Post-Game Talk: Oilers Drop a Close One, 2-1 to St. Louis

[thadd]

I caught the first two periods and generally liked what I saw. We were not giving up a ton of shots on goal and a number of forwards kept trying to do the right thing.

This was a game we were supposed to lose and I think we should be really happy that we only lost by one goal given that we were without Petry and Hall.

 

[Zaddy]

Watched a condensed version of the game. Must say it's impressive that we can hang with the big boys even while icing an AHL lineup. We were without Hall, Petry and Lander (who has been on fire lately). That's our best forward, best d-man and a guy who is 0.50ppg on the year together with good defensive play.

2-1 losses to Blues and Ducks. Wins against Wild and Bruins at this time a year when both of them are chasing a playoff spot. I'll take it. It's pretty clear Nelson has this team playing above their heads as opposed to Eakins where everyone sucked and was way worse than they should have been.

Now, if we could just find a real goalie and a top pairing d-man we might be a pretty good team down the road...

 

[oiler4ever]

its going to be miller time in E-town!! Andy is a such an awesome skater like Marchant. I hope Nelly give him a chance. YThis allow Hendricks to rejoin the wagon line. Make it happen

 

[yukoner88]

The problem with this is that we're just back to about the level where Krueger had us. On the grand scale of things, we're no longer horrible, we're just terrible.

This is more reflective of the roster currently being iced, rather than the coaching.

 

[Meanashell11]

Are you 100% convinced that Strome > Draisaitl? I'm not. Marner is a game changer for sure but we already have 3 of them on the wing if Yak keeps his level of play up in Hall, Eberle and Yak. I am less inclined to take Marner now than I was when Yak was struggling mightily. That leaves us with Hanifin who IMO is potentially better than any of our D but likely not as good of a fit as Ekblad would've been.

I watched the BC-ND game tonight and Hanifan was less than impressive. Maybe with the hype I expected more but with BC trailing by a goal with a couple minutes to plat he was not even on the ice.... one of the best offensive D-men in college hockey and not on the ice. I really liked the idea of picking him but a bit concerned with this!

 

[Cloned]

The "problem" with this draft is that any of the Top 5 would be first overall's in a regular year.

Eichel would be a well above-average #1 and would go #1 in any other recent year if McDavid wasn't also draft eligible.

Hanifin is supposed to be a Doughty-level #1 overall.

Marner and Strome, who are projected to go 4-5, are supposed to be above-average #1s (so better than Yakupov and RNH). Marner in particular could actually be better than Hall.

Oilers aren't really in a position where they can say, "well, we already have Hall and Eberle, so let's draft X instead". They should still draft BPA regardless of position and draft order, because in this case ANY of the projected Top 5 could be better than anyone on their current roster.

 

[Mc5RingsAndABeer]

The "problem" with this draft is that any of the Top 5 would be first overall's in a regular year.

Eichel would be a well above-average #1 and would go #1 in any other recent year if McDavid wasn't also draft eligible.

Hanifin is supposed to be a Doughty-level #1 overall.

Marner and Strome, who are projected to go 4-5, are supposed to be above-average #1s (so better than Yakupov and RNH). Marner in particular could actually be better than Hall.

Oilers aren't really in a position where they can say, "well, we already have Hall and Eberle, so let's draft X instead". They should still draft BPA regardless of position and draft order, because in this case ANY of the projected Top 5 could be better than anyone on their current roster.

Agreed. At the top of the draft you have to draft BPA, even if it's a winger. The Oilers are not at the point where they can say they've got cup-calibre wingers locked down.

 

[guymez]

Watched a condensed version of the game. Must say it's impressive that we can hang with the big boys even while icing an AHL lineup. We were without Hall, Petry and Lander (who has been on fire lately). That's our best forward, best d-man and a guy who is 0.50ppg on the year together with good defensive play.

2-1 losses to Blues and Ducks. Wins against Wild and Bruins at this time a year when both of them are chasing a playoff spot. I'll take it. It's pretty clear Nelson has this team playing above their heads as opposed to Eakins where everyone sucked and was way worse than they should have been.

Now, if we could just find a real goalie and a top pairing d-man we might be a pretty good team down the road...

The Oilers played well but that was as flat as I have seen the Blues play in a long time. Very little emotion from them.
The Blues played just well enough to win. Almost like they were saving some energy for the Canucks game.

 

[Tyrolean]

The Oilers played well but that was as flat as I have seen the Blues play in a long time. Very little emotion from them.
The Blues played just well enough to win. Almost like they were saving some energy for the Canucks game.

I thought so too and yet they played well at times.

 

[dssource]

Another good game to watch. Felt like the Oil had a good chance to win this one esp after killing the 2 late penalties. I disagree that the Blues played bad, or flat. The Oilers played them well, that's why it may have appeared that way. You could see the Blues trying to play their physical style game, but the Oilers just wouldn't allow them to do so. I was content to see that they were in it for the entire 60mins, being outplayed at times and outplaying the blues at times. Those who cheer for losses should be proud. I wanted the W for the boys. Looked like they wanted it too. We are a much better team than the standings show but it will take more than just the few players we had out this game to be a playoff bubble team.

 

[guymez]

Another good game to watch. Felt like the Oil had a good chance to win this one esp after killing the 2 late penalties. I disagree that the Blues played bad, or flat. The Oilers played them well, that's why it may have appeared that way. You could see the Blues trying to play their physical style game, but the Oilers just wouldn't allow them to do so. I was content to see that they were in it for the entire 60mins, being outplayed at times and outplaying the blues at times. Those who cheer for losses should be proud. I wanted the W for the boys. Looked like they wanted it too. We are a much better team than the standings show but it will take more than just the few players we had out this game to be a playoff bubble team.

The Blues were definitely flat.

They hardly initiated contact on the forecheck. They were off their game....looked somewhat disinterested to me.

That said the Oilers played about as good as they can. Credit goes to the boys.

 

[Dorian2]

I only watched the first 2 periods, but I'm sure glad that these guys are playing well for Nelson. So far under Nelson the consistency of play has been much better than the previous 2 or 3 years.

If (and when) Nelson sticks around, I think we'll start to see that "next step" so many have been waiting for. Particularly from players like Nuge, Yak, Ebs and Hall. Looks like Klef and Schultz are getting there as well.

 

[Throttlehead]

From Ken Hitchcock after the game:

St. Louis Blues Head Coach Ken Hitchcock expected a competitive battle against the Oilers tonight. This morning after the Blues skate, Hitchcock said he sees a different Edmonton team.

After the Blues skated away with a 2-1 victory at Rexall Place, Hitchcock was not surprised by the game they got from the Oilers, who have improved their play over recent weeks despite injuries to the lineup.

“You get no inside ice now,” Hitchcock said. “You get no inside ice. They don’t chase tired. You get them in their zone and you keep possession, but they don’t chase. They leave you on the outside and it’s hard to get second and third chances. The chances we got were original chances, but if you look at the game I don’t think we had three second chances. It’s because they step on you. They keep you to the outside, they don’t overcommit and they don’t get caught with chasing contact so you might have possession but you’re not really accomplishing very much.”

 

[DipsyMcDoodles]

From Ken Hitchcock after the game:

St. Louis Blues Head Coach Ken Hitchcock expected a competitive battle against the Oilers tonight. This morning after the Blues skate, Hitchcock said he sees a different Edmonton team.

After the Blues skated away with a 2-1 victory at Rexall Place, Hitchcock was not surprised by the game they got from the Oilers, who have improved their play over recent weeks despite injuries to the lineup.

“You get no inside ice now,†Hitchcock said. “You get no inside ice. They don’t chase tired. You get them in their zone and you keep possession, but they don’t chase. They leave you on the outside and it’s hard to get second and third chances. The chances we got were original chances, but if you look at the game I don’t think we had three second chances. It’s because they step on you. They keep you to the outside, they don’t overcommit and they don’t get caught with chasing contact so you might have possession but you’re not really accomplishing very much.â€

But it has to be the personnel changes!! The fact that our team is collectively playing better D has to be because of the personnel and not at all an indictment on the new age innovator Dallas Eakins

 

[TheGuyInTheChair]

They should put that quote up in the Oilers room. Good job on the loss boys!

 

[McGlassbangers]

From Ken Hitchcock after the game:

St. Louis Blues Head Coach Ken Hitchcock expected a competitive battle against the Oilers tonight. This morning after the Blues skate, Hitchcock said he sees a different Edmonton team.

After the Blues skated away with a 2-1 victory at Rexall Place, Hitchcock was not surprised by the game they got from the Oilers, who have improved their play over recent weeks despite injuries to the lineup.

“You get no inside ice now,†Hitchcock said. “You get no inside ice. They don’t chase tired. You get them in their zone and you keep possession, but they don’t chase. They leave you on the outside and it’s hard to get second and third chances. The chances we got were original chances, but if you look at the game I don’t think we had three second chances. It’s because they step on you. They keep you to the outside, they don’t overcommit and they don’t get caught with chasing contact so you might have possession but you’re not really accomplishing very much.â€

This team has definitely improved under Nelson but let's remember that we're talking about Ken Hitchcock. He is always praising our team and players no matter what we do.

Columbus Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock thinks the Edmonton Oilers have a very solid combination with the hiring of Pat Quinn and Tom Renney.

...and

At a luncheon Friday, St. Louis Blues’ coach Ken Hitchcock stopped just short of yelling gimme an E, gimme an A, gimme a K, gimme an I, gimme an N, gimme an S when cheerleading for new Edmonton Oilers’ head coach Dallas Eakins.

No pompoms but Hitch was effusive in his praise. He sounded genuine. He didn’t sound like he was blowing smoke as an opposing NHL coach. He just likes the hire of Eakins, who was working as Toronto’s farm coach, a lot.

I also remember how he praised Hall, RNH and Eberle just before the Sochi Olympics.

 

[Fourier]

From Ken Hitchcock after the game:

St. Louis Blues Head Coach Ken Hitchcock expected a competitive battle against the Oilers tonight. This morning after the Blues skate, Hitchcock said he sees a different Edmonton team.

After the Blues skated away with a 2-1 victory at Rexall Place, Hitchcock was not surprised by the game they got from the Oilers, who have improved their play over recent weeks despite injuries to the lineup.

“You get no inside ice now,†Hitchcock said. “You get no inside ice. They don’t chase tired. You get them in their zone and you keep possession, but they don’t chase. They leave you on the outside and it’s hard to get second and third chances. The chances we got were original chances, but if you look at the game I don’t think we had three second chances. It’s because they step on you. They keep you to the outside, they don’t overcommit and they don’t get caught with chasing contact so you might have possession but you’re not really accomplishing very much.â€

This quote is significant because it really does say a lot about the changes that have been made. It also potentially explains in part the "corsi" argument suggesting that the Oilers really have not been better. If teams are taking shots from the outside and the Oilers are blocking a fair number they can generate a fair number of "corsi events" without really threatening to score.

 

[guymez]

This team has definitely improved under Nelson but let's remember that we're talking about Ken Hitchcock. He is always praising our team and players no matter what we do.



...and



I also remember how he praised Hall, RNH and Eberle just before the Sochi Olympics.

Yeah...I was thinking the same thing but couldnt remember all of the quotes.

Hitchcock is from Edmonton and likes to pander to the local audience. Nothing to see here.

His comments should be taken with a grain of salt.

 

[McAsuno]

Yeah...I was thinking the same thing but couldnt remember all of the quotes.

Hitchcock is from Edmonton and likes to pander to the local audience. Nothing to see here.

His comments should be taken with a grain of salt.

Wasn't Hitchcock the one who compared RNH to Datsyuk? I can't recall.

 

[ZJuice]

Wasn't Hitchcock the one who compared RNH to Datsyuk? I can't recall.

That was me

 

[Throttlehead]

This quote is significant because it really does say a lot about the changes that have been made. It also potentially explains in part the "corsi" argument suggesting that the Oilers really have not been better. If teams are taking shots from the outside and the Oilers are blocking a fair number they can generate a fair number of "corsi events" without really threatening to score.

Well we could just chalk it up to the Blues were flat, or not trying. This is what has been said in all recent games where we actually looked competitive against good teams. People can say whatever they want regarding their opinion on what and why Hitchcock said what he said, but it doesn't change the fact that this is what happened in the game. When we played the Blues in the past the line was "men against boys", it sure didn't look like that in this game. We actually dominated them in parts of the first and second period, especially the first. I don't recall that even being close to happening in the last two years, and we did it with 1/2 an AHL lineup, obviously has something to do with structure.

 

[harpoon]

Well we could just chalk it up to the Blues were flat, or not trying. This is what has been said in all recent games where we actually looked competitive against good teams. People can say whatever they want regarding their opinion on what and why Hitchcock said what he said, but it doesn't change the fact that this is what happened in the game. When we played the Blues in the past the line was "men against boys", it sure didn't look like that in this game. We actually dominated them in parts of the first and second period, especially the first. I don't recall that even being close to happening in the last two years, and we did it with 1/2 an AHL lineup, obviously has something to do with structure.

Yeah, I particularly agree with the bolded. But keep in mind Throttle that the Blues were "flat" and "disinterested'.
They barely broke a sweat in the game thinking about the Canucks.

Whenever I need a loss critiqued I come to hfoil for the straight goods, cause I know certain posters will be filling the thread with as many negative comments as they can.

 

[guymez]

Hmm...seems like certain posters feel the need to post in a veiled manner about some other posters.


Man...I just have so much trouble sticking to the meme on this board.

Oh well...maybe I will get it right one day and just stop posting my honest opinion (on this board and elsewhere) and join the mindless masses.

Hey harpoon....guess what...that's probably not going to happen.

So lets all try to get along despite differing our perspectives.