GDB 11.0 Wrap Up: A special teams disaster, Oilers give up lead(s) and lose 4-3 to Minnesota

5 years ago

Giving up three separate leads and losing without even a point is tough to take. Final Score: 4-3 Wild

I know that Jacques Lemaire hasn’t coached the Minnesota Wild since 2009 but I still can’t help but think of them as the horribly boring team that plays the trap and drains my soul of its will to live. Every time I see the Wild coming up on the schedule I feel the need to hook caffeine straight into my veins to make sure I’m able to stay awake for 60 minutes. Again, I know Lemaire hasn’t been coaching there for a long time now, but I feel as though his essence lives on and for that reason, we’re all cursed to be bored every time these two teams meet. Thankfully, the spirit of Lemaire was nowhere to be found tonight as both teams traded chances and played an overall style that would probably make him roll in his grave.* Though, the death lock the Wild put on when they finally took the lead probably would have made him proud.

Despite playing last night in Vancouver and getting dusted off handily, the Wild came out with energy and tenacity against the Oilers, which was exactly what they needed to keep themselves in the game even though they were heavily outshot. But, to the dismay of everyone reading this right now, there were some major and obvious differences that ended up being derailing what should have been a stellar evening. Our boys manufactured all kinds of pressure and chances through the first 40 minutes, and the Wild should be grateful that Stalock kept the score as low as it was. The Oilers had more than enough going for them offensively to turn this thing into a win but they just couldn’t finish. On the flip side, I’m sure even Cam Talbot will admit that he needs to be far better and give his team more saves than he did tonight, though they didn’t exactly do themselves any favours with their soul-draining special teams play.

After being so good on both the power play and penalty kill throughout their three-game win streak and even the games leading up to it, the Oilers lost this game because of their total lack of execution at 5-on-4 and the lack of a big save when they needed it. As much as the Oilers probably played well enough to win, it was the details like special teams that made them successful over this past week that were missed and badly. There were definitely things to like about tonight’s game, several in fact, but not nearly enough that anyone will be walking away happy. Back to the drawing board boys, we’ll see you on Thursday.

The wrap.

*Jacques Lemaire is very much alive

THE BRIGHT SIDE

How about Leon Draisaitl’s goal? The big man was in the perfect place to smash home a one-timed snapshot from the slot (left side, of course) but the diving pass over from Nuge that made it happen was ridiculous. You’re going to see that one on the highlights tonight. Back to Draisaitl, the guy is on fire as he extended his point streak to three games.
Connor McDavid has a turbo button and I don’t believe anyone who says otherwise. His goal tonight was ridiculous and he turnstiled Ryan Suter like he was some kind of plug. What a gift he is and we should remember it every single day.
Alex Chia’s son hadn’t scored in a few games and I was starting to worry that he might have forgotten that he is, in fact, the answer. Now I just feel silly. Yuge goal by Chiasson to restore the Oilers lead near the end of the second period.
Say what you will about me fanboying but I like way Nuge played again tonight. From the assist on Draisaitl’s goal to the overall calmness in his game, our boy is evolving right before our eyes and it’s glorious to watch.
The Oilers looked really good at five on five tonight which makes this loss even more annoying. The storyline has been the lack of even-strength scoring and when they finally get it it’s the special teams that let them down. Sports!
Oilers were better in the faceoff circle tonight, winning 53% of the draws they took.
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THE FACE PALMERS

Three. Seperate. Leads.
Zach Parise got the Wild on the board and tied the game up after Matt Dumba’s point shot rebounded right to his stick and into the net. Right place, right time, in the net.
Jared Spurgeon wandered into the slot with some space and Eric Staal found him on the tape, leaving a tap-in for the second Wild goal of the night.
Eric Staal tied the game up at three apiece after deflecting a Ryan Suter point shot past Talbot and into the net. It was the second Wild power play goal of the night with the added annoyance of happening right before the second period buzzer.
Markus Granlund gave the Wild their first lead of the game with their third consecutive powerplay goal. To his credit, Granlund’s goal was a snipe but this was an absolutely horrific night for the Oilers’ PK. Caggiula’s penalty leading up to this goal is going to be a major topic on sports radio tomorrow.
I do not understand Todd McLellan throwing Caggiula on the first line in place of Yamamoto to end the game. I know Drake has been ‘trying real hard like,’ but that shouldn’t be enough to slot him there.
Tonight was not Cam Talbot’s night and it’s not even like the Oilers desperately needed it to be. That said, I wouldn’t hang all four goals on Dadbot either, there were plenty of gaffs in front of him that could have prevented things altogether, but I think we can all agree he would want to be infinitely better than what we saw from him tonight. Talbot finished the night with 24 saves and a .857 save%.
We might need to do some kind of sacrifice to get Ryan Strome a point.
I think Lucic has been playing well so far this season, I really do, but I can’t be the only one that’s noticed his turnovers with the puck, right? Anybody?
To say that the Oilers had a bad night on the penalty kill would be like saying water is wet but it is literally impossible for them to have done worse. Giving up three goals on three Minnesota chances after allowing only a single PP goal at home so far this season is mind melting. Disastrous night.
Not to be outdone, the power play went 0/5 on the night, though Draisaitl’s goal happened only seconds after a power play had expired. Still, the Oilers needed their special teams to produce and it didn’t happen which ended up being the difference.
I was having such a nice run of being able to drink beers instead of eating beets. Dammit it all to hell. As always, you can follow along over on my Twitter account.

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
08:11	Edmonton	Leon Draisaitl (7) ASST: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (10), Oscar Klefbom (5)	0-1
14:08	Minnesota	PPG – Zach Parise (4) ASST: Matt Dumba (3), Nino Niederreiter (4)	1-1

2ND PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
04:10	Edmonton	Connor McDavid (9) ASST: Kris Russell (4)	1-2
12:18	Minnesota	Jared Spurgeon (2) ASST: Eric Staal (5), Nino Niederreiter (5)	2-2
13:11	Edmonton	Alex Chiasson (4) ASST: Matt Benning (1), Leon Draisaitl (6)	2-3
18:20	Minnesota	PPG – Eric Staal (4) ASST: Ryan Suter (8), Mikael Granlund (6)	3-3

3RD PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
14:12	Minnesota	PPG – Mikael Granlund (6) ASST: Eric Staal (6), Ryan Suter (9)	4-3

#GOODCONTENT

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THE REAL LIFE PODCAST

You’ve spent the last week pining away for a new episode of the Real Life Podcast and the wait is finally over! This week, the boys are bursting with excitement as the Oilers find themselves near the top of the Pacific Division standings for the first time in a while and they just can’t hold it in.

Source: NHL, Official Game Page, 10/30/2018 – 10:45 pm MT

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