Edmonton Oilers Gameday Reviews: Tippett-less Oilers Drop to 8th Place in West After Loss to Toronto

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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Oilersnation

GDB 27.0 Wrap Up: Oilers actually started pretty well, get dummied 5-1 by the Leafs anyway

Colton Sceviour got the Oilers on the board (3-1) on the back of some hard work by the fourth line after they were able to outmuscle the Leafs in front of the crease and knock the loose puck into the open cage. The goal marked the first time in nine games where the Oilers actually got a goal from their bottom six.
Oilers outshot the Leafs by a 36-25 margin.
…the Oilers gave up the first goal of the game? You’re not are you. Six straight games, six straight losses.
…while I wouldn’t say that this loss was all on Kostco, I will absolutely suggest that he didn’t help matters much either. I mean, what can you say when your goaltender gets tagged with five goals on 25 shots against?

BLH’s Thoughts: Many of the fans in Edmonton wanted a coaching change… Well, I’ll just say be careful what you wish for because if it ever happens for real, this is what it’ll look like.

It’ll be Gulutzan behind the bench for the rest of the year, not a promotion for Woodcroft, not Mike Babcock coming in to run the season out like Ken Hitchcock did when the club axed Todd McLellan.

You’ll get this guy,

So, it’s my belief that the Oilers aren’t going to pull themselves out of this on their own. For whatever reason, they don’t seem to believe in themselves enough to do it because they’ve got the personnel to, but they’re so down in the dumps and that first goal thing is eating them alive right now.

I really think that it’s going to take a really shitty game from their opponent to get off the schneid here. Maybe Columbus sees the Oilers as easy pickings and goes into their next game a tad overconfident and McDavid burns them for it.

I just reckon the confidence is at an all-time low and everything that can happen to keep their heads down and shoulders slumped will, but all’s not lost. There’s tons of season left and don’t forget about that 2008 Stanley Cup-winning Red Wings club that I told you about recently.

From January 17th to February 5th of 2008, Ken Holland’s previous team won eight games in a row, then from the 7th to the 29th, they only won once in eleven attempts. Funnily enough, the Red Wings only manager to lose four more times until the end of that regular season.

Talk about a roller coaster, right?

It pertains to the Oilers because of the obvious GM connection, but also that even the eventual champions can go through some very dark times during the regular season.

I don’t think Edmonton will win the Cup this year, but I also don’t think that anybody should be calling it a day on their season, either.

Cult of Hockey

The losing skid for the snake bitten Edmonton Oilers hits 6 games: Cult of Hockey Player Grades

KAILER YAMAMOTO . 2. Hasn’t had a shot in 6 games, including this one. The official game sheet only docked him for 1 giveaway. But they were exceedingly generous, as I counted 3…one in each Period. Absolutely crushed in chances for & against (9-15, 37% 5v5). If this keeps up, he’ll be in the press box.
DEVIN SHORE . 3. Shore is a decent NHL player but he is not a full-time NHL Center. Evidence tonight came in a -3 performance.
MIKKO KOSKINEN . 4. Mikko Koskinen made most of the saves that he should have against the Leafs. But Koskinen didn’t make a single save that he shouldn’t have.
CONNOR McDAVID . 4. Not much rhymed for 97 on this night. 2 shots. Both his wingers had better outings.
EVAN BOUCHARD . 4. A high-event game for Evan Bouchard. 2 shots, 4 (!) give-aways in 18:49.
RYAN NUGENT-HOPKINS . 3. 0 shots, -1. Its as if someone else was wearing #93 tonight.
JESSE PULJUJARVI . 5. Difficult to ignore the flow of play while he was on the ice. It was tilted on Edmonton’s favor. Puljujarvi had 3 shots and added 4 hits in a physical effort.
WARREN FOEGELE . 6. His effort (which was considerable) did not result in any kind of reward on the score sheet. Foegele had 4 shots on net to lead all forwards and did his fair share to drive the play North while he was on the ice.
DUNCAN KEITH. 6. By far and away the Oilers best defenceman. Duncan Keith very quickly and effectively moved the puck up, as was reflected in his 19-15, 56% CF at 5v5.
COLTON SCEVIOUR . 6. Colton Sceviour scored the Oilers only goal on the night, his 1 ^st as an Edmonton Oiler. And he earned it by going to the tough area in front of the Leafs net and was rewarded for doing so.

BLH’s Thoughts: Killer was demoted to the 4th line by the third period eh? We’ll see if that becomes the norm considering Glen Gulutzan will be running the bench until after Christmas. No shots in six games and six points on the year? Does he have some unsavory pictures of Dave Tippett or Ken Holland stashed away somewhere? I mean, how else would that kind of production keep a guy in the top-six?

Sceviour was having himself a night and in fact, I was impressed with Kyle Turris’ effort too seeing as he hadn’t played for such a long time.

Puljujarvi continues to be the most consistent player on the roster. It doesn’t matter if the team is streaking or slumping, you’re getting this kid’s full effort and with a smile to boot. Lock this guy up max-term, Kenny!

Foegele’s coming on. He’s going to score soon, book it!

It did seem like the Leafs defenders were having troubles with Edmonton’s more assertive forecheckers, didn’t it. Hyman would’ve had himself a night if he were in the lineup, for sure!

Spector’s Hockey

THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: Matthew DeFranks reports the Stars sent Anton Khudobin to their AHL affiliate after he cleared waivers yesterday.
- A source told DeFranks some teams show an interest in Khudobin but wanted to see him play more games first. Given his current minimal trade value, the Stars might have to package him with a draft pick or absorb part of his cap hit to move him.
PITTSBURGH HOCKEY NOW: Dan Kingerski believes Khudobin would make a better backup for Penguins starter Tristan Jarry than Casey DeSmith. He pointed to Khudobin replacing sidelined Ben Bishop in the 2020 playoffs and backstopping the Stars to the Stanley Cup Final.