GDB 28.0: Two consecutive wins?
By Jason Gregor
9 years ago
The Oilers never played the same team in consecutive games last season, but tonight they battle the Sharks for the second straight game, before doing the same vs. Anaheim on Wednesday and Friday.
During this painful non playoff drought, eight and 1/3 seasons, the Oilers have played the same team in consecutive games 16 times. They won both games four times, lost both games on five occasions and split the series seven times.
They have swept three of the last four back-to-back meetings (2009 and 2013 vs. Calgary and 2011 vs. Vancouver), and tonight they will try to build on a solid 2-1 victory over the Sharks this past Sunday.
After losing eleven consecutive games, I can understand why you’d be skeptical the Oilers could suddenly win two straight against San Jose. I know I am.
The only other time the Oilers have won games this season has been consecutively. They won four in a row between October 20th-27th and then two straight on November 7th and 9th.
They have been incredibly streaky, usually in the wrong direction, all season.
Lose five.
Win four.
Lose four.
Win two.
Lose eleven.
Win one.
They need to play smart and disciplined if they hope to start another winning streak. Being consistent is difficult for this group, and one of the biggest struggles for the Oilers has been producing offence on a regular basis.
The Oilers need Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and David Perron to produce if they hope to win. They would love more offence from Nail Yakupov, but over his past 90 games he has scored a point in 28 games. At this point it is unrealistic to expect significant offensive production from Yakupov. You hope he starts to produce, but if you are expecting it I think you will be disappointed.
I had a quick look at how often the Oilers top forwards are producing:
| Player | GP | PTS | GameWithPts | Game W/0 pts | %Game with Pts |
| Hall | 21 | 17 | 13 | 8 | 61.9% |
| RNH | 25 | 17 | 15 | 10 | 60.0% |
| Eberle | 26 | 17 | 14 | 12 | 53.8% |
| Perron | 27 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 48.1% |
| Yakupov | 27 | 8 | 8 | 19 | 29.6% |
And here is how these five produced points last season.
| Player | GP | PTS | GameWithPts | Game W/0 pts | %Game with Pts |
| Hall | 75 | 80 | 50 | 25 | 66.70% |
| Eberle | 80 | 65 | 43 | 37 | 53.8% |
| Perron | 78 | 57 | 42 | 36 | 53.8% |
| RNH | 80 | 56 | 36 | 44 | 45.0% |
| Yakupov | 63 | 24 | 20 | 43 | 31.7% |
It is interesting to note that Eberle is producing points in exactly the same amount of games, but his points-per-game is down. Much of that is due to the fact the Oilers top scorers aren’t picking up multiple points in games.
Last season, Hall had 21 multi-point games, Eberle had 20, RNH had 15, Perron had 11 and Yakupov had 4.
So far this season, Hall only has three, while RNH and Eberle have two, Perron has one and Yakupov has none.
The Oilers top guns need to find ways to find their name on the scoresheet a few times in games, rather just picking up a point every second game.
Here is a quick look at how Hall compared with the top-ten scorers last season.
| Player | GP | PTS | GameWithPts | Game W/0 pts | %Game with Pts |
| Crosby | 80 | 104 | 60 | 20 | 75% |
| Getzlaf | 77 | 87 | 55 | 22 | 71% |
| Giroux | 82 | 86 | 53 | 29 | 64.6% |
| Seguin | 80 | 84 | 49 | 31 | 61.2% |
| Perry | 81 | 82 | 52 | 29 | 64.1% |
| Hall | 75 | 80 | 50 | 25 | 66.7% |
| Kessel | 82 | 80 | 48 | 34 | 58.5% |
| Ovechkin | 78 | 79 | 48 | 30 | 61.5% |
| Benn | 81 | 79 | 52 | 29 | 64.1% |
| Pavelski | 82 | 79 | 50 | 32 | 60.9% |
Only Getzlaf and Crosby scored points in more of their games than Hall. He was very consistent, and here’s how he compares this season against the same nine players.
| Player | GP | PTS | GameWithPts | Game W/0 pts | %Game with Pts |
| Crosby | 27 | 35 | 17 | 10 | 62.9% |
| Seguin | 27 | 35 | 18 | 9 | 66.7% |
| Getzlaf | 28 | 29 | 17 | 11 | 60.7% |
| Giroux | 26 | 29 | 19 | 7 | 73.1% |
| Kessel | 26 | 27 | 15 | 11 | 57.6% |
| Benn | 27 | 25 | 16 | 11 | 59.3% |
| Pavelski | 29 | 23 | 16 | 13 | 55.1% |
| Ovechkin | 26 | 22 | 11 | 15 | 42.3% |
| Perry | 23 | 21 | 13 | 10 | 56.5% |
| Hall | 21 | 17 | 13 | 8 | 61.9% |
He is fourth highest in producing a point in games he plays, but he is well below in total points. He hasn’t been able to find the scoresheet as often within games this year, and that is where he needs to improve. It is a lot of pressure, but the best point producers find ways to have multiple point games.
Ovechkin is down almost 20% so far this year over last season, although this season is a much smaller sample size.
LINEUP
The Oilers’ lack of centre depth hurts them again tonight. Boyd Gordon is out, so Arcobello will play the middle with Perron/Purcell while Matt Hendricks returns to the lineup and plays the middle on the fourth line.
RNH might have to play more than 24 minutes tonight.
You see Sharks lineup at dailyfaceoff.com and here is what San Jose is saying about the game… From the Mercury News.
Their four-game win streak had been the second longest active one in the NHL, though a distant second to the Chicago Blackhawks with eight straight victories.So there is something to be said for that accomplishment.But it was almost too predictable that the Sharks’ streak would end here. There was the back-to-back factor, but mostly it was simply the pattern that has become almost a punchline. The Sharks have gone 0-6-1 against Buffalo, Florida, Carolina and Edmonton while a more respectable 5-1 against Los Angeles, Anaheim Boston, Tampa Bay and the suddenly successful New York Islanders.There was also the fact the Oilers had been put through the wringer the previous 72 hours for their ineptness in losing 11 straight games. Things even reached the point where Coach Dallas Eakins canceled the Sunday morning skate – in part at least – so his players wouldn’t have to answer yet another round of questions. Honest.Guess it helped.
QUICK HITS…
- Claude Giroux leads all NHL forwards with 21:53 TOI/game. Nugent-Hopkins is second in the NHL at 21:27. Giroux has 108 shots, RNH has 59. RNH has a good shot, I’d like to see him use it more.
- The biggest difference between Klefbom and Marincin is that Klefbom is harder to knock off the puck. Marincin has better puck moving skills, not by much, but he does, however, overall Klefbom is a better D-man, especially in his own end. I’ve always liked his game more. He isn’t as flashy, but I feel he is more reliable than Marincin. Like most of the D-men, I’d like to see him work on his shot in the summer, so he can at least be a threat from the offensive blueline.
- Please keep playing Fayne more than Schultz. Eakins and Ramsay need to protect Schultz and hope that with limited minutes, and more success, he can regain his confidence and at least contribute offensively. I’m curious to see how he will respond by not being on the ice late in games. If he is competitive at all this will push him to play better and prove to the coaches he can play at crucial times in the game.
- The Oilers recalled D-man Brandon Davidson today, which makes me believe Nikita Nikitin will be out longer than originally expected.
- Boyd Gordon is not healthy, he will miss at least two games, but the Oilers must have no faith in Anton Lander. Why wouldn’t they recall him and send Joensuu to the minors? Their value of the centre ice position becomes more head scratching by the day.
- I wonder if those who opposed me when I said the Oilers paid Schultz too much when he signed his 1-year deal, still feel the same way? The Oilers have to qualify him at $3.65 mill just to maintain his rights. I wrote then that the Oilers need to stop paying players with the hope they will earn the contract. The Oilers had no reason to pay him that much. It was a one-year deal, if he played outstanding this year and earned a big raise, fine, but now the Oilers will have to pay him at least $3.65 million next year.
- I’m not surprised Leon Draisaitl has struggled offensively in his rookie season. It is extremely hard to produce points in the NHL at ES, but I’m shocked Evander Kane only has three points 5-on-5. I realize he has been injured, but in 20 games he has 2-1-3. If there was a moment to try and buy low on him, now might be the time.
TONIGHT…
GAME DAY PREDICTION: I don’t see another win streak happening just yet. The Oilers lose 4-2.
OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Sharks’ powerplay scores twice. They are 3rd in the NHL at 23.3%.
NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: After drinking Eggnog and spiced rum for the first time in my life last night (embarrassingly true story) while setting up our Christmas Tree, I crush a few more glasses of this delicious elixir tonight. Throughout the entire game I keep cursing myself that I waited this long to enjoy this wonderful drink. I honestly can’t remember why I thought I didn’t like it. IDIOT…
DAY 6.. MONTH OF GIVING
A big thank you to Raffi for his bid on dinner with Majeau and Strudwick being the waiter, and to Mike for purchasing the signed Paul McCartney guitar. Another big thank you to Christenson Developments and Vivo Ristorante for donating the prizes.
TODAY’S PACKAGE…
We have an excellent and very generous package donated by The Home Matchmaker Michelle Derk from Remax Elite.
- Up for grabs is the seller’s commission for your house. (In a
regular sale half the commission goes to the seller realtor and half to
the buyer. So this is $3.5% on the first $100,000 and $1.5% on the
balance).
On a $400,000 house that is a value of $8,000.00.
On a $500,000 house that is value of $9,500.00.
You can bid by calling 780.444.1260
or text 101260 between 2-6 p.m. today.
or text 101260 between 2-6 p.m. today.Thanks in advance. All proceeds will help out Santa’s Anonymous.
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