GDB 11.0 Wrap Up: Ranger Danger

7 years ago

This three-game losing streak isn’t nearly as fun. Final Score: 5-3 Rangers

Tonight’s game was the first in a run of 10 where the Oilers will be playing nothing but playoff teams from a year ago. Using a favourable schedule to start the year, Edmonton was able to bank some points that they may need to get them through the rough stretches that can happen throughout the season. These next two weeks could fit into that category. With only three home games within the next fortnight, these 10 games could be one of those stretches where we’ll see exactly what kind of progress the Oilers have made. It’s the kind of stretch that people will point to, later on in the year, as a period that made or broke the season. From where I blog, the Oilers need to play this road trip at .500 or better and it’s not going to get any easier

After losing in OT to the Leafs, the Oilers needed to rebound quickly and right the ship if they planned on keeping their playoff hopes alive. Unfortunately, there are no gimme games coming on this road trip and it was imperative for Edmonton to get a better start against the Rangers than they did against Toronto. On the bright side, the Oilers got the start they wanted and grabbed an early lead against a very good hockey team. The downside was that they also allowed the Rangers to get right back into the game by reenacting some Eakins era defensive zone coverage. Although the Oilers were able to settle things down in their own end a little bit, they still made too many glaring mistakes, and four of those mistakes wound up in the back of the net. While Edmonton was able to trade offensive chances with New York throughout the night, and this game was tighter than it likely would have been in years past, it was the coverage in the defensive zone that ended up being the difference.

Over the decade of darkness, one of the biggest problems we’ve seen has been the Oilers ability to close out tight games in the third period, and history repeated itself tonight. How many times have we all watched the patented third-period collapse and resulting loss when, instead, we should have been seeing points going towards their spot in the standings? Although this game didn’t end in a collapse per se, the Oilers and Rangers were tied 2-2 going into the final frame, and the Oilers couldn’t grab a game that was there for the taking. With the game tied late, it was important for the Oilers to keep their foot on the gas rather than sit back and wait for New York to make a mistake, but that’s not what happened. While the third period started out well enough, with the Oilers scoring early, they couldn’t hang on to the lead. As they had done twice before, Edmonton allowed the Rangers to tie up the game up and they never really looked back from there.

The disappointing part is that this was a winnable game for the Oilers and they allowed the Rangers to get back in the game on three separate occasions, giving up the lead three times. That’s brutal. This was another winnable game that ended up as a loss in the standings, and the losing streak grows to three.

The wrap.

THE BRIGHT SIDE

It was only a matter of time before Ryan Nugent-Hopkins got the monkey off his back and scored his first of the season. He has been playing well of late and the chances were there so you just knew that this goal was coming. As an added bonus, Nuge’s goal came on the power play. Can you believe it?
Speaking of Nuge’s goal, how about that ridiculous kick pass from McDavid right to RNH’s stick? Who needs a stick when you’re Connor McDavid? Jordan Eberle also got an assist on Nuge’s goal, which was his first point in six games.
Pat Maroon scored his third goal of the year off of a nice rush by Jesse Puljujarvi. Puljujarvi did a great job of hanging onto the puck before passing to Maroon who was wide open in the slot.
From the beginning of the year, I’ve said that Jesse Puljujarvi should be sent down to Bakersfield, but the kid just keeps getting better. I don’t know what the Oilers are going to do with him, but I would not at all be surprised if he sticks around. He seems to be adapting to the pace of the league, and he looks much more comfortable than he did early on.
Adam Larsson scored his first goal as an Edmonton Oiler on a seeing-eye shot from the point. The forwards did a nice job of getting the puck back to the point and Larsson did a nice job of getting the puck on net.
What can you say about Cam Talbot? The dude has been very sharp since the third game of the season, and it doesn’t look like he’s being affected by the heavy workload. Obviously, Talbot was excited about playing at MSG for the first time since he got traded and I thought he played well (not great) yet again. Personally, I wouldn’t put this loss on Talbot as he made some huge saves down the stretch but that, unfortunately, wasn’t enough in the end. Talbot finished the night with 26 saves and an .867 save%.
Todd McLellan made some changes to the personnel (swapped Nuge and Draisaitl, added Russell) on the power play and it seemed to work a little bit better. At the very least, the power play scored and was getting way more shots on net than they had previously.
Shout out to my friend Mark and his wife Jackie for having a healthy baby boy this afternoon! I know neither of them will ever read this, but I like to think that they’re feeling the love anyway. Congrats, buddy. I still can’t believe that you found a girl that was not only willing to marry you but also felt like procreating was a good idea. You’re the best. Love you, man.

THE FACE PALMERS

Game winning goal to Rick Nash with 90 seconds left. Gross.
Kevin Hayes was WIDE open on his first-period goal that tied the game up at one. Klefbom and Nuge got caught puck watching and Hayes had a wide open net to score on. I haven’t seen a swarm like that since the Eakins era.
The Oilers grabbed the lead on three separate occasions and all three times they gave it up within minutes. Not good. Very bad. In fact, the milk’s gone bad.
The Oilers wasted a solid effort by allowing the Rangers to get back into the game as often as they did. They need to learn how to keep other teams down on the mat rather than give them space to get back into the fight.
Jesper Fast scored his first goal in 26 games. Against the Oilers. Of course he did. As per tradition, the Oilers continue to get guys off the schneid.
I like a lot of things that Tyler Pitlick has done so far this season but he took a penalty (albeit a soft call) at the possibly the worst time. Fortunately, the penalty kill is on fire and Pitlick didn’t get burned this time.
The Oilers got pushed around in the faceoff circle tonight, winning only 48% of the draws. The centres went: Letestu 56%, McDavid 53%, Nuge 44%, Lander 43%, Draisaitl 40%
The Oilers were outshot 31-24 despite being relatively even through two periods. Edmonton did not have a good third period.
I will not complain about the refs. I will not complain about the refs. I will not complain about the refs.
I’m still annoyed by how badly New York fleeced Montreal to get Ryan McDonagh. Why can’t we have Peter Chiarelli strip a guy of a cornerstone piece like that? Dare to dream, Baggy. Dare to dream.

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
06:36	Edmonton	PPG – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (1) ASST: Connor McDavid (8), Jordan Eberle (4)	1-0
08:34	New York	Kevin Hayes (4) ASST: Michael Grabner (2), Brady Skjei (5)	1-1

2ND PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
10:28	Edmonton	Patrick Maroon (3) ASST: Jesse Puljujarvi (2)	2-1
15:46	New York	Michael Grabner (6) ASST: J.T. Miller (8), Kevin Hayes (5)	2-2

3RD PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
08:49	Edmonton	Adam Larsson (1) ASST: Andrej Sekera (4), Mark Letestu (4)	3-2
09:31	New York	Jesper Fast (1) ASST: Brandon Pirri (3), Brady Skjei (6)	3-3
18:39	New York	Rick Nash (6) ASST: Nick Holden (4), Derek Stepan (7)	3-4
18:56	New York	Empty Net – J.T. Miller (4) ASST: Nick Holden (5), Kevin Hayes (6)	3-5