GDB 33.0: Another damned backup goalie in another damned matinee (12pm MST, SNW)

Photo credit:Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports

6 years ago

If there are two things I’m getting sick of it’s the Oilers getting owned by backup goalies and seeing them forget to show up for matinees. Unfortunately, they’ll get a dose of both of those things today as the Oilers face Alex Stalock for an afternoon affair in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Coming into today’s game, the Oilers sit nine points out of a wildcard spot which is clearly not a spot they want to be in, but is not necessarily indicative of their play of late either. Over their past four games, the Oilers have actually strung together some solid efforts but the problem is that they only got four of eight points to show for it. Then again, it’s pretty tough to win hockey games when you get shut out. I don’t know what kind of voodoo is hanging over this team when it comes to scoring on backup goalies right now but it is truly a crippling kind of horror.

Regardless of what the actual reason is why they keep making the part-time tenders look like Vezina candidates, the Oilers will need to figure it out before noon rolls around. In 85 total games played, the Oilers have a 31-40-4-10 record against the Wild. Needless to say, that’s not exactly good. In fact, in the last 12 years, the Oilers have only won the seasons series against Minnesota just once. If Edmonton can manage to come out flying as they have over the past week or so, they will have a reasonable chance of turning those tides.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

The Wild are coming into today’s game the winners of four straight games with their last ‘W’ coming at the expense of the Toronto Maple Leafs. In their last 10 games, Minnesota is sporting a sparkling 7-3-0 record. As a comparison, the Oilers have played .500 hockey over their last 10 games with a record of 5-5-0.
Looking at the special teams battle, it likely won’t be a surprise when I tell you that Minnesota holds an edge over the Oilers in both the PP and PK categories. On the power play, Minnesota has the advantage with their 5th ranked power play that’s rolling along at a 21.59% clip. The Oilers, on the other hand, have struggled on the power play as is evident with their 18.39% success rate which is good for 18th overall. On the PK, Minnesota beats the Oilers once again as their 82.90% kill rate trounces Edmonton’s historically bad 72.11%. Good Gord, man.
Looking at the goal differentials, the Goals For category is actually favours the Oilers as Edmonton has scored more goals this season (93 to 91). Unfortunately, the good news ends there as Edmonton’s 105GA is significantly worse than Minnesota’s 88GA.
According to Corsica, Edmonton still ranks 2nd in the NHL in terms of CF% with a 53.78. To me, that number is basically telling me that the Oilers are getting a tonne of shot attempts but they’re not getting much return on them. In Thursday night’s game against the Predators, the Oilers had a bunch of shots from the point that didn’t really have much of a chance at going in, but it definitely pumped up their Corsi. Here’s hoping for more high danger shot attempts in today’s game.

LINEUPS

Oilers

Lucic-McDavid-Puljujarvi
Maroon-RNH-Cammalleri
Khaira-Draisaitl-Strome
Slepyshev-Letestu-Kassian

Nurse-Russell
Klefbom-Benning
Davidson-Auvitu

Talbot

Cam Talbot makes his first start since November 28th when he lead the Oilers to an overtime victory over the Arizona Coyotes. In his last three starts before being injured (all wins btw), Talbot was getting progressively better and looking more like the Cam Talbot that got snubbed from Vezina consideration a year ago. I think it goes without saying that we can only help that he can manage to pick up where he left off. As for the lines, nothing has been put out yet but I will be sure to update if anything new comes out.

Wild

Niederreiter – Koivu – Granlund
Zucker – Staal – Mitchell
Erickson-Ek – Cullen – Coyle
Ennis – Winnik – Stewart

Suter – Dumba
Brodin – Murphy
Reilly – Prosser

Stalock

In his last start, Stalock blanked the Leafs by a 2-0 margin. Hopefully, he got all his big saves out against Toronto because the last thing we need is for another backup to come in looking like the reincarnation of Dominic Hasek.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING…

From Hockey Wilderness:

Next up for your Wild, a little afternoon action this Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers. Puck drop is scheduled for 12:30 pm in St. Paul. The Oilers are a very dangerous team with Connor McDavid leading a young cast of future stars, but they are struggling to get wins this season with a 13-16-2 record and just 28 points. Be sure to set your alarms this Saturday, because we’ll be starting early.

TONIGHT…

Photoshop: Tom Kostiuk

GAME DAY PREDICTION: After outplaying the Nashville Predators and still somehow losing 4-0, the Oilers use the lessons from that loss and convert them into pure rage. They take out that hate-fuelled energy to cash in a 4-2 win.

OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Connor McDavid will get incessantly hooked, slashed, and tackled without the Wild taking a single penalty for it.

NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: After scoring his sixth goal of the season, Jesse Puljujarvi throws a pizza party for the boys. He drops some Finnish freestyle hate rhymes on the delivery guys after his favourite pizza shows up as a flatbread instead of a regular pie.