Post-Game Talk: Oilers Broom Predators 5-1

[terranraida]

Meanwhile Anaheim is losing to Washington... Maybe they miss Fasth.

The organization might not, but I sure do

 

[CupofOil]

Lander looking more confident. Klefbom and Marincin very calm. Even Ference & Fraser playing better.

Hall & Eberle backchecking. Hall starting to drive possession like he used to.

Real good pressure for 60 minutes and really not many bone-head plays, and usually the Oilers are terrible after a road trip.

I see that Schultz is still getting no respect.
IMO, he has shown the biggest improvement of any Oiler player from the beginning of the season to now. The mistakes are now few and far between and he is brimming with offensive confidence, fired some big shots from the point last night.

 

[Groucho]

I thought it was funny that Eakins "grounded" the PP regulars when they gave up that 2 on 1 and sent out his third line + Gazdic.

Nice to see Schultz got the memo about the lack of point shots as well, who knew the guy had that in his tool box?

 

[oXo Cube]

^A little bit of accountability goes a long way

Both PP units were much better after Eakins benched them to run out the third line

 

[Aceboogie]

I see that Schultz is still getting no respect.
IMO, he has shown the biggest improvement of any Oiler player from the beginning of the season to now. The mistakes are now few and far between and he is brimming with offensive confidence, fired some big shots from the point last night.

Schultz had made significant strides in the defensive zone the past 15 games, and is no longer a liability. However I don't think hes gotten the recognition he deserves because he hasn't looked extremely dangerous in the offensive zone (although looked good last game).

Once the points come, he will get recognition.

I think his game has evolved to the point where he can handle, and succeed in middle pairing minutes, against the 2nd hardest comp

 

[Aceboogie]

The Oilers will start losing many games again when they start playing against teams that are actually good.


2 more easy games and then things will come crashing back down to earth.

I think Calgary and Florida will get points at the same rate we do, so cant see us passing them. And I could see Islanders crumbling and falling below us, Nashville go cold and Vancouver continue to fall. But theres enough of a cushion that we wont pass them

I think we will end up with the 4th pick. And even the 4th OA has a decent shot of winning the lotto

 

[Aceboogie]

If Yak and Hendricks are out well need to call up 2 forwards

I'd like to see Tyler Pitlick and Curtis Hamilton given the spots.

:Lines:

Hall-Gagner-Perron
Lander-RNH-Eberle
Hamilton-Gordon-Pitlick
Gazdic-Smyth-Jones

I would like to see Horak instead of Hamilton. Horak has been very good in the AHL and looks to be another do-it-all player like Lander. I would like to see if he can fight for an NHL bottom 6 spot next season

Hamilton hasn't look good, even in the AHL

 

[Aerchon]

Great game by the Oil but also a feeble one from the Preds. We have Rinne's number for some reason.

Gagner looked good in that game. Not just offensively, but overall he seemed to have some jump and actually did ok in some puck battles. First time all year I could say that. Honestly first time all year I think that its happened. He has been so afraid of contact even in recent games that despite putting up good numbers I still think he has been largely ineffective. Great to see him hopefully turning the corner... Maybe we can get a 3rd and a 5th for him at the draft

Nuge and Eberle looked like the players weve been expecting for some time now.

Hall WAS back checking. All game!!!! Damn he looked good.

Defense was solid. Goaltending was solid.

All our rooks were solid. Maracin, Lander, Klefbom all look like respectable at least low end NHLers right now.

Good game good vibes.

 

[trent_vinyl]

Call me crazy but i think Lander made the top line a whole lot better...

I've been pretty anit-lander in the past. Thought all he brought was a defensive-awareness and that was it, but I'm starting to see things in his game that I like. I guess spending time in the minors to develop your game is useful.

 

[Kepler 186f]

Two solid performances in a row. Keep it up boys. Impressed.

 

[bucks_oil]

I see that Schultz is still getting no respect.
IMO, he has shown the biggest improvement of any Oiler player from the beginning of the season to now. The mistakes are now few and far between and he is brimming with offensive confidence, fired some big shots from the point last night.

I agree with you... he's been playing a very steady game. I've watched all year and feel as though I've cursed Belov, Petry and NSchultz's names far more than I've sworn about JSchultz' plays. (Maybe that's just me cutting him slack though?)

 

[McDeathbyCheerios*]

I agree with you... he's been playing a very steady game. I've watched all year and feel as though I've cursed Belov, Petry and NSchultz's names far more than I've sworn about JSchultz' plays. (Maybe that's just me cutting him slack though?)

Petry, Belov and NSchultz were all supposed to be defensively solid. Justin was a very offensive d and we always knew his actual d needed some work.

What I am liking is apparently Eakins told him to start shooting and using his shot on the power play and he did. Apparently Eakins gets it now. He had like what 3-6 shots on our power plays. I don't know if they were all on mark but his shot can be a killer when needed.

 

[blupye*]

Great game by the Oil but also a feeble one from the Preds. We have Rinne's number for some reason.

Gagner looked good in that game. Not just offensively, but overall he seemed to have some jump and actually did ok in some puck battles. First time all year I could say that. Honestly first time all year I think that its happened. He has been so afraid of contact even in recent games that despite putting up good numbers I still think he has been largely ineffective. Great to see him hopefully turning the corner... Maybe we can get a 3rd and a 5th for him at the draft

Nuge and Eberle looked like the players weve been expecting for some time now.

Hall WAS back checking. All game!!!! Damn he looked good.

Defense was solid. Goaltending was solid.

All our rooks were solid. Maracin, Lander, Klefbom all look like respectable at least low end NHLers right now.

Good game good vibes.

Hopefully Gagner is being showcased for a trade in the offseason. Put Yak with Hall and the points will come. Lander looked great last night with Ebs and Nuge. Hendricks I feel has turned this team around. Call up Pitlick and Horak for some duty on the bottom lines. Jones and maybe Smitty will be gone next year, but I don't might having Smitty around for another year for 4th line duties at a reduced rate @1-1.4/year

 

[Replacement*]

I like you, but why are you trying so hard to turn a good game by the Oilers into a polished turd?

The Oilers match up well, and also had one of their better games.

say what you want about Nashville, they are still realistically a better team than Edmonton, and the Oilers kicked their butts.

I just can't comprehend how Nashville has more pts or is even considered a better club. We regularly thrash them. Its just weird. Oilers rarely have trouble with the defanged preds. Its just I don't follow what the preds do well against any other clubs. tbh I can't stand watching the preds so that's a large part of the answer in my not understanding.

Beating Minny, our nemesis, now that was impressive.

On the other hand our record vs Nashville in the Taylor Hall era is now 9-4-1

The cakewalk type games never really impress me.

 

[dustrock]

I see that Schultz is still getting no respect.
IMO, he has shown the biggest improvement of any Oiler player from the beginning of the season to now. The mistakes are now few and far between and he is brimming with offensive confidence, fired some big shots from the point last night.

Oh no my friend, I've been pumping Schultz's tires for a while now. I specifically mentioned Marincin and Klefbom because they are rookies, and Fraser and Ference because they've had some pretty bad games as of late.

I've had no trouble with Petry or Schultz for some time.

 

[McDeathbyCheerios*]

I just can't comprehend how Nashville has more pts or is even considered a better club. We regularly thrash them. Its just weird. Oilers rarely have trouble with the defanged preds. Its just I don't follow what the preds do well against any other clubs. tbh I can't stand watching the preds so that's a large part of the answer in my not understanding.

Beating Minny, our nemesis, now that was impressive.

On the other hand our record vs Nashville in the Taylor Hall era is now 9-4-1

The cakewalk type games never really impress me.

Some clubs just have trouble with other clubs no matter what. Chicago has trouble with us the last few years and they are far from a bad team. Just something about us causes them trouble.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

I just can't comprehend how Nashville has more pts or is even considered a better club. We regularly thrash them. Its just weird. Oilers rarely have trouble with the defanged preds. Its just I don't follow what the preds do well against any other clubs. tbh I can't stand watching the preds so that's a large part of the answer in my not understanding.

Beating Minny, our nemesis, now that was impressive.

On the other hand our record vs Nashville in the Taylor Hall era is now 9-4-1

The cakewalk type games never really impress me.

I guess, do you think LA or SJ calls St Louis that? Because the Blues can't beat them.

 

[EchoesoftheEighties]

I think it comes down to some teams just have other teams' number.

 

[Replacement*]

I guess, do you think LA or SJ calls St Louis that? Because the Blues can't beat them.

The preds are also a chronic non playoff club who are worse then we are and sinking. The only difference in the teams standings this year being due to Dubnyk. That's it. Without that fool we're several pts ahead of the preds.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

MacT has made a few mistakes, but at least he tries to fix them. the goaltending is a fine example.
that's more than tambo ever did.

I only caught half the game, but it was very enjoyable.

What I love is how both goalies compete every game so hard to keep the puck out of the net and throw fundamentals and positioning out the window when need be. Two prime examples from last night were during the first period when the puck was loose in the crease, Fasth physically reached out and held Hornqvist back with his catcher to prevent him from getting an easy tap in and Fasth was able cover the puck and keep it out because of that. I haven't seen a goalie do that in a long time. The second example was in the second period when there was a mad scramble, I think it was right after the Hall goal (before it was blown dead and play continued) and the Preds had an extra man out there. Fasth was scrambling around like mad and the next thing I see is he has got the double pad stack going .

You can really see the confidence growing in the team since the Scrivens & Hedricks deals went down. Nashville is still in the playoff picture so its not like they rolled over to play out the string, the Oilers played a great all-round team game last night. It's amazing what competent goalies can do for a team.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

The preds are also a chronic non playoff club who are worse then we are and sinking. The only difference in the teams standings this year being due to Dubnyk. That's it. Without that fool we're several pts ahead of the preds.

Indeed, but this is the Oilers, they "dominate" anyone it should be of "some" significance.

 

[ResilientBeast]

I was telling that to my fiancee, when it happened, how it was funny that Eberle and Nuge were being "tough" with Gadzic on the ice, nice to see.

And yes Klefbom is, he's stupid strong too. There was one play in the 2nd period where he physical beat Paul Gaustad on a puck against the boards in their own zone. Gaustand is a large man, and that really impressed me. He's going to be a player, no doubt in my mind.

What I would love to see, at some point in the final games, is Marincin and Klefbom paired together, just to see how it would work.

I totally agree, and if things align and we get Ekblad in a couple years.

Nurse (6'4) - Ekblad (6'4)
Marincin (6'5) - Klefbom (6'3)

No one will like playing against our defense.

 

[The Nuge]

^A little bit of accountability goes a long way

Both PP units were much better after Eakins benched them to run out the third line

Exactly. It's a slap in the face to the skill guys, but its a needed slap in the face. Eakins is FINALLY starting to practice what he preaches. Accountability, and a team mentality are much needed.

 

[dustrock]

Columbus, for example, always gives the Sharks a tough time. Who knows why.

 

[gqmixmaster]

I've been pretty anit-lander in the past. Thought all he brought was a defensive-awareness and that was it, but I'm starting to see things in his game that I like. I guess spending time in the minors to develop your game is useful.

i think its confidence