October 12, 2019 /

Edmonton Oilers GM5: Oilers @ Rangers – Three Players to Watch

I talked to a man who’s spent many a year covering the game of hockey the other night because I had a question about this Oilers squad. The question was this,

I was wondering, when the players say that the biggest thing that has changed is their commitment to playing within their structure; playing within their game, what they sudden change? I mean, with Todd and Ken, why weren’t they committed to playing within that structure and within their game with those coaches?

The one possibility that I thought about on my own is that this is a team-mandated response. Any player that gets asked, “What’s the biggest difference between this team and previous ones?”, is being told to respond with some iteration of a commitment to playing within their structure-type line. It’s smart and easy to say, right?

Well, the gentleman I talked to told me in so many ways that perhaps the message has finally been presented to the team in the “right” way. Dave Tippett’s reputation for being a masterful communicator is most likely paying dividends.

If you listened to the most recent 31 Thoughts podcast, you might’ve heard Elliotte Friedman talking about how everybody is getting held accountable now and that it’s universally agreed upon that this is the way it’s going to go. So for the most part, no teacher’s pets… Score four goals and you get practice off, play like sh*t and you sit.

So does that mean the team was shutting out previous coaches or that their message wasn’t being delivered the right way and removing them from their positions was the correct thing to do after all? I guess we’ll see going forward.

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) WIN 4-0-0
  • 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)

Game Notes 

  • It’s the battle of the undefeated this afternoon! Who’ll blink first?
  • The Oilers haven’t had the best of luck during matinee games, will that change today?
  • The Rangers’ last game was about a week ago, so who knows how they’re going to come out? They could be full of piss and vinegar or they could be slow out of the gate, either way, their advanced analytics are shite and if there’s a game that Edmonton could win the possession battle in, it’s this one. New York is a young team and they’re going to make lots of little mistakes. The Oilers would be good to jump all over them early and keep their feet on New York’s throats.
  • I wanna know if James Neal can keep this scoring streak going. Seven goals in four games so far. Why not make it nine in five? Maybe one or two at even strength? Hell, I don’t care where he scores them as long as they get scored.
  • It’d be nice of someone off of the Oilers’ blueline and/or their bottom-six scored a goal. We went through this to start last season and the whole point of bringing in so many players for the bottom half of the lineup was to get more scoring, so start…
  • New York’s bottom two lines have combined for seven points, the Oilers’ have a total of four points…
  • Henrik Lundqvist is sporting a 1.94 GAA and a SV% of .956%. His backup, Alexandar Georgiev’s stats aren’t much worse with a GAA of 2.29 and a .932% SV%… Hopefully, that week off has cooled them off a bit.
  • Why is New York playing Brendan Smith on the wing when they’ve got Vitali Kravtsov and Filip Chytil sitting in Hartford?

Three Players to Watch for the Rangers

  • Kaapo Kakko (2gp 0g 0a -2) – No points yet, but here are the Oilers to help with that. I keed! You won’t be able to keep your eyes off of this player. He’s going to be a stud for the Rangers for years to come with his combination of size, skill, and smarts.
  • Mika Zibanejad (2gp 4g 4a +6) – Eight points in two games. Tough to argue with that. He’s emerging into an amazing two-way center for the Rangers. How will he do against Connor/Leon though?
  • Artemi Panarin (2gp 2g 2a +4) – One of the most dangerous players in the league with the puck on his stick. I’d glue someone to this guy’s ass and hope it’s enough to keep the puck out of the net.

Three Players to Watch for the Oilers

  • Connor McDavid (4gp 3g 7a +1) – I feel like Connor is just about ready for a hat-trick. He’s shooting a bit more lately I reckon and I reckon he’s due for a multi-goal game. Especially vs. this defense that the Rangers are peddling out.
  • James Neal (4gp 7g 0a -1) – Will he see Trouba or Staal? Does it matter? I think he eats both of them for lunch.
  • Oscar Klefbom (4gp 0g 5a -1) – He hit a post with his shot in New Jersey, it’s high time that he puts one in the net.

I’m taking the Oilers again here. I know, the curse of the matinee is hanging over the team, but New York hasn’t been playing games either and I think Edmonton will ride their luck for another win before heading into Chicago.

What about you? Who do you like in this matchup? Let us know in the comments below!

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CategoriesBeer League Hero Edmonton Oilers NHL

TagsEdmonton Oilers New York Rangers NHL

Beer League Hero Written by:

I'm the Beer League Hero! I am from Camrose, Alberta but I make my home in Taipei City, Taiwan. I've been through the ups and downs and the highs and the Lowes, the Bonsignores and the McDavids, the Sathers and the Eakins but I'll never leave my Oilers, no matter what! They're with me until the end and then some. GO OILERS GO!