3 Games

[LTIR]

Perfectly easy save? Petry on the PP walks in unchallenged takes a high shot that hits koskis shoulder pops up.. Petry whacks it to the front of the net, goes around unchecked and put it in while 2 Oilers are playing goalie in blue paint and bear sliding on the other side

 

[Drivesaitl]

Perfectly easy save? Petry on the PP walks in unchallenged takes a high shot that hits koskis shoulder pops up.. Petry whacks it to the front of the net, goes around unchecked and put it in while 2 Oilers are playing goalie in blue paint and bear sliding on the other side

Well nothing was an easy save for Koskinen in the first half of the game yesterday. he got better after that, but was looking behind him lots in the first period. he was rattled. Not composed.

Watched the replays again. First goal, Petry is contained, skating wide, no threat. except Koski is on his knees the whole time in his cage. Petry is actually attempting top corner, because he see's its there. Koski is one of the tallest goalies in the league but still gives up so much up high. On a bad angle. Petry was at bottom of circle when he releases. only 3-4 ft from the goal line. bad angle. Koski out to lunch in his setup.

2nd goal Koski is stone on a shot, barely even moves his glove. Smith would have stopped that. This is the Habs Tatar, lol, not Ovechkin.

3rd goal was hilarious. Tatar again taking a shot. Koski again down on his knees for mercy, his rebound on an easy stop goes right off Bear and back into his own net. A clusterf*** play by Koski. Bear just looking like what is this shit, lets get a goalie. What is Bear supposed to do on that play. Any competent goalie just grabs that puck or stops it with pads.

 

[SupremeTeam16]

1/3the shots Koski faced in the first were due to his own rebounds.

A skilled starting goalie needs to also be able to read teams and suss out whats happening. The Oilers desperately needed breaks, stoppages, time to get composed, second breaths. The whole first period Koski failed in corralling pucks, even easy bad angle shots he was kicking out rebounds. Starting with the first goal. I mean this is a D, not a scoring D, shooting from a bad angle. This is early in the game and Koski makes a disaster out of it floating a rebound, puck deflects up, Petry punches it right through koski, goes to other side where the puck is and slots it home into a wide open net. I wonder how many steamboats Koski still doesn't know where that puck is. He failed at tracking that.

But a lot of the adventure could have been averted if we had a goalies just eating up some of those pucks. Smith is much better at limiting rebounds, and also playing the puck, which you would note Price was doing all game. The reason the Oilers had trouble establishing forecheck pressure is how effective Price was on the puck. Its like having another D back there.

Im not letting Koskinen off the hook by any means, rebound control has always been a part of his game that’s been lacking, but last night by the back half of the second he just looked like a guy defeated. When you face the number of high danger shots he’s faced early in the season, rebounds are gonna happen, the poor guy is just trying to keep the puck out on the onslaught of good first chances our team gives up. Rebounds are 50/50 pucks that our team is getting beat to more often then not and even when they get there first many times they fail to even relieve the pressure by clearing the zone, controlled zone exits are a pipe dream at this point. They’re getting slaughtered in their own end and Koskinens rebound control is an effect of that, not the cause.

We’d love for Koskinen to eat up more rebounds but like I said he’s not facing a ton of shots that are easy to swallow up, he’s facing a lot of chances that he’s just trying to keep the puck out of the net. Playing the puck for our goalies is a ridiculous notion because the team around them have no idea what the hell they’re doing, Smith regarded as one of the better goalies in the league at playing the puck and look at last year, a lot of the time him playing the puck ended in a turnover and in our net. Watching Montreal last night and other teams who are effective in using their goalie to start moving the puck is because they work as a unit to buy him the time. They have guys delaying the forecheck and they’re giving him an option to move the puck to, Oilers don’t do any of that. These are just some of the many small nuances in the game that when added up make differences in games and the Oilers don’t do any of them.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Miss me yet?

I definitely miss 2016-17 Talbot.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Im not letting Koskinen off the hook by any means, rebound control has always been a part of his game that’s been lacking, but last night by the back half of the second he just looked like a guy defeated. When you face the number of high danger shots he’s faced early in the season, rebounds are gonna happen, the poor guy is just trying to keep the puck out on the onslaught of good first chances our team gives up. Rebounds are 50/50 pucks that our team is getting beat to more often then not and even when they get there first many times they fail to even relieve the pressure by clearing the zone, controlled zone exits are a pipe dream at this point. They’re getting slaughtered in their own end and Koskinens rebound control is an effect of that, not the cause.

We’d love for Koskinen to eat up more rebounds but like I said he’s not facing a ton of shots that are easy to swallow up, he’s facing a lot of chances that he’s just trying to keep the puck out of the net. Playing the puck for our goalies is a ridiculous notion because the team around them have no idea what the hell they’re doing, Smith regarded as one of the better goalies in the league at playing the puck and look at last year, a lot of the time him playing the puck ended in a turnover and in our net. Watching Montreal last night and other teams who are effective in using their goalie to start moving the puck is because they work as a unit to buy him the time. They have guys delaying the forecheck and they’re giving him an option to move the puck to, Oilers don’t do any of that. These are just some of the many small nuances in the game that when added up make differences in games and the Oilers don’t do any of them.

Koski is facing the Montreal Canadians. He let Petry and Tatar score two lol. Has to be remembered that the Oilers were not facing Red Army circa 70's last night. They were facing a club who's top goal scorer had 22 goals last season. Making that club look like scoring gods.

how do you think things would have played out with goalies reversed. Oilers would have taken it to double digits. Koskinen was down praying on his knees so much last night he could hardly stand up after.

Theres not a lot of times that A Smith miscue ended in our net. I'll give you a few. But a goalie playing the puck still saves D from a game of punishment.

I mean I get a little frustrated hearing that Koski is bad at rebound control, too low in the crouch too often, not a great glove hand, can't play the puck to save his life, but at what point in all that assessment of his deficits is he just not good. Is he just deficient as a starting goalie.

 

[StoveTopStauffer]

Team continues to either be good or bad and not much in between.

 

[SupremeTeam16]

Koski is facing the Montreal Canadians. He let Petry and Tatar score two lol. Has to be remembered that the Oilers were not facing Red Army circa 70's last night. They were facing a club who's top goal scorer had 22 goals last season. Making that club look like scoring gods.

how do you think things would have played out with goalies reversed. Oilers would have taken it to double digits. Koskinen was down praying on his knees so much last night he could hardly stand up after.

Theres not a lot of times that A Smith miscue ended in our net. I'll give you a few. But a goalie playing the puck still saves D from a game of punishment.

I mean I get a little frustrated hearing that Koski is bad at rebound control, too low in the crouch too often, not a great glove hand, can't play the puck to save his life, but at what point in all that assessment of his deficits is he just not good. Is he just deficient as a starting goalie.

Save for 4-5 goalies in this league every goaltender would look deficient playing behind this team so far this season. Improve the defensive play and the goaltending will improve. Or I mean go out and get one of the few elite goalies in the league who’s capable of respectable numbers despite getting bombarded every night.

 

[McTonyBrar]

Wouldn't mind packaging Nurse ++ for an upgrade. He's just not a top pairing guy. Thank God they didn't give him his wants on the contract.

He's been forced into a top pairing role. We can't just drag him through the dirt. I feel like people just jump him to feel better

 

[McTonyBrar]

Also, I'm sorry but our goaltending is awful. Koskinen is no #1 goalie. Am I the only one who noticed that he is horrible on glove hand shots and point shots? He's also horrific on rebounds. He has no clue where to put them and he's been less than average at swallowing shots

 

[McTonyBrar]

Koski is facing the Montreal Canadians. He let Petry and Tatar score two lol. Has to be remembered that the Oilers were not facing Red Army circa 70's last night. They were facing a club who's top goal scorer had 22 goals last season. Making that club look like scoring gods.

how do you think things would have played out with goalies reversed. Oilers would have taken it to double digits. Koskinen was down praying on his knees so much last night he could hardly stand up after.

Theres not a lot of times that A Smith miscue ended in our net. I'll give you a few. But a goalie playing the puck still saves D from a game of punishment.

I mean I get a little frustrated hearing that Koski is bad at rebound control, too low in the crouch too often, not a great glove hand, can't play the puck to save his life, but at what point in all that assessment of his deficits is he just not good. Is he just deficient as a starting goalie.

He also allowed a Jake Evans to score a goal. An ECHL star

 

[LTIR]

Price allowed Koekkoek to score so there is that.
Nucks goalies allowed Larsson and Nurse to score so they must suck as well. Interesting logic.

 

[McTonyBrar]

Price allowed Koekkoek to score so there is that.
Nucks goalies allowed Larsson and Nurse to score so they must suck as well. Interesting logic.

I don't think you've ever heard a joke before

 

[Chabot84]

It's been 3 games guys. We all should relax BUT our goaltending and defence is bad

3 games = 5% of season gone already just saying.

playoffs have already started there is no messing around this season.

 

[The Panther]

I'm not really concerned at all yet. I basically am satisfied with the Oilers' personnel this season, and I see no reason why they shouldn't compete for a playoff spot (and really, they should make it in).

The defence and goaltending always appears to be the team's weaker side, but when you watch their losses it's often lack of bottom-6 scoring that does them in. Nevertheless, over a large sample of games (56, this time) the Oilers have too much offensive depth not to score a reasonable amount of goals. Basically, I'm not worried about the offense. The defence is still a little suspect and Caleb Jones has not looked NHL-ready (he's gonna sit now, isn't he?). Koskinen was mostly fine last season, but now has two 'iffy' games already this season.

The one thing that does concern me is the poor starts the team has. This problem has persisted since Todd McLellan, at least. It's like they cannot get motivated to be at 100% when the puck drops in the first period.

 

[McTonyBrar]

I'm not really concerned at all yet. I basically am satisfied with the Oilers' personnel this season, and I see no reason why they shouldn't compete for a playoff spot (and really, they should make it in).

The defence and goaltending always appears to be the team's weaker side, but when you watch their losses it's often lack of bottom-6 scoring that does them in. Nevertheless, over a large sample of games (56, this time) the Oilers have too much offensive depth not to score a reasonable amount of goals. Basically, I'm not worried about the offense. The defence is still a little suspect and Caleb Jones has not looked NHL-ready (he's gonna sit now, isn't he?). Koskinen was mostly fine last season, but now has two 'iffy' games already this season.

The one thing that does concern me is the poor starts the team has. This problem has persisted since Todd McLellan, at least. It's like they cannot get motivated to be at 100% when the puck drops in the first period.

I still think we need a #4 Dman unless Jones can start simplifying his game. I feel like we should give Bouchard a chance. If he can come out of the forest, we have a free top 4 dman this season

 

[GOilers88]

Folks should have already braced for a potential sophomore slump from Bear, and expecting Jones to step into the top 4 right away was always a reach. But it's early and you can't go kneejerk this soon into the season. Gotta give it 10 games or so, and make use of the taxi squad if possible.

 

[GOilers88]

I still think we need a #4 Dman unless Jones can start simplifying his game. I feel like we should give Bouchard a chance. If he can come out of the forest, we have a free top 4 dman this season

The team really needs a former Adam Larsson for the second pairing. Someone who is absolutely steady in his own end and allows for a partner to move with a little more give, which I think Jones needs.

Unfortunately Adam Larsson isn't filling this need. You hope he can find it, or maybe try upgrading him as the season goes on. Josh Manson? Hjalmarsson? Weegar?

 

[The Panther]

Yeah, I'm surprised we haven't seen Bouchard yet. Maybe we will, soon...

Not sure why people are ragging on Bear. He has a point and is +2 in three games. (A minus yesterday came when he was in perfect position and blocking out the attacking player, and the puck bounced off his ass and went in.) Bear has looked good.

Nurse was also doing better than expected -- looking like he'd simplified his game -- until last night when he took the unnecessary penalty that cost them. I sort of gave up on him last year, to be honest. He's too inconsistent and prone to mental errors, so it's really important for him just to play the basic position and not attempt too much. (He has all the tools, though.)

Larsson... so frustrating. When he's good, he's their best shut-down, physical guy. When he's off, he's really off to the point of costing them unnecessary goals against (see game one of the season).

Koekkoek has exceeded expectations thus far, which is encouraging. We'll see if he can keep it up, but if he can, things are looking a bit better at the blue line.

And in the first two games, Barrie was zipping that biscuit around on the PP (even doing something Klefbom hasn't been able to do in seven years -- get shots on net!!!), and looking great.

There's every reason to think the D-core will be better this year than last... unless Larsson and Nurse crap the bed... again.

 

[barry halls]

“Don’t worry about the passing of the Edmonton Oilers. There’s only one way to kill this franchise...that’s with a wooden stake to the heart” - Ted Green

 

[Llamamoto]

Also, I'm sorry but our goaltending is awful. Koskinen is no #1 goalie. Am I the only one who noticed that he is horrible on glove hand shots and point shots? He's also horrific on rebounds. He has no clue where to put them and he's been less than average at swallowing shots

He knows where to put rebounds, any NHL calibre goalie can do that. (That's one of the first thing you learn as a goalie). His issue is how he tracks the play, he's slow to react and by the time the puck reaches him he doesn't have enough time to redirect shots into the corner.

The Petry goal was a direct result of that.

 

[shoop]

Goaltending is fine. League average I would say.

Koskinen's save percentage is .892. That's 29th in the league. His GAA is 4.04. That's 34th in the league.

 

[I am the Liquor]

Save for 4-5 goalies in this league every goaltender would look deficient playing behind this team so far this season. Improve the defensive play and the goaltending will improve. Or I mean go out and get one of the few elite goalies in the league who’s capable of respectable numbers despite getting bombarded every night.

Goaltending is an issue but Carey Price couldn’t save this team with our sad sack defence. It’s terrible has been terrible for years....decades even.

 

[Oilers in NS]

Doesn't help when their two D on the top pair are lacking poise or have a low panic threshold. Bear had it for most of last season but he's looking shaky nowadays. Barrie isn't the strongest for D play but he plays with enough poise and is defence via good offence / puck movement. Larsson is hit or miss but when he's not playing D for both partners he tends to look better.

Current D with poise or low panic:

Barrie
Koekkoek
Larsson

I think Bear would be passible with a steadier partner. Nurse is too all over the place and panics easily (IMO)

Looks to be that Bouchard, Samorukov and Broberg play with more poise but let's see how they are in the NHL.

I'd put Bouchard in and sit Jones and run with this next game

Nurse - Barrie
Koekkoek - Bear
Bouchard - Larsson

Am I wrong in saying that 4K probably has been our best Dman?

 

[Oilers in NS]

I still think we need a #4 Dman unless Jones can start simplifying his game. I feel like we should give Bouchard a chance. If he can come out of the forest, we have a free top 4 dman this season

worked last year.

I thought this would be Jones coming out party. So far, so wrong I guess. My bad

 

[GOilers88]

Koskinen's save percentage is .892. That's 29th in the league. His GAA is 4.04. That's 34th in the league.

He's a career 2.95/.909

No worse than average to me. He's had 2 good games out of three and been left to dry in two of them.

Mikko Koskinen is not this teams problem.