BLH Post Gamer G23 Oilers VS Red Wings: Crumblin’ Down

The Oilers picked up a loser’s point tonight and it was well deserved. Their play from the last game versus the Hurricanes overflowed into the first period of this one in Detroit and even though they made a helluva push to comeback on the road, they lost another one goal game.

I think we’re going to do this post gamer in point form as I missed parts of it due to work.

• The Oilers grip on the 1st overall selection in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft is Hulk-like but there’s a part of me that believes this is the bed Peter Chiarelli made and now he’s got to sleep in it. Yet, the other part reminds me that Kevin Lowe, Steve Tambellini, and Craig MacTavish bought the bed from Ikea, assembled it and selected the bedding for it; so maybe it’s time to head on over to Old Man Comrie’s place and get a new bed.
• The best players in the game weren’t the ones in the top six. The best players were the players in the

  

  bottom six. Lander, Pakarinen, Hendricks, Letestu, and Korpikoski were tenacious as hell. I was really jacked to see Iiro the Hero get not only one goal but two due to his wicked work ethic. Now Nuge and Hall and Draisaitl all had their moments but it was the Scandinavians that tested the Red Wings defense with their blazing forecheck.

• Are the refs blind? Did Taylor Hall magically make his mouth bleed? Did Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ stick break in half on its own accord? I mean there were countless calls that were missed AGAIN! But that’s how she goes, right boys?
• So much for Mark Fayne not making himself visible in the highlights… Remenda had a field day with him on that Larkin goal.
• Is it fair to assume that just because something worked last season, with a different coach mind you, that it might not work this year? ie: 67-93-14 or Anton Lander…
• A bit of talk going on right now that maybe the Oilers should move out some of their “soft-skilled” guys like Nuge and Eberle and bring in some players that will make a difference when things aren’t going their way on the scoresheet. To add to that, Bob Stauffer played a clip of Todd McLellan talking about his days in Detroit and he said the best of the four years was the year the team was its grittiest NOT the year where they had the best players. That is pretty telling.But even if the Oilers wanted to move out a Nuge or an Eberle, is right now the time to do it? I mean more specifically in the case of Nuge. Do you really want to move out the team’s best center for help on D? There’s literally no depth beyond him. Draisaitl is more or less a rookie, McDavid won’t be back until the new year, Lander can’t score and Letestu can’t score either.
• Ference played not even 5 minutes… What’s the point? honestly. They scratched Gazdic so Ference could get just over 4 minutes of ice-time? Has someone sat down with Andrew and had “The Talk” yet?

The main stream media has their knives out now! Check out these tweets coming from some of the most respected journalists connected to the Oilers. Apart from Dennis King of course, who’s the man when it comes to Oilogosphere icons. Or should I say… The King…

After horse-crap performance in Carolina and tepid start tonight, Oilers battled. Talbot gave them a chance. 93 and 14 got to get going…

— Bob Stauffer (@Bob_Stauffer) November 28, 2015

https://twitter.com/nhlbymatty/status/670472640281370624

Another moral victory? Unfortunately moral victories are for losers … #Oilers #NHL https://t.co/kIivOeeJUD pic.twitter.com/eYMnPfOzjz

— Derek Van Diest (@DerekVanDiest) November 28, 2015

Interesting that Dallas Eakins was villified for having a record better than this year's Oilers.

— Damien Cox (@DamoSpin) November 28, 2015

Every time Ference plays with Gryba, the Oilers get another lottery ball

— Dennis King (@DKingBH) November 28, 2015

Next up are the Pittsburgh Penguins and I predicted that would be a loss for the Oilers but I’m iffy on that decision now. Justin Schultz is scheduled to return so I reckon that means bye bye Griffin Reinhart. F-me is Andrew Ference’s stubbornness really throwing a wrench into the cogs of the defence. But if I were in his shows I’d probably milk the team for all it’s worth too.

The Pens are starting their backup, so this will be the 2nd time the Oilers face Jeff Zatkoff. Last time he and his posts got the best of Edmonton but Evgeni Malkin is on a tear right now. Not sure if we’ll see Crosby or not after he was nearly decaptitated by Brandon Dubinksy… Now is that a guy you’d love to have on the Oilers? Dubinksy I mean. Is he the kind of player that McLellan is talking about? Gritty, knows what it takes when things aren’t going the team’s way… Can provide something apart from silky mitts. I wonder…

Until then! Take Care of yourself and drive safely!

BLH