to shut the one line down most of the time. And once they lost Podz, there was no one else who could fill the winger role adequately.
Don’t disagree with splitting up Mcdrai more, but I don’t think 6 points is cooling down.
97 last 5 is 2-8=10 +5.
29 2-5=7. +4
92 at 1-0=1. +3 is the weak link (not really) until hammering Helleson.
Babs has given a huge push to Dach who has excelled. And a huge push to Michaels who has responded but hes a bit over his head.
Babs then rotating through bottom six looking for what he likes. He needs to nail down the Dickinson line. Then, there are decent players but…..he wants Jones to have more skill. He wants Formenton to have more intensity in puck battles. They are coming up short.
I agree they will look at bringing in some fire.
Then Howard is odd man out. Hes not suited for the roles Babs is trying to fill. Fine. But there are other roles and there must be more threats to score. He needs to give Howard a huge push. Howard is extremely fast and he was starting to turn pucks over. Oilers are going to need more goals the way the line up is presently constructed.
I think the intent is for the Oilers to allow less goals against so they don’t need to score as many goals for to win games.
Yeah, but that can start by having players who move the puck up the ice, not just run around hard in their own zone.
I agree their intention is goal suppression. But you still need to score. And if all the scoring comes from top line, you will fail in playoffs. This mediocre middle has to get better.
Prospectifest!
Nine NAmateurs navigate the ice ce soir.
Andrew Robinson made a triumphant return yesternight, scoring the GWG late. With 10 points in as many games, he is one of four Spitfires (including Harvey) to be at or above a point/game.
Lewandowski has cooled off lately with three points (all apples) his last five. He hasn’t lit the lamp in six games.
Wakely has scored but once, but also has eight helpers in as many games to lead UML in scoring. He also has a team-leading 16 PIM.
The Western Michiganders and the USHL contingent round out the sched.
St. Thomas (Berry) @ 6 p.m.
Windsor (Robinson, Harvey) @ 6 p.m.
UMass-Lowell (Wakely) @ 6:15 p.m.
Saskatoon (Lewandowski) @ 7 p.m.
Western Michigan (Lafreniere, Sharp) @ 7 p.m.
Sioux Falls (Cameron) @ 7 p.m.
Muskegon (Berzkalns) @ 7 p.m.
All times, at all times, are Redland time.
Hard to take much from a game where you’re down two forwards on the bench, and down one forward on the ice from all the strange reffing.
I thought Walman looked better than he has, but still not where we need him. Oh well, progress is progress.
Shea was giving himself lots of opportunities that he didn’t do much with, I suspect he’ll be involved in a bunch of goals soon.
Joseph has been better than I thought he would be, but that was a low bar.
Hopefully a healthy lineup means we see less of Jones and Formenton.
Much better skating from Walman. He did make some poor puck plays.
It was a game he could have laid some big hits.
Bouchard’s shooting is the best in the league right now.
Multiple weapons. Deadly at distance. And not using the silly new whippy stick method – so it is both accurate and doesn’t show the goalie where he’s shooting.
The guy should do an instructional video for kids.
The guy should do an instructional video for Walman.
One of my all time favourite things is the Guy Lafleur instructional vinyl record:
1979 Guy Lafleur disco record album LP Montreal Canadiens
Glorious disco. Glorious instructions. Glorious backing vocals. Glorious hair.
With all the hours I spent in record stores in my life, I can’t believe I am today’s days old before I even knew this existed
weird.