GDT: EDM Oilers @ STL Blues 6pm CST

[BlueOil]

could you imagine if mcdoofus got hurt for a extended period of time ?

ehh just wait til the postseason. team looks regular season fire tho.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

I wasn't able to watch tonight, are we still just a healthy forward group and LD upgrade away from cup contention?

I'm asking because I trust your judgment the most, bro.

Perron, RoR, and Parayko need to get right. We need Schenn, Sunny, and Krug back. And we need to upgrade Walman. Bozak is fine but, he needs to go back down with Sunny-Kostin. And Saad needs linemates that can actually keep up. Kyrou, Thomas, Tarasenko, Buch, Barbie, and Faulk are all playing fine or better.

 

[ezcreepin]

at least we can agree: He's average. 13th in sv pct and 20th in GAA. After tonight, it's gonna look worse and he's trending down. Maybe he needs a rest, maybe he needs better defensive personnel. But the bottom line is, he's not the superstar everyone here is trying to paint him as no matter the advanced metric. You can pull any stat out of your rear to make a point but at the end of the day the results speak for themselves. He isn't making the saves he's supposed to be making regardless of the "muh high danger" shots. You can save all the high danger shots you want but if you let soft goals in that you and I can that's telling. He's average. You don't have to like it. Just accept it.

like i said. cherry pick any one stat you like to make your argument and that's fine. He's your guy. He's still average.

So does that mean Martin Jones is an elite goalie because he's throwing out a .931 sv% and 2.27 gaa? What about Markstrom posting .935 sv% and 1.81 gaa? You can have your opinion on Binnington, but I don't think you know what cherry picking stats means. While I don't think Binnington's an elite goalie, I think he's an above average goalie who can win you some games you're not supposed to win. Having said that, you're going to have some real problems when you find out who has been leading the league in sv% and gaa since 2018-2019. I know I don't have to tell you about it, but if you're curious, Binnington is still sitting real pretty at roughly 15th in both categories over that span, including tonight. And his stats prove my intuition about his playing, .915 sv% (a bit above average) and 2.46 gaa (nearly top 10 over that span). So even by using your cherry picked stats, he comes out as an above average goalie. NOT ELITE, but definitely better than half the league's starters.

Edit: Holy shit, I was using naturalstattrick, but NHL.com has those numbers integrated so they look even better when you get rid of inactive goalies.

 

[67Blues]

We basically have 4 AHL level players and a retread out there tonight against a very good offensive team. Kostin, Walman, Rosen, and Joshua really belong in the AHL, and Neal is trying his best, but that tank looks empty. I'll reserve judgement as to converting to tank-o-thon watch until we get all of our regulars back and I've celebrated Christmas.

 

[Meatball]

Perron, RoR, and Parayko need to get right. We need Schenn, Sunny, and Krug back. And we need to upgrade Walman. Bozak is fine but, he needs to go back down with Sunny-Kostin. And Saad needs linemates that can actually keep up. Kyrou, Thomas, Tarasenko, Buch, Barbie, and Faulk are all playing fine or better.

Ok then, leave it to Army. It's still early in the regular season, I figure the closer we get to playoff-season we'll see things done to this roster.

(I trust your judgment also, bro ).

 

[BadgersandBlues]

This was a super frustrating game, no doubt. But it was miles better then the Carolina game the night before. We slept through two periods of that game. This game, we were pretty engaged the entire time. We played an almost picture perfect first period until Parayko fell asleep in the last five seconds.
At the end of the day, McDavid and Drai are going to get chances. They are two of the best five players in the league right now. We didn't wilt, even when we went down 4-2. Couple of other thoughts:

1. This was probably the worst game I've ever seen a healthy Parayko play. His head just seemed in the clouds. Hopefully it's a blip and he goes back to being what he was before.
2. Walman is terrible. I was one of the guys banging the drum hoping that he got a long leash at the beginning of the year to see if he could grow into a top 4 guy that might be able to even handle some minutes with Parayko. It's time for that dream to die. The kid just doesn't have the hockey sense you need to play at this level. He's a great skater, a decent puck handler, and has a big shot.....but he can't escape pressure (or even make a simple pass) at all. I harp on Mikkola for handling the puck like a grenade (which he does), but my god, at least slamming it off the glass gets the puck out....something Walman seems physically incapable of doing in any fashion.
3. ROR has looked bad since he's returned from COVID, but tonight was his best game so far. He won some board battles and he actually had 3-4 golden scoring chances, he just didn't convert. We need him back up to speed ASAP.
4. Perron is borderline worthless when he's not stapled to ROR's wing. Since ROR went out, he's had four assists in nine games with zero goals scored. Three of those assists are secondary assists, ONE was primary. He averages well over 18 minutes a night. That's not nearly good enough production from him.
5. Binnington let in a couple that I didn't like, but almost all of them went across the "Royal Road," as people in hockey say (Goals 2, 3, and 5). The only one that beat him clean on a shot was the backhand from the slot. He needs to be better, but again, when your #1 D man seems more interested in the birds in the sky, it's tough to get mad at him.
6. Our 4th line has been pretty meh overall this year, but tonight was a tough one. One a back to back with travel, the fact that we couldn't trust them out there for longer then 6-7 minutes really put a huge strain on our top guys.
7. Robert Thomas is looking every bit of the #1 C of the future. Very excited. We could trade Tarasenko and move Schenn to the wing and have a very heavy top 6, or we could keep Schenn in the middle and have a very balanced top 9.

 

[Blueston]

This was a super frustrating game, no doubt. But it was miles better then the Carolina game the night before. We slept through two periods of that game. This game, we were pretty engaged the entire time. We played an almost picture perfect first period until Parayko fell asleep in the last five seconds.
At the end of the day, McDavid and Drai are going to get chances. They are two of the best five players in the league right now. We didn't wilt, even when we went down 4-2. Couple of other thoughts:

1. This was probably the worst game I've ever seen a healthy Parayko play. His head just seemed in the clouds. Hopefully it's a blip and he goes back to being what he was before.
2. Walman is terrible. I was one of the guys banging the drum hoping that he got a long leash at the beginning of the year to see if he could grow into a top 4 guy that might be able to even handle some minutes with Parayko. It's time for that dream to die. The kid just doesn't have the hockey sense you need to play at this level. He's a great skater, a decent puck handler, and has a big shot.....but he can't escape pressure (or even make a simple pass) at all. I harp on Mikkola for handling the puck like a grenade (which he does), but my god, at least slamming it off the glass gets the puck out....something Walman seems physically incapable of doing in any fashion.
3. ROR has looked bad since he's returned from COVID, but tonight was his best game so far. He won some board battles and he actually had 3-4 golden scoring chances, he just didn't convert. We need him back up to speed ASAP.
4. Perron is borderline worthless when he's not stapled to ROR's wing. Since ROR went out, he's had four assists in nine games with zero goals scored. Three of those assists are secondary assists, ONE was primary. He averages well over 18 minutes a night. That's not nearly good enough production from him.
5. Binnington let in a couple that I didn't like, but almost all of them went across the "Royal Road," as people in hockey say (Goals 2, 3, and 5). The only one that beat him clean on a shot was the backhand from the slot. He needs to be better, but again, when your #1 D man seems more interested in the birds in the sky, it's tough to get mad at him.
6. Our 4th line has been pretty meh overall this year, but tonight was a tough one. One a back to back with travel, the fact that we couldn't trust them out there for longer then 6-7 minutes really put a huge strain on our top guys.
7. Robert Thomas is looking every bit of the #1 C of the future. Very excited. We could trade Tarasenko and move Schenn to the wing and have a very heavy top 6, or we could keep Schenn in the middle and have a very balanced top 9.

What a delightful post. 100% agree.

 

[GoldenSeal]

We basically have 4 AHL level players and a retread out there tonight against a very good offensive team. Kostin, Walman, Rosen, and Joshua really belong in the AHL, and Neal is trying his best, but that tank looks empty. I'll reserve judgement as to converting to tank-o-thon watch until we get all of our regulars back and I've celebrated Christmas.

Part of why I’m not worried. We ran that and still came >< to winning, says a lot about the team. D Corps really needs to buckle down and step up regardless.

 

[Blueston]

I know I’ve been harsh on Parayko tonight but it’s bc I know he can be so much better. I dint critique Waldman play other than to say he should be in ago bc he just isn’t very good. Parayko is.

I think part of problem is with krug out he has pp responsibility and he is trying to generate more offense and is putting too much pressure on himself. Thinking too much. He just needs to relax and play his game, bc when he does he is tremendous. And he will. Bc he is too good to play this bad for long.

 

[stl76]

We are extremely fortunate to have Panger as a broadcaster. Some of you people are nuttier than squirrel shit

 

[Meatball]

Finally got a look at the highlights...what a backbreaker at the end.

There were a few goals that Binnington let in that I thought he should have had, the last one especially.

Tarsenko is back (if it wasn't obvious before)...trading him would be a bad idea, this team needs offense.

Parayko's had better games.

Still early, but we need to get healthy and address the defense.

@Ranksu, you were right, friend.

My apologies.

 

[Xerloris]

I only saw 1 goal where (Drai scored) that he should have had his stick down and didn't and paid for it.

That goal looked to me like he had not even fully come across and had no time to close the 5hole. I'm fairly sure the puck was off the ice so the stick being down has no bearing on it. I am limited in the slow mo replays I can see however.

Kind of rich coming from him, but he is also not wrong.

Still sort of strange to out a teammate publicly.

This is like if I went to work and ripped on my team in front of others. Not sure that will have anything positive come from it.

I know it turned out that it was Berube that said this quote and not Bortuzzo but in all fairness, I wouldn't shit on Parayko for those types of plays if he was paid what Bortuzzo is paid. Want the big bucks? then play like you deserve it.

Finally got a look at the highlights...what a backbreaker at the end.

There were a few goals that Binnington let in that I thought he should have had, the last one especially.

What do you expect him to do on that shot? I mean it went over his shoulder while he was sliding across the net. It was a lucky/good shot but for f***s sake all Parayko had to do was not leave a man wide open in front of the net.

 

[Meatball]

What do you expect him to do on that shot? I mean it went over his shoulder while he was sliding across the net. It was a lucky/good shot but for f***s sake all Parayko had to do was not leave a man wide open in front of the net.

The bottom line, he's expected to make saves in those situations. The saving grace in all this is that it's still early in the season.

 

[TheDizee]

The bottom line, he's expected to make saves in those situations. The saving grace in all this is that it's still early in the season.

he was not on his game for sure but its early so im not worried about it. i thought the past 2 nights we were the better team, just managed a way to somehow get 0pts out of it, mainly sloppy D and leaky goaltending.

Parayko is a -8 and Scandella is a -6 in the past 4 games. Pretty much says it all. Hopefully they turn it around soon and we get strong goaltending.

I don't think Parayko will ever be someone you can rely on for 30mins a night and the Blues need to realize this by getting him off the PP and limiting his ice time better.

 

[Reality Czech]

Scandella had some poor moments tonight, but looked a bit better than in the past few. Still has a way to go though.

He looked a lot better than Parayko, who stood by and watched at least twice as an open Oiler buried the puck in the back of the net.

On the first Oiler goal, Scandella forced his man to the outside and the only thing he could have done was a desperate pass in front. Parayko was just standing there as McDavid tipped it home. 5th goal Parayko was in no man's land doing nothing and watched Yamamoto score the game winner.

People can complain about our 2-6 d-men all they want, but if our #1 keeps playing like this then all of that will be moot.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Hasn’t he been with Edmonton for like 5 years? Shortly after he played for us? Genuinely can’t recall

this is his 6th year in Edmonton. He is only there filling a spot till one of the D on the farm is NHL ready. Also, he was given a 1 year deal so the oilers had a D to expose for the expansion draft. Most oiler fans thought Larsson would resign and not be the D we lost in the draft

 

[Majorityof1]

It’s every f***ing game… Panger goes out of his way to praise the other team

If he’s on a National broadcast I get it but holy hell it’s annoying as f*** every game.. he’s like the opposing teams fan that gets to shit on the Blues GDT every f***ing game

Perfect. There is no better example of the fragility of fandom than this. This is why I grow to hate every team I live near. This is why I dislike our fanbase more than any other. Because I get exposed to crazy comments like this. How can hearing true things about other teams make you so mad? How can being educated on the strengths of opposing teams you may not watch as much make you hate a person? It doesn't take away from our team at all if you recognize that the other team has some really good players too. It is the color commentator's job to fill you in on all aspects of the game, not to pump the tires of the home team.

 

[GoldenSeal]

Perfect. There is no better example of the fragility of fandom than this. This is why I grow to hate every team I live near. This is why I dislike our fanbase more than any other. Because I get exposed to crazy comments like this. How can hearing true things about other teams make you so mad? How can being educated on the strengths of opposing teams you may not watch as much make you hate a person? It doesn't take away from our team at all if you recognize that the other team has some really good players too. It is the color commentator's job to fill you in on all aspects of the game, not to pump the tires of the home team.

Amen.

 

[Jumptheshark]

ehh just wait til the postseason. team looks regular season fire tho.

come playoff time--if we are giving up more than 3 a game--we get swept again

 

[Celtic Note]

He looked a lot better than Parayko, who stood by and watched at least twice as an open Oiler buried the puck in the back of the net.

On the first Oiler goal, Scandella forced his man to the outside and the only thing he could have done was a desperate pass in front. Parayko was just standing there as McDavid tipped it home. 5th goal Parayko was in no man's land doing nothing and watched Yamamoto score the game winner.

People can complain about our 2-6 d-men all they want, but if our #1 keeps playing like this then all of that will be moot.

I am not absolving Parayko for his play. It was objectively bad. Way too many brain farts on the ice recently.

Scandella really should be second pairing or lower. Anything more is beyond his capabilities.

 

[Stealth JD]

come playoff time--if we are giving up more than 3 a game--we get swept again

Any team giving up over 3 goals/game in the playoffs won't be participating very long in them. Not unique to the Blues, and not really all that concerning given the state of health of the current roster.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Any team giving up over 3 goals/game in the playoffs won't be participating very long in them. Not unique to the Blues, and not really all that concerning given the state of health of the current roster.

we need a goalie--we are healthy but for the 39 machine named Smith

 

[Renard]

The regular season is just a shakedown cruise. Our team will look very different by April. Don't take the loss so seriously

I'm excited to see how good Thomas and Kyrou are by then.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Should I keep making the GDTs are should I give up? Lol

 

[Xerloris]

Should I keep making the GDTs are should I give up? Lol

You've proven to carry some pretty terrible luck.