THREE AND OHHH BABY!!! It’s tough not to get excited. However, I did not think that James Neal would have six goals through the Oilers’ first three games nor Zack Kassian three goals. Did anybody? I mean, we all knew he could score, but this is pretty sick the heater that Neal is on right now. On the other side of the coin, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins doesn’t have a single point so far… I suppose they balance things out at this point, don’t they?
Getting back to the game though, I told you in the game preview, Sergei Varlamov is one of those goalies that rides the waves up and down and last night the waves were most definitely down. I can’t really name a player on the Islanders that was on their game actually. Mathew Barzal had a moment or two but couldn’t capitalize. Maybe Brock Nelson? He seemed to stick out due to all of his penalties and that disallowed goal. I was happy for Noah Dobson though. The rookie defender got his first NHL point and for the most part, played a very solid match for the Isles.
As for the Oilers, I was thoroughly impressed with the line of Jujhar Khaira, Riley Sheahan, and Patrick Russell. They had a helluva game in the trenches. My memory isn’t the best, but when’s the last time the Oilers had a really good third line who could just lean on the other team and grind out an entire shift or three with the lead?
I love that the team has started the year with three straight wins but, there’s this:
I don't wanna be "that guy", buuuuuuuuuuut……. pic.twitter.com/KGzbXUW6CA
— Mathis Desjardins (@m_desjardins00) October 9, 2019
It’s great that the team is generating a lot of high-danger chances and their goals for percentage is high, but they are losing the possession battle and it’s not even close… With a team PDO of 109, this is going to come back to Earth at some point. My only hope is that it is a gradual decline over the course of the year. Then again, #SmallSampleSize
The first ten-game segment of the year that I predicted back on Oct.3rd has gone thusly so far,
- 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) WIN 3-0-0
- 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)
I’m terrible at predicting game outcomes apparently…
RUMORS
- Mark Pysyk is on the outs in Florida. Some fans think that he’d be a good pickup for the Oilers with Adam Larsson on the IR. There are a few folks out there that think Ken Holland could move another immovable contract in Brandon Manning to the Panthers as Joel Quenneville had him in Chicago. If the Oilers brought him in, they’d only be adding 700k to their payroll but the potential problem would be when Larsson returns.
- I wonder about the Oilers’ depth at center. Specifically, in the bottom-six. I feel like they could use somebody with a bit more assuredness down there. Gaetan Haas has been pretty decent, but I feel like Tippett is handling him with care and what happens if Sheahan goes out with injury again. So what about Brian Boyle? I feel like he’d be an upgrade on Colby Cave and he’s also a righty if I recall correctly. Not fast by any means though. Bob McKenzie brought him up on ‘Insider Trading’ recently and said this,
“There is significant interest in Boyle; he is talking to a number of teams. But one of those teams either needs to clear some cap space or clear a roster spot in order to sign him. But I would anticipate that there is a strong expectation that Boyle will be back in the NHL sooner rather than later.
- According to Elliotte Friedman, negotiations have stalled between the Nashville Predators and Roman Josi. The reason I bring this up is that Darnell Nurse is going to need a new contract this year and if I had to choose between seven years of Roman Josi vs. seven of Darnell Nurse, I think I’d take Josi. I know Nurse is younger, and a long-term deal with him would be cheaper, but Roman Josi is elite. There are defenders that play at a very high level well into their 30s and into close to 40 and I feel like Josi would be one of those. Imagine a left side defense that had Josi, Klefbom, and Broberg…
- Another 29-year-old elite defenseman that might go to market is Alex Pietrangelo. Now, if you ask me who I’d rather have between Josi and Petro and everything is equal, I’m going with the Blues captain. If I’m being frank though, I don’t see Josi or Pietrangelo heading to market. Plus, is adding a $9M 30-year-old to the payroll next summer the smart way to spend all that cash that the Oilers are going to have?
The Game Grades
For those that don’t recall, I grade the players on a scale from 1-5 but there are no threes so as to eliminate the fence-sitting. A player either did poorly, below average, above average or exceptional.
Mikko Koskinen – 4 – I’d say a pretty solid effort. Aside from Beauvillier’s post and Barzal ringing one off of his dome, his teammates did a good job of keeping the shots to the outside. I got a bit concerned when Brock Nelson thought he’d scored. It felt like the tide was turning a bit at that point and could see things heading downhill fast had that goal stood.
Darnell Nurse – 4 – I was happy to see Darnell’s 5×5 possession numbers creep towards 50%. He achieved a 48.78% CF% vs. the Islanders, posted another assist, AND he absolutely blew up Leo Komarov to boot. So things are trending up for him. A much better game all around for Doc.
Jujhar Khaira – 4 – The BEST game of the year so far. He was pretty unstoppable when he had the puck. The Islanders didn’t have anybody that could take it from him due to his brute strength and so with his linemates, they put on their hardhats and went to work in the corners. During the 2nd period, this line had one shift where they just ate up the clock grinding along the boards.
Riley Sheahan – 4 – His line started the game against Trotz’s star grind line of Casey Czikas, Cal Clutterbuck, and Matt Martin and after a short foray in the defensive zone, went to work in the Isles zone and came close twice in a matter of 15 seconds. He was 58% on the faceoffs!
James Neal – 5 – Player of the game, no doubt! He was in the right spot at the right time all night and he knew exactly what to do with the puck every instance he had it. He has a real confidence with the puck on his stick, you know? When he gets it, he’s always aware of how much time he’s got and usually makes a solid-spectacular play as a result. Four goals on eight shots but don’t get too high on him though, he scores in bunches and then fades away at times.
Patrick Russell – 4 – Right off the hop, on his first shift, Russell had two glorious chances to put the puck in the net but couldn’t find an opening on Varlamov. To my eye, he had about four really good scoring chances just in the first frame. Playing nearly two-and-a-half minutes with a man down, he was a major contributor to the Oilers going 2/2 on the penalty kill.
Leon Draisaitl – 4 – What can you say about this man right now? He’s playing with a lot of heart and no better way to show everyone than by diving at a puck on the penalty kill to clear it from your zone. It’s a joke that the media over in Toronto are comparing Connor McDavid to Auston Matthews when they should be worried about Leon Draisaitl being better than the American sniper. Leon had two primary assists (gorgeous ones at that), three shots, but was only 40% on the dot.
Connor McDavid – 4 – The man isn’t quite there yet. He’s not making rushes with the puck on every shift like we’re used to, but he’s still racking up the points. This is how Mario Lemieux used to do it. As a young boy following the Penguins captain, I’d grab the Edmonton Journal’s sports section every morning to see if Pittsburgh had played. If they had, it wasn’t to see IF he scored, it was to see HOW MANY points he scored.
Zack Kassian – 4 – We’re going streaking!!! Three games and three goals for Kass. He’s on roll baby! Are there still questions regarding his ability to play in the top-6? He took a penalty in the first for hooking, but the Oilers killed it.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – 2 – His tenacious forechecking was the reason James Neal scored his first goal of the evening. He had three shots but I found him to be quiet and he was only 33% on the faceoff. He’s got to be a bit more noticeable than that for me. Especially when his linemate is scoring goals like it’s 1984. In his defense though, he usually plays below the radar a bit.
Joakim Nygard – 2 – No hits on the evening, but one recorded shot.
Gaetan Haas – 2 – I think that Haas is a pretty clever player. The way he positions his body defensively and where he skates on the ice to keep himself open for passes are fine to me, but against the Islanders, he got tossed around a bit. The physicality of the NHL can be an eye-opener for new members of the league.
Markus Granlund – 2 – If Granlund plays but nobody notices him, did he really play?
Tomas Jurco – 4 – This man might be the most subtle hockey player I’ve ever seen. Two plays stand out to me, one being the silky pass from one side of the ice to the other to hit a streaking Darnell Nurse which eventually lead to James Neal’s first goal. The other being the no-look pass he made to Neal for his fourth goal in the 3rd. His line took 80% of their 5×5 faceoffs in the offensive zone… That’s a lot.
Oscar Klefbom – 4 – I held my breath when he got clipped in the first… Luckily he came back after getting zipped up and was as solid as he’s been to date. Not a good night from an analytics POV though. Persson and Klefbom were both sub-32% on the Corsi For %.
Joel Persson – 2 – If they gave points for being the 3rd last player to touch the puck before a goal is scored, Persson would’ve had an assist on the Kassian goal. It was his tap to McDavid that lead to the zone entry and subsequent goal. I find that Persson likes the long bomb. A couple of times in this game he tried to hit a teammate from behind the goal line who was out at the center line unsuccessfully. He’s going to have to eliminate that from his game I feel.
Kris Russell – 2 – I’ve noticed fewer clearings going out off the glass or rimmed along the boards from Russell and a bit more of that player who was an offensive defender in junior. He’s not a bad skater at all, so skating a puck out of danger isn’t the same risk to him as to say, Brandon Manning. He had a team-best 54% Corsi For percentage at 5×5 on the evening! Bet you didn’t think you’d be reading that.
Ethan Bear – 4 – Thank the Gords for Ethan Bear. He’s still carrying Nurse (54% CF with Bear 5×5 and a 20% without him) and that’s saying a lot. That said, having him as the transition man and Darnell as the Transporter seems to be working on some level.
Matthew Benning – 2 – Tell ya what. I didn’t notice him and that’s probably for the best as it means he must’ve played a mistake-free game.
The next game up is versus Taylor Hall and the Devils! Are you excited to see Jack Hughes? What did you think of the Islanders game? Let us know in the comments below!
