This has been such a strange year, almost any statement can be made and lined up with a 10-game streak that offers proof. Connor McDavid can’t score five-on-five? Balderdash. And yet this season, if you narrow the view enough, there are portions of the season where the downbeat was significant. Leon Draisaitl too has had his tough moments and of course that adds to the strangeness of the year. It’s opposite George applied to the universe, and instead of a comedy, it’s a tragedy.
Have the most recent 10 games settled the hell down? Let’s have a look.
THE ATHLETIC!
- New Lowetide: Jay Woodcroft’s early Oilers roster challenges and possible upgrades
- Lowetide: Connor McDavid’s remains a transcendent talent. Here’s why.
- DNB: Jay Woodcroft’s ascension to Oilers head coach is more than a dream come true: ‘Winning is a skill’
- Lowetide: Dylan Holloway’s first games in Bakersfield and what it could mean for his NHL ETA
- DNB: Six signs of positive change surface for the Oilers in Jay Woodcroft’s victorious coaching debut
- Lowetide: 7 Oilers players poised to benefit most from Jay Woodcroft becoming head coach
- DNB: Oilers coaching change clears the way: Ken Holland’s roster construction will now have to stand up to scrutiny
- Lowetide: Oilers pro forward depth chart about to get overhauled
- DNB: Three Oilers questions that will define stretch run
- Lowetide: Hard-target search to address Oilers roster needs before trade deadline
- Lowetide: Four RH defence prospects looking to impress while pushing for the NHL.
- DNB: Why Oilers prospect Xavier Bourgault is ‘a player that everybody wants to play with’
- Lowetide: Oilers’ bizarre January ended on a high note
- DNB: Oilers’ Zach Hyman is compelled to speak up about antisemitism when he sees it
- Lowetide: Revisiting Oilers’ choice to take Kailer Yamamoto in 2017 NHL Draft
- Lowetide: Why prospects stall in the AHL
- Lowetide: Grading the first 3 years of Ken Holland’s Oilers trades
- DNB: Adam Cracknell is now a Canadian Olympian.
- DNB: Dylan Holloway resumes road to Oilers after frustrating injury interruption
- New DNB: Oilers’ flaws can’t be ignored as losing skid goes from bad to worse
- Lowetide: Why can’t the Oilers win a trade in the Connor McDavid era?
- DNB: ‘We’re finding ways to lose’
- Lowetide: Midseason review of Oilers reasonable predictions for 2021-22
- Lowetide: What to expect from Dylan Holloway in Bakersfield and Edmonton this season
- Lowetide: Oilers top 20 prospects, winter 2021
WHAT TO EXPECT IN FEBRUARY
- On the road to: WAS (Expected 0-1-0) (Actual 1-0-0)
- At home to: VEG, CHI, NYI (Expected 2-1-0) (Actual 1-2-0)
- On the road to: SJS, LAK (Expected 1-0-1) (Actual 2-0-0)
- At home to: ANA (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: WPG (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: MIN (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: TBY, FLA, CAR (Expected 0-2-1) (Actual 0-0-0)
- Overall expected result: 6-4-2, 14 points in 12 games
- Actual February results: 4-2-0, 8 points in 6 games
- Oilers in 2021-22: 26-18-3, 55 points in 47 games
A win tonight and the Oilers would be on a 97-point pace and that total should get the team into the postseason, possibly third place in the Pacific division. That should be the goal, as the Vegas Golden Knights would be an easier opponent than the Colorado Avalance or Calgary Flames. There are no easy outs in the playoffs.
LAST 10 GAMES FORWARDS (FIVE-ON-FIVE)
There’s some nice recovery from several struggling forwards, both in boxcars and goal differential. The weakest area by number in the last 10 games is right wing, with Derek Ryan the only RW scoring well in the last 10.
The big three centers are all delivering, that’s a key to any kind of post-season success. Yamamoto and Puljujarvi need to be more of a factor but that’s a reasonable bet. If they don’t it’s possible we see Zach Hyman move over to the right side. We didn’t see that under Dave Tippett, and haven’t seen it yet with Jay Woodcroft, but it’s early days. Nice to see Warren Foegele having some success, he seems to have found a home on the Nuge line.
DEFENSE
A solid 10 games for everyone on defense, Cody Ceci is emerging as an important part of the blue. Nurse and Bouchard have solid numbers in the last 10, some wobble from Tyson Barrie but he’s been more consistent of late. Notice the low event for William Lagesson! Oh my. That’s a fantastic number for nine games.
Broberg and Niemelainen are 50 percent or better, that’s part of the success for Woodcroft in these three games. Once we get to 10 games with the new coaching staff we’ll have a better idea about usage and deployment. Right now, it’s kind of dizzying and any logic we might apply (zone starts, specific defensemen playing with specific lines) doesn’t rhyme enough for us to trust it.
LOWDOWN WITH LOWETIDE
At 10 this morning, TSN 1260, we have a big show coming. A preview of tonight’s game against the Ducks (who were no match for the Flames last night) along with TSN Insider Chris Johnston dishing out the latest on the deadline and what the Oilers might do by then, along with a long look at Team Canada Women winning the hockey Gold again! 10-1260 text, @Lowetide on twitter. See you on the radio!
Sleppy and comrade Anton with the goals in the semis game. Oh what could have been!
So I get that just over a week ago we were talking about a broken roster and the value of changing a coach when the problems come from inconsistent work from the GM and shabby goaltending, but here we are today and I can’t help but wonder if it’s time to make sure that BALANCE picture we’ve heard about for years but never seen is cleaned up and looking smart because it’s going to need to make an appearance soon. This looks like a completely different team than we’ve come to know.
Its already been released.
Yup
Link?
It was released in the Athletic
My actual name is not Ryan. At one point, my handle was “Ryan from the Oilers” when I think they had at least 5 Ryans under team control. I had truncated my handle to just “Ryan” when the number of Ryans dropped to a critically low level.
What kind of tomfoolery is this? Using an alias? What ELSE don’t we know about you? Are you a giant who lives in a cave? Do you own a car with square wheels? Do you drink scotch from heavy glasses? Did you ever appear on The Beachcombers?
Man, you think you know people.
I believe you may have Ryan confused with Bill Brasky.
He was a son of a bitch!
The Nuge passed Gretzky in all-time games played for the Oilers today (ninth place at 697gms)
Only three forwards under water in the Corski/Fenskis tonight:
Evander Kane
Ryan McLeod
Devin Shore
No defencemen were… not even Barrie who was 10-5/8-4.
Apologies Ceci and Drai were also under 50%
And this is why these stats are questionable to me.
They should always be questionable on a game day basis. One of the problems (there are also advantages) of LT giving us the game stats, or since Woody was hired stats or L10G stats is that it creates a permissive attitude towards sample size.
And not that these stats aren’t telling a story, but the story they’re telling is indecipherable and non-obvious without all the context that comes along with.
If you walked into a room with 1000 coins on the floor it would be quite the surprise if they were all heads. If you walked into a room with 10, you would be less surprised to see 10 heads.
So many variables in hockey though. What’s an appropriate sample size when the variables are endless?
Vegas takes on the Kings in Sin City tomorrow night.
Derek Ryan gives great post-game.
Talked specifically talked about how hard it was to play with the prior ice time distribution. Lots of other good stuff too.
Here’s the interview at the spot he starts. Is there a little emotion there too?
https://youtu.be/8jlKuDQyXj4?t=548
Anyways he nails a lot of things.
Loved the line by Woody about “empowering” the PP2 unit in the post-game presser. I thought they looked sharper than the PP1 unit.
Woody needs to work on giving the PP1 unit a new look. Every team in the league knows that there is going to be drop pass to McDavid to enter the zone, and then they will swing it around until they set up Draisaitl for the one-timer from the slot.
Anaheim was actively disrupting the pass back to McDavid and teams are closing off that seam pass to Draisaitl. I’d like to seen them scheme some wrinkles in to move Leon around in the zone.
Understandable. But if that’s the case, how the hell haven’t teams figured out how to stop Ovechkin from his office? He’s been set up in the same spot on the PP for over a decade.
Every team uses that style of zone entry; the Oilers have been using it for years. Every team knows its coming from every opponent every game. The Oil do mix it up, for eg sometimes Drai carries it over. The zone entry is not a problem. It’s not going anywhere. I believe the Oil are still first in the League on entries on the PP.
It was never meant to operate based on the element of surprise lol. It works because it creates stationary defenders and the puck carrier has his choice of two or three gaps he can hit with speed.
Good points and no one does it better than McDavid. Still I’d like to see Draisaitl set up at different points in the offensive zone to give the team some different points of attack. He’s a great goal scorer but the one timer isn’t the only tool in his arsenal.
Holkand?
Oikers?
Huh?
LA BAMBA!
Such a nice change not to see the Mcdrai line for 30 minutes of fruitless hockey after being down 2-0.
Too early to extend wood?
It’s never too early (or late) for that
McLeod is a fantastic addition to the Oilers this season.
Finally RNH no longer seems homeless – now running his own line with Foegele with oncoming brilliance.
Might be overly boastful, hopeful maybe, but Nuge may well be the best 3rd line centre in the NHL.
The Unicorn is line is going to take them a long ways.
Good news is that the Oilers haven’t been overly lucky this year in their shooting percentages.
McDavid has been in a bad spot in on-ice Shooting percentage. Nuge’s personal is all kinds of bad.
The team as a whole is 21st in 5 on 5 shooting %.
Lots of room to regress upwards in the second half.
Okay they won tonight.
How’s Calgary doing? Where is Harpers Hair?
TEAM X has more time with the lead in the last 3.25 games than the oilers.
Great game. Fun to watch. But geez, the Ducks are bad.
Gotta mention the Gibson save on Bouchard just before the Kane goal. That may have been one of the hardest shots I’ve ever seen in close. Stunning that Gibson stopped it.
Oh ya. Get a frickin goalie Holland. We’re going nowhere with this tandem.
Has anyone told HH that Drai scored 2 and now has 35?
Yes, but he might have missed it in his excitement over the win
These unicorns producing wins is truly majestic…
Willy Legs and Nemo have shown well enough under Woody and Manson that I may rescind my desire for a LD acquisition. Saw them both make a few very deft transition plays tonight to go along with their steady defense.
Also makes me wonder if going with 7D might actually be a viable plan over some stretches. Imagine swapping Barrie out for a stout defender and running:
Nurse- [D add]
Keith- Ceci
Legs- Bouch
Nemo
Might be asking a lot of the forwards but with 3 lines humming along, maybe they can make it work!
The question mark is for Broberg. He’s the weak link at the moment. Is Woodcroftguy trying to speed his development with the 7 d?
The weak link is Barrie. The man The man struggles in his own end and at his age is not going to get better. Broberg has limited experience but his tool box is superior to Barrie’s in every way. Give him another twenty games. Patience grasshopper!😉
Stellar game. The best part is we got down early but didn’t wilt and took over the game. Kudos to Gibson. A valiant effort but the Oil wouldn’t be denied, tonight. If not for him it coulda been double digit goals.
Kane is exactly what we needed. Niems, too. Nuge is an actual wizard against lesser opposition. Even even magiced Foggy a gift goal. Ryan is on a roll and I can’t believe it’s the same Ryan as before.
I know coaching makes a difference but, holy man, I never expected the team to change so completely!
More, Please!!!
I hope Jessi is alright. He was starting to roll, too.
Can’t wait to test our new team style against the top teams soon!
BRING IT ON!!!
A real confidence-builder.
You don’t see teams self-destruct often in front of the Oilers. Their positioning has been a breath of fresh air lately. Before HH pipes in, yes, not top shelf competition. I’m very impressed so far and I will watch the upcoming road trip with great interest.
What a difference….
Nah, HH can kindly FOH with that dumb take. This is the NHL, any team can beat any team on any given night. Any win is impressive in itself. Well, unless it is against the Habs, but that’s besides the point. Anybody who downplays this 4 game winning streak is being dishonest.
I agree. It’s also how they’ve won. They completely dominated the Ducks. It wasn’t close.
The rubber was supposed to hit the road a few games ago. All of these games should be losses for the Oilers because of strength of schedule or something.
Habs beat the Blues tonight 😯
Yeah, that was just an attempted low blow against the Habs, ngl
Habs beat Blues tonight
3 weeks to a month ago that guy was claiming that the Ducks weren’t going to fade, when it was completely obvious that it would happen.
He’ll argue black is white if it will score a point in an argument against the Oilers.
Not sure why anyone still bothers to engage with the guy. He’s dishonest.
This is true. I shouldn’t even speak of him. Waste of effort.
-Derek Ryan
-Ryan Mcleod
-Warren Foegle
Molson 3 stars
I think the problem with this team was that it was short on the Ryan quota. We have enough Ryans now and all is good.
That trio should be the Pilsner 3 stars
LoL
Louie was kind of chuckling as he announced them..a little love for the ‘other guys’
Bohemian Maid, easiest beer store to buy beer as an underage lad and cheap… also, best neon in Edmonton.
That’s was fun. More dead-cat-bounce please.
Eat shit, Ducks!
And eat shit, Eakins! Still haven’t forgiven you for ruining Yakupov!
Imagine if Woody mentored Yak for a few years…. Everyone forgets that he led rookies in points and goals as a rookie under Kruger. He was in the Calder conversation that year.
Yup, lead the team in goals as well.
I had hope with Nelson. Then a little with McLellan early on in his first season, but that faded away once Eberle got healthy. A damn shame, IMO.
I still remember early in a game against the Canucks, McD swooped in quickly and found Yak for a gorgeous 1-timer in a soft spot in the slot. It was a complete blitzkrieg, Nucks didn’t know what hit ‘em. It was one of those goals that just give you butterflies.
https://youtu.be/Ips9wptq7O0
such a shame what happened to yak.
I don’t think Yak was ever going to make it.
Would have been a good year to trade that pick for a top pairing D-man.
Yep – there an interview with Burkie on Spitten Chicklets where he just roasts Yakupov. Great talent but just couldn’t be coached to play an NHL game, and wouldn’t accept a demotion to the AHL to learn the finer points of the pro game. The wide open ice of the KHL was a better fit.
Maybe it could have gone differently, but Yakupov has had an extremely mediocre KHL career since he returned to Russia too.
Nice comeback win!!
I’m assuming Shore is not in Woodies good books??? Haven’t seen much of him. Put Benson in next game….
Mike Smith forced to come to life
There is no relaxing with Hyman. He just doesn’t give up and those feet just keep on chugging. Score effects have the Oil taking their foot off of gas.
The Oilers have changed the way they’re approaching individual puck battles. As a result they’re winning a bunch more.
What surprises me is how surprised I am when they win one…. This is truly enjoyable.
There’s been short stretches of loose D zone coverage this period. Hope that doesn’t creep back into their game. There’s much tougher competition coming up
Agreed. Can’t have these lapses. Something for ManWoody to work on.
They have to get better at locking games down with a lead. I dont see much of a change in strategy with the lead like we do from other teams on top of the oilers. Too much chasing to the walls and space left in the middle resulting i too many HDs
Man Hyman is just such a good player … I love how all the fire Holland people completely gloss over the fact that he got Hyman to sign with the Oilers.
He’s so good. I just posted same above…
To be fair to them, that contract will probably eventually look bad. I never got the Lucic comparisons though, Lucic fell off a cliff fast.
The concern with Hyman is injuries. Otherwise Hyman is a really powerful skater, with a better shot and way more hockey sense than Lucic. Injuries are always a risk though, and Hyman has always bounced back from them.
Was Barrie hobbling?
smart dump by Hyman
Oilers cut a “swath” through California teams!
I thought Smith was a goalie! Man, what game am I watching?
Eakins giving Gibson time to work out of his funk….hehe
He is battling tonight.
Just turned on the game. What happen to Jesse?
They are sewing his upper body onto a literal bison.
Would that still be called a centaur?
lower body injured = minotaur!
The official release was lower body injury
We’re not sure
Anyone else notice that seems to be a ‘bad’ spot in the middle of the ice near the Anaheim blue line that just seems to be making the puck stop, multiple turnovers happening in the third in this space
Yup
VV
Crazy to think Giblets got scored on 7 times but made about 10 great saves. We should be in double digits for goals tonight.
McJesus alone has had multiple breakaways. It’s a miracle it’s not 10+
There’s a little bit of Perron in Hyman.
I see it a bit in his play. Perron was way more of an a-hole though.
Perron is a complete scumbag + pain in the ass. He deserves his ring. Tory Krug talked about what he thought of Perron in that SCF. Only in hockey.
Is it greedy to want a hattrick here?
Whatever makes Eakins sleepless at night.
That should be a penalty shot.
Holy crap! Have yourself a game, Drai!!!
Oh too bad, was hoping for a penalty shot for Drai!!!!
Anyone remember when people were suggesting to trade a 1st round pick, Broberg, and Samorukov for Gibson?
To be fair we saw this same level of defending 3 weeks ago with similar results
Goalies are voodoo….
I mean… hes faced 28 scoring chances tonight, 14 of them High Danger (Natural Stattrick) from a team with 2 of the best offensive players of this generation. I wouldn’t say hes shitting the bed tonight.
Devon Shore is the only forward pointless this evening.
He’s also the only pointless forward out there this evening 😛
I’m thinking Holland survives the night.
An abject travesty.
I abject, your Honour!
Except in one posters mind….
This is what happens when your dead cat bounce features a Superball.
Man, get this team a fucking goalie and lets go deep.
I see LMHF is already all over this.
*paging Mr. Fleury* *Mr. Fleury to the stage please*
Yep, need a Roli, Spacek, Samsonov, Dicky T month of robbery
Hyman in front, raises it up to the top corner… that’s a goal scorer