Post-Game Talk: McDavid out? Have no fear, Melissa is here!

[Cloned]

Have you considered going Helen Slater retro?

I’ve got a few more Benoist-y things planned.

 

[ThePhoenixx]

Todd from Leduc has returned as a much more obvious troll that isn't even funny. He was trolling hard before, but at least it was hilarious.

You have a very low comedic bar.

 

[BudBundy]

I’ve got a few more Benoist-y things planned.

Cant have too many good options!

 

[ThePhoenixx]

D RNH KY

Drinky? Drink?

The line that stirs the drink.

Cloned is stealing your respect.

 

[Nostradumbass]

You have a very low comedic bar.

The blind optimism and FRIG WOOs were great.

 

[ThePhoenixx]

The blind optimism and FRIG WOOs were great.

I think you mean the fake optimism.

 

[Cloned]

Cloned is stealing your respect.

Not me, I’m just a vessel for the lucky cuteness that is Melissa Benoist. The Oilers being able to capitalize on that associated luck was all part of the plan though.

 

[dssource]

Another gutsy performance and win. Solid effort by the whole team. It's nice to see them come in and compete game in and game out. This team is just so much fun to watch when they play like this. Smith was huge, Drai with another easy 3pt game. He makes it look effortless. And his chirping the other team's bench....hahaha. At least he can back it up. He now has a 13 point lead in the scoring race. Just incredible. He was so gassed after the OT winner. No energy left to celebrate. Benson picking it up now as well. Better in every game so far and getting more comfortable. Once the team is healthy and that line is playing 3rd/4th line competition, look out.

Oh and to the nucks, thanks for keeping our spot warm but we'll take it from here on out.

 

[Soli]

Cloned is stealing your respect.

But I only have such a small amount of it...

 

[Cloned]

But I only have such a small amount of it...

That’s ok bro.

(there’s a Melissa gif for everything)

 

[MaxR11]

I like this comment but i will say i think with McDavid the team has likely encouraged some of his aggressiveness offensively as he can get back when needed and when your that good its tough not to go for it a little too often. I do think though that McDavid should see this and hopefully realize that if he's very strong defensively he can rely on his game breaking speed to provide enough offense while neutralizing other teams best as opposed to trying to outscore them. That can work with Draisaitl but not so much with bottom 6 help. This stretch has been huge for growing this group and getting even more buy in.

Ya he needs to assess and clean up his game for better overall team success even if it mean his point totals take a slight hit. You can see, when things don't go well as far as offensive production and teams tighten up on them, while connor and leon are together on the same line that it can be disasterous as far as any semblance of defensive effort and attention to details (see month long stretches this year and last of horrendous defending and plus minuses by that connor-leon-player line). Drai went MINUS 30 in about 20 games from mid nov to end of december!! Despite what fans say about them being tired and being the only offensive options, they were a huge part of why the team was not so good in that stretch because of their floating/cheating play.

They get into that irresponsible style of play. We saw Drai really improve his overall play when he left Connor's line and also simplify his play more in the offensive zone as well over time. His production clearly has not slipped. I was really critical of Drai during the bad stretch but maybe a part of it was connor's style and iffy/inconsistent responsible play and not knowing when to simplify rubbing off on drai. Maybe drai felt like he always had to make the sexy play/backhand sauce cross ice etc when with connor instead of more simple plays (getting pucks to the net and grinding hard down low). In any case separating them (something i've begged the oil to do for a long time) has really helped drai's overall game.

Sometimes it doesn't take much to have a team getting into bad overall habits on the ice. If you're captain and best player in the world comes in and is inconsistent in doing the right things at all times it can lead to other players slowly subconsciously buying out and that is a horrendous dominos affect on the team. He needs to clean it up. This team would be so much better if he fully bought into how Tippett wants this team to play. I'm sure, so far, Tips is loving this team play and will likely use it as ammo or precedent of how they need to play in the future.

 

[Oil Dood]

Ya he needs to assess and clean up his game for better overall team success even if it mean his point totals take a slight hit. You can see, when things don't go well as far as offensive production and teams tighten up on them, while connor and leon are together on the same line that it can be disasterous as far as any semblance of defensive effort and attention to details (see month long stretches this year and last of horrendous defending and plus minuses by that connor-leon-player line). Drai went MINUS 30 in about 20 games from mid nov to end of december!! Despite what fans say about them being tired and being the only offensive options, they were a huge part of why the team was not so good in that stretch because of their floating/cheating play.

They get into that irresponsible style of play. We saw Drai really improve his overall play when he left Connor's line and also simplify his play more in the offensive zone as well over time. His production clearly has not slipped. I was really critical of Drai during the bad stretch but maybe a part of it was connor's style and iffy/inconsistent responsible play and not knowing when to simplify rubbing off on drai. Maybe drai felt like he always had to make the sexy play/backhand sauce cross ice etc when with connor instead of more simple plays (getting pucks to the net and grinding hard down low). In any case separating them (something i've begged the oil to do for a long time) has really helped drai's overall game.

Sometimes it doesn't take much to have a team getting into bad overall habits on the ice. If you're captain and best player in the world comes in and is inconsistent in doing the right things at all times it can lead to other players slowly subconsciously buying out and that is a horrendous dominos affect on the team. He needs to clean it up. This team would be so much better if he fully bought into how Tippett wants this team to play. I'm sure, so far, Tips is loving this team play and will likely use it as ammo or precedent of how they need to play in the future.

It was not talked about a lot but the team also was dealing with a flu during the month of December.
It also does not get stated enough but RNH is a very responsible forward, Draisitl benefits from that as well.
McD/Drai carried this team, make no mistake about it. Yammimoto has made the biggest difference because for the first time in a very long time we actually have top six line with chemistry.

 

[ElysiumAB]

It was not talked about a lot but the team also was dealing with a flu during the month of December.

Source?

 

[Oil Dood]

Source?

It was mentioned during one of the games, Kosk was supposed to start but Smith got the start insead. We go through it every year.

 

[ElysiumAB]

It was mentioned during one of the games, Kosk was supposed to start but Smith got the start insead. We go through it every year.

Oh, the minus 30 was bolded in the post you quoted, I thought you were talking about Drai. He was awful for a long stretch of games, I thought you were saying he had the flu.

 

[Oil Dood]

Oh, the minus 30 was bolded in the post you quoted, I thought you were talking about Drai. He was awful for a long stretch of games, I thought you were saying he had the flu.

He could have I guess. My bigger guess as to why his play dropped off was he was tired, and that is a guess but he plays a lot of minutes and is bigger then McD so he might tire out a bit. He has found his second wind though I would say.

 

[Stoneman89]

The blind optimism and FRIG WOOs were great.

The first hundred times maybe.

 

[Stoneman89]

Ya he needs to assess and clean up his game for better overall team success even if it mean his point totals take a slight hit. You can see, when things don't go well as far as offensive production and teams tighten up on them, while connor and leon are together on the same line that it can be disasterous as far as any semblance of defensive effort and attention to details (see month long stretches this year and last of horrendous defending and plus minuses by that connor-leon-player line). Drai went MINUS 30 in about 20 games from mid nov to end of december!! Despite what fans say about them being tired and being the only offensive options, they were a huge part of why the team was not so good in that stretch because of their floating/cheating play.

They get into that irresponsible style of play. We saw Drai really improve his overall play when he left Connor's line and also simplify his play more in the offensive zone as well over time. His production clearly has not slipped. I was really critical of Drai during the bad stretch but maybe a part of it was connor's style and iffy/inconsistent responsible play and not knowing when to simplify rubbing off on drai. Maybe drai felt like he always had to make the sexy play/backhand sauce cross ice etc when with connor instead of more simple plays (getting pucks to the net and grinding hard down low). In any case separating them (something i've begged the oil to do for a long time) has really helped drai's overall game.

Sometimes it doesn't take much to have a team getting into bad overall habits on the ice. If you're captain and best player in the world comes in and is inconsistent in doing the right things at all times it can lead to other players slowly subconsciously buying out and that is a horrendous dominos affect on the team. He needs to clean it up. This team would be so much better if he fully bought into how Tippett wants this team to play. I'm sure, so far, Tips is loving this team play and will likely use it as ammo or precedent of how they need to play in the future.

Good post. I've said this a hundred times if I've said it once. When Drai moves his feet he is an absolute beast. You can usually tell in the first couple shifts. And when he does that, he dominates both ends of the ice. His play especially this past 4 games with McDavid out have been ultra impressive, with that 200 foot game on display in addition to a bit of nastiness. And when he does that, everyone else on the team follows. He's becoming a true leader.

 

[Maverick41]

I watched the game again, and I cannot get over how much I loved that sequence when Benson and Archibald connected for the 3-2 goal.
First Benson falls down and a lot of Canes fans are laughing and pointing at him, and moments later he sends that beauty of a pass to Archi who channels his inner McDavid for his finish.
Watching that over and over again is almost as much fun as watching that OT winner over and over again.

 

[ElysiumAB]

He could have I guess. My bigger guess as to why his play dropped off was he was tired, and that is a guess but he plays a lot of minutes and is bigger then McD so he might tire out a bit. He has found his second wind though I would say.

I can get on board with mental exhaustion more than physical. He was playing brain dead, even after a long all-star break and bye week.

But agreed, so glad to see him in beast mode. Same with RNH - a different player than he had been earlier this year.

 

[Oil Dood]

I can get on board with mental exhaustion more than physical. He was playing brain dead, even after a long all-star break and bye week.

But agreed, so glad to see him in beast mode. Same with RNH - a different player than he had been earlier this year.

RNH had that nagging wrist injury that he got fixed up right around the time we started slumping. It is not by chance that his season turned around rather rapidly.

 

[MaxR11]

Good post. I've said this a hundred times if I've said it once. When Drai moves his feet he is an absolute beast. You can usually tell in the first couple shifts. And when he does that, he dominates both ends of the ice. His play especially this past 4 games with McDavid out have been ultra impressive, with that 200 foot game on display in addition to a bit of nastiness. And when he does that, everyone else on the team follows. He's becoming a true leader.

Absolutely, when me and my buddies watch games together in years past we used to watch if Leon's moving his feet early on. If not, we always groaned and predicted that it's gonna be a s*** game from Leon and literally 19 out of 20 times we were right. He needs to be both physically and mentally engaged. Heck every player needs to be if they want to be effective and not hurt the team (even Connor). I think the energy that Yammo has provided has sparked energy and engagment in BOTH Nuge and Draisaitl. It's so underrated those intangible attitude that Yammo has on that line. Who was it, @Drivesaitl that said Yammo was useless? Boy was he out to lunch there. He's the main spark that jump started that line. We've seen Drai and Nuge on a line together with other fwds and look like complete cr**. Yammo in some ways actually drives that line now.

 

[MaxR11]

It was not talked about a lot but the team also was dealing with a flu during the month of December.
It also does not get stated enough but RNH is a very responsible forward, Draisitl benefits from that as well.
McD/Drai carried this team, make no mistake about it. Yammimoto has made the biggest difference because for the first time in a very long time we actually have top six line with chemistry.

Agree that Yammo was definitely the spark that jumpstarted that line. No doubt. Shows you how important hard work, effort, grind, urgency and tenacity and attention to defensive details is.... CONSISTENTLY, always.... not just for 4 out of every 5 shifts.

 

[Mc5RingsAndABeer]

RNH had that nagging wrist injury that he got fixed up right around the time we started slumping. It is not by chance that his season turned around rather rapidly.

Yep. Some posters were roasting me for suggesting that he was still dealing with wrist pain.

 

[McBeastMode]