December 27, 2019 /

2019/20 Edmonton Oilers GM41: Flames @ Oilers – 3P2W – Early Thoughts on the World Juniors

The last time these two teams met in the regular season, Connor McDavid got tripped by Mark Giordano and crashed into Mike Smith’s net going 30 km/hr. The result, a busted up leg and an off-season of rehab that had the start of his 2019/20 season in question. I even thought that he’d take a step back this year and Leon Draisaitl would overtake him for a year… It hasn’t quite gone that way, has it?

Well, I’m not entirely sure how to feel about the Battle of Alberta this year. Calgary’s superstars have been on and off so far and their defense has regressed quite a bit. They did, however, find a way to get Milan Lucic and Tobias Rieder on the scoresheet, so kudos to them for that and a couple of their youngsters are emerging in Andrew Mangiapane and Dillon Dube.

Calgary’s bottom-six has a massive 4pts among them over the past five games and over that time the whole team has seven goals.

Gaudreau, Monohan, Backlund, and Lindholm are all keeping themselves relevant but it’s Matthew Tkachuk that has taken the next step and is leading this team on the ice and on the scoresheet (32pts). He’s still a rat on the ice, but he has been consistently appearing on the scoresheet in 2019/20. I can’t wait to see him and Leon go head to head tonight as they always go full tilt on each other when the Oilers and Flames meet.

But it’ll be Connor McDavid’s show tonight. Calgary can’t shut him down and he’ll be primed to prove that the Giordano incident will not affect him going forward. Watch the first time he gets the chance to go 1-on-1 with the Calgary captain. He’ll try to make the most of it.

Just An Aside: Do you think that the Blackhawks might be looking for some help on defense now that they’ve LTIR’d Calvin De Haan and Brent Seabrook? Would sending Kris Russell there for picks or prospects make sense? 

Early Thoughts on the World Juniors

  • Yaroslav Askarov and Spencer Knight had horrid starts to this year’s tournament. Can’t say I expected that from two players that are odds on favorites to be great NHL goalkeepers for many years to come. Their teams will only go as far as they allow them.
  • As an Oilers fan, if you don’t know who Jan Mysak is, get to know him now. The Czech may very well be the next David Pastrnak and he could be around in the first round of the 2020 NHL draft when the Oilers are picking. This young winger who is already playing pro in the Czech Republic has blazing speed, great hands, and an NHL shot already.

https://twitter.com/HeresYourReplay/status/1210206014752071680

  • I’ve only seen a bit of the first period of the Sweden/Finland game but I’ve noticed that the Swedes are deploying Philip Broberg in a more defensive role. He was on the team’s 3rd pair and the 1st PK unit from what I noticed.

  • Matej Blumel scored a very industrious goal against Russia yesterday. He’s still a longshot to play an NHL game in my opinion. I struggled to notice him at all after that goal.
  • Watching Raphael Lavoie, his skating and playing style reminds me of Alex Chiasson. He’s a pretty stiff upright skater and there’s not a lot of jump to his game. If he can reach James Neal proportions, Oilers fans should be jumping for joy.
  • Speaking of comparables, Quinton Byfield looks like Evgeni Malkin 2.0. The way he uses his body to protect the puck, his skating, and how he handles the puck looks just like the future hall-of-fame Russian.
  • I’ve never seen Alexis Lafreniere play live until yesterday and man was I impressed. That hit he laid behind the US net sparked a momentum shift for Team Canada. He’s a really physical assertive player for the amount of skill and vision he owns.

  • No-goal Caufield… Where was this guy in the game yesterday… Completely invisible as well as Alex Turcotte and Trevor Zegras… The Americans big boys failed to show up.

The Next Ten Games (41-50)

  • vs. Calgary Flames (19-15-5) – The Oilers should be bitter as hell coming back from the Christmas break and looking for retribution. In terms of goal differential on the year, the Flames are -12 and Edmonton could feast on that. The Oilers have taken two of the past three contests. (WIN)
  • vs. New York Rangers (17-15-4) – Edmonton will get its first look at 2019 2nd overall pick Kaapo Kakko and welcome back former Oiler, Ryan Strome. This should be a scheduled win for Edmonton as the Rangers aren’t anything special this year. The Oilers have won three on the trot vs. the Rags. (WIN)
  • @ Buffalo Sabres (17-14-7) – Generally, over the years the Oilers have had pretty good luck in Buffalo, but this year Jack Eichel is a man possessed and last time Rasmus Dahlin was out of the lineup. If Dahlin is back in for this game, he’ll add a significant threat. I like Edmonton’s chances here though. (WIN)
  • @ Boston Bruins (22-7-9) – The Bruins went into the Christmas break on a bit of a slump going 2-4-4 in their previous ten. This is going to be a challenge for the Oilers to win even when Boston is at their worst and there’s no better team to bust a slump against than Edmonton, right? (LOSS)
  • @ Toronto Maple Leafs (20-14-4) – Toronto’s confidence was sky high before baby Jesus’ bday, but guess who comes to play each time he’s back home. That’s right, Connor McDavid. It will take a complete team effort for the Oilers to beat their nemesis, Freddy Andersen, though as he’s really had Edmonton’s number. (OT LOSS)
  • @ Montreal Canadiens (18-13-6) – I really enjoyed Edmonton’s performance against the Habs in their earlier match. If the Oilers can replicate that, I don’t see why a win is out of the question. (WIN)
  • @ Calgary Flames (19-15-5) – Round two! Ding. Ding. In Calgary, I think the Flames might be able to muster up a win here. (LOSS)
  • vs. Nashville Predators (18-12-6) – Is Pekka Rinne in net? If so, I’ll give this one to the Oilers. If it’s Saros, the Preds have a much better chance of success. They’ve been an interesting team to watch this year and are playing in a tough division. Their 42pts at the break had them in 3rd last in the Central… (WIN)
  • vs. Arizona Coyotes (21-14-4) – Hallsy’s back and if the Oilers would like to go that extra mile, they could show him how much of a powerhouse they plan to be next season by wiping the floor with Arizona, but it’ll be a tough game. Arizona is a lot deeper than the Oilers and their netminding has been much better. This needs to be a game where Edmonton’s defense shines. (OT LOSS)
  • vs. Calgary Flames (19-15-5) – Coming off of a 10-day break, Mikko Koskinen and the Oilers will be well-rested. In theory, they should be as ready as they’re ever going to be to take on their inter-province rivals. (WIN)

(Standings as of December 26th, 2019)

Three Players to Watch for the Flames

  • #19 Matthew Tkachuk – One of the NHL’s premier power forwards now, you can bet your ass that Tkachuky will be testing the Edmonton netminder’s patience from the drop of the puck tonight. It’s never a dull moment with this guy in the lineup and even though I dislike him very much, I love these kinds of players. One question though, will the Flames trade Johnny Hockey in order to make room for Taylor Hall this summer now that Tkachuk has emerged as Calgary’s best player and two more sub-6 footers in Dube and Mangiapane as top-6 options?
  • #27 Milan Lucic – It’s only sensible to name Lucic as one of Calgary’s three players to watch. The magical trade that sent him down the QE2 for James Neal was one of Ken Holland’s first moves after taking over in Edmonton. What Lucic will we get though? It’s a big game for him and we’ve seen in games vs. his buddies in LA and Boston a non-effective Milan but his time with the Oilers wasn’t exactly copasetic…
  • #11 Mikael Backlund – When the going gets tough, this Swede gets going and his intensity is infectious. I expect him to be right in the thick of things this evening. He’s been riding shotgun on Monohan and Gaudreau’s line recently, but he’s more than capable of centering his own line.

Calgary ran these lines in their final game before the Xmas break:

Three Players to Watch for the Oilers

  • #97 Connor McDavid – As we said earlier, he’ll be looking for some retribution after what happened vs. Calgary in the final game of the year last season. Edmonton needed a win against the Canucks before Christmas and shat the bed, now they really need a win or they’ll drop out of the top-three in their division for the first time this season. The separation between from Vancouver and Calgary is much needed to ease the anxiety of Edmonton’s fanbase.
  • #29 Leon Draisaitl – New Year’s is coming, get this man a pig and a chimneysweep and find out who the smartass was who was toasting Leon with water! I hope that whatever was bringing #29 that awful luck before the Xmas break was punted into the stratosphere. It didn’t matter how much he scored, he simply gave it back somewhere down the line. Maybe a real physical affair will shake something loose though. He often picks up his game when they go old-school.
  • #25 Darnell Nurse – I feel like there’s going to be some shenanigans tonight and Darnell has been awfully ornery lately. Between him and Zack Kassian, they’ve got enough to take care of business, but I hope they really lean into Calgary’s soft stars. I’m kind of curious of Lucic will wake up in that event.

Edmonton iced this lineup vs. Vancouver before Christmas,

F*ck Tkachuk! Click the link and grab one of these beauties!
Hey Flames Fans! Neal with it! Click the pic above and grab this beauty!

CategoriesNHL

Tags2020 World Junior Hockey Championships Calgary Flames Edmonton Oilers NHL

Beer League Hero Written by:

I'm the Beer League Hero! I am from Camrose, Alberta but I make my home in Taipei City, Taiwan. I've been through the ups and downs and the highs and the Lowes, the Bonsignores and the McDavids, the Sathers and the Eakins but I'll never leave my Oilers, no matter what! They're with me until the end and then some. GO OILERS GO!