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GDB 54.0: Stop the streak
By Jason Gregor
Feb 3, 2017, 14:16 ESTUpdated:
Photoshop: @isuckatpicking
We love HOME games; have Liquor Depot deliver in under an hour. Click, pick, sit back and watch the game.
Good teams avoid losing streaks. Only once this season have the Oilers gone three games without a point. They lost five regulation games in a row between November 8th to 17th, but other than that they’ve avoided lengthy losing skids.
They didn’t play well versus Minnesota on Tuesday and they didn’t generate enough offensively last night in Nashville. They’ll need more desperation in their game tonight and their two best forwards, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, must lead the charge.
McDavid has played two average games, which for him is rare. He’s -4 the past two games. I wonder if he’s a bit fatigued. He’s never played this many NHL games in a row, and he didn’t get a break during the All-Star weekend. He will benefit from the bye week, but the Oilers need him and Draisaitl to show up tonight.
Draisaitl was too fancy last night. He wasn’t moving his feet when he was making plays, and it led to turnovers. Neither played awful, but both are capable of more and the NHL reality is in order to avoid lengthy losing skids your best players need to be your best players.
The entire team needs to play better, but it starts with their top line. Often they set the tone, and if I’m Todd McLellan I’m starting them with the hope they are ready for the challenge.
The Hurricanes, despite sitting in 24th place in the NHL, are not an easy two points. They don’t allow many shots, fourth lowest at 27.6/game, however they have the fifth worst team SV% in the league at .899. The Oilers might not get many chances, but they need to bury the ones they do get because the Hurricanes’ goaltending is not very good.
LINEUP
Oilers
Cam Talbot played very well last night, and he has a good record when he plays back-to-back. He is also 4-0 in his career versus the Hurricanes with two shutouts and a 0.97 GAA. He has a .943sv% in the second game of back-to-backs.
The Oilers have a five-day break next week and Talbot can recover then if he is fatigued.
Talbot doesn’t waste much energy when he plays. I know a lot is made about how many games he plays, but remember this: Martin Brodeur started 70+ games from 1998-2004 (seven years), then had the lockout season, and the next three seasons he started 73, 78 and 77 games. I’m not saying he is Brodeur, but this is only one season and Talbot looks and feels fresh.
I believe we make way too much out of how many games goalies start. Talbot feels good and he is playing well, so I’d keep going with him, especially now that they’ve lost two in a row. Had they won last night, maybe you give him the night off, but the Oilers want to avoid a long losing skid. Play your best players.
McLellan hinted there could be some other changes, so we could see Gryba or Lander draw in.
Hurricanes
They snapped a five-game losing streak on Tuesday with a convincing 5-1 victory over Philadelphia. Cam Ward faced only 16 shots, and I suspect he plays tonight and Eddie Lack goes tomorrow versus the Islanders.
Jeff Skinner leads them in goals, 18, and points, 36, but rookie Sebastien Aho scored a hat trick on Tuesday and he has a very respectable 15-15-30 this season.
QUICK HITS
- Yesterday I wrote about the excitement and angst of a playoff race. I sense a bit of nervousness in Oilersnation today, which is expected. Baggedmilk and Wanye are wearing their lucky shirts in hopes of a win. Three losses in four days increases the stress level of Oilers fans quite a bit. The highs and lows of a playoff race are significant. A win tonight and the Nation exhales, but another loss would have the frustration level at a season high. Enjoy the ride.
- The Hurricanes have the #1 PK in the NHL, which is stunning considering how bad their overall team SV% is. The Canes have allowed a league-low 15 PP goals. San Jose is second at 23. The Canes don’t allow many goals, but they’ve also been shorthanded the fewest times at 123. The Oilers have been on the PK 155 times, 12th best in the NHL. The Canes are very disciplined. They’ve been shorthanded two times or less in 27 of their 49 games.
- Eberle and RNH have had success against Carolina and they also need to elevate their play. RNH has 6-4-10 in eight games versus the Canes, while Eberle has 5-6-11 in nine career games. The top line needs a strong game, but these two also need to be better than they have been this week.
- Connor McDavid has already reached his four “A” bonuses of $212,500. He has 35 assists, played in the All-Star game and played 42 games, so he will be top-six in TOI among forwards, and his point-per-game is above 0.73. He would have to go pointless the rest of the season not to be above 0.73. He’ll surpass 60 points and 20 goals so he’ll have reached six potential bonuses, but he maxes out at four of them. If he was injured he would still receive his TOI and PPG bonus because he’s played more than 42 games.
- Darnell Nurse will need to play 17 more games to qualify for any of his bonuses, which would require returning by March 7th and playing in the final 17 games. It seems unlikely he would reach any of them due to his injury, which sucks for him, but will help the Oilers with McDavid reaching his max bonuses and Draisaitl potentially reaching his $1.625 “B” bonus if he is top ten in one of goals, points, assists or points-per-game in the NHL.
- Head over to Please go to hockeyhelpskids.com to vote Team NUUUUUUUUUGE to help win $25,000 for our friends at Sport Central. Vote daily & vote often.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING…
- The Hurricanes and Oilers meet for the final time this season. Edmonton took the first meeting, a 3-2 win on October 18. Carolina trails all-time (23-36-14), including 15-13-7 at home and an abysmal 8-23-7 in Edmonton.
- Elias Lindholm tallied two assists on Tuesday’s win against Philadelphia in his fourth multi-assist game of the season. Carolina is an impressive 11-2-0 this season when Lindholm earns an assist.
- Tonight is Family Night in PNC, which means discounted tickets. Come out and watch your Hurricanes take on one of the stronger teams in the Western Conference.
- Lee Stempniak scored the Canes’ only two goals in their loss to the Oilers in October. It remains the only two-goal game he has recorded this season.
- As of this morning, Bill Peters still hasn’t committed to a goalie for tonight. He noted, “Eddie [Lack] has looked good this week coming off two games in the American League, so we’ve got two viable options.” Expect an update on who will be getting the call tonight after morning skates.
- You might also hear that the Oilers and Hurricanes met in the 2006 Stanley Cup Finaltonight. Make sure you credit Canes Country for this exclusive information as much as possible.
TONIGHT
(Photoshop: @TomKostiuk)
GAME DAY PREDICTION: The 5:30 MST start on a Friday is great for Oilers fans who like to go out and watch the game. There will be some tension among the crowd, and after two less than stellar outings the Oilers get a win. 3-2.
OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: McDavid has played 98 NHL games. He’s yet to go three in a row without a point. No chance he goes scoreless in his 99th career game.
NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Pouliot hasn’t scored since Dec 8th. During his goal drought Maroon has 10 (no goals in last eight), Draisaitl eight, RNH seven, Letestu six, McDavid five, Klefbom four, Eberle, Sekera, Caggiula and Lucic three, Benning, Kassian, Piltick and Hendricks two while Gryba, Slepyshev, Larsson and Khaira have one.
Only Davidson, Russell and Lander (four GP) haven’t scored. Davidson hasn’t had a SOG in three of his last four games. He is pointless in 15, but he picks up a point tonight.
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