Good game, boys. Really worth watching. Thanks for the memories. Final Score: 5-0 Jets
Coming into tonight’s game, all I could think about was how it’s been a wild calendar year to be an Edmonton Oilers fan. After the exhilaration of making the playoffs for the first time in a decade in 2016-17, the start of this year could not have gone worse. I don’t think even the most cynical Oilers fan would have had them starting off this slowly, and it’s been a real mind bender to try and wrap our brains around why this has happened. Sure, what’s done is done but I’m not above crying over spilt milk (see what I did there) and a win against the Jets would go a long way to making me feel better. Dare to dream, Baggo.
From the moment the puck dropped, the Oilers did not get the wanted as they — for the 21st time this season — allowed the first goal of the game after a defensive breakdown that started at their own blue line. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the Oilers followed up with another miscue that saw Blake Wheeler getting the puck in the slot with time and space and giving the Jets a two-goal lead. By the time Kyle Connor made it three-zip for the Jets, it felt like this thing was all but over. When Bryan Little added the Jets’ fourth goal of the night, I finished nailing up the coffin. I don’t know how else to say it, but this was a disastrous end to the year for the Oilers on almost every level and it was one final kick to the nuts from the 2017-18 season that we really didn’t need tonight.
In the end, the Hockey Gods giveth a four-game winning streak and then they taketh away.
For the last time in 2017, we wrap.
THE BRIGHT SIDE
- That game is over and the Oilers can’t hurt me anymore in 2017.
- If there’s one thing that will always make me happy regardless of the outcome, it’s watching Connor McDavid play hockey. The kid is so special and the fact that he’s an Edmonton Oiler is something that should be celebrated every single day.
- All of the players were bad, as a team. #Unity
- I’m sure the 50/50 winner was happy?
- Happy New Year, everybody! Be safe out there.
THE FACE PALMERS
- Coming into tonight, the Oilers were 0-11-4 in their last 15 games on New Year’s Eve. That’s ridiculous.
- The Jets opened the scoring with a perfect tic-tac-toe passing play down low that left Marko Dano putting the puck into an open net. The Oilers had four guys standing around watching as Dano and Matt Hendricks (of course) finished off their time passing work with a goal on the first shot of the game. That’s the sixth time this season that they’ve done that.
- Blake Wheeler put the Jets up by two goals midway through the first period and it completely sucked the air out of the building… not that there had been much to cheer about. Up until that point, the Oilers did not look like they were ready to play as the Jets basically ran the show. Matt Benning got knocked off the puck by Kyle Connor and he found a wide open Blake Wheeler in the slot.
- Kyle Connor got the Jets’ third goal of the night after deflecting a Patrik Laine wrister from the point. As you’d expect, the Oilers’ PK was garbage again and the Jets were able to take full advantage. Here’s hoping 2018 will be better?
- By the time Bryan Little’s goal went in, I was over this game and just waiting for it to be over. Once again, the Oilers made horrible puck choices and it gave the Jets all kinds of unnecessary puck possession time. I don’t know how to accurately describe how bad the Oilers were with the puck but just assume it was a train wreck that you just couldn’t look away from.
- Mathieu Perreault scored the fifth goal of the night. Nobody cared by then. Happy New Year.
- How bad were the special teams? I thought you’d never ask:
- PK: Absolutely awful and every shade of bad, as the Oilers allowed two goals on three power play attempts.
- PP: What power play? 0/2 on the night.
- Tonight was not a good night for Matt Benning. He was a turnover machine all night long and will have a couple goals against attached to his name.
- Not a great night for Cam Talbot, though, he didn’t get much help from the team in front of him. I know he had five go on on him, but I find it hard to blame this disaster on him.
- Kris Russell is horrible at breaking the puck out of his own zone and I don’t care what any of you say.
- I don’t know what it is about the Oilers and breaking out of their zone, but they sure do struggle to make clean passes. There’s a lot of rimming it around the boards and high clears off the glass, but there’s not a lot of tape to tape passes, I’ll tell you that much.
- Giveaways at both blue lines are killing me. The Oilers keep trying to force passes into the middle and they’re getting picked off about as often as they’re not. Maybe stop that next year?
- Another bad night in the faceoff circle for the Oilers as they only won 45% of the draws.
- It’s a Gord damned New Year’s Eve #BeetCast. Check it out on my Twitter.
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST PERIOD
| TIME | TEAM | DETAILS | SCORE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 02:34 | Winnipeg | Marko Dano (1) ASST: Matt Hendricks (6), Ben Chiarot (4) | 1-0 |
| 13:16 | Winnipeg | Blake Wheeler (11) ASST: Kyle Connor (12) | 2-0 |
2ND PERIOD
| TIME | TEAM | DETAILS | SCORE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11:17 | Winnipeg | PPG – Kyle Connor (13) ASST: Patrik Laine (14), Adam Lowry (6) | 3-0 |
| 19:57 | Winnipeg | Bryan Little (7) ASST: Josh Morrissey (10) | 4-0 |
3RD PERIOD
| TIME | TEAM | DETAILS | SCORE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 07:26 | Winnipeg | PPG – Mathieu Perreault (10) ASST: Joel Armia (10), Bryan Little (17) | 5-0 |
#GOODCONTENT
At least I have a cup holder.
— Shaan (@Shaansaysnow) January 1, 2018
TFW the Oilers are losing 3-0 on #NYE pic.twitter.com/JVx8tdKtp8
— Christmas Gordeyko (@TheNationChris) January 1, 2018
I don't think I've agreed more with a sign before… @OilersNation #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/qvWmEKTOSd
— Peter Seal (@thepeterseal) January 1, 2018
@jsbmbaggedmilk this pic was taken when we still had a chance. Opening face-off. pic.twitter.com/AZsYIkHHhD
— mark moerkerk (@slmf510) January 1, 2018
#Oilers coming off a four game win streak…#HereComeTheOilers pic.twitter.com/zXYtLusJdf
— BURGER BARON? (@Burger_Baron) January 1, 2018
Talk to me, Twitter. Tweet at @OilersNation and @jsbmbaggedmilk for your chance to land in the Best of the Tweets.
BOXING WEEK SALE
Wanted NationGear for Christmas but your horrible family didn’t get it for you? Fear not, the Boxing Week sale continues with discounts on new and old designs. As a note, quantities are limited so waiting around will not be your friend. Upgrade your threads here.
Source: NHL.com, Official Game Page, 12/31/2017, 8:00pm MST
What an embarrassment.
If it makes you feel any better, I just beat the Jets 9-0 in NHL18. I choose to live in a Chel world
@OliverPromenade Same here pal?
Quote from the Radio……”It’s been all Jets, all night and not even close”
No matter how emotional, hopeful i am, oilers season is finally over. After last three losses I don’t think there is any chance left.
This team has been Bruinized, we just can’t keep up with most teams.
“Make the Oilers, Fast and Exciting again”
Yes more exciting last place hockey would be great, MOFE ELPH, give Kevin Lowe a promotion, extended woodcroft before other teams come sniffing
I’m assuming you mean “Bruinized” by PC’s standards? Cuz last I checked, the Boys from Beantown have been rippin’ it up and are setting themselves up quite nicely for a spot on the annual spring dance card for a shot at Lord Stanley’s mug.
and i have no confidence that the manager can improve the team for next season
I’m done.
Get Benning off the ice already.
Benning is in need of more AHL seasoning…or European career.
The playoffs are dead. Conversation is now around asset management. Don’t have a lot of confidence in Chia though.
TM and assistants need to be fired before the New Year gets worse. 3 stooges running this team into the ground.
That pretty much sums up this Oilers team. They have a big game at home on New Years eve and end out like the passed out guy before midnight. Thanks Guys, nice effort!
If Benning was sent to the minors tomorrow I wouldn’t complain. There’s something about this team that they just can’t show up, or just don’t want to. We’re not this bad.
Good thing no one claimed Gryba!
How long before the first bright orange jersey gets tossed onto the ice?
Yep, the Ole Ben Scribbles throwback Jerseys. LOL
I’m all for start again from the management all the way down to Benning. What exactly have we got to lose? McDavid is the ONLY keeper. He must be so frustrated, and wishing he didn’t sign long-term.
Whatever you do Coach, don’t put Davy in for Benning because we were winning when he was in the lineup. Insert sarcastic frustrated angry fan emoji here.
Every time a jersey flies a KLowe gets a raise
Seeing that you brought K Lowe’s name up, I don’t see a change in style of play or effort since he coached this team years ago. How much input does Lowe and MacTavish have in who plays, how much do they play and the style of play. It seems that they are stuck in a rut and want to only cycle a puck with no shooting allowed. They need to change the upper management as they have tried everything else.
If you seriously think the coaches are teaching the players to not shoot the puck then you really don’t want to put any blame on the people actually on the ice. No matter who is coaching this team a 103 pt season with a trip to the second round only turns into this because of the players. So many of them look like they took the offseason for granted and have nothing in the tank.
If this last game of the year is in any indication, this team is screwed blue and tattooed.
Almost sound like the fateful Nurse/Sister/Drai incident which DID happen by the way.
Ahhh yes every man in drooling over Kia Nurse, can’t get enough myself
I don’t blame Drai or you for drinking too much. 😉
Be careful what you say people hate to hear the truth .
Yes of course the entire team now sucks because everyone thinks a rumor about a player sleeping with someones sister is true.
It happened, it’s not a rumour. It does affect a team. The only way a team is a team is when tye are all tight and have each other’s backs, not each other’s sisters.
Drai is a humble guy…multi-millionaire and he still drives a Kia
FLUSH!
I could’ve shut out the Oilers tonight. Did they have a single scoring chance?
They’ll have plenty of scoring chances tonight after hours I’m sure.
We have such problems learning from the mistakes we make, the same problems plague the oilers game after game, how about during video review time with the boys, the coaches point out how other teams are doing things right, how to put pressure on defensemen, how to navigate the neutral zone with short sharp passes to players in positions that move the play up ice. And Todd, seriously guy, see if there are more plays in the playbook, the whole, player moves up the middle of the ice and dishes to a winger who is standing still at the opposing blue line is getting kinda predictable…and sweet baby chia, stop sitting on your hands and sculpting your moustache..
That was a stinker.
Living in BC, I only get to see the Oilers play so often, but tonight I think is a pretty real showing of what Edmonton is. I feel sorry for fans who spend their hard earned cash on New Years eve to watch this.
Oilers have a healthy team, yet something is missing. Bottom line, Oilers are not a good hockey team. Chemistry is wrong. Work ethic is questionable. Just not good enough.
The shot of Puljujarvi on the bench smiling and talking to Lucic after he missed his beautiful pass and all Lucic could do was scowl has me thinking that maybe the dressing room is disfunctional. During the Vegas game earlier they talked how together the team was, ie a bunch of rejects thrown together and how they play for each other, yada yada yada but tonights effort sure got me thinking.
True, I saw that too. Team is disjointed. Felt sorry for puljaravi.
Sure not a very good situation to develop a talented young player full of enthusiasm.
Not very much professionalism in Lucic’s actions.
This season:
Play good: lose or win
Play bad: lose
Seems like they can’t have a bad game and steal points this year. They can play great and still lose. Sucks man.
I think they played a bad game against Chicago (other than final 2 minutes with an empty net) and managed to steal a loser point!
Defensively , as a team , we are just not good enough to make playoffs this year .
True dat. Classic case of an overachieving team one year, exposed team the next. Ala Avs of a couple seasons ago.
When you loose 5-0, I think you have other problems beside defense.Like maybe scoring a goal.
Feels better being back to the status quo – laughing stock of the NHL.
Normally after a blowout there would be 100+ comments by now. Could be less because of NYE, or fans are getting apathetic again. The optimism of a week ago wore off quickly. Bummer.
Fan’s Have Given Up , Just Like My Son Gave Up After He Got Sent Down From Rep Hockey To House Hockey .
I believe the last time the Oilers won a New Years eve game was way back in 1985 , so losing this game should be of little concern .
While I agree with your attitude, I strongly disagree with where we are now… Happy new year 🙂
This was a real poop show.[dictionary word BM]
Can’t afford many games but I Took the family tonight – paid a ton – I feel like invoicing the oilers for the load of crap we had to watch tonight
The Jets on the other hand were a pleasure to watch.
You are a hockey fan. You watched a Jets team that is a hockey team that will bring the cup back to Canada
Hahaha yeah right. Jets ain’t gonna win no cup
Winnipeg Jets Have Never Avanced Past Round 2 . Oilers Have 9 Times .
Have to make the playoffs first. Oilers are on the outside looking in.
The Jets are a pleasure to watch, Fast, Fun, Skilled, Speed, quick passes, odd man rushes. I sure miss watching that style of hockey. A lot of similar traits to the Oilers of the 80’s.
And Hendrickson is on the team and producing points. Good evaluation by the Jets.
Hendricks
it’s no slam on the Oilers, but the fact is< Winnipeg has a very solid team, great talent, good goaltending, and coached well. They play as a team from start to finish, and do not mail it in. The Jets were a true litmus test for the Oil… and the Oil failed.
the Oilers have some great pieces, but also some glaring holes. in this league you don't go from last to first and stay there for a decade… to much "parity" and difficulty keeping elite talent throughout the lineup with the salary cap. Oilers will be strong for years to come, but need to address their issues (locker room? two (true top 4) mobile defensemen that can carry or pass out of the zone and be a threat on the PP, and a legitimate NHL level goaltender to join Talbot.
Garbage defensive coverage.
Garbage special teams.
Garbage coaching.
Garbage effort.
Garbage team.
Im done for the rest of the season.
Broken dressing room = poor peformance. Should not of made Connor captain , just let the kid play hockey. Strange how there are no reports of “team only meetings” to get whatever it is troubling this Oiler team dealt with. Also strange is there has been no sightings of Bob Nicholson , is he in the sink or swim Chia mode ? The one positive though , the players sure can find new ways to issue excuses.
Bob Nicholson does not live in Edmonton so is not around much to solve the problem
Then who is cooking the burgers?
Bobbi Nick is more worries about his namesake burger rather than the garbage team on the ice.
He should be worried about his burger it costs more than it’s woth and isn’t that good ……. just like our Oiler’s!
FWIW… Just got back from Stockton where the Bako Condors beat the Heat 3-1. The day was not a complete loss. Have a safe and happy New Year
The Nurse Drai fight has caused this and management didnt do anything about it and here we are with this mess.
Drai can’t help but lovin the Nurses.
I hope he “sleeps” with the cousin, by everyone’s logic we will be a lock for dahlin
You were one of many that trashed me big time when I mentioned it about 2 weeks ago but now your on board typical fan.
Get A Pic And We’ll Remember Your Post’s
Stop trying to make excuses for the players sucking. How the hell does this make talbot, klefbom, maroon and everyone else suck?
Well, wasn’t THAT fun!
You watched the whole game? You sir are a brave man. I know when to shut the damn TV off and stop watching. 10 years of experience.
Bummer. My 7 and 3 year old who joined me didn’t even have a single goal to celebrate.
I really don’t get it. Aside from swapping Hendricks, how did these rosters REALLY change this year? Oilers dominated last year, and this year it’s not even close. Jets seemed like a team playing a tight checking, quick, clean playoff game … And the oilers weren’t even close to being able to match. Did their goalie stop a puck with anything other than the crest of his jersey tonight?
Oilers have no goal scorers.
Time for a well deserved shake up. Special teams have this team on its knees. This is fixable and has not been addressed. The oilers have a good team when they’re going, very similar to the Jets by my assessment. I said it 2 months ago with even middle of the road special teams this team is in a completely different position yet these coaches are still employed.
Special teams are junk.
Its time to add the NHL Prospect Report to my bookmarks.
Fallin for Dahlin
Why, what is their drafting history like? Unless it is a first overall they won’t have anybody to tell them who to draft. They may trade all the picks for Rheinhart as he is most likely available.
Team is obviously drained from a couple of close, tough losses. No excuses, though. This was a must-win after two losses. Playoffs slipping away.
slipping? That’s like a guy laying on his back on a patch of ice and saying he needs to be careful before he slips. They have slipped and fallen off the cliff I’m afraid. It’s over this year.