That's about as far from air tight hockey as it gets. Monstrous breakdowns throughout from both teams. Key difference in this game was goaltending. Edmonton, to me, is still looking for a goal tender although some of the Canuck goals were pure snipes.
Good
Horvat - for most of the game was the Canuck's best player. Really liked the way he was skating and controlling middle of the ice
Hoglander - looked dangerous throughout. Passing was a bit of surprise to me. He kept creating chances. Watched Montreal game and kept my eye on Toffoli. No way I would trade Hoggy for Toffoli. Should get an assist on the Horvat goal
Holtby - beaten by some shots high glove side shots. Needs to clean that up but they were screened as well. However, he was excellent and made numerous outstanding stops.
Motte - wish we had 2 or 3 more Mottes to man the bottom lines. Tenacious worker and critical on the PK. Another nice game.
Schmidt - wasn't as strong in the third but still our best d-man. Canucks got backing in and forced the whole defense into tight spots. Given any kind of open ice Schmidt was making good long passes and good plays
Pearson - other than the last shift (when you would have thought it was time to shine with the EN) had strong game along the boards and in moving the puck.
Boeser - some have comment he is skating better and, to me, he certainly is. Showed upper level talent on his goals and out side of some ill considered passes on the PP was very good. You get Miller back on this line and Boeser plays like this and you've got something.
Not Good
Hughes - got caught up in traffic around his net and had trouble around his net. Moved better in the third and I think came up with a couple of assists. Still knocked to the ice too much and never getting ahead of the play like he usually does. I'm thinking he will miss Tanev. And there were times in this game when I felt the team really did miss both Tanev and Stecher.
Edler - looked geriatric at times. Not keeping the play in front of him and stick work was clumsy. Seems to have lost much quickness in coverage around his net. Hopefully will play himself into shape and get the rust off. Or maybe he is getting close to being done. Lots of reaching and pushing rather than using his feet to establish position. Point shots were all over the place.
Hamonic - got caught absolutely flat -footed way too often. Not working well with Hughes at all. Somehow he ended up a +2 but people were getting behind him all game. First game but off what I saw think Benn maybe better
Virtanen - did so little. Kind of like he goes fast when he slow up to make the play, or goes slow and misses an opportunity. Defense coverage was per usual rotten (just sleepy bye time for Virtanen). Love how he flags at the puck as he drifts by people rather then getting on the body. Nothing ever real changes with this player. Has a little spurts here and there and then falls back into doing nothing. Play of someone like Hoglander whose head is constantly in the game and who can anticipate the play helps highlight by contrast the futility of Virtanen. In one game Hoglander showed more ability to keep possession in traffic than Virtanen a has show in seemly endless Canuck career. Desperately needed to be traded in the off season,
Others
Joulevi - were some positives but some very apparent errors as well. Too slow moving the puck and got stripped on the first goal against and got walked a couple of times. Green didn't play him much after awhile to avoid the match up with Draistal who Joulevi mostly had no chance of covering (outside of the one good take out at the end of the second). Joulevi I believe is not fully ready and like to Rafferty given a look.
Sutter had some bad early coverage but was decently effective as the game went on. Good on the PK which is an important aspect when playing the Oilers
Roussel - kind of like Sutter. Fairly effective game in the trenches. Won't hurt the team if he plays like this.
Pettersson - didn't do much. Still dangerous but I think he clearly missed Miller.
Miller.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Virtanen
Gaudette - thinking again that this player is doing nothing and then comes with a fabulous shift. Think play is still way too random and inconsistent but he scored a very critical goal and looked good doing it.
Team has some obvious holes but also some very encouraging players as well. Hoglander might be an excellent NHL player.
