With game one in the rearview mirror, we can look forward to the Edmonton Oilers’ (0-1-0) second game of this back-to-back to start the 2020-21 season with the Vancouver Canucks (1-0-0).
My feeling is that if Edmonton’s big boys can shake off some of that rust, they will bounce back. It’s not as if they didn’t have their chances last night, right? McDavid had a few on his own, Puljujarvi had his chances, Yamamoto, Draisaitl, and Kahun as well. The Canucks weren’t perfect defensively, they simply capitalized on their opportunities and they outworked the home team.
This Oilers team is far too talented and deep to dig themselves into a big hole early on this year. That said, if the defense can’t get its shit together and continues to leave the goalies out to dry, start doing your homework on the 2021 NHL draft class, the next Victor Hedman is coming…
Here are three players that I think you should keep an eye on for the Canucks tonight,
- Nils Hoglander (LW) – I told you about Hoglander, didn’t I? Nobody else in the Oilers blogosphere even made a mention of the guy. That said, let’s see if he was having a bit of rookie luck in the first game or if can he make it two impact games-in-a-row.
- Brock Boeser (RW) – When goal scorers get going, they usually score in bunches. Last night, I didn’t notice him overly from shift-to-shift, however, when he was a gifted with a chance on goal, he made the most of it. Very Brett Hull of him. Will the Oilers be able to contain him in this one?
- Thatcher Demko (G) – Vancouver’s 1b goalie, Demko certainly made a good impression during the playoffs last year. Reminded me of Curtis Joseph’s Oilers days a little bit.
For Vancouver to have success, all they have to do is exactly what they did last night. Keep Edmonton to the outside, continue the defensive matchups, resume winning the bottom-six battles, and wait for the Oilers to gift them with an opportunity. If Demko can play well, that would be a plus to boot
As for the home team, I’ll be watching out for these three individuals,
- Dominik Kahun (LW) – Pretty decent first game for the young German. Actually, he was the best player on the team according to the fancies. The chemistry between him and Leon was very noticeable, eh? He’s clever and shifty. A little bit like Sergei Samsonov used to be.
- Kyle Turris (C) – He did not have a glorious debut in Oilers silks. His fancies were downright ugly (worst on the team) and he had a tough time on the dot. I’m looking for a rebound game from him, at least to the point of “average game”, because I rarely noticed him during yesterday’s effort.
- Mike Smith (G) – Smitty must have a good game or we’re never going to hear the end of it. His intensity between the pipes might be what the doctor ordered though. Mikko Koskinen is a pretty stoic dude and that may or may not rub off on the rest of the club, so Smith’s fire, I’m hoping, lights up the asses of the rest of the team and gets them going.
(I’m writing this at midnight and scheduling it for noon-ish Edmonton time. My hope is that the players listed above are actually in the lineup. It’s a risk I’m happy to take though)
It’s fine and dandy to have four rolling lines of skill, but when skill gets shut down there’d best be hard work following close behind. Maybe try to mirror what the Canucks did to them last night or what Chicago did to them in the play-ins.
Also, as fun as it is to play Connor McDavid 26 minutes, maybe try not to drain his gas tank in week one of the season so that there’s some left over at the end.
The bottom line for the Oilers, they’ve got to bring their lunchpails and hardhats to the work site this evening and prepare to get some dirt under the fingernails, then the goals will follow.
Another motivating factor, they don’t want to be heading into their series with Montreal 0-2-0 with the possibility of coming out of it 0-4-0…
