2021-22 Edmonton Oilers G4 Reviews: Oilers Put Down Desert Dogs

This is your TL/DR (too long, didn’t read) summary post where excerpts are taken from the best of the best when it comes to Edmonton Oilers blogs. BLH gives you his two cents on the latest posts being published in the Oilogosphere! Including those from Lowetide.ca, The Athletic, Oilersnation, The Cult of Hockey, Copper N Blue, Oil on Whyte, and more!

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Cult of Hockey

Player grades: Darnell Nurse plays dominating game as Edmonton Oilers crush Arizona Coyotes

Connor McDavid, 8. Two goals and an assist, but a few issues on defence… McD now has 11 points in four games, and the weird thing is he’s yet to bring his best game to the ice.
Zach Hyman, 8. Two goals. Savvy snipe on Edmonton’s second goal…
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 7. Three assists and now with six assists in four games.
Darnell Nurse, 8. He played a dominating game, 24:51 of near perfect two-way hockey.
Tyson Barrie, 5. Two assists, but his defensive woes continued. He did cut down on the major mistakes.
Brendan Perlini, 5. Another quiet game. Time to slot in Tyler Benson?
Zack Kassian, 5. Some OK physical and positional play and a smart pass on the Foegele goal.

BLH’s Thoughts: Like Anaheim a couple of nights ago, the Coyotes came out strong as the Oilers once again took their sweet ass time finding their game. Arizona really didn’t give Edmonton a lot to work with in the first period and you have to wonder what kind of result the night would’ve ended with had they scored on one or two of their chances in the opening twenty.

That being said, a sign of a good hockey team is one of resilience and the Oilers kept on keeping on until the Coyotes started to break down. At that point, Edmonton’s offense simply took over the matchup and Bob’s your uncle, game over Arizona.

From an individual player’s perspective, I find it funny that local writers and pundits shit on Tyson Barrie’s defensive game after years of watching Paul Coffey as an Oiler.

Can anybody else explain to me this obsession with the perfect 200ft hockey player in Edmonton? Connor McDavid puts up another three points but we can’t leave it at that, we need to also comment on his defensive game too… I don’t get it. Bob Stauffer calls in “passion” because he’s got a fine line to walk, but we all know what he means…

Personally, I feel like Connor deserves more respect for what he brings to the hockey team and there’s no need to nitpick a guy’s performance when he racks up three points on the night.

Oilersnation

GDB 4.0 Wrap Up: Oilers kick off their mini road trip with 5-1 win over the Coyotes

Warren Foegele got the Oilers on the board (1-0) with a goal that we’ll probably be seeing for a while because it was a beauty.
Zach Hyman increased the Oilers’ lead (2-0) with a shorthanded snipe after RNH sent him in on a 2-on-1… Hyman added a second goal (4-1) on the power play in the third period…
Connor McDavid got in on the action with a ridiculous goal (3-0) that saw him cut through the Coyotes’ defensive zone coverage like a hot knife through butter… McDavid added a second goal (5-1) on the power play after RNH found him with a perfect cross-ice pass that left the captain with an open cage to shoot at.
From start to finish, Koskinen gave the Oilers the goaltending they needed to settle in and close things out, which is about as good of a season debut as you could hope to have from him.
Jesse Puljujarvi has seven points in four games. Let that soak in for a minute.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins quietly finds himself on a three-game point streak, collecting three more helpers to give him six on the year.
…the Oilers won 56% of the faceoffs?
Dysin Mayo got the Coyotes on the board (3-1) with his first NHL goal(!!!) after the Tyson Barrie flubbed a pass near the Oilers’ blue line… What is going on with this dude right now because he has been a trash buffet in his own zone so far this season, and was directly to blame for the Mayo goal happening at all.
The Oilers were an adventure in their own zone early in this hockey game and had it not been for Mikko Koskinen, they would have been down by at least a goal or two before the opening frame had even finished.

BLH’s Thoughts: Should the Oilers have themselves a fantastic season, I reckon there are going to be a shit ton of under-the-radar performances that propel a good number of the team’s victories like Nuge’s three apples tonight or the fact that Edmonton’s food soldiers like Foegele and Hyman are scoring some real gritty goals on a nightly basis.

I’ve read a few of these game reviews now and not one of them made note of how ornery Darnell Nurse was on the night. I counted no fewer than four big hits that he threw on unsuspecting Arizona Coyotes before the start of the third period. It made me wonder why he was so pissed off because I haven’t really seen that part of him this year so far.

I was also sort of surprised that Kyle Turris didn’t get more ink. He was very lively on Edmonton’s 4th line when his linemates’ TOI was accelerated in the third period once the game was out of hand.

Tonight the Oilers are in Vegas to face an extremely short-handed Golden Knights squad. Pacioretty, Stone, and Tuch are all out of the lineup for various amounts of time and I’m still trying to figure out the team’s identity after they punted out Marc-Andre Fleury and Ryan Reaves.

VEGAS

#81 Jonathan Marchessault – Marty St. Louis-lite and in my opinion, he’s Vegas’ best forward considering the big names that are on the IR right now. Marchessault had 44pts in 55gp last season.

#63 Evgeni Dadonov – This guy is only two seasons removed from being close to a 30g/yr winger. I find that he’s very opportunistic but since leaving Florida the opportunities have dried up a bit. Still, he’s dangerous.

#41 Nolan Patrick – Acquired over the summer after a tumultuous beginning to his career in Philly. The former 2nd overall pick (2017) is looking to jumpstart a once promising career in Vegas now.

EDMONTON

#18 Zach Hyman – I thought Alex Chiasson was strong in front of the net on the PP, but opposing dmen can’t seem to lift Hyman’s stick either. Someday we’re going to be debating who was the better net-front presence, Hyman or Ryan Smyth, and it’s going to be one helluva debate too.

#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – I’ve not seen a player put up 8pts so quietly in my life. The Oilers have four players in the top-15 in league scoring if my eyes have it right…

#2 Duncan Keith – Has yet to get his name on the scoresheet. I’m curious how he’ll handle the big forecheck from the Golden Knights too.

I like the Oilers chances against this Vegas team, but this is their first real challenge too. Despite not having three of their top forwards they’re still a heavy team with some talented wingers. If I had an extra $5, I’d bet Edmonton goes to 5-0-0 on the year tonight.

Daily Faceoff

Greeley: Projecting Team Canada’s Beijing 2022 Olympic Roster – Version 1

Marchand – Crosby – MacKinnon
Huberdeau – McDavid – Marner
O’Reilly – Point – Bergeron
Stone – Couturier – Stamkos
Scheifele / Barzal

Team Canada is loaded up front and the players that make the roster will not offer anything in terms of shock value. Stamkos is one player that is off to a great start and that may help cement his spot over a few players like Seguin and Hall who are certainly knocking on the door.

Theodore – Pietrangelo
Nurse – Doughty
Morrissey – Makar
Parayko / Hamilton

The defense corps will lead to more debate, but in the end, coach Jon Cooper and Armstrong will attempt to pick a group of eight that they believe will jell quickly and be able to connect the dots in all three zones for Team Canada.

1. Darcy Kuemper
2. Marc-Andre Fleury
3. Jordan Binnington

Goaltending is by far Canada’s biggest question mark and will likely remain that way throughout the selection process. How will Carey Price look when he returns to the ice? When will he return? Will Mackenzie Blackwood be available with his vaccination status? Smith is also on the radar as well, he served as the third goaltender for Team Canada in Sochi in 2014.