Zzzzzzzzzzz Final Score: 2-1 Devils
All I really wanted for this game was for the Oilers to not lay a turd on the ice the way they had in Montreal and New York. The bar was pretty low. Would it be nice if they pulled out a win? Yes, of course, but I mostly just didn’t want to be embarrassed to be an Oilers fan — is that too much to ask? I don’t think so. I guess I never understood how the same team that absolutely pumped the Ottawa Senators could also be lit up the next two games. Then again, we’re Oilers fans so finding new and creative ways to be disappointed should never be surprising.
Remember back in the day when Gretzky called the Devils a “Mickey Mouse organization?” It’s hilarious to think about with some hindsight. There hasn’t been a team worse than the Oilers over the past 10 seasons. That’s 10 whole years of “suck(ing) the hind banana” as Pat Quinn once put it. It’s almost impressive! I mean, how haven’t the Oilers ever been accidentally good at anything but the lottery? The tank life is strong, I guess. “Never has a tank been built this sturdy” future generations of Oilers fans will someday say.
Anyways…
As for tonight’s game, the Oilers certainly played better than they did on the weekend. That’s not really saying much and I’m not sure how they could have possibly played worse, but it’s true nevertheless. Frankly, Edmonton rolled into New Jersey with the lines blended and an ability to salvage points on this road trip against a tired Devils team that was playing on back-to-back nights. The Oilers had plenty of chances to take an early lead but they couldn’t cash in on anything. In the end it was the missed opportunities, both at regular strength and on the power play, that cost the Oilers the game.
This was a winnable game against a tired team, but once again the Oilers couldn’t take advantage.
We wrap.
THE BRIGHT SIDE
- There is no one better at missing the net than the Edmonton Oilers. Masters of the craft.
- He’s fresh into his NHL career but Connor McDavid makes any Oilers game more entertaining. His puck puck pursuit on Jordan’s Eberle’s goal (his 15th) was a thing of beauty. He may have lost the draw but he never lost the puck.
- Brandon Davidson continues to impress Todd McLellan as he played a team leading 20:34 tonight. Not only is he a great story, he’s turning out to be a pretty damn good defenseman.
- Cam Talbot was much better than he was on the weekend. He made the saves you would expect him to make and he kept the Oilers in it. He finished the night with 24 saves and a .923 save%
- They didn’t lose as bad as they did on the weekend?
THE FACE PALMERS
- The Oilers had plenty of early chances to score but they could never seem to cash on anything. It’s tough to win games when you only score one goal.
- The New Jersey Devils play an insanely boring brand of hockey. Awful to watch. To make matters worse the Devils played last night and the Oilers still couldn’t take advantage.
- I don’t know how many times the Oilers tried to break out by floating three guys at centre ice and trying to send through a long pass. That never works. Not now, not ever.
- This isn’t a new story, but the Oilers couldn’t get anything done on the power play. They had plenty of chances to take the lead but the PP couldn’t get anything done. Injuries aside, I think the disappearance of the power play (was there ever one?) has cost the Oilers more than a few wins this season. They went 0/3 on the night on the PP.
- At least the Oilers keep things consistent by losing both ends of the special teams battle. New Jersey went 2/5 on the power play.
- Don’t ever stop partying Gaudreau and Monahan. Fight for your right to do it. I believe in you, brothers.
- There wasn’t enough flu meds to make this game enjoyable.
SCORING SUMMARY
| 1ST PERIOD | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10:33 | NJD | PPG – Adam Henrique (18) Wrist shot – ASST: Lee Stempniak (25), Reid Boucher (2) | 1 – 0 NJD | |
| 11:39 | EDM | Jordan Eberle (15) Snap shot – ASST: Benoit Pouliot (16), Connor McDavid (12) | 1 – 1 Tie | |
| 2ND PERIOD | ||||
| NONE | ||||
| 3RD PERIOD | ||||
| 07:13 | NJD | PPG – Reid Boucher (3) Snap shot – ASST: Adam Henrique (18), Tyler Kennedy (6) | 2 – 1 NJD | |
BEST OF THE TWEETS
@OilersNation when McDavid gets off the ice I look at my phone to read tweets about McDavid until he’s back on the ice
— Jalal Teliani (@JalalTeliani) February 10, 2016
Man, they sell giant beers in New Jersey. #Jealous pic.twitter.com/4tLUVxDHSz
— The Towel Boy (@TheTowelBoy) February 10, 2016
@OilersNation I see the Flames gave Monahan and Johnny hockey the night off to watch McDavid
— Kevin A (@CapitalKep) February 10, 2016
@OilersNation you take that back!!!!!
don’t even go there and taint him….— Shaun Hunter (@KingPinYEG) February 10, 2016
Be sure to tweet at @OilersNation and @jsbmbaggedmilk for your chance to land in Best of the Tweets. Talk to me, Twitter.
THE NORTH x NORTHGRETZ PODCAST
Live from the #NationSkiTrip in Jasper! This week the boys are joined by a very special guest, one of the ORIGINAL Oilersnation commenters The Towel Boy! They talk about the return of Connor McDavid, expectations for the rest of the season, how much fun they’re having in Jasper, share some old school Oilersnation memories, and much, much more!
As always you can follow North x NorthGretz on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe to the podcast on ITunes!
PREVIOUS EPISODES
- Episode 5 – Ya Jinked It!
- Episode 6 – Nation Battle Royale
- Episode 7 – The Brownlee Christmas Spectacular
- Episode 8 – Return Of The CTI
- Episode 9 – NxNGretz Holiday Special
- Episode 10 – An NxNGretz New Years
- Episode 11 – Is There A TV Doctor In The House?
- Episode 12 – Making An Interner
- Episode 13 – Guilty Pleasures
- Episode 14 – All Star Weekend
I still believe in this core. I wouldnt trade anyone until a healthy oscar klefbom and ryan nugent hopkins return.
Way to tow the company line Stauffer! I’m sure you’ll be happy with this years Christmas bonus
Do you pay for your seat?
If Ottawa and Toronto can pull off a massive trade… Could Edmonton and Calgary put their rivalry aside,for say a RNH for Hamilton swap? Seems like a pretty sweet deal to me,and Chiarelli gets the player he wanted from day one. What say you Oilers fans?
While on the topic of Edmonton and Calgary… Could Brandon Davidson turn I to our very own Mark Girodano in a few years? That would be pretty sweet,for a change.
Like really people on. O.N are so annoying blaming Kevin lowe, for this season Is ridiculous. We’re still feeling the after effects of the old regime for sure. The last and final thing k lowe and mctavish probably influenced was the reinheart trade.
I love what mctavish did with perron and the first round not signing that loser petry. It was such an amazing run for any gm in our short lived history. Way to go Mac t your the best.
“Mac t your the best”. I love it when family members stick together.
I realize the truth may be difficult to comprehend however how f’ing delusional can one be to believe CrackT is anything but an incompetent idiot who along with Kim Jong Lowe are responsible for a totally failed franchise.
That’s right friend, dance to the master’s tune. The Kool-Aid ain’t going to drink itself.
I’m just curious but does anybody still think the last four coaches were the problem.
Ya, Eakins was an arrogant self centered jerk but my point still stands.
Hall was terrible, Yak doesn’t have a clue, Eberle is a lazy SOB, Purcell is softer than butter, Fayne is softer than Purcell, Sekera is not a top 2 D, I could go on and on.
But, Conner McDavid ??
What dallas eakins did to some of the players confidence, he tried to invent a new style of defense called the swarm, and instill it on a young roster, and when they wouldn’t execute his stupid swarm style would bench the players. He was the worst thing to happen to our hockey team in history, so no.
Aren’t those the same problems every night? Eberle for Hamonic is sounding pretty damned good right now, isn’t it? But probably too good to be true because I doubt it’s gonna happen.
However, I do think Sekera could be a top pairing guy if he had a competant partner.
Eakins is still a curse word for me. He wasn’t the only problem, but he definitely didn’t help anything.
Agree whole heartedly but the core needs to be dismantled completely.
Hall, Eberle, Nuge or Yak have taken us nowhere but to McDavid which is great but embarrassing at the same time.
I’m so conflicted. LOL
No, lowe and MacT are the fking curse. These dumb arrogant clowns need to have a restraining order against them to stay as far away from the oilers as the can.
I feel the same about Lowe
I take that back! He is the only reason why we are here today
Hoping that the Flames kids party too much. That’s what it’s come to in Oilers Nation for the self-declared best fans in hockey. Looks good on every one of you.
Oh get off your high horse and go back to Flames Nation.
Let me guess the game plan for the rest of the season.
Step 1) make no significant trades to help the defense out of fear of making the team worse.
Step 2) do or say nothing for as long as possible until billboards get purchased and social media blows up in disgust
Step 3) trade someone that everyone has known should be traded for two years to take the heat off for another few months until the draft
Step 4) draft a player that any other team in the nhl could use to make their team competitive in a year, two tops.
Step 5) start talking about how things are now on the right track again.
Remember when Chiarelli was supposed to bring this savvy veteran GM experience and MacLellan was an elite coach? That was a good one.
I’d love to see ON do a comparison between the Oilers under Nelson and MacLellan. I’m not seeing any significant improvement by the Oilers. McDavid and Drai have been great, but otherwise I think the Nelson-led team was better.
And if PC wasn’t going to do anything, why did they remove MacT? He was good for nothing, but at least there were no expectations he’d do anything remotely useful.
Chiarelli is bringing the veteran GM experience. He’s not saying our young players have Norris potential, he’s not throwing our goalie under the bus and he’s just doing his job. He’s a Harvard grad who was captain of the Harvard team for a reason.
Coaching can only do so much. Babcock isn’t gonna make Toronto into a contender but he can get them to play the right way for when they do have the players to win.
Nelson: 17-25-9 .422 win%
Mclellan: 21-28-5 .435 win%
I liked Nelson but I’d still go with Mclellan.
Do you really want Mac-t running things or a GM who is actually respected around the league?
PC please!!
I think the frustration comes from watching trades come and go while we miss out on parts we need.
I have zero doubt PC is trying, but maybe it is time to start losing points on value to get what we need.
We aren’t far off on how we think, but I just want to see more aggressive moves happen at the expense of loss of initial value.
There is a point where I can only eat the world’s best steak for so long before I need to realize I can’t live off steak, and need to trade my high valued steak, for lower valued veggies so I can survive and thrive.