Edmonton Oilers Talk: Swedish Headbutts, The Decade of Depth, and the Latest NHL Rumors!

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Oilersnation

The Day After: Connor McDavid shines, but depth key in dominant win

“I think the addition of Rhino and Foges (Derek Ryan and Warren Foegele) have helped that line a lot,” he said after the game. “That whole line has been so good. Chipping in with a huge goal tonight and building momentum for us throughout the night.”

It was that line after all that got things going on early in the night. Foegele had thrown a puck towards the front of the Flames net at the 13:08 mark right to where Ryan had himself firmly planted. One quick bounce off Ryan, the puck was in the back of the net and the Oilers had a 1-0 lead.
It was a night where the underlying numbers didn’t like the Oilers in thanks to a desperate Calgary Flames club that flipped pucks from virtually anywhere. That third line, however, fared the best at 5×5 in terms of controlling the shot attempts and had the strongest expected goal share at just a shade under 53 percent.
Shift, after shift, after shift, after shift, the Oilers top nine forwards were able to weather any slight breeze Calgary blew in and respond with gale-force wins.
there’s no official word from the NHL’s department of player safety as to whether or not they look at Rasmus Andersson’s headbutt on Yamamoto. The Oilers, however, think that will change. “I’m sure the league will look at it.,” said Tippett after the game. “I looked it. To me, it’s a headbutt, but the league will look at it.”

BLH’s Thoughts: Are you ready to begin the Decade of Depth? Just think when Zac Hyman and RNH are ready to transition down the lineup, how good will Edmonton’s third line look in four or five years considering the good young players that are bubbling under in the Oilers’ system?

Now, as for Andersson’s headbutt, I’ll be honest, I didn’t even catch it at the time. I saw him and Killer get into it behind the net and the worst part for me in the moment was the Swede dropping his gloves? Why? Why would he decide that was a good time to fight?

And then I remembered Rasmus Andersson is the new Ulf Samuelsson, he’s the kind of guy who likes to pick his spots. The difference between Andersson and Samuelsson is that Ulf would at least go after the big boys, Rasmus is too chicken shit to try his act on Nurse or Kassian.

Well, I happen to remember ol’ Ulffy getting tuned in by Eric Lindros, Mark Messier, Brendan Shanahan and Cam Neely a couple of times. Andersson has his coming because he can’t go around being a cheapshot artist like this.

The Hockey Writers

6 Takeaways From Oilers First ‘Battle of Alberta’ Win for 2021-22

Jesse Puljujarvi Stepping Up

In the two games thus far, he was in on all the action tonight, scoring a goal and adding two primary assists, both to McDavid.

Darnell Nurse Logs More Big Minutes

He logged 27:47 of ice time in this one, being heavily counted on for much of the time shorthanded in Calgary’s four attempts on the power play.

Mike Smith Holds Oilers in Game Again

He stopped 45 of 47 shots faced, only allowing one at even strength.
Smith is now 2-0 on the season and holds a 1.92 goals-against average (GAA) and a .958 save percentage (SV%).

Oilers Third Line Very Noticeable

Kassian (14:02) was hitting everything that moved, recording six hits on the game sheet and stirred the pot early with Flames’ defenceman Nikita Zadorov.
Ryan (14:59) scored the first goal of the game, assisted by both of his linemates. He also played the most out of the Oilers’ forwards on the penalty kill.
Foegele (13:06) was right around the net, driving pucks into the danger zones where he likes to be.

No. 1 Power Play Continues to Score for Oilers

The Oilers were 50% on the power play in game one of the season, scoring one goal on two attempts. They picked up right where they left off, this time doubling the goals in twice as many attempts.

Connor McDavid Scores Hat Trick

McDavid continues to torch the Calgary Flames in the Battle of Alberta. Courtesy of Sportsnet Stats, McDavid’s three hat tricks vs the Flames is a new franchise record.
To break or hold a franchise record is one thing, but to do it with a franchise as prestigious as the Oilers is another. To make it even sweeter, it’s against their provincial rivals.

Oilers career goals per game vs the Flames

Connor McDavid: 0.81
Wayne Gretzky: 0.76
Glenn Anderson: 0.54

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) October 17, 2021

BLH’s Thoughts: I think another the re-emergence of Zack Kassian should be considered another takeaway. He’s back to being the rough and tumbly Kass that we all know and love and that shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody because he was well on his way to being that guy last year too, but his campaign was interrupted on a couple of occasions.

Now, it’s early days and it’s great that the team is looking very good, but it’s key to temper expectations because the club hasn’t gone on a long roadie yet and the Edmonton Oilers have always had a tough time coming home and winning after being on the road for some time.

Knock on wood, the team has also avoided a major injury in its first two games. Let’s home that continues. With that said, Edmonton’s next opponent is a team that is chalked full of physical players like Max Jones, Ryan Getzlaf, Nic Deslauriers, and Josh Manson. They’ve also got some very skilled youngsters in Trevor Zegras, Mason McTavish, Jamie Drysdale, and Isac Lundestrom on their team. Lucky for the Oilers, all-star netminder John Gibson is hurt…

The Daily Goal Horn

“So you’re Tom Fitzgerald, GM, and you have the chance to acquire Jack Eichel,” he wrote. “Are you interested if Nico Hischier is the featured piece of the package going the other way?”
Elliotte Friedman also provided an update on the New York Rangers and Vitali Kravtsov.
- “I understand the Rangers have asked him ‘would you like to AHL Hartford and work your way back up’,” he said. “Kaapo Kakko got hurt tonight, he hasn’t agreed but the offer is out there.”
The latest reports on Jack Eichel is that at least five teams are in on him. Vegas has long been attached but cap constraints have kept them as unlikely destination.
- Does the possibility of trading for Eichel, letting him have the surgery, and putting him on LTIR increase the chances? It’s starting to look like it. The initial talk is that whatever team acquires Eichel will let him have the artificial disc replacement he seeks.
“In a perfect world, (Johnny) Gaudreau would have begun the season with an extension in place. He has publicly stated he wants to sign past this year in Calgary and I’m told that remains the case,” LeBrun wrote. “My sense is Gross and Flames management will continue to dialogue but both sides very much want to keep things out of the public eye.”