GDB 77.0: DUCKS’ DEPTH

10 years ago

The Oilers might likely need a few distractions to keep tonight’s tilt
close. The Ducks will be shooting to win 50 games for the first time in
franchise history, and they will be fired up after their stunning
comeback victory vs. the Jets on Monday. The Ducks trailed 4-0 with 23
minutes remaining, then they managed to tie the game with 23 seconds
left in the third before winning 16 seconds into OT.

The Ducks won’t take the Oilers lightly this evening.

Last
night’s 5-4 loss was one of the more entertaining games of the season.
The Oilers top line kept them in the game. Taylor Hall, Ryan
Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle were flying as they combined for four
goals and ten points. Part of me understands why Renney, Krueger and
Eakins have split those three up at times, to get balanced scoring, but
considering how well the play together maybe Eakins should just keep
them together all year next year and see what happens.

Hall has 72 points and needs 8 points in the last 6 games to be the first Oiler to score 80 since Doug
Weight had 90 in 2001. Those three were very strong last night,
especially Hall and RNH. The big difference you see between the Sharks
and Ducks compared to the Oilers is their depth.

After David
Perron, the Oilers scoring takes a big dip and the blueline play is
significantly different at this stage. When you watch the Ducks tonight
pay attention to their secondary scoring and how much those players contribute.

The
Ducks have 12 players with 25+ points, while the Oilers have six.
Yakupov would likely have one more point if he was healthy and sit at
25, but you can say the same about Silverberg for the Ducks. The point
is the Ducks produce offence from more than just one line.

Ryan
Getzlaf and Corey Perry have 83 and 75 points respectively, but then it
drops to Nick Bonino’s 47. Their top guys score a lot, but they have solid secondary scoring from both forwards and blueliners.

Player	GP	G	A	P	+/-	ESP	SHP	PPP
Ryan Getzlaf	71	31	52	83	27	61	0	22
Corey Perry	75	39	36	75	30	58	0	17
Nick Bonino	70	20	27	47	11	27	0	20
Mathieu Perreault	62	18	22	40	14	31	0	9
Andrew Cogliano	75	21	18	39	16	35	4	0
Cam Fowler	67	6	30	36	15	20	1	15
Kyle Palmieri	64	12	17	29	10	29	0	0
Saku Koivu	60	10	18	28	5	24	4	0
Hampus Lindholm	71	6	21	27	27	24	0	3
Daniel Winnik	70	4	23	27	3	24	3	0
Teemu Selanne	59	9	16	25	6	17	0	8
Patrick Maroon	55	8	17	25	10	21	0	4

And now look at the Oilers’ scoring:

Player	GP	G	A	P	+/-	ESP	SHP	PPP
Taylor Hall	69	26	46	72	-16	56	1	15
Jordan Eberle	74	25	34	59	-11	39	1	19
David Perron	72	26	28	54	-14	43	0	11
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	74	18	34	52	-14	33	0	19
Sam Gagner	62	9	25	34	-28	28	0	6
Justin Schultz	68	9	20	29	-19	19	0	10
Nail Yakupov	63	11	13	24	-33	18	0	6
Ryan Smyth	66	10	13	23	-15	16	0	7
Boyd Gordon	70	8	13	21	-13	15	2	4
Mark Arcobello	41	4	14	18	-7	15	0	3
Andrew Ference	71	3	15	18	-18	16	0	2
Jeff Petry	74	6	10	16	-20	14	0	2

The Oilers have 104 PPP points amongst their group while the Ducks have 98, however, the Ducks have 373 ES points compared to the Oilers 312. The Ducks thrive at ES scoring and you see that in the glaring difference in +/-.

The Ducks lead the league in 5-on-5 goals with 175, but they’ve only allowed 124 (+51) while the Oilers have scored 122 at 5-on-5, but they’ve allowed the most in the league at 170 (-48). The Oilers need more balanced scoring, but mainly they have to improve their defensive play 5-on-5.

PUCK WATCHING…

This is a classic case of what plagues the Oilers. I don’t care which new players they bring in, if their young guys don’t cut down on their puck watching at critical times in the game, it won’t matter which veteran D-men or forwards they trade for.

This Sharks goal was scored by their fourth line, not their first, so it wasn’t a bad matchup. Petry can’t watch the puck into his goalie, because he doesn’t have enough time to react to the rebound. He is in the right position, but he needs to tie up Desjardins’ stick. These types of plays are the responsibility of the individual player. Petry isn’t the only one who suffers from puckwatchitis, but the younger players have to be aware of this virus and try to eliminate it from their games.

The coaches can harp on it all day long, but until the players decide to stop doing it, these types of goals will keep happening.

LINEUP

Hall-RNH-Eberle
Lander-Gagner-Perron
Smyth-Gordon-Hendricks
Pinizzotto-Acton-Larsen

Marincin-Petry
Klefbom-Schultz
Fraser-Belov

Fasth

Tyler Pitlick didn’t step on the ice last night. He was dressed, but not healthy enough to play. The Oilers have recalled Steve Pinizotto on an emergency basis from OKC. Pinizotto was acquired from Florida earlier this season. Pinizotto played 12 games for the Canucks in 2012/2013. He is a crash and bang type of player similar to Hendricks.

You have to keep the top line together and Eakins has to hope they can carry the game for a second straight night. Viktor Fasth will get ample opportunities to shut down his former teammates.

QUICK HITS….

I realize there is more to the game than just points, but you need players who can produce if you want to win. Hall has been one of the best point producers in the NHL the past two seasons, and as he rounds out his overall game he’ll become even more dominant. I’m floored by fans who suggest trading Hall would be a good idea. Hall has scored the 8th most points the past two years, and he is tied for 5th in points-per-game.

Rk	Player	GP	G	A	PTS ▾	S	S%	PTS
1	Sidney Crosby	112	51	105	156	375	14	1.39
2	Ryan Getzlaf	115	46	86	132	293	16	1.15
3	Phil Kessel	125	56	73	129	447	13	1.03
4	Alex Ovechkin	120	80	48	128	590	14	1.07
5	Claude Giroux	123	38	88	126	333	11	1.02
6	Martin St. Louis	125	47	78	125	308	15	1
7	Patrick Kane	116	52	72	124	365	14	1.07
8	Taylor Hall	114	42	80	122	388	11	1.07
9	Nicklas Backstrom	124	22	99	121	257	8.6	0.98
10	Chris Kunitz	122	57	62	119	319	18	0.98
11	Jonathan Toews	123	51	65	116	336	15	0.94
12	Joe Thornton	125	18	96	114	196	9.2	0.91
13	John Tavares	107	52	61	113	350	15	1.06
14	Matt Duchene	118	40	73	113	349	12	0.96
15	Corey Perry	119	54	57	111	391	14	0.93
16	Eric Staal	121	36	74	110	357	10	0.91
17	Tyler Seguin	121	49	60	109	416	12	0.9
18	Evgeni Malkin	91	32	73	105	290	11	1.15
19	Thomas Vanek	111	47	58	105	354	13	0.95
20	Anze Kopitar	123	34	71	105	288	12	0.85
21	Joe Pavelski	125	54	51	105	337	16	0.84
22	Blake Wheeler	125	46	59	105	339	14	0.84
23	Jamie Benn	116	42	62	104	361	12	0.9
24	Jakub Voracek	123	43	59	102	338	13	0.83
25	Jaromir Jagr	121	40	59	99	322	12	0.82
26	Andrew Ladd	124	41	57	98	308	13	0.79
27	Patrick Marleau	125	49	48	97	420	12	0.78
28	Derek Stepan	125	33	64	97	291	11	0.78
29	Henrik Zetterberg	91	27	69	96	324	8.3	1.05
30	Jordan Eberle	122	41	55	96	323	13	0.79
31	David Krejci	122	26	70	96	255	10	0.79
32	Jarome Iginla	119	44	50	94	331	13	0.79
33	Mike Ribeiro	122	28	66	94	167	17	0.77
34	Bryan Little	125	29	65	94	246	12	0.75
35	Steven Stamkos	79	52	41	93	264	20	1.18

Hall is in pretty good company and as his overall game improves he will only become more dangerous. The biggest improvement I’ve seen in Hall’s game the past month is his back pressure and creating turnovers. If he demands more from himself defensively and challenges his teammates to do the same, the Oilers might eventually win more than they lose.
Eberle is 30th in points the past two seasons. He doesn’t dominate games like Hall, but when he’s playing well he is extremely dangerous offensively. Like Hall, his two-way game needs to improve.
Frederik Andersen starts for the Ducks. This will be his third straight start. Jonas Hiller hasn’t played since his shaky outing against the Oilers on Friday. It will be interesting to see who the Ducks start in the playoffs.
I love how hard and greasy Perron plays, but he needs to cut down on bad penalties. He has to be smarter when he retaliates or tries to get in a cheap shot. I expect he will take a few over the course of a season, just because of how he plays, but he can’t take one every second game.
The more I watch Klefbom the more I see him as the steady blueliner this team desperately needs. I’m not saying he’s ready to be a top-pair guy next year, but in a few years I think he’ll be a very reliable defender.

TONIGHT….

GAME DAY PREDICTION: It is a major stretch to expect the Oilers to win tonight. The first line keeps it close, but Oilers lose 5-3.

OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Mean Gene Principe rattles off four or five beauty puns referencing Fasth.

NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: RNH scores a pair of goals to give the Oilers four 20-goal scorers for the first time since 2006. What isn’t obvious is that RNH scores in his 2nd straight game en route to scoring again on Friday for his first ever three-game goal scoring streak.

RECENTLY BY JASON GREGOR:

GDB 77.0: DUCKS’ DEPTH

PUCK WATCHING…

LINEUP

QUICK HITS….

TONIGHT….

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