This week, the Edmonton Oilers played four games, dropping three, including one in overtime and had a thrilling shootout win over Pittsburgh last night.
I predicted the Oilers would take 6 points this road trip and are now below that. Still, if they can win against Toronto on Monday, they could end up with five points. Which I’d be alright with. Close enough.
Edmonton Oilers Three Stars
3. Andrej Sekera: I’m giving Sekera his first appearance on the three star list. He has struggled early on, yet slowly and surely, he’s improving. Sure, he has some odd passing choices but he can at least move the puck (here’s looking at you Andrew Ference and Eric Gryba). He had a Power Play goal in both games against Detroit and Pittsburgh. It’s great to see that he’s at least somewhat turning the corner.
2. Iiro Pakarinen: Iiro the Hero also makes his debut! He scored his first career two goal game against Detroit on Friday. He’s a fourth line player and he’s just perfect for the role: both his goals were hard working goals that did not come easy. I love his nick name. Also, don’t look now, but he has matched Jordan Eberle’s point and goal total this season (granted played five more games and I’ll talk about Eberle in a bit)
1. Anders Nilsson: Anders the Giant was HUGE this week (ignoring the Carolina game). Cam Talbot also looked respectable against Detroit, but Nilsson looked awesome in games against Washington and Pittsburgh, where he posted 39 saves in a shootout win. He’s been a revelation this season and is posting very respectable numbers. I’d still like to see Talbot find his way but right now it’s all Nilsson. You have to ride the hotter hand.
Edmonton Oilers News and Rumors:
The biggest trend was how angry the local media has been. Notables include Bob Stauffer, Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal and Mark Spector of Sportsnet.
After horse-crap performance in Carolina and tepid start tonight, Oilers battled. Talbot gave them a chance. 93 and 14 got to get going…
— Bob Stauffer (@Bob_Stauffer) November 28, 2015
Speaking of rumors, there were two big names: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle. Spector says that the Oilers will trade eventually one of their soft skilled players .
My opinion: Trading Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would be a mistake. A very dear one, especially considering the other two (McDavid and Draisaitl) aren’t even 21 yet. Also, why would it be such a bad thing to have three scoring lines? Nugent-Hopkins is also one of our most effective two way forwards on the team.
Now Jordan Eberle on the other hand, I’d be fine with moving. Sure, he was injured, but three goals and points in 11 games? That’s a pretty big let down. It’s not like he’s playing with scrubs either.
https://twitter.com/NicholsOnHockey/status/670330428318846976
That’s nice to see. I think Chiarelli will get it done, but he’s being cautious. He had his state of the union address and expressed his disappointment in the team. However, he said he would not be shaking the team up for the sake of shaking the team up. He acknowledged talks with teams and you have to figure that Travis Hamonic is the number one target. I believe Chiarelli will find a way and he will find it soon.
"He's ahead of schedule." #Oilers Pres/GM Chiarelli on @cmcdavid97's rehabilitation. He'll meet back up with the team in Toronto.
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 28, 2015
That’s the best news of the week, by far. The Edmonton Oilers badly need Connor McDavid back. January could not come soon enough.
Around the League:
- Jonathan Bernier is playing horribly
- Carlo Colaiacovo suffered a scary injury to his throat last night.
- Tortorella calls the Penguins a bunch of whiners. I’ve missed you, Torts!
- Alain Vigneault had some harsh words for the Bruins, Julien and Marchand.
- Sportsnet has a neat feature on the Joe Thornton Trade that took place ten years ago.
- Carey Price is out for a month. My fantasy team weeps.
Highlights
Goals of the Week
Saves of the Week
Probably the Goal of the Year against the Oilers last night was Malkin. My goodness!
The Week Ahead
The Oilers have three games this week, wrapping up their road trip against Toronto on Monday, Boston visits on Wednesday and the mighty Dallas Stars stop by on Friday.
That’s the week that was. Follow me on Twitter!
