Post-Game Talk: It’s a Christmas miracle!

[Behind Enemy Lines]

They’ve definitely seen an improvement in their pace to start games. Likewise they’ve notably made strides in closing periods out. At one point we were so bad for giving up goals at the start and end of periods, they’ve really cleaned that up.

The Oil have definitely improved their game starts this year most notably under the positive regression with Knoblauch. They're outscoring the opposition 47 to 34 in first periods which is by far their most dominant scoring periods (2nd: 32 and 3rd: 32). They've also started to improve their 3rd period scoring which is now only a -2 deficit (32 GF/34 GA). 2023-24 Edmonton Oilers Situational | Hockey-Reference.com

Starting on time they have 6 opening minute goals per below. Their most since 1990-91:

https://x.com/PR_NHL/status/1740586484212920691?s=20

Closing out and starting periods are also a critical area which had haunted this team.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Lol, very, very true. The stat the one poster put up showing they are basically matched in points with where they were last year after the same number of games played is something I thought I'd eventually teach myself to accept about them. They sure don't like to make it easy on themselves or us as fans.

Oh this team does put us through the grinders. Rarely a dull moment. This team makes more games seem like must win than a lot of teams do in first 50 games or so.

One thing I've learned is not to discount a team with McDrai on it. Plus now we have Nuge being allstar every year, Hyman being allstar every year and Bouchard just unpacking an incredible game. So many elite weapons now.

Was watching the game yesterday and Knights beat LA because they have higher elite level player in Eichel, who was the difference in that game. Thats kind of an aside but top players on teams can establish so much. Kings are essentially like Knights BEFORE they got Eichel. Play the right way but limited by not having any superstars. Not having any currently elite players.

 

[elmeroil]

The D has looked better since that 3 game slide which makes Skinner look better too. He did make some great saves last night and it's good to see them back to winning. Kings will be a good test!

 

[MoontoScott]

The face is what scared me. Its after a commercial and the telecast has a close up of unshaven unkept, uncombed Stauffer with new folds of face staring right at you. It actually startled me. I'd been watching too much Monarch monsters or whatever its called. Latest episode was boring and no monsters. False advertising. then I watch the game to get a between periods fright.

View attachment 792058

He's not as good looking as Caroline-that's for sure.

 

[ZJuice]

Heh. Timo Meier is playing on a different club now. New Jersey. I think you mean Hertyl the Turtle. There were some good stops but also the Shark missing a wide open net, several goal posts, and Skinner not doing much of anything as Hertyl cut cross crease with puck for a tuck. I think a defender saved goal on that one.

But Skinner got the shutout and did what he had to. Not sure its the best idea to start him against LA though. Give LA somebody different to look at.

It felt wrong typing it heh. Now I’m not impressed with the save at all!!

 

[Arpeggio]

Lol jesus christ, Skinner's 9-2 in his last 11, .913 in December and just pitched a shutout. Arguably the biggest game of the year coming up.

"Calvin Pickard should get the start".

What are we even doing here.

 

[5 14 6 1]

13-6 under Knoblauch. Some pretty good victories in there too. (Vegas, Winnipeg, NYR, Carolina, NJx2)

 

[Frank the Tank]

Lol jesus christ, Skinner's 9-2 in his last 11, .913 in December and just pitched a shutout. Arguably the biggest game of the year coming up.

"Calvin Pickard should get the start".

What are we even doing here.

Doing what we do best... being irrational Oilers fans.

 

[Stoneman89]

AKA a Skinner shutout.

Hopefully they really go on another winning streak here and get themselves into a playoff spot.

They're really thriving under the Knob system. All hail the Knob!

 

[Kerberos]

McDavid missed another empty net? He still seems unlike himself.

Good thing the secondary scoring is carrying the team over the past 3 games with him and Drai looking pretty pedestrian again. I guess both were bound to have an off-year at some point.

 

[Stoneman89]

yes lets hope it's not another case where we wish we could have banked a goal or two from the game before. We better take the Kings really seriously. This is a big matchup

I'm not sure how they wouldn't take the Kings seriously. They need to look way up to see them in the standings. If anything, the Anaheim game could be the dreaded trap game if they beat the Kings.

McDavid missed another empty net? He still seems unlike himself.

Good thing the secondary scoring is carrying the team with him and Drai looking pretty pedestrian again.

I agree. McDavid appears to be pressing a bit. Trying to do too much, like attempting to stickhandle through 5 guys and then passing up other good chances. His empty net miss last night was a microcosm of how the last couple weeks have gone for him. Not worried, but haven't seen him like this for while.

 

[guymez]

It'd be interesting to see those numbers broken down what they were before the coaching change and after.

In a way, it's also kind of a frustrating stat to see as well. They have the most first period goals, which one would think would translate to more wins (or at least more OTL points) but here they are 7 points out of a wildcard and 6 to tie.

Good point about the coaching change. I would be very interested to see those numbers as well.

I am going to pay more attention to this moving forward but it sure seems to me that the team is sagging more in the 2nd period.
So its almost like they just shifted their sleepy time from the first to the 2nd.

 

[iCanada]

I think you hit on it with your final sentence there lol. Personally thought he looked pretty good, not spectacular but that’s not the bar here for me, didn’t make any glaring mistakes, played the puck well a couple of times, made a few cross crease saves. Positive night.

I don't think you're grasping just how futile the sharks are. This is a team so bad at scoring that they are the worst scoring team someone like Don Cherry has ever seen.

The worst offensive team the league has seen in around 1600~1700 different teams. Five standard deviations below the mean bad. The bottom 0.006%. This sharks team is as bad at scoring as Gretzky was good at scoring.

Idk, I'm not saying we should be down on Skinners game or anything, but I think it would be more impressive to shut out the average AHL team this year to be frank.

 

[bellagiobob]

 

[MoontoScott]

I'm not sure how they wouldn't take the Kings seriously. They need to look way up to see them in the standings. If anything, the Anaheim game could be the dreaded trap game if they beat the Kings.


I agree. McDavid appears to be pressing a bit. Trying to do too much, like attempting to stickhandle through 5 guys and then passing up other good chances. His empty net miss last night was a microcosm of how the last couple weeks have gone for him. Not worried, but haven't seen him like this for while.

Exactly what I thought in watching last night's game. He's the best player in the World but even he can't stick handle through 5 guys.

 

[LTIR]

McD was probably just distracted with all the family time and looking forward to new year. No doubt that he will be a lot more focused late in the season and dominate like he normally does down the stretch.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Ho-hum 5-0 win. But seriously very good game all round,


Hopefully Holloway can step in and secure the 3rd line centre come the new year, because it looks like McLeod has (finally) found a home on Draisaitl's wing. I like the idea of stapling him to Gags, and figuring out who works best on their other wing between Foegele, Kane (whom I think should be back with Drai and McLeod), or even Lavoie.

Also I'll give Brown some credit; It's baby steps, but he's looked more comfortable the last 2 games. He's actually handling the puck and not immediately looking like he's trying to get rid of it. After 20+ games where he's failed to keep up with McDrai, he's actually the one driving the play with Erne and Hamblin.

RNH-McDavid-Hyman
McLeod-Draisaitl-Kane
Foegele-Holloway-Gags
Janmark-Ryan-Brown

 

[Drivesaitl]

Lol jesus christ, Skinner's 9-2 in his last 11, .913 in December and just pitched a shutout. Arguably the biggest game of the year coming up.

"Calvin Pickard should get the start".

What are we even doing here.

If it were only as simple as that.

Sharks are horrible at scoring and have hardly any remaining guns. Sharks have scored an average of 2G/G, league bottom. We even played a Sharks club that was decimated and destroyed within minutes of the game starting and threw up white flags.

btw 2/4 of Skinners career shutouts are against the AHL level SJ Sharks. Not surprising that.

Kings have had too much time seeing Skinner in net. more than any club in the league has seen Skinner, and have solved him at times too. Skinner has been pulled in multiple games against the Kings specifically and does not have any great record against that club.

Pickard has had difficult games every game he's played and it might be a worthwhile change up to consider.

That said were you one of the people last playoffs that said Skinner should get every start? I think you were.

The Kings are not the SC champs or something like that. Just another team. But they have guys that can shoot and play that can challenge Skinners skill level.

Skinners official record against Kings is 5-3 but doesn't include the two other starts where he was crap and got pulled. In 10 GP against LA, all starts, Skinner would be .500 without a spectacular relief save by Campbell last playoffs in game 2 where he came in and shut the door the rest of the way allowing the Oilers to comeback. Skinner was shit in that first period, pulled, and the Oilers were down 3-0.

Its funny that if this was baseball what team a pitcher faces and whether thats a good matchup would get ample consideration. NHL seems so limited in comparison on what matchup information gets considered.

 

[K1984]

I'm not looking at the progress in just this one game, I'm looking at it overall since the staff changes. We all know how they would ease into a game...it was a common complaint on the board, especially after long layoffs-it was practically guaranteed loss night, no matter the competition because they weren't ready to play. They had a week off earlier this month or late November and came out flying at puck drop, same again last night. Just the whole team coming out ready to play at the 00:01 mark of the game is one area of progress to me.

That said, they did get a benefit of facing a guy in his first career start who has putrid numbers in the AHL but the entire first, they were all rolling. Quite the difference from the last time these two teams met.

Woodcroft had problems preparing the team for anything really. Start of games, starts of seasons, starts of playoff series, starts after breaks, etc, etc, etc.

I’m not sure exactly what the problem was, but there was clearly a problem. If we make the playoffs I look forward to seeing how Game 1 goes. I bet it’s night and day compared to the Game 1 disasters that we are accustomed to under Woody.

 

[ZJuice]

The drop episode 28 is kind of cool.

SKINDADDY

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

The Sharks fans have some quirks. Booing that hard when a penalty call doesn't get made with 4 seconds left in a 5-0 game? And whats with the booing every time a dman waits for a line change behind the net with the puck? I noticed it last game as well, they really hate that sequence of a game.

 

[brentashton]

The Sharks fans have some quirks. Booing that hard when a penalty call doesn't get made with 4 seconds left in a 5-0 game? And whats with the booing every time a dman waits for a line change behind the net with the puck? I noticed it last game as well, they really hate that sequence of a game.

Coffee and weed had worn off by then I guess.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

The Sharks fans have some quirks. Booing that hard when a penalty call doesn't get made with 4 seconds left in a 5-0 game? And whats with the booing every time a dman waits for a line change behind the net with the puck? I noticed it last game as well, they really hate that sequence of a game.

American fans always boo when a d-man waits for a line change. So dumb.

 

[K1984]

The Sharks fans have some quirks. Booing that hard when a penalty call doesn't get made with 4 seconds left in a 5-0 game? And whats with the booing every time a dman waits for a line change behind the net with the puck? I noticed it last game as well, they really hate that sequence of a game.

The booing of d men waiting behind the net with the puck waiting for a line change is a litmus test for dumb fan base. It’s a sunbelt special.

 

[ZJuice]

The Sharks fans have some quirks. Booing that hard when a penalty call doesn't get made with 4 seconds left in a 5-0 game? And whats with the booing every time a dman waits for a line change behind the net with the puck? I noticed it last game as well, they really hate that sequence of a game.

I do it online and people will plug in their mics and go into screaming fits. Fresh leg haters they are!!


Another “The Drop” teaser.. After Dunn punches a downed Holloway one or three times, Ryan says to Dunn “you hit him after he was down… coward!”
I hope we get some retribution. Dunn and Larsson need to get obliterated in the corners