GDB 23.0 Wrap Up: Coyote Ugly

7 years ago

One out of a possible four points against the last-place Coyotes. *sigh* Final Score: 2-1 Coyotes

Is it weird that I was less nervous coming into this game than I was for the one on Friday night? I figured that even though the Oilers always seem to play poorly during day games I thought that they would have gotten all of the mistakes and bad passes out of their system two nights ago. Even though the Coyotes aren’t as skilled as the Oilers on paper, they play a simple (read: boring) game and are able to keep their mistakes at a minimum. If the Oilers were going to beat them today, they were going to have to be much sharper than they were on Friday night. Edmonton needed to be better from the opening puck drop, because, as we learned against Buffalo, Toronto, and Arizona, there are no gimme games in this league.

While the Oilers got off to a hot start, outshooting the Coyotes by a 2:1 margin in the first period, they couldn’t get anything past Mike Smith which allowed the Coyotes to hang around and eventually take the lead. Once they have a lead, the Coyotes sit back and lull you into a boredom-induced coma. As a result, Mike Smith and the Coyotes act like an anti-Viagra for the Oilers. Instead of getting fired up for the comeback the Oilers have the energy sucked out of them, and they look more like they’re trying to play on ludes than with fire under their asses. Whenever these two teams meet scoring goals is an issue for Edmonton, and today’s contest was more of the same. Arizona had that magical way of lulling teams into sleep and kicking them in the face while they’re unconscious.

The most disturbing part about the losses this weekend is that they both came at the hands of a team that the Oilers are supposed to beat. Forget the never-ending losing streak. Forget what happened since 2011. The Oilers are in first place in the Pacific Division right now and losing two games in a row to the last place team should be unacceptable. I know that they got a tonne of shots, and I know that Todd McLellan said he was generally pleased with the game, and we can blame Mike Smith, but the Oilers didn’t win the hockey game and that’s what really matters. They didn’t look like they had the killer instinct that the good teams always seem to have when they’re playing the teams under them. They let the Coyotes play their style of game rather than dictating the play. If the Oilers want to be a part of the playoffs by the time April rolls around they can’t let these kinds of games slip away. They have to beat the teams that they’re supposed to beat.

Those wins didn’t happen over the last two games and, unfortunately, moral victories aren’t good enough anymore. I’m not mad that they lost, I’m just disappointed.

Wrap we shall.

THE BRIGHT SIDE

As you would expect, Connor McDavid was the best Oiler forward tonight. He was very noticeable in the first and third periods and seemed to have some chemistry with Leon Draisaitl after they were put together in the second half of the game. McDavid continues to put up assists as he landed the helper by snapping the shot deflected by Lucic.
Right when it looked like it was going to be another one of those games where the Coyotes would suffocate the Oilers to a scoreless death, Milan Lucic deflected in a Connor McDavid snapshot for his seventh goal of the season and tie the game at one.
Leon Draisaitl continues to play well, even earning time up on the first line. When McLellan needed some offense he threw Draisaitl up on the line with Connor and the two looked good together. I wonder if we’ll ever see Caggiula at 3C and Drai up with Connor for a full night?
Cam Talbot played well again. The first goal went in on an unlucky bounce off of Russell’s pants, and on the second goal he was a man on an island, abandoned by his teammates. Talbot was solid but not spectacular, finishing the night with 21 saves and a .913 save%
The Oilers need to find a way to play all 60 minutes against the Coyotes like they did in the final 10. I know the Coyotes got the winning goal late in the game, but those last 10 minutes were the best the Oilers looked all night.
After being badly outshot in Glendale on Friday night the Oilers put way more pucks on net, firing 42 towards Mike Smith.
The penalty kill was perfect again, killing off both chances they faced.
The Oilers don’t play the Coyotes again until late December.
At least afternoon games give you an excuse to get a day buzz going.

THE FACE PALMERS

The Oilers had two power plays and all kinds of shots in the first period, but the first goal of the game was a puck that banked in off Russell’s pants and into his own net. *fart sound with mouth*
At times, the Oilers had a hard time breaking through the deathly boring trap style defense the Coyotes love to play. Edmonton was getting their fair amount of shots but many of them came from the outside and were easily handled by Mike Smith.
Jordan Eberle was lost in space on the second Coyotes goal which ended up being the winner. He needs to have better defensive reads, but at this point in his career can we reasonably expect him to change? He played less than 15 minutes tonight.
The Oilers had two power plays in the first period that could have given them an early lead. Instead, they did absolutely nothing with those opportunities and they once again, let the Coyotes hang around and eventually take the lead despite being outplayed. Classic Oilers. The power play didn’t get much better after that as they missed out on their third chance as well. When they needed the power play to be the difference it let them down again. 0/3 on the night.
Afternoon games are the worst. Mostly because the Oilers never seem to win them, but also because I find it odd to watch Oilers games in the afternoon. Just me? Probably.
I can’t wait until the Oilers play the Coyotes next so that we get to hear about the point streak they’ve been on for the past 100 years.
Arizona absolutely dominated the faceoff circle, winning 58% of the draws. Not nearly good enough as a team.
AGAIN. The Oilers got one point out of four against the last-place Coyotes. Lame.
So many missed calls again tonight. Not sure it would have mattered, but these refs are so inconsistent that it’s astonishing.

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
16:10	Arizona	Radim Vrbata (7) ASST: Oliver Ekman-Larsson (5)	1-0

2ND PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
No Scoring

3RD PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
10:39	Edmonton	Milan Lucic (7) ASST: Connor McDavid (19), Leon Draisaitl (10)	1-1
16:16	Arizona	Jamie McGinn (4) ASST: Anthony Duclair (3), Christian Dvorak (5)	2-1

BEST OF THE TWEETS

Talk to me Twitter. Tweet at @OilersNation and @jsbmbaggedmilk for your chance to land in the Best of the Tweets.

A GOOD OL’ HOCKEY GAME

When: Friday December 9th with doors opening at 2pm (the game starts at 6pm).
Where: West Edmonton Mall at the Mayfield Toyota Ice Palace
Who: Edmonton takes on Minnesota
Why: Because we love to party
What else: We’re going to have prize giveaways all night long
How much to get in: FREE!

Huge thank you to everyone at West Edmonton Mall, The Brick, Vimy Hockey, Donnan, 1st RND, TSN 1260, Eddie Bauer, The Bear and everyone else that worked so hard to help us get this event off the ground. Your hard work is appreciated, and I can’t wait for December 9th to get here. It’s going to be a fantastic night.