The Oilers enter tonight’s action sitting 30th place in the NHL. Very few expected them to be here again, but they are, and now the Oilers must find a way to dig out of last place instead of wallowing in self pity and staying here all year.
It is up to the players. They have to play better. They need to play smarter.They must cut down on the major mistakes. I believe they have improved some aspects of their game, but the still make crucial errors at the wrong time.
The need to clean up their game and the wins will come.
The Oilers played well in Chicago last week, but came up short again. The Hawks’ top-two lines are very dangerous and the Oilers can’t afford brain cramps in their own zone.
They also need to stay calm in the defensive zone. The Hawks control the puck better than most teams in the offensive zone, especially Patrick Kane, and they do it against most teams. The key to limiting the Hawks chances is to not get out of position. It is easier said than done, but you can’t chase them and you can’t panic when they hem you in the zone.
LINEUP…
McLellan wouldn’t commit to who is playing on the third D pairing. “We have a group of three players and we will decide later today who plays. One of Davidson, Reinhart or Ference will draw in on the third pair. At practice it looked like Davidson was paired up with Gryba the most, but he wasn’t there exclusively. Oilers lineup courtesy of DailyFaceoff.com
Blackhawks lineup courtesy of DailyFaceoff.com
QUICK HITS…
- Many people wondering why the Oilers are giving Purcell the prime minutes and not Yakupov. That hasn’t been the case all season, except for the last game in LA, and Purcell has played well recently, so it would be foolish of McLellan to take Purcell off that line now.
Yakupov has played 237 EV minutes this year. Here are the forwards he has played with the most at EV.
Pouliot: 177
McDavid: 138
Mark Letestu: 40
RNH: 34
And then a host of guys for 10-15 minutes each.
Yakupov has two goals and since McDavid was injured he only has one point.
Purcell has three goals and six points in his last seven games. Here are his 5×5 linemates.
He has played 220 min at EV
Lander: 112
Korpikoski: 72
Hall: 45
RNH: 45
Letestu: 41
The the rest is 15-20 minutes with various players.
It is simply incorrect to suggest Purcell is getting more opportunities than Yakupov. He was moved up with Hall and Draisaitl in the Arizona game and then started with them in LA and played very well. Yakupov has been fine, but I’d argue the time has come for him to produce regardless of who he plays with. He had two great chances in LA, but couldn’t finish.
- McLellan said this about Yakupov and his current linemates.
“I thought Yakupov played well in Los Angeles playing with Letestu and Hendricks. They are straight ahead players like him. He had a number of good chances
“It can’t just be Derek Roy or McDavid, sometimes it has to be Yak who takes charge. Sometimes you have to be the catalyst on the line instead of waiting for some body else. I thought he had a good game in LA and I’m anticipating he can do it again,” said McLellan. I agree completely.
- The Oilers are more competitive most nights, but when they make a mistake it is often an errant pass or miscommunication which results in a goal against. Taylor Hall shared his thoughts on what his holding the Oilers back from winning.
“The wins haven’t come because of small, little mistakes. It is almost like when you rehab a shoulder. The big gains come
early, and at the end it is the little muscles you have to work on and get
better. It is the same with our team. We are almost there, but we aren’t a
finished product and it’s those little things in our game that are hurting us.
Once we fix them and eliminate them it will help us win games.” -
Hall has made a conscience effort to be better defensively and it is showing in his statistics and analytics. “I’m not worried about scoring all the time. When we played against Crosby’s line, I realized if we don’t give up a goal it is better for the team. I feel I’m more relaxed and focused on what will help us win. Obviously I need to produce points, but some nights, against certain lines, not getting scored on is just as important,” said Hall. McLellan is hopeful the rest of the team sees the change in Hall’s game and incorporates the same changes in theirs.
- Hall is huge fan of Draisailt. “I think I have given up some more puck time because he is a
guy who wants the puck too, and he can really rag guys along with him,” Hall said about playing with Draisaitl.“I think
it is important for me to maximize his skill set, get him the puck down low and
let him go to work. He has a really good shot. He sees the ice well and he does
everything really well. I can also see him being a good faceoff guy pretty soon
due to his strength.”Draisaitl has only taken 43 faceoffs this year and he is 17-26. Like most rookies he has struggled, but his size and hand speed should allow him to improved quickly. The Oilers desperately need a top-six centre who can win faceoffs.
- Teddy Purcell hired Adam Oates a a skill coach and as Purcell said, “a helper.” I will have a more extensive article on their relationship later today.
- A few players in this game love playing against the other team.
Hall has 9-12-21 in 16 games vs. Chicago.
Eberle has 7-13-20 in 18 games.
RNH has 1-11-12 in 12 games including a five assist game.Meanwhile for the Hawks:
Patrick Kane has 12-28-40 in 29 games.
Jonathan Toews has 16-14-30 in 29 games.
Marian Hossa has 6-14-20 in 18 games.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING…
From John Jaeckel
This game’s a little bigger than others for the 10-7-1 Blackhawks. They kick off their annual Circus road Trip, which is typically a bellwether for the season as a whole—and bring a 2-game winning streak into Rexall Place tonight. The Oilers gave the Hawks all they could handle in an earlier meeting at the United Center, bringing a strong forecheck and generating a lot of turnovers.
TONIGHT….
GAME DAY PREDICTION: I expect a flurry of goals tonight. The Oilers like playing the Hawks and fans will witness a high-scoring, exciting game. Oilers are 7-9-1 in their last 17 against the Hawks and they pull within one game of .500 with a 5-4 victory.
OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Hall picks up two points. He tallies his first multi-goal game since December 21st, 2014.
NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Letestu picks up his first EV point of the season when he buries a nice pass from Yakupov. Goals from the bottom six have been scarce, but the Oilers get two of them, and the win, tonight.
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Recently by Jason Gregor:
Colby Armstrong looks like Gru from Despicable me.
At first I was like, am I not hip? What the heck is despicable me, and who’s dru? Then I remembered… Someone obviously has kids…. Poor guy
“Big European Goalie” wtf Spector? Why did he have to say European? Are Europeans not goalie? Are there no good European goalies? Are there no Big European goalies? Are there no Big goalies? WTF!?.!..
The best penalty killer to begin the 3rd period for the Hawks: Taylor Hall.
Why call your self soiled trousers?Did they not let you call yourself “sh!t my pant$”.Your a troll beat it!!!
Go home and hold your kids.
Hey Ed can you stretch your pecker to touch your butt?Nice now go F@€¥ yourself!!!??
Hey kids here’s a tip. When you’re all liquored up on Royal Reserve and angry because your team is losing you should stay away from the keyboard.
Touche Nietzsche, Touche.
I swear, every time someone points a bad doing of Hall they get attacked by some tough guy keyboard groupie.
I personally believe that is cutie pie Tyler with the new tough moniker.
Even this is early but I think Nurse is the future of the Oilers’ blueline. No wonder that Bruins want him for Hamilton and good for Chiarelli not to agree to that.
Ya but for real. Rogers you really need some new McDavid commercials that Arn’t so corny. They’re driving me nuts
It would be more fitting about Moose standing in front of 5 Stanley Cups and tell Connor “take a look of these”.
No one even touches Garbut? He comes in and flattens hendo and no one even looks at him funny? This is what I hate most about the oilers
Way to hustle off the ice just before that 3rd goal Ebs…
We get it. The only player you watch is ebs.
I get it. The free pass lasts 5+ years.
Davidson is not looking good tonight. He must have heard Oilers could be considering trading him-so he plays his value down to stay.?
I hate lander. What a brutally $hitty player he is. Why he wasn’t scratched is beyond me.
Seriously? Guy had a great season last year and terrific world championships. He has a bad start to the season and he’s hated now? Wow. What does he do to enrage you so much?
Did your drunk uncle teach you that? Cause I’m sure your father was with your mother only once.
No, the only thing my drunk uncle taught me was to watch out for greasy bigots named Ed and guys that liked to stretch their peckers also named Ed.
Let’s see how TM manages his bench now? I better not see lander or anyone from the 4th line on the ice!
You guys all sound like a bunch of losers. Trash talking each other on a comment board… Wow
It’s called immaturity at an extreme level.
Sad when your vocabulary obviously shows your iq level.
Great games tonight by Nurse, Pouliot, Hall and Draisaitl.
How many times did the oil come back from down 2-0 last year?
Then, Hossa shows Eberle how to get more than one scoring chance.
Man is hall a grade a loser, that wasnt even close to being in!!
When you’re dead you don’t know you’re dead. Its only painful for others. The same applies when you’re stupid.
So if the Oilers scored that goal, too mamy players penalty?
Dead-assed last.
Same old, same old.
Last place in the league.
That’s garbage.
As of this morning, 75% of the Oilers losses came against the best 8 teams in the NHL. They’ve had, as people have been saying for months, a brutal schedule.
To look at their ranking now and call it “same old” is incredibly stupid.
The Oilers goal differential stands at -12, the Oilers were -23 last season against easier competition.
All this during a heyday of injuries to their top players at points during the past 18 games.
So no, it’s not the same old. This is an Oilers team that’s showing more resilience than they ever have in the past 5 years. A team that is in almost every single game in the last 10 minutes of each game. If they don’t have a lead, or it’s a tie, then they’re only 1 goal behind.
So whether you prefer math and logic, or you prefer an “eye test”…either way this season is so not like the past 5 years.
The record will even itself out as the season plays out. When the Oilers lose to bottom feeding teams like the Sabres, Aves, Jackets, Leafs, and Hurricanes sure, get mad. But due to how the schedule played out, we won’t get a good idea until we’re over 50 games into the season. The first 20 are loaded with the best NHL teams that it would be quite idiotic to make a statement on the team based on it.
Dude, Whatever you got to tell yourself. And then there will be a new set of excuses when they Oil drop games to the so-called “lesser” teams.
Look at the league standings. I rest my case. A team on a upward trajectory is stealing games against the best – enough not to be dead last in the entire league.
“Look at the league standings. I rest my case.”
That’s why I called your statement “stupid”, because you’re disregarding the fact that the current standings represent the Oilers current season up to now, 18 games in the season.
There are 82 games in an NHL season.
I can’t believe I had to type that statement here on OilersNation. Are you sure you’re not a Flames fan? The sort where we have to describe how offsides work?
Sigh. Ah yes, that old chestnut. Are you a “Flames fan”. No.
The bottom line is that the Oilers are dead last in the league – yes it maybe at 18 games, but that is still a good chunk of the season and typically is a pretty good indicator of what level the team is at. They are still a bottom five team.
Another moral Fcuking victory!
Attention everyone: tonight’s game is actually a moral victory.
If the Oil were measured by moral victories they would be a freakin dynasty. Someone needs to tell them that is not what they are playing for.
Another Oilers mirage. Improvement on the most gradual level. Enough to convince naive fans that this is going somewhere.
Someone needs to tell the people that are down-voting me to take their heads out of their hindquarters and take a look at the league standings.
Simple;
Not big enough, fast enough, tough enough, disciplined enough, oh & goaltending.
Not rocket science and that was not too many men on the ice.
Positives;
Drai, Nurse, Pouliot & Hall for the most part.
it was close enough to be a no call. I am ok with it. we got unlucky and lost on a great play by crawford. Not much else to say.
The last 2 games were lost directly because those skilled guys can’t score on the powerplay.
Can you explain to me how Hossa has the puck (4 strides from his bench) on the Oilers blueline, AND, his guy who he was spelling off still has both skates on the ice….and yet it wasn’t too many men??
The TV angles were terrible, yet even then you can clearly see Hossa 15 feet from his bench with the puck and his guy STILL on the ice. Obviously he jumped way early which gave him the breakaway. I have seen nothing plays that were even closer than that play called, yet at the most crucial time of the game, on an absolutely crucial spot (ie/ breakaway) it was somehow missed??
Check out peluso’s response to Sbisa’s hit on Ehlers tonight in the Jets / Nucks game. THAT is how you respond. It should be shown in the locker room.
Sorry for the interruption. Now back to Oilers.
Link: http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2015/11/18/video-sbisa-hits-someone-hard-later-gets-punched-hard
*hopefully this is legal
Request :Please can you make it so we can download the Photoshop art when you post it?! ON my computer the resolution detail with in the page is too low to really enjoy all the work some one did. Also can you please do an article about the person who does this. They give us much joy at work, on break or where ever. (This is not about me but the “Nation”
Thank-you in advance.