Post-Game Talk: Oilers 3 Pens 2 in shootout

[tempest2i]

A couple of thoughts from last night:

- Nilsson was is fine form last night.
- RNH is one hell of a hockey player for a guy his size.
- 18 mins of ice time is a good amount for J Schultz.

The Oil now have double the number of wins in November from last year and overall are 20 goals better in goal differential.

 

[Replacement*]

It's not a bad play but if it's pretty much your "go-to" play...every time...then it is a bad play because every team can read that from a mile away.

Not to mention the button hook stops any flow whatsoever. It's akin to Yakupov with that weird skating style of his as he goes into the o-zone and stickhandling like the puck is a grenade/hot potato.

This. Ala Hemsky the slow and methodical plays kill the advantage of the rush. They allow the D and goalie to get setup.

People would look at Hemsky on the halfboards and ohh and ahh at his patience as if it was something great. As he basically killed penalties for the opposition holding the puck there for countless seconds.

Contrast the Pens PP getting around 6 shots off in a one minute 5 on 3. Hemsky would be using half of that finding one pass.

The present day Oilers need to play a quick tempo game. Make quick passing plays for which they are suited. You see Hall and Drai working this. This is when this team plays good and delivers is because they are making passes and decisions with pace. They keep moving, keep the D guessing. Static play is offensive death. its easy to defend.

 

[frag2]

This. Ala Hemsky the slow and methodical plays kill the advantage of the rush. They allow the D and goalie to get setup.

People would look at Hemsky on the halfboards and ohh and ahh at his patience as if it was something great. As he basically killed penalties for the opposition holding the puck there for countless seconds.

Contrast the Pens PP getting around 6 shots off in a one minute 5 on 3. Hemsky would be using half of that finding one pass.

The present day Oilers need to play a quick tempo game. Make quick passing plays for which they are suited. You see Hall and Drai working this. This is when this team plays good and delivers is because they are making passes and decisions with pace. They keep moving, keep the D guessing. Static play is offensive death. its easy to defend.

Yep. Most people miss these little things because they are either a) enamored easily by a single, nice play that worked and/or b) they don't watch enough hockey in their lifetime.

There's a reason coaches always say keep your feet moving. Sounds simple but there's a reason behind it.

That's also why the Sedins are as successful as they are. They aren't static [aside from the Torts year]. They go in/out all the time

 

[Replacement*]

Yep. Most people miss these little things because they are either a) enamored easily by a single, nice play that worked and/or b) they don't watch enough hockey in their lifetime.

There's a reason coaches always say keep your feet moving. Sounds simple but there's a reason behind it.

That's also why the Sedins are as successful as they are. They aren't static [aside from the Torts year]. They go in/out all the time

Agree with everything you're putting down. I love cycle puck movement, I love putting it into places instead of passing directly to a man you pass to a spot because the guy will be there. That's how the good teams play. They keep moving and passing to moving targets. There was a play Drai made to hall earlier in the year that was just sublime. he passed Hall into an open spot. led him there. Hall scored, kinda shook his head, and said thanks. Drai passed it right between an opponents legs. A soccer play.

its why a lot of the Euros understand cycle play, short passing, and what you can do with it. One touch passing and short pinpoint passing and passing into spots came from soccer. Why the Euros are sometimes better at playing hockey this way.

 

[frag2]

Agree with everything you're putting down. I love cycle puck movement, I love putting it into places instead of passing directly to a man you pass to a spot because the guy will be there. That's how the good teams play. They keep moving and passing to moving targets. There was a play Drai made to hall earlier in the year that was just sublime. he passed Hall into an open spot. led him there. Hall scored, kinda shook his head, and said thanks. Drai passed it right between an opponents legs. A soccer play.

its why a lot of the Euros understand cycle play, short passing, and what you can do with it. One touch passing and short pinpoint passing and passing into spots came from soccer. Why the Euros are sometimes better at playing hockey this way.

Which is why I get frustrated with players like Nuge. We've seen what he could do in his rookie year. He's lost that offensive mojo, imo, after Krueger and company all told him to play defense harder.

Eberle and Yak should be one shot players but neither of them set themselves up well enough. Yak has been better with McDavid but then again, I don't see why Eberle wouldn't be the same as well. Both are way too static that opposition can easily tell what kind of play they are trying to setup.

Bah...aside from Hall and Drai, all the forwards disappoint me

 

[Bank Shot]

Which is why I get frustrated with players like Nuge. We've seen what he could do in his rookie year. He's lost that offensive mojo, imo, after Krueger and company all told him to play defense harder.

Nuge had a crazy high, unsustainable amount of success on the PP in his rookie year.

He got the lucky breaks.

It wasn't realistic to expect his rookie year was a sign of things to come.

 

[Beerfish]

A win is a win and an ugly win is 100 times better than a nice looking loss.

Some comments on some players:

RNH is tied for 2nd in the whole league in toi for centers. He's simply being ground into dust, much like Schultz leading the team in toi for about 4 years running. Because our 3 and 4 line is so horrific he's being played too much and if we think he is having troubles now wait until later in the year. Worse yet he's had to do most of the heavy lifting at C for a number of year.

Eberle, playing lousy right now no ifs ands or buts but should he not be extended the same, oh he is coming off and injury excuse as the sacred cows on this team have had in the past?

Pouliot can very soon be tossed into the the group of macT outright awful failures. Tied for the worse - on the team 2nd for worse - for lw in the league. He puts up some points when handed top two line and pp time but he is lousy defensively, not near as physical as a guy with his measurables and takes bad penalties.

 

[OneMoreAstronaut]

A win is a win and an ugly win is 100 times better than a nice looking loss.

Some comments on some players:

RNH is tied for 2nd in the whole league in toi for centers. He's simply being ground into dust, much like Schultz leading the team in toi for about 4 years running. Because our 3 and 4 line is so horrific he's being played too much and if we think he is having troubles now wait until later in the year. Worse yet he's had to do most of the heavy lifting at C for a number of year.

Eberle, playing lousy right now no ifs ands or buts but should he not be extended the same, oh he is coming off and injury excuse as the sacred cows on this team have had in the past?

Pouliot can very soon be tossed into the the group of macT outright awful failures. Tied for the worse - on the team 2nd for worse - for lw in the league. He puts up some points when handed top two line and pp time but he is lousy defensively, not near as physical as a guy with his measurables and takes bad penalties.

Re RNH, I hope that once McD is back and back to game speed, he sees a bit of a reduction. I have the feeling the coaching staff is intentionally leaning on him heavily during that injury.

 

[McDeathbyCheerios*]

A win is a win and an ugly win is 100 times better than a nice looking loss.

Some comments on some players:

RNH is tied for 2nd in the whole league in toi for centers. He's simply being ground into dust, much like Schultz leading the team in toi for about 4 years running. Because our 3 and 4 line is so horrific he's being played too much and if we think he is having troubles now wait until later in the year. Worse yet he's had to do most of the heavy lifting at C for a number of year.

Eberle, playing lousy right now no ifs ands or buts but should he not be extended the same, oh he is coming off and injury excuse as the sacred cows on this team have had in the past?

Pouliot can very soon be tossed into the the group of macT outright awful failures. Tied for the worse - on the team 2nd for worse - for lw in the league. He puts up some points when handed top two line and pp time but he is lousy defensively, not near as physical as a guy with his measurables and takes bad penalties.

Pouliot is reminding be of Perron. Had a great year then the next one played like trash. I just don't get it.

 

[AJGass4]

Poo looks like he gives about 45% effort most nights.

Not sure why someone like him wouldn't want to be a leader but he strikes me as, "Meh, maybe I will try, maybe I won't."

Shame, because he does have talent.

 

[rboomercat90]

Its a brutally stupid play on a 3 man break on 3 on 3 play. Think about it. Nuge lazily looks back looking to hit the trailer. He's actually spotted there looking for the trailer. lmao. on 3 on 3. With all the players already up on the rush. So tell me Nuge, who is going to be the trailer on that play? ffs He just killed the play by not thinking.

What a brainfart moment. I'm kinda sad that I spot those moments a lot in what is supposed to be our brightest bulb, in what is supposed to be a really cognitive bright player.

The player I'm seeing on this roadtrip is anything but bright. He's not sharp at all right now.

You've brought up this play several times to question Nuge's hockey IQ and I've been meaning to comment on it. He isn't alone on this. The game against Detroit was lost on a play that had me thinking the exact same thing about Eberle. 3 on 3 hockey, Nuge is already battling for a puck behind the net when Eberle decides to join him. The first thing I thought of watching that play was that Eberle forgot it's 3 on 3 and that he doesn't have anybody left back there to support him. Two consecutive games where one of our golden boys appears to be confused and forgotten the circumstances of the game. Not to hard to figure out why this team keeps losing.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

**** you Leafs.

 

[CupofOil]

Pouliot is reminding be of Perron. Had a great year then the next one played like trash. I just don't get it.

This happens with every single vet player that is brought in, every single one outside of Hendricks.
Eventually the losing saps the energy out of them. If/when the team starts winning consistently, you'll see these vet players showing up more consistently with more motivation.

 

[Lacaar]

So was that a moral victory loss, win?

Let's just say the win tonight doesn't lead me to think the team will in any way produce wins at a better pace then they currently do.

There's just too much panic in their own zone. very few heads up plays to get out of it.
It's oh crap and off the boards. Oh crap.. around the boards. Oh crap.. .punt.... punt .....punt.... punt.... punt.....punt....punt....punt.

 

[Dorian2]

**** you Leafs.

I've noticed a couple of teams have done that recently.

 

[Spawn]

Pouliot is reminding be of Perron. Had a great year then the next one played like trash. I just don't get it.

Pouliot didn't really have a great year last year though. He had a great stretch of play. He had career offensive numbers, but that came on the back of a great stretch playing with RNH/Eberle. This time last year he had 8 points in 20 games.

He's a streaky player on pace for ~40 points. That's what he was when we signed him to the contract, that's what he'll be the duration of the contract.

He'll have a good stretch here sooner or later and everyone will be back saying he's a good addition.

 

[DipsyMcDoodles]

Pouliot didn't really have a great year last year though. He had a great stretch of play. He had career offensive numbers, but that came on the back of a great stretch playing with RNH/Eberle. This time last year he had 8 points in 20 games.

He's a streaky player on pace for ~40 points. That's what he was when we signed him to the contract, that's what he'll be the duration of the contract.

He'll have a good stretch here sooner or later and everyone will be back saying he's a good addition.

+1 40 points is what I expected, anything beyond that is gravy.

 

[Mcnofool6110]

**** you Leafs.

Ahahaha incoming first game shutout.

But quite seriously, Sparky might be better than Bernier. Bernier has just been... a turd out there. Just a turd

 

[oobga]

How does Eberle win first star with his 1 shot and -1 in 17 minutes?

Under the table money from Katz? Working on his trade value.

 

[BoldNewLettuce]

GWG?

The chances of getting 1st star from a GWG must be around 50%.

 

[Narnia]

GWG?

The chances of getting 1st star from a GWG must be around 50%.

He didn't have the game winner in the Shooutout. Hendricks did.

 

[Juxta Position]

I've talked about both plays. I'm not on record saying Nuge does anything all the time. I'm saying a lot of the time he opts out and which is far less aggressive and playing with far less verve than what we saw in his rookie year.

I wouldn't say btw that beating a guy wide on a good pass where the D was caught flat footed is a "fantastic" play especially given Nuge wasn't able to finish. I could add that asserting it as a fantastic play is also a narrative and one in which Nuges contributions get elevated on this board while people in the same thread are suggesting that Hall is inerffective, or doesn't finish all the time when in Fact Halls play and production is light years better than Nuge.

Hall could make that rush 5 times in a game and not one poster would say that was fantastic. They would say he muffed the play. People are stating that in this thread.

So in sum Nuge takes it to the net once in a game, only once, and its "Fantastic"

Hall routinely beats D for fun, gets countless scoring chances in a game and drives close to half the offense on this club and people are critiquing that he's not finishing more often.

Theres no perspective. Not saying you, just saying.

Yes it was a fantastic play, he recognized where the defence was and caught them flat footed on a bad change, drew a penalty and subsequently the oilers scored on the pp. That is a great play.

Now, im no nuge fanboy, but I'm merely commenting on the fact that currently his poor plays are being grossly over exaggerated while his great plays are severely downplayed by many on this board, simply because he's trending into the whipping boy category.

And your comment on hall is completely bang on, and it's exactly what I'm getting at with nuge. People will always find a reason, especially in another losing season, to ***** and scapegoat players, whether it's warranted or not.

 

[Dorian2]

Yes it was a fantastic play, he recognized where the defence was and caught them flat footed on a bad change, drew a penalty and subsequently the oilers scored on the pp. That is a great play.

Now, im no nuge fanboy, but I'm merely commenting on the fact that currently his poor plays are being grossly over exaggerated while his great plays are severely downplayed by many on this board, simply because he's trending into the whipping boy category.

And your comment on hall is completely bang on, and it's exactly what I'm getting at with nuge. People will always find a reason, especially in another losing season, to ***** and scapegoat players, whether it's warranted or not.

Every good play is overlooked around here. Even every 5 good plays gets overlooked because of 1 bad one. But here's the rub. Good plays to me are different than good plays to you and so on. The more obvious bad plays are much easier to critique. Call it human nature, which is what it is.

Here's an example of a bad play for me, that may not be as obvious as others. Taylor Hall, time and time again, ever since he's been here, has done this. He's rushing up the ice from the D ZOne with the puck, with a ton of space to go and a clear lane because their D is backing off, and he starts to stick handle the puck 3 or 4 or 5 times. To me that's a poorly thought out play, as I assume he'd get much more speed just pushing the puck ahead with his stick. On the other hand, maybe he does it to get a feel for the puck. It's certainly a trait of his though. I call it over handling, others call it getting a feel.

That's my viewpoint anyways.

 

[Beerfish]

This happens with every single vet player that is brought in, every single one outside of Hendricks.
Eventually the losing saps the energy out of them. If/when the team starts winning consistently, you'll see these vet players showing up more consistently with more motivation.

This is why tambo was twice the gm that mact was. Tambo broguhtin crappy players but signed them to shorter deals for reasonable money. MacT has hamstrung the team with longer deals for way too much money and pouliot may be the worst unless he gets his act together.

 

[Beerfish]

Pouliot didn't really have a great year last year though. He had a great stretch of play. He had career offensive numbers, but that came on the back of a great stretch playing with RNH/Eberle. This time last year he had 8 points in 20 games.

He's a streaky player on pace for ~40 points. That's what he was when we signed him to the contract, that's what he'll be the duration of the contract.

He'll have a good stretch here sooner or later and everyone will be back saying he's a good addition.

He was not signed to that deal to leech 40 points off the best players, he was brought in to elevate the 3rd line and his gaudy poseesion numbers and to play a bit physical.

We could have kept gagner or hell arcobello to get us 40 points with no physical play at all.