You have to have a heart of stone not to have enjoyed that hockey game last night. Remarkably, the Edmonton Oilers came back four times in that game. I was under the impression that only happened to the teams that played them. “Here come the Oilers”, right?
Well, I’ll say this. As concerned with the team as I was versus Vancouver, they did nothing to quell that worry against LA. The Kings are a team they should be defeating handily, not struggling to overcome. It’s clear as day that the Carters and the Kovalchuks have really lost a step and the likes of Dustin Brown and Jonathan Quick are no longer the players they once were. With all due respect, save for Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty, there’s not a whole lot of talent on that team anymore and they managed to find a way to put five pucks past Mike Smith.
On the brighter side, the Euro signings are starting to come through. Joakim Nygard looks very comfortable on the small ice now and Gaetan Haas’ confidence is starting to rise. We need these players to pan out because of their speed, right? How about the goal that those two orchestrated? I’ll have some more of that European showtime going forward, please! Joel Persson might need a couple more games to get comfortable but there wasn’t anything in his game last night that told me the players below him on the depth chart deserved to take his spot on the upcoming road trip.
I’m thinking that the team should be getting Riley Sheahan back from concussion protocol and that means someone is coming out. My guess is that it’ll be Colby Cave because he hasn’t shown very much in the two games he’s played so far. But it’s not just those games, during the preseason he didn’t really stand out either. Then again, what’s Markus Granlund done lately?
So now we’re on to New York for a four-game roadie that’ll end in Chicago. The next ten games (with predicted results from Oct.3rd, 2019) look like this
- Vancouver (h): I predicted a loss. (LOSS) WIN 1-0-0
- Los Angeles (h): I like the Oilers chances here against their former coach. (WIN) WIN 2-0-0
- NYI (a): The Islanders are a tough squad. Skill and grit in excess. (LOSS)
- NJ (a): This game will feature FIVE former first overall picks… Should be exciting! (WIN)
- NYR (a): The Rags are gonna be good soon, but I like the Oilers here. (WIN)
- Chicago (a): I’ll take Edmonton’s young superstars vs. Chicago’s aging ones. (WIN)
- Philadelphia (h): The Flyers are always a difficult team to beat and now they’ve got Hart. (LOSS)
- Detroit (h): Ken Holland’s first game against his old team. DET’s defense is horrid though. (WIN)
- Winnipeg (a): I’m a huge fan of WPG’s fwd core. I’ll take the Jets here. (LOSS)
- Minnesota (a): What are the Wild anyhow? They don’t impress me. (WIN)
Let’s get on to the game grades, shall we?
Colby Cave – 2 – Meh. He had a hit and a giveaway but was 60% on the dot. Could he have been tighter to his man on the Amadio goal? Sure. But the guy batted the puck right out of the air. Tough to fault Cave for that.
Connor McDavid – 5 – If you’re going to light up the other team for four points, you get the highest score possible. McDavid was back to his old self in this one (WHAT!) and I think perhaps that had something to do with Drew Doughty being on the other team. They both seem to elevate their games when playing each other which is great if you’re a fan. More specifically though, I feel like we should call McDavid the artist because he was drawing so many penalties in this one… Now, if he can start every game like that, I’d say it’s a lot better than having the first shot against going in.
Darnell Nurse – 2 – First off, lovely goal. Nurse did so well to get his ass up into the play and in a position to take that pass from Jurco and fire it into the net. But. He was once again the worst defender on the team from a possession standpoint. His CF% was 38.46% and the next closest person was his partner…
Ethan Bear – 4 – This young man is having an outstanding start to the year. By my viewings, he’s second to only Oscar Klefbom with regards to the Oilers’ best puck-moving defenders. Last night I saw some great pinches and outlet passes that this team has sorely missed for such a long time. I was a little bit concerned that being partnered up with Nurse would hurt him a bit and my fears were confirmed after the game. When Bear was with Nurse his CF% was 43.48% and when they were apart his CF% was 66.67%.
Gaetan Haas – 4 – Much MUCH better game. I’m really glad that Tippett decided to give him more than two minutes of ice-time against the Kings. His speed, smarts, and defensive awareness were on full display. How clever was it of him to bank that puck off the side of the net so that it would go right to a cocked and loaded Joakim Nygard for an Oilers goal?
James Neal – 4 – In order to score a goal in this amazing game, you have to be in the right place at the right time and that’s just where Neal was on two occasions vs. LA. He’s got to do better with the unnecessary penalties though. That’s the thing with him though. He’ll do take a dodgy penalty from time to time that will leave your head shaking.
Joakim Nygard – 4 – Every game he plays I’m becoming a big fan. I love his tenacious play. He could give to sh*ts who has the puck behind the net, if they’ve got the puck, he’s hitting them. Good on him for scoring his first NHL goal too. European Showtime baby!
Joel Persson – 2 – Persson did exactly what I hoped he’d do and that’s tread water. Nothing fancy on either side of the puck. It’s too bad the team doesn’t have two Oscar Klefboms to shelter both Persson and Bear. What a massive help that’d be right now.
Jujhar Khaira – 2 – Tick tock Jujhar. It might be time to drop the gloves or something to get his game going. He’s got to get his game together because every time I watch the Condors play, I see a player who could possibly replace Khaira.
Kris Russell – 2 – He had an ok game. Nothing substantial to note. Three blocked shots.
Leon Draisaitl – 4 – Usually one would praise Leon for his offensive contributions but last night it was his defensive ones that impressed me. Late in the game, he stifled not one, but TWO passes while defending a 5v3 penalty kill. Essentially killing LA’s momentum single-handedly. We should note that pass on Kassian’s goal, right? I didn’t think it was going to make it… Boy, was I wrong… I’m still feeling pretty good about my preseason prediction that Leon would lead the team in scoring by the end of the year, however, if that’s going to come to fruition, Connor’s going to have to stop with the 4pt games.
Markus Granlund – 2 – When is this guy going to come alive?
Matthew Benning – 2 – Much quieter against the Kings. Took a penalty but was +1 on the night.
Mike Smith – 4 – If his game had ended after the first, I would’ve given him a one. I knew we’d get to witness him mess up a clearing or bumble the puck behind the net at some point, I just wasn’t expecting it to be twice and during the second game of the year. That being said, even after letting in five goals, he was pretty solid for the rest of the game. Clutch, in the same way Grant Fuhr used to do it all those years ago.
Oscar Klefbom – 4 – Lord save me if Klefbom gets hurt. He’s playing really well right now and in the past, that’s been the cue for some freak injury to occur. The one year the hockey gods were in his favor, he put up career numbers and the team was a game away from the Western Conference final.
Patrick Russell – 2 – A quiet game but was effective in the corners and along the boards.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – 2 – A rare silent evening for Nuge. He had that big hit on Iafallo that shocked me a bit and moved the puck around well on the PP. Ended the evening -1.
Tomas Jurco – 2 – I wasn’t expecting a lot from Jurco given it was his first game, so he didn’t disappoint there, but that move to set up Nurse’s goal was glorious.
Zack Kassian – 4 – As every game is played, Kassian is showing that Ken Hitchcock’s decision to move him into the Oilers top-6 was the right one. A lovely tap-in goal to go with two shots and four hits. Typical Kass.
The next game is on Tuesday as the Oilers head to the legendary Nassau Coliseum to take on the Islanders!
Stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick and NHL.com.
