GDB 17.0: BRACING FOR THE BOLTS
By Jason Gregor
10 years ago
When you are a 28th place team every game is tough. Two days after a 4-3 OT victory over the 27th place Florida Panthers, the Oilers at least have some momentum heading into a showdown with the 10th place Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Oilers, most likely Andrew Ference and Jeff Petry, will have the pleasure of trying to shut down the dangerous duo of Steven Stamkos and Marty St. Louis. Stamkos is 2nd in NHL scoring with 20 points, while St. Louis is tied for 17th with 16.
Those two have scored 40% of Tampa Bay’s goals, and only twice this season have both of them been held pointless. The Bolts lost both games, 3-1 and 5-0, and both losses came against the Bruins.
The Oilers don’t have a Zdeno Chara, so it is unlikely the Oilers can shut out Stamkos and St. Louis, but they will need to contain them.
The Oilers don’t have a Zdeno Chara, so it is unlikely the Oilers can shut out Stamkos and St. Louis, but they will need to contain them.
The Bolts have five players with 4+ goals, while the Oilers only have two, Gordon and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Twenty different players have scored a goal for the Oilers this year, but they need get a few more players scoring consistently. It is difficult to win regularly without a few go-to players, but the Oilers will get a huge boost as Taylor Hall returns to the lineup.
LINEUP…
Hemsky-RNH-Eberle
Hall-Gagner-Yakupov
Omark-Gordon-Arcobello
Jones-Smyth-Gazdic
Hall-Gagner-Yakupov
Omark-Gordon-Arcobello
Jones-Smyth-Gazdic
Hall will play his first game since being injured in Ottawa and Eakins is hoping Hall can jumpstart two struggling players, Gagner and Yakupov. Hall is the best option to do that.
The only aspect of the line juggling that I question is moving Ryan Smyth to centre. Smyth struggled mightily last season playing in the middle. He excels on the wall, not in the middle of the ice. You can’t expect him to contribute when he is playing centre.
There is no way you could demote Mark Arcobello or Boyd Gordon to the 4th line. They’ve arguably been the two most consistent forwards all year. There is no way Eakins could retain respect within the room if you demoted them, yet played struggling players like Yakupov, Gagner, and recently recalled Linus Omark ahead of them in the top-nine.
Smyth at centre has to be a short-term experiment. He is better on the wall.
I’m most interested to see who Eakins will use to try and contain Stamkos and St. Louis. Gordon is his best defensive forward, but with his wingers I’m not sure that is a matchup Eakins wants to run. I’m guessing he’ll try to get the RNH line out against them.
Ference-Petry
Smid-Larsen
N.Schultz-Fedun
Smid-Larsen
N.Schultz-Fedun
There is no reason to switch up the D pairs. Petry and Ference are the Oilers best option to face 91/26. I liked Larsen’s game in Florida, especially on the PP. Fedun and Schultz won’t outmuscle many players, but both play smart, positional defence.
Dubnyk
Tampa Bay is getting solid goaltending. Dubnyk needs to match Ben Bishop’s play to give the Oilers a chance.
YAK SUPPORT….
Yesterday head coach Dallas Eakins and Craig MacTavish made it clear that Nail Yakupov wasn’t being shopped.
“Nail Yakupov is not being shopped, he’s not going anywhere and I wanted him to hear that from me, look me in my eye, and let him know that we’re attached at the hip," Eakins said after he had a heart-to-heart chat with Yakupov on the ice in Tampa Bay that had some speculating the first pick in 2012 might be a healthy scratch.
While scouting the Rangers/Pengiuns game, MacTavish said this to the media, "We very much believe Nail will evolve to become that dynamic, electric player — become one of the most entertaining guys in the game. I told that to Igor (Larionov) (Yakupov’s agent) and I told that to Yak. Development is very rarely a straight line. It has ups and downs.”
It was smart for the coach to tell a young player who is struggling he believes in him, but the harsh reality of pro sports is that if you aren’t performing you likely won’t be playing much. Yakupov didn’t see the ice for the final 9:30 or regulation, and the 1:55 of OT, while the Oilers were trying, unsuccessfully, to protect a lead.
That isn’t surprising, considering he’s not a defensive stalwart just yet, but if he continues to sit for long stretches, and continues to struggle offensively, will the Oilers consider a stint in OKC?
MacTavish wisely said development is rarely a straight line. Yakupov isn’t the first sophomore to struggle, but due to his age they could let him gain some confidence in OKC. Yakupov has high-end skills, so he could score tonight and no one will worry about his offence, but if his slump continues the Oilers should consider OKC a viable option.
QUICK HITS…
- Unless they acquire another goalie the Oilers need to stick with Devan Dubnyk. Jason LaBarbera is not going to perform better, so tell Dubnyk he’s your guy, and tell him to stay focused the entire game. Challenge him to be consistent.
- The Oilers have actually played pretty well at ES on the road this year outscoring teams 26-25. They’ve been decent at ES, but they’ve been outscored 9-3 on PP. Their PP is only 9.4% on the road. Their PP looked much better in Florida, and if it can get going, they might start to pull out some wins away from Rexall.
GAME DAY PREDICTION: Four of the last five games between these two teams in Tampa have ended in 3-2 scores with each team winning twice. In those four games Oilers won, Tampa won, Oilers won and Tampa won, so based on extensive scientific research (none whatsoever) the Oilers continue that trend tonight with a 3-2 victory.
OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Omark scores, because Oilersnation thrives on drama/debate.
NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: After opening the Florida broadcast with a muscle shirt and shorts, Mean Gene Principe starts his segment standing along the boards at the zamboni entrance. He does a quick spin-o-rama then walks towards the camera talking about the return of Hall and Omark’s recall from OKC. As he gets closer, he tosses it upstairs to two guys who are "classy" and "no joke", Louis Debrusk and Kevin Quinn, and then stares into the camera and drops the mic. BOOM.
** Principe was playing off the words of the Tampa Bay Lightning players after Omark’s infamous SO goal on December 10th, 2010, when they whined about his move being a joke and Dan "cancelled my twitter account" Ellis claimed it "wasn’t very classy."
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