Post-Game Talk: Nashville 4 Edmonton 0

[Soliloquy of a Dogge]

Pretty much have to win 3 out of 4 games from here on out.

I'm sick and tired of getting my hopes up.

 

[sportsdynasty]

This game was stacked on top of a bunch of similar games this year so every one will freak out. That said I think if you just watched this game you would say the oilers deserved to win, and out played one of the best teams in hockey. If they replay that game they win 9/10 times with decent goaltending. The goal tending is just brutal, don't get why we are sticking with Brossiot. I am losing faith in Chia over it.

You still had faith in Chia? I lost faith in him at the beginning of his tenure when he pulled off a big trade at the draft - giving up two top picks for Griffin Reinhart.

I shouted at my TV screen when that trade happened, and knew this organization was doomed with poor management. Chia is a bottom 5 GM and it's no coincidence the Oilers will finish bottom 5 this season.

Get a top 5 GM and coach like Vegas and look what happens.

 

[Canada Drai]

You still had faith in Chia? I lost faith in him at the beginning of his tenure when he pulled off a big trade at the draft - giving up two top picks for Griffin Reinhart.

I shouted at my TV screen when that trade happened, and knew this organization was doomed with poor management. Chia is a bottom 5 GM and it's no coincidence the Oilers will finish bottom 5 this season.

Get a top 5 GM and coach like Vegas and look what happens.

Top 5 coach yeah debatable. GM? Nah. He sucks.

 

[King1s]

Woop woop. Did not expect a win from this one and yet I feel disappointed. Maybe it is time to let go of the faint hope. We are not going to go streakingby the looks of it.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Am I the only one that thought that the first goal was hit with a high stick?

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Am I the only one that thought that the first goal was hit with a high stick?

It certainly appeared to be one to me from the jumbotron replays in slo-mo. Wouldn't have made a difference, Croissant was not stopping any Nashville chances tonight and the Oilers were not scoring on any of theirs. Sounds familiar?

I had hoped we might make a run here in December at .500 and then at a wildcard but I am afraid 9 points out and the inability of our special teams to fire on any cylinders at home, our goaltending issues, and our brutal embarrassing home record, I am just about to raise the white flag.

Starting to pore over the 2018 entry draft prospects, planning the lottery pick party, and April, May vacations.

 

[rboomercat90]

Bachman, Bryz, and scrivezina

I don’t recall Bachman ever playing a poor game here. He was a rare bright spot for the team During those days.

 

[rboomercat90]

Am I the only one that thought that the first goal was hit with a high stick?

I think you are. If I remember correctly we dedicated several pages of the gdt praising the competence of both the referees and the replay officials.

 

[McDynasty]

Time to just enjoy the ride fellows with the thought that we are not making the playoffs. I'll still watch all the games but my expectations have disappeared, it's shame because we looked like we were going to turn it around with solid play. At least PK Subban didn't score on us from the center line.

 

[harpoon]

And idk why they seem to be so against putting Ellis in for a bit. It's not like he can be much worse, and it'd be nice to see how he looks, even if it were for just one period.

Totally agree with this. I'm not going to join the parade of folks crapping on LB. He hasn't been good enough, its obvious, but he could still improve.

But why not just give Ellis a start. Even just one. LB has had a bunch of chances and he hasn't grabbed the ball. What could possibly be so wrong with giving the other kid a shot? Just don't understand. Another reason to doubt this coaching staff.

 

[TheBusDriver]

Just real bad luck tonight guys. Much like Toronto. No luck finishing on our end and they get more than enough bounces to win. Sure youd like LB to stop one or 2 of those but if we dont score at least 1, who cares? Just a bad luck game we werent gonna win.

 

[tinfish]

46 shots, but not many grade a chances. I don't like this stratagey of just pounding shots on net from the perimeter if no one is going to the net. We're too skilled to be doing that. We have to be making plays that count and capitalizing on them. Winning the corsi battle means nothing if you can't get the 2 pts.

 

[tinfish]

Just real bad luck tonight guys. Much like Toronto. No luck finishing on our end and they get more than enough bounces to win. Sure youd like LB to stop one or 2 of those but if we dont score at least 1, who cares? Just a bad luck game we werent gonna win.

Its not just a matter of luck though when this is a regular occurrence. Out shooting a team 2-1 means nothing if all your shots are from the outside and theirs are grade a chances. I don't think this is a coaching problem or a bad roster. I think this falls squarley on the shoulders of the players. They haven't been good enough to put together 3 or 4 wins in a row. Guys arent playing with the incentive to become better. We've made the same mistake we did with hall, Nuge and eberle in handing out big contracts for putting up pts instead of paying guys who do what it takes to win hockey games. Don't get me wrong. I like this team, but we're not even close to competing for a cup yet. We need a top pair rd, another top 6 option at forward and a legitimate back up goalie.

 

[iCanada]

I believe the Oilers tried pretty hard. Talents just not there.
It's crazy how much worse they've gotten since the Eberle trade.

How is it crazy? It's exactly what one should expect. We traded a proven 1st line winger for an inconsistent 3rd line player.

Like... i didn't mind the hall trade because we legit needed a defenceman. But the Eberle Strome deal was just atrocious.

 

[tinfish]

How is it crazy? It's exactly what one should expect. We traded a proven 1st line winger for an inconsistent 3rd line player.

Like... i didn't mind the hall trade because we legit needed a defenceman. But the Eberle Strome deal was just atrocious.

No one wanted a soft 6 million dollar winger that couldn't put up points when it mattered. If there wS a better deal available it would have been explored.

 

[tinfish]

Do people not remember what other fan bases thought of our guys. I've seen numuorious posters mention Hall and Eberle like they didn't have their warts, and not only that, but people acting like Yakupov and Schultz had value. Those players were complete shit here. This team has a good core of guys down the middle. Some good energy guys and probably 3 top 4 dmen We aren't a million miles away from being a top team. Just a few pieces. Don't give up on this team when we've all hung in for a decade of garbage.

 

[Risingwind]

Saros didn't really have to make any crazy saves, most of them were at his crest, I suppose you can chalk it off to great positioning. No loose pucks found Oiler sticks around the net and when they did it just went wide. For all that went well last game everything went wrong tonight in the goal scoring department. Our D has looked vastly better as of late (Davidson in for Gryba has been immense).
Nashville seemed to do a great job of clearing their net area.

Preds defenders did a good job, they were just better compared D vs D. 97 managed to slice their position a couple times, and I'm not happy that JP missed that open net opportunity. A lot of the time I saw Ov2 fire a weak, unscreened wrister from the blue line, and Saros had time to scratch his butt before gloving it.

 

[iCanada]

No one wanted a soft 6 million dollar winger that couldn't put up points when it mattered. If there wS a better deal available it would have been explored.

Great. Keep him. We could have traded him for a less than lukewarm body this off-season.

Don't think our extra 3 mil in cap space is doing us much good right now.... especially since we just used it to avoid actually negotiating with Drai. I don't think he's overpaid by much, but when a guy like Pastrnak is making 6.5 it stings.

 

[tinfish]

Great. Keep him. We could have traded him for a less than lukewarm body this off-season.

Don't think our extra 3 mil in cap space is doing us much good right now.... especially since we just used it to avoid actually negotiating with Drai. I don't think he's overpaid by much, but when a guy like Pastrnak is making 6.5 it stings.

He looked baby turd soft in the playoffs. I think both parties wanted to move on. It stings really hard when drais peers are making 1 or 2 less per year.

 

[iCanada]

I'd rather have a soft baby turd in the playoffs than not be in the playoffs.

 

[tinfish]

I'd rather have a soft baby turd in the playoffs than not be in the playoffs.

I would too, but I don't think it was an option. I think eberle was ready to move on. I and many others thought we could still score enough goals without ebs. I can't blame chia on that trade. Does it look like we were wrong? Ya. Other guys haven't picked up the slack. That being said I don't think we're suddenly a playoff team with eberle back in the fold. The problems we're having run deaper than that.

 

[Dan Kelly]

Pretty much have to win 3 out of 4 games from here on out.

I'm sick and tired of getting my hopes up.

i have been posting all year that this is probably as good as it's going to get unless Talbot, Sekera and Larsson can score goals when they come back?

 

[iCanada]

I would too, but I don't think it was an option. I think eberle was ready to move on. I and many others thought we could still score enough goals without ebs. I can't blame chia on that trade. Does it look like we were wrong? Ya. Other guys haven't picked up the slack. That being said I don't think we're suddenly a playoff team with eberle back in the fold. The problems we're having run deaper than that.

No our GM just overestimated this team.

Been saying it all summer, you have to make it to the dance.

We downgraded Eberle. We knew Sekera was injured. We got rid of poo for... nothing? We didn't get a backup worth a damn.

Chia f***ed up real bad. We're talking about lack of depth, I mean shoot... we had it, but we pissed it away and gifted spots to youngsters who didn't force their way in.

We could have forward depth like this with our current cap hit;

Maroon - McDavid - Pulju
Lucic - Drai - Slepyshev / Drake
Pouliot - RNH - Eberle
Khaira - Letestu - Kassian

Instead we have;
Lucic - McDavid - Pulju
Maroon - RNH - Cammaleri
Khaira - Drai - Strome
Drake - Letestu - Kassian
Capspace burning a hole in our pocket.

We're smaller, slower, easier to play against and have less finish. And we are having injuries and shoddy goaltending. Chia really screwed the poooch; it's not even like i expected him to go out and make wonderful deals, he just had to not downgrade our current roster by 4 slots for nothing.

 

[frag2]

Totally agree with this. I'm not going to join the parade of folks crapping on LB. He hasn't been good enough, its obvious, but he could still improve.

But why not just give Ellis a start. Even just one. LB has had a bunch of chances and he hasn't grabbed the ball. What could possibly be so wrong with giving the other kid a shot? Just don't understand. Another reason to doubt this coaching staff.

I’m done with LB. he has no future with the team IMO. Fundamentally, I’ve never seen a goalie succeed so much in junior yet falter so much in pro.

Guy hears shot and he immediately goes into butterfly. Then his reaction on subsequent shots are so slow, it’s like he forgets he can make multiple saves. I bet both cross ice pass goals by the Preds, Talbot would’ve stopped one.

That being said, this is on tmac stubborness and Chia being an idiot. One doesn’t trust his backup and one is too lazy to find another one

 

[harpoon]

I hear you @frag2 . Not really arguing with your evaluation of the weaknesses in LB's game. But as one of the guys who hated Dubnyk, led the charge to dump him, and made several overly confident posts saying he would be out of the league a year after the Oilers gave up on him, I'm going to take it a little cautious with LB. Dubnyk had a hundred games in Edmonton and was still looking shaky as hell on any given night. He got handed the starting job before he had really proven he had worked those yips out of his game. Compared to that LB hasn't even got his feet wet yet.

Can't argue with your last sentence at all.