GDB 42.0: The back nine (1pm MST, SNW)

Photo credit:Walter Tychnowicz-USA TODAY Sports

6 years ago

Rise and shine, Nation! It’s game day and that means the Oilers are kicking off the back half of their season with the first game in a back-to-back matinee weekend. Side A starts with their third matchup of the season against the Dallas Stars before heading off to play Side B in Chicago.

Heading into the back half of the season, the Oilers need to step up and treat every game like it’s a playoff game, and a big part of that means being ready to play. I mean, you and I know that but does the team? If the Oilers can start this game on time and play up to their potential, something we’ve seen sporadically at best, then they can be a tough team to beat. Heading into a weekend with back-to-back matinee games, it is imperative that the Oilers make sure they’re ready to play from the opening faceoff. Why it doesn’t happen every game is a question all in itself, but that’s how this season has gone so far. Normally, you’d think that being prepared would be easy for a pro sports team to manage, but, as the 2017-18 rollercoaster passes its midway point, I still feel like it’s worth mentioning that the game starts at 1pm MST just to be safe.

If the Oilers legitimately have any hopes of clawing their way back into playoff contention, and that hope is dwindling with every ‘L’ that goes up on the board, then these are the games they need to win and they have to find a way of doing it consistently. Needless to say, every point is massively valuable at this point and they had better be jumping headfirst into doing everything they can to get every single one of them. Their desperation levels and attention to detail have to match what we saw on Thursday night against the Ducks, and it has to happen every single night. The Stars, though obviously having a much better year than the Oilers, are a team that is beatable if the boys can play the game the way we know (hope?) they can. That said, it will all depend on whether Jekyll or Hyde shows up for the Oilers today.

NUMBERS TO KNOW…

The Oilers and Stars have split the first two matchups of the season with each team winning their respective home game. In the first game, both sides turned the thing into a shootout with the Oilers walking away with a narrow 5-4 victory. In the rematch, the Oilers forgot to show up, made plenty of mistakes, and the Stars made them look stupid.
Looking at the goal differential, the Stars’ +10 rating (127GF – 117GA) is leaps and bounds ahead of the Oilers’ dreadful -16 (116GF – 132GA). What that tells me is that the Oilers will need to make sure they play a simple game, especially paying attention to the small details in their own end. Passes need to be on the tape, and decisions need to happen quickly.
Looking at the fancies over at Corsica, the Oilers remain in the Top 5 in terms of CF% (53.02%) which means they’re one of the best teams in the NHL at producing shot attempts. Feels good, right? *hides from flying fruit* The problem, of course, is that not many of those shots are actually going in the net. How can they fix that problem? Prayer? Have we tried prayer? From where I blog, I don’t see the Oilers crashing the net nearly enough these days. I mean, when was the last time you saw the boys score something really greasy? It’s been a while.
I don’t know how many more ways I can write that the Oilers’ penalty kills suck balls so I’m not going to try today. You know it’s bad, I know it’s bad — let’s move on. The bright side of that whole mess is that the Oilers’ PK is actually rock solid on the road. Their 85.1% kill rate ranks them 5th in the league. Crazy, right? So why are they so bad at home? It doesn’t make sense. I guess I’ll just be happy this game is happening in Dallas.
Over on the home side, Dallas sports an 84.7% PK percentage at home and a 20.0% on the power play. Both middling totals that will still be a challenge for the Oilers to overcome given the state of their own special teams on any given night. Yeah, yeah I know I just wrote about the PK being solid on the road.
According to my boy Reid Wilkins, Laurent Brossoit was blindsided by the trade that brought in Al Montoya. Part of me thinks that’s an odd sentiment given his own numbers from this year. That said, Montoya’s stats aren’t any better and he has an extra year on his contract so I can understand the confusion. Todd McLellan says that the plan is for Brossoit to get some playing time in Bakersfield, which is a good idea, but we’ll see how things go on the waiver wire first. I’d bet Gregor’s money that he clears.

LINEUPS…

Oilers

Lucic-McDavid-Puljujarvi
Cammalleri-RNH-Strome
Caggiula-Draisaitl-Slepyshev
Khaira-Letestu-Kassian

Nurse-Larsson
Klefbom-Russell
Sekera-Benning

Talbot

At the time of posting, there hadn’t been any lineup updates yet so I went with the lines from the start of Thursday night’s game. What we know for sure is that Talbot will start and that he was fantastic against the Ducks, something the Oilers will need from him again.

Stars

Benn-Seguin-Radulov
Janmark-Spezza-Shore
Roussel-Faksa-Pitlick
Dickinson-Hanzal-Ritchie

Lindell-Klingberg
Hamhuis-Pateryn
Methot-Johns

Bishop

Stars lineup (subject to change) courtesy of DailyFaceoff.com

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING…

From Blackout Dallas:

All in all, the second half of the season will present another interesting challenge for Dallas. In the first half, their challenge was simply finding a spark, competing as a unified team, and adapting to a new style. Their challenge in the second half is simply to keep growing and charging forward.
The Dallas Stars have struggled in the opening of a new year over the past few seasons. This season, that cannot happen.

TONIGHT…

Photoshop: Tom Kostiuk

GAME DAY PREDICTION: The Oilers played a solid game against the Ducks and use it as a stepping stone to victory. Edmonton closes this one out with a 3-2 victory.

OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: That jackass behind the net in the tan jacket will bang on the glass for 60 minutes. No one will be impressed and the Oilers fans that bought seats behind him will eventually be forced to complain to an usher who will explain to him that glass banger guy should be wearing a helmet. Oh, and I almost forgot, Tyler Pitlick scores a goal against his former team.

NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Inspired by the Swedish team captain, Adam Larsson chucks his bronze medal from the 2010 World Junior’s Championship into the crowd after Tyler Seguin scores a power play goal.