Tippett on Oilers Loss to Philly: “That could have been some of the best hockey we’ve played all season.”

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Cult of Hockey

The Edmonton Oilers out goaltender-ed in a 5-3 loss to Philadelphia: Cult of Hockey Player Grades

MIKKO KOSKINEN . 4. The difference tonight was goaltending and it was a battle the Oilers lost.
CONNOR McDAVID . 8. I liked his game a lot. McDavid had 8 shots on goal, including his 7 ^th goal of the year off a deflection… 71% on his draws, by far and away the best on the club.
KAILER YAMAMOTO . 4. Sawed-off on chances for/against in an otherwise quiet effort despite playing with 2 line mates who had good games. Hmmm.
DEREK RYAN . 3. No shots, no hits, -2 for Ryan. Just 22% on draws. His least impressive game of the year.
TYSON BARRIE . 7. His best game of the year by a country mile… Led all Oilers D-men in All Events CF (31-13, 70%).
DEVIN SHORE . 3… the club was out-chanced 1-9 with Shore on the ice at evens. I wonder of he’s not quite 100% yet?
BRENDAN PERLINI . 3. Always be very cautious of terrific training camp by unlikely suspects.
RYAN NUGENT-HOPKINS . 7. He is off to a very good start indeed. Played 24:44 including lots of both special teams.
EVAN BOUCHARD . 7. Evan Bouchard’s 40-foot stretch pass to spring Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on a breakaway was a thing of beauty… looked right at home on the top pairing in 23:22 of work.

BLH’s Thoughts: McDavid was magical again. He tried his damnedest to put the team on his back and take the boys to another victory, but it wasn’t to be. The metronome was off kilter. Win the next one against Vancouver (on Hockey Night in Canada?) and all will be forgotten.

I think it’s time to start putting the spotlight on Yamamoto here. Can the team trust him to be the player they need him to be in its top-six right now? Conversely, do the Oilers have somebody who can spot him on Leon’s line? Would it make sense to toss Hyman on that wing and move Foegele up to Connor’s line?

Evan Bouchard was fantastic in this game. Aside from Joel Farabee and his blazing speed that beat Bouch on the outside, Evan has fit in alongside Darnell Nurse very well. Morbidly, I’ve been waiting to see what a bad game looks like from him and he hasn’t shown one yet… Maybe we’re on the verge of seeing somebody very special develop before our eyes?

Honestly, can you think of a player in the last 40 years who could shoot, pass, think the game on both sides of the puck and have the poise Evan does?

To me, he looks like Niklas Lidstrom with Al MacInnis’ shot.

Hyperbole much? Perhaps. But if you look close enough, you can see exactly what I’m talking about.

Edmonton Sun

Flyers end Oilers’ winning streak but McDavid keeps his point run alive

The Flyers got 34 stops from their goalie Sherwood Park’s Carter Hart, beat the the top-five Oilers in the face-off circle winning 58 per cent of them and got two goals from Cam Atkinson and others from Nate Thompson, Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier into the empty net in their first road game of the season.
But McDavid, who carried a 13-game point streak going back to the last season, kept his current streak alive.

“That could have been some of the best hockey we’ve played all season. Our second period was arguably our best period of the year,” he said. “A couple of mistakes, some bad bounces and we were chasing the game. And once they got the lead in the third, they shut it down. But a really competitive game. Our guys played fast, created lots of chances but we didn’t capitalize.” – Dave Tippett, Oilers Head Coach

Koskinen had stopped 83 of 88 shots over two and half games and had a mixed-bag. He made half a dozen outstanding saves but he would like a re-do on Thompson’s after a giveaway to Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Atkinson’s winner that somehow found a hole.
Barrie was the Oilers second best player after McDavid, certainly his most complete game of the season.
The Oilers had eight shots in their four power plays, with ample zone time, but just the one goal.

BLH’s Thoughts: Plain and simple, I think the Oilers lost because the bottom-six disappeared, Koskinen had a down night and the Flyers have excellent forward depth. Personally, I wonder if Koskinen is 100% and now there’s going to be some pressure on Mike Smith to be healthy for the next game vs. Vancouver on Saturday. If Smitty isn’t good to go, I believe there should be some serious thought into starting Stuart Skinner. Even if he is healthy enough to start, the Canucks have some real crease crashers, like Vasilli Podkolzin, who will go to the net zero f*cks given.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL-lzURA7wE

Spector’s Hockey

SPORTSNET: Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli appeared on Sportnet 590’s FAN Morning Show to discuss the Toronto Maple Leafs’ options as they endure a slow start to this season. He believes they face three options. They could replace head coach Sheldon Keefe, trade a big-name player like Mitch Marner or “triple down” and stick with the roster they’ve built.

DAILY FACEOFF: Seravalli also reports there’s been “increased chatter” between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Buffalo Sabres about Jack Eichel in recent days… The Golden Knights’ interest could depend on the status of winger Mark Stone… It’s uncertain how long he’ll be out but the Golden Knights could be holding their cards close to the vest in hope of making an Eichel deal work.

THE DENVER POST: Mark Kiszla believes the struggling Colorado Avalanche should beat the Golden Knights to the punch and acquire Eichel.