GDB 39.0 Wrap Up: #HereComeTheOilers with a terrible effort and a 5-0 loss

6 years ago

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

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Source: NHL.com, Official Game Page, 12/31/2017, 8:00pm MST

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