Post-Game Talk: Oilers 3 Devils 2

[Dan Kelly]

a 2 game win streak !

 

[Gord]

So I never watch early oiler games as that's dad/daughter time.

from reading the PGT, is it safe to assume the following?

RNH had his best game is possibly years.
McDavid and Drai rule OT.
Talbot is back to being good.
Oiler depth sucks and the quality of play by the team as a whole is weak.
some concern why Mcdavid seems to have dropped a level in his quality of play.
wins are good no matter how.

also, my observation:
I had 5 minutes and popped into the GDT. I have never seen such a toxic environment on these boards than in there. holy crap.

 

[ZJuice]

Gord, you may need to spend more time in the GDT’s if you think that one was toxic.

Your assessment is close. Slepyshev looked really good and scored a goal before he injured his groin.

Jokinen played a little better than normal (but still was very MEH)

RNH looked awesome in OT but Schneider and his Defense did everything possible to stop RNH from scoring.

Edit: Lucic played a great game too. Looked great with RNH and Slepy/Kassian

 

[Gord]

Gord, you may need to spend more time in the GDT’s if you think that one was toxic.

Your assessment is close. Slepyshev looked really good and scored a goal before he injured his groin.

Jokinen played a little better than normal (but still was very MEH)

RNH looked awesome in OT but Schneider and his Defense did everything possible to stop RNH from scoring.

Edit: Lucic played a great game too. Looked great with RNH and Slepy/Kassian

i'll probably try to visit the game threads more when the game play with the team settles down and there are more happy people. maybe that will happen when the team is over .500.

 

[killercookie]

He looks awful if the game isn't 3 on 3. No compete from him at all. I wonder what's going on with that guy.

He's in Love.

 

[CupofOil]

I love the winning but please oh please can we get Nuge a skilled two way winger? Lucic is doing some work but Slepy isn't consistent and he needs someone to help him finish his sick plays. 100% if Nuge had a skilled winger he would be a PPG right now

I agree, he's all alone out there on most nights. In fairness to Lucic, the effort is there but those stone hands aren't getting softer anytime soon and the right wing has been a revolving door of rookies or underperforming youngsters.
If Nuge had a Kreider on his wing or a more developed Puljujarvi, his numbers would be exponentially better now. Kind of a mini miracle that he has 6 goals and 11 points in 15 games (most at even strength) with the lack of support he's getting.

Another thing I notice is that he seems more emotionally into the game. He's chatting more with teammates on the bench and he's more emotionally invested into the goal celebrations, it's a pretty stark difference in his body language this season.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

He's in Love.

McDavid? From what I've read, his GF is a long time GF.

Also, on CHED in the Isles game, Jack & Bob mentioned that McDavid blew out a buckle on his skate during practice on either the morning of the game or the day before and crashed pretty hard into the boards. He might be a little nicked up. Also, he might have just had a couple tough games.

 

[shoop]

RNH looked awesome in OT but Schneider and his Defense did everything possible to stop RNH from scoring.

Edit: Lucic played a great game too. Looked great with RNH and Slepy/Kassian

Agreed Nuge looked really good in OT. Kinda meh in regulation. Didn't look good on the Devils goal. Came close to scoring on the PP. Got schooled on the dot. If he could finished in OT that would have been so nice.

I did like that Looch-RNH-Kass line. Hopefully Slepy heals up quick, but no reason to rush it.

 

[CycloneSweep]

Guys we are moving up, up to 28th overall now!

 

[TaroTsujimoto]

I loved the deal from the first second. I remember the trade thread on the Trade/Rumors board, and everyone saying EDM got ripped. I said I loved it, and Larsson will add a bigger dimension we need, than what Hall adds that we lose from him. Besides, if anything we need a sniper for the 2nd line. Hall was never a pure scorer and he's a LWer. He's a 25 goal guy on a good year, which is fine, but not elite. Not that he's not a great player. But I like having Maroon on the first line, and Lucic on the 2nd. That will probably be important in the playoffs. We haven't lost any goals with Maroon coming in Hall's spot, and he adds a bigger, more gritty dimension to our top line.

I now can't imagine our blue line without Larsson. He's a big part of this team.

Last night, Larsson was at fault on the second goal, did nothing to prevent the pass leading to the first goal (not really a mistake, but would have been nice to see from a supposed defensive monster), would have been culpable on the Stafford shot that went through Talbot's legs since that chance was created by Larsson losing track of the puck when he shouldn't have, took two penalties, and was killed in terms of shot shares. He was not good, yet I'm guessing not a single negative thing was said about him in the GDT. I still say Oiler fans exaggerate his defensive ability and accept too little from him in general, raving about his "nastiness". As a #4 overall pick, SKILL should be Larsson's bread and butter, not cross-checks.

 

[CupofOil]

So I never watch early oiler games as that's dad/daughter time.

from reading the PGT, is it safe to assume the following?

RNH had his best game is possibly years.
McDavid and Drai rule OT.
Talbot is back to being good.
Oiler depth sucks and the quality of play by the team as a whole is weak.
some concern why Mcdavid seems to have dropped a level in his quality of play.
wins are good no matter how.

also, my observation:
I had 5 minutes and popped into the GDT. I have never seen such a toxic environment on these boards than in there. holy crap.

Yes, that's pretty much spot on with your game assessments and the GDT.

 

[Staghorn]

McDavid? From what I've read, his GF is a long time GF.

Also, on CHED in the Isles game, Jack & Bob mentioned that McDavid blew out a buckle on his skate during practice on either the morning of the game or the day before and crashed pretty hard into the boards. He might be a little nicked up. Also, he might have just had a couple tough games.

McD should have copied the Crosby model and left the whole girlfriend issue to the side until he had a few Cups or Gold Medals under his belt hahahah... Cause I don't know about you guys, but ANY WOMAN will give ANY MAN issues at ALL TIMES... Why buy when you can rent McDavid.... Dude..... LOL.

I think he'll have periods where he shows wear due to the fact that other teams focus on him with 95% of their effort. Drai is good but the other teams don't focus their entire gameplan on him. Takes dozens of shots each game after each rush or whistle... gotta wear on a guy.

 

[FlameChampion]

Also for everyone b***hing about Lucic, or proclaiming Maroon is the 3rd best forward on the team...

Lucic: 3-6-9, 0
Maroon: 4-6-10, +1

Moral of the story: it's good to have two good LW'ers capable of stepping up when the other is on a cold streak.

Issue with Lucic is that when he plays motivated and with a chip on his shoulder, he can be such an effective player.

As a fan when you see that Lucic, you want that Lucic all the time.

But he only plays that way like 25% of the season. Hes wildly inconsistent which makes him frustrating to watch sometimes.

 

[McBigYak]

Last night, Larsson was at fault on the second goal, did nothing to prevent the pass leading to the first goal (not really a mistake, but would have been nice to see from a supposed defensive monster), would have been culpable on the Stafford shot that went through Talbot's legs since that chance was created by Larsson losing track of the puck when he shouldn't have, took two penalties, and was killed in terms of shot shares. He was not good, yet I'm guessing not a single negative thing was said about him in the GDT. I still say Oiler fans exaggerate his defensive ability and accept too little from him in general, raving about his "nastiness". As a #4 overall pick, SKILL should be Larsson's bread and butter, not cross-checks.

Picking one game where he was weak and applying it to the player, in general, isn't the way to go about things. He wasn't good last night, but he has been the Oilers best defender hands down since he arrived here. You could call Sekera a close second but it's still pretty clear.

NHL players are human beings, and are bound to go through lulls, even though I wouldn't call 1 game a lull. Look at Burns, he has been atrocious to start the year. But you know he is still one of the best defensemen in the league and will return to that form.

In terms of people raving about his nastiness when they should be worried about his lack of skill, my go to example with Larsson is Adam Foote. Not saying he is as good, but I'm sure eventually he will be a near identical player. You can have a top pairing defender that isn't the most skilled.

Like I said in another topic, if the Oilers don't have Larsson last year, they don't make the playoffs.

 

[TaroTsujimoto]

Picking one game where he was weak and applying it to the player, in general, isn't the way to go about things. He wasn't good last night, but he has been the Oilers best defender hands down since he arrived here. You could call Sekera a close second but it's still pretty clear.

NHL players are human beings, and are bound to go through lulls, even thought I wouldn't call 1 game a lull. Look at Burns, he has been atrocious to start the year. But you know he is still one of the best defensemen in the league and will return to that form.

Thing is, nights like that are not that uncommon for Larsson. He's had around 5 other "bad" games this season, though I'm not sure he was called out for them on this board. Also, I am in full agreement with the Edmonton Journal guys that SEKERA has easily been the Oilers best defenceman since Larsson arrived.

 

[McBigYak]

Thing is, nights like that are not that uncommon for Larsson. He's had around 5 other "bad" games this season, though I'm not sure he was called out for them on this board. Also, I am in full agreement with the Edmonton Journal guys that SEKERA has easily been the Oilers best defenceman since Larsson arrived.

I think if Klefbom was playing better you'd see more criticism of him. The fact that Klef has been absolutely atrocious has allowed him to sneak under the radar. I agree he hasn't played to the best of his ability and needs to be better, but I don't think he is as bad as you are portraying.

I disagree with the Sekera talk as well. Although it's very close. They have by far been our two best defenders but I think Larsson made more of an impact last year on this team.

 

[Staghorn]

Thing is, nights like that are not that uncommon for Larsson. He's had around 5 other "bad" games this season, though I'm not sure he was called out for them on this board. Also, I am in full agreement with the Edmonton Journal guys that SEKERA has easily been the Oilers best defenceman since Larsson arrived.

When Sekera is back, we will see a MUCH better team... Honestly if we can get back to .500 with him out of the lineup, we'll make the playoffs.

 

[CupofOil]

Thing is, nights like that are not that uncommon for Larsson. He's had around 5 other "bad" games this season, though I'm not sure he was called out for them on this board. Also, I am in full agreement with the Edmonton Journal guys that SEKERA has easily been the Oilers best defenceman since Larsson arrived.

Why are you so interested about Larsson being called out on an Oilers board if you're not an Oilers fan?

Furthermore, he has had to drag along Klefbom's carcass this season when paired together just like he did most of last season before the lightbulb finally went off in Klefbom's head. Not an easy task.

Larsson was and still is the Oilers best Dman IMO even though he is prone to error from time to time, not his best effort last night though. Not sure if the Oilers can go that far with Larsson as their best Dman but it is what it is.

 

[CycloneSweep]

Issue with Lucic is that when he plays motivated and with a chip on his shoulder, he can be such an effective player.

As a fan when you see that Lucic, you want that Lucic all the time.

But he only plays that way like 25% of the season. Hes wildly inconsistent which makes him frustrating to watch sometimes.

He starts slow. Always has always will. As the season ones on and the stress level on all teams mounts, that's when he excels

 

[shoop]

Picking one game where he was weak and applying it to the player, in general, isn't the way to go about things. He wasn't good last night, but he has been the Oilers best defender hands down since he arrived here. You could call Sekera a close second but it's still pretty clear.

Like I said in another topic, if the Oilers don't have Larsson last year, they don't make the playoffs.

It's fair to say Larsson hasn't been the Oilers best defenceman this season. Nurse has been better.

Last night Larsson was the worst Oilers defenceman on the ice. Needs to get better.

Agreed that he anchored the Oilers last year. Doesn't forgive his play this season.

 

[TaroTsujimoto]

Why are you so interested about Larsson being called out on an Oilers board if you're not an Oilers fan?

I am an Oilers fan, they're just not my #1 team

 

[CupofOil]

I am an Oilers fan, they're just not my #1 team

Gotcha

 

[McBigYak]

He starts slow. Always has always will. As the season ones on and the stress level on all teams mounts, that's when he excels

If our PP wasn't absolutely brutal you may actually see Lucic sitting on a PPG or close to it. He hasn't been as bad as people are portraying. But that contract is pretty much a license to shred the guy apart regardless of performance for some.

That being said, he has had some AWFUL games this year. But the whole team has.

 

[soothsayer]

So I never watch early oiler games as that's dad/daughter time.

from reading the PGT, is it safe to assume the following?

RNH had his best game is possibly years.
McDavid and Drai rule OT.
Talbot is back to being good.
Oiler depth sucks and the quality of play by the team as a whole is weak.
some concern why Mcdavid seems to have dropped a level in his quality of play.
wins are good no matter how.

also, my observation:
I had 5 minutes and popped into the GDT. I have never seen such a toxic environment on these boards than in there. holy crap.

This is a surprisingly accurate summary of the game.

 

[FlameChampion]

He starts slow. Always has always will. As the season ones on and the stress level on all teams mounts, that's when he excels

Somewhat agree with you. He was very good in the second half of the regular season last year. But he was pretty inconsistent and overall not very effective when the playoffs came. When hes on, hes a valuable player, and when hes not, hes not. Not criticizing the player really, just the way it is.