Oilers lose 3-2 in OT: Snatch defeat from the jaws of victory

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

We could get a competent GM who knows how to make smart trades and good UFA signings.

It's put up or shut up time for the Oilers. This was supposed to be a 5 year rebuild. We are getting to the point that tangible results need to be shown. If the team isn't getting better, than people who put this plan in place need to be shown the door.

A 5 year plan is not finishing bottom 5 each if the first 4 years and then magically making the playoffs. Doesn't work that way.

We could get Burke... Oh wait, you said a competent GM. Never mind.

 

[Moonlapse Vertigo]

We could get a competent GM who knows how to make smart trades and good UFA signings.

It's put up or shut up time for the Oilers. This was supposed to be a 5 year rebuild. We are getting to the point that tangible results need to be shown. If the team isn't getting better, than people who put this plan in place need to be shown the door.

A 5 year plan is not finishing bottom 5 each if the first 4 years and then magically making the playoffs. Doesn't work that way.

Amen. I look at what the Senators did last year and what the Canadiens are doing right now and think "Why not us?"

Props to Bergevin. Great start to his GM career.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Amen. I look at what the Senators did last year and what the Canadiens are doing right now and think "Why not us?"

Props to Bergevin. Great start to his GM career.

The Avs GM traded Anderson for Brian Elliot...

And when the Habs make the playoffs I'll be impressed. If they don't then there's no real improvement, is there?

 

[McGreat One]

I was getting so sick of some of these comments in here that I had to stop reading. We are currently sitting in 6th ****ing place in the conference and we have so called fans in here praying that we finish in the lottery to draft Jones or Mackinnon. Do anyone else see anything wrong with this picture? It's no wonder we've been the laughing stock of other fan bases the past few seasons. Anyone who hopes to finish in last place don't deserve to follow this team.

I'm not going to deny the fact that we have a lot of stuff to work out and that we haven't been playing good as of late, but come on guys, with the skill this team has there's no reason to believe we can't start winning a few games in a row. Just use some common sense for a second. We got Sam Gagner who is having the best season of his career. We got a rookie in Yakupov who is leading this team in goals with 5 in 9 games. We've got Hemsky who is finally healthy and is without question playing the best hockey he's played in 3 years. And we've got a stud rookie dman in Schultz who has come into this league and not only took over the number one defensive role on this team but hasn't looked out of place for a second in doing so. If we can just get our top line rolling a bit and some better play from certain dmen like Whitney, Smid and Petry then I wouldn't be surprised at all to see this team pull off a playoff berth. Without better defence and size up front I can't see us making it far if we do make the playoffs, but just showing some progress and playing some meaningful post season games would satisfy me this year.

 

[Mr Forever]

What are we even complaining about?

Our young guys lack a strong supporting cast of good veterans?

Yeah no **** they do, if they had good veterans to play with they wouldn't be on the oilers because they wouldn't have got all of those high draft picks.

What free agents did we miss out on? Parise and Suter? Wideman or Wisnewski? Really?

**** we've gone from second last to competing for a playoff spot. Get a grip.

 

[Replacement*]

Looks like suddenly people are buying what I've been putting down about RNH. Something really seriously wrong with his game. So is shoulder hurt? When did it happen? At this point he's seriously regressed. You almost like to think its and injury and not an absolute collapse in confidence. 20 games now without a goal.

Some fallacy about Eberle also being challenged. Eberle has never been the shining star all round player people describe him as and theres always been a whole lot of GA in his game.

Been saying it all along but the only reason the topline isn't swimming in GA this year is J Schultz who has been stupendous.

 

[Replacement*]

I was getting so sick of some of these comments in here that I had to stop reading. We are currently sitting in 6th ****ing place in the conference and we have so called fans in here praying that we finish in the lottery to draft Jones or Mackinnon. Do anyone else see anything wrong with this picture? It's no wonder we've been the laughing stock of other fan bases the past few seasons. Anyone who hopes to finish in last place don't deserve to follow this team.

I'm not going to deny the fact that we have a lot of stuff to work out and that we haven't been playing good as of late, but come on guys, with the skill this team has there's no reason to believe we can't start winning a few games in a row. Just use some common sense for a second. We got Sam Gagner who is having the best season of his career. We got a rookie in Yakupov who is leading this team in goals with 5 in 9 games. We've got Hemsky who is finally healthy and is without question playing the best hockey he's played in 3 years. And we've got a stud rookie dman in Schultz who has come into this league and not only took over the number one defensive role on this team but hasn't looked out of place for a second in doing so. If we can just get our top line rolling a bit and some better play from certain dmen like Whitney, Smid and Petry then I wouldn't be surprised at all to see this team pull off a playoff berth. Without better defence and size up front I can't see us making it far if we do make the playoffs, but just showing some progress and playing some meaningful post season games would satisfy me this year.

We've won one game in regulation time. We've been lucky enough in shootouts and OT to get some unreliable results. But this team just isn't winning games outright. This is a sheer recipe for another year of fail.

 

[Moonlapse Vertigo]

What are we even complaining about?

Our young guys lack a strong supporting cast of good veterans?

Yeah no **** they do, if they had good veterans to play with they wouldn't be on the oilers because they wouldn't have got all of those high draft picks.

What free agents did we miss out on? Parise and Suter? Wideman or Wisnewski? Really?

**** we've gone from second last to competing for a playoff spot. Get a grip.

What?

 

[The Perfect Human*]

If we go 2-1 the next 3 games I'd say we're still sitting pretty. Just need someone to fill in for one of Horcs/Belanger in the bottom 6, and not just Lander.

 

[Replacement*]

What are we even complaining about?

Our young guys lack a strong supporting cast of good veterans?

Yeah no **** they do, if they had good veterans to play with they wouldn't be on the oilers because they wouldn't have got all of those high draft picks.

What free agents did we miss out on? Parise and Suter? Wideman or Wisnewski? Really?

**** we've gone from second last to competing for a playoff spot. Get a grip.

2 #1 draft picks in the world, supplemented by a 75pt player, and supported by an offensive dynamo D, have scored 5 goals all year and are frankly looking putrid with apologies to Hall who is at least trying to bring a semblance of a game being anchored to two ghosts who do nothing but turn the puck over.

I saw several bad habits developing in OKC with this topline and with over confidence and over success down there breeding lazy work habits and showing up once in awhile and not playing full out.

Instead of this line flying out of the gate they somehow convinced themselves down in OKC that they can half ass it and get results.

Kreuger spend 15mins in practice speaking to the topline. I don't think they heard any of it.

 

[Stoneman89]

I was getting so sick of some of these comments in here that I had to stop reading. We are currently sitting in 6th ****ing place in the conference and we have so called fans in here praying that we finish in the lottery to draft Jones or Mackinnon. Do anyone else see anything wrong with this picture? It's no wonder we've been the laughing stock of other fan bases the past few seasons. Anyone who hopes to finish in last place don't deserve to follow this team.

I'm not going to deny the fact that we have a lot of stuff to work out and that we haven't been playing good as of late, but come on guys, with the skill this team has there's no reason to believe we can't start winning a few games in a row. Just use some common sense for a second. We got Sam Gagner who is having the best season of his career. We got a rookie in Yakupov who is leading this team in goals with 5 in 9 games. We've got Hemsky who is finally healthy and is without question playing the best hockey he's played in 3 years. And we've got a stud rookie dman in Schultz who has come into this league and not only took over the number one defensive role on this team but hasn't looked out of place for a second in doing so. If we can just get our top line rolling a bit and some better play from certain dmen like Whitney, Smid and Petry then I wouldn't be surprised at all to see this team pull off a playoff berth. Without better defence and size up front I can't see us making it far if we do make the playoffs, but just showing some progress and playing some meaningful post season games would satisfy me this year.

All very true. But the injuries that are starting to pile up are concerning me. We never had great depth before, and I realize all teams suffer injuries, but this is getting a bit worrisome. Our best face off guys and defensive centres look to be out long term, and our most physical dman is banged up. Ryan Jones is probably 2-3 weeks away and will need time to get up to speed. Our faceoff % tonight as a team was alarming. We are going to need a big step up from some people to get this ship going in the right direction, no question. We may only be a point back here and there, but this has some potential to turn really ugly fast.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

We've won one game in regulation time. We've been lucky enough in shootouts and OT to get some unreliable results. But this team just isn't winning games outright. This is a sheer recipe for another year of fail.

Generally if you want to win in the playoffs (should we make it there) you have to learn to win the close ones.

We're not exactly the Sharks or the Hawks. I don't think anyone should be expecting to blow every team out of the water when the West is so deep.

 

[I am the Liquor]

We could get a competent GM who knows how to make smart trades and good UFA signings.

It's put up or shut up time for the Oilers. This was supposed to be a 5 year rebuild. We are getting to the point that tangible results need to be shown. If the team isn't getting better, than people who put this plan in place need to be shown the door.

A 5 year plan is not finishing bottom 5 each if the first 4 years and then magically making the playoffs. Doesn't work that way.

A five year rebuild actually is complete in 2015. We are only half way through.

 

[Suxnet]

I was getting so sick of some of these comments in here that I had to stop reading. We are currently sitting in 6th ****ing place in the conference and we have so called fans in here praying that we finish in the lottery to draft Jones or Mackinnon. Do anyone else see anything wrong with this picture? It's no wonder we've been the laughing stock of other fan bases the past few seasons. Anyone who hopes to finish in last place don't deserve to follow this team.

I'm not going to deny the fact that we have a lot of stuff to work out and that we haven't been playing good as of late, but come on guys, with the skill this team has there's no reason to believe we can't start winning a few games in a row. Just use some common sense for a second. We got Sam Gagner who is having the best season of his career. We got a rookie in Yakupov who is leading this team in goals with 5 in 9 games. We've got Hemsky who is finally healthy and is without question playing the best hockey he's played in 3 years. And we've got a stud rookie dman in Schultz who has come into this league and not only took over the number one defensive role on this team but hasn't looked out of place for a second in doing so. If we can just get our top line rolling a bit and some better play from certain dmen like Whitney, Smid and Petry then I wouldn't be surprised at all to see this team pull off a playoff berth. Without better defence and size up front I can't see us making it far if we do make the playoffs, but just showing some progress and playing some meaningful post season games would satisfy me this year.

Yeah 6th is not too bad but if you look at the stats of the team and look at the types of games they're losing it's unacceptable. 3 straight 1st overall picks and we can't ****ing score or get shots on goal. You don't think that's a problem? I'm tired of this loser culture that thinks that squeezing out wins is somehow an improvement.

Why can't we be like the Sens or Habs? They haven't needed to suck for as long as we have. The fans, owner, coach, players and GM of this organization have accepted this mediocrity we're in. That's what's so scary about it.

 

[The Nuge]

What are we even complaining about?

Our young guys lack a strong supporting cast of good veterans?

Yeah no **** they do, if they had good veterans to play with they wouldn't be on the oilers because they wouldn't have got all of those high draft picks.

What free agents did we miss out on? Parise and Suter? Wideman or Wisnewski? Really?

**** we've gone from second last to competing for a playoff spot. Get a grip.

This! If we had guys like Spezza, Alfie, Markov, etc then we would be in a vastly different situation. Our team was beyond terrible before the rebuild

 

[I am the Liquor]

All very true. But the injuries that are starting to pile up are concerning me. We never had great depth before, and I realize all teams suffer injuries, but this is getting a bit worrisome. Our best face off guys and defensive centres look to be out long term, and our most physical dman is banged up. Ryan Jones is probably 2-3 weeks away and will need time to get up to speed. Our faceoff % tonight as a team was alarming. We are going to need a big step up from some people to get this ship going in the right direction, no question. We may only be a point back here and there, but this has some potential to turn really ugly fast.

Move Hall to center.

What do we have to lose?

 

[Replacement*]

Generally if you want to win in the playoffs (should we make it there) you have to learn to win the close ones.

We're not exactly the Sharks or the Hawks. I don't think anyone should be expecting to blow every team out of the water when the West is so deep.

Except the org did. With great interest after the season opening win against the Nucks(and an against the grain win at that which was more about horseshoes than anything else) Kreuger has the balls to state in the dressingroom that this is how it should be all year, the Oil being good enough to beat every team this year. This was the same moment people have criticized with Renney, and MacT before him, but its basically the org expecting to win with this crew.

The org filled this crew with hot air after the Season opener win and they crashed like the Hindenberg in the very next game. Classic.

But we keep changing coaches when that position has not been the issue.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Except the org did. With great interest after the season opening win against the Nucks(and an against the grain win at that which was more about horseshoes than anything else) Kreuger has the balls to state in the dressingroom that this is how it should be all year, the Oil being good enough to beat every team this year. This was the same moment people have criticized with Renney, and MacT before him, but its basically the org expecting to win with this crew.

The org filled this crew with hot air after the Season opener win and they crashed like the Hindenberg in the very next game. Classic.

But we keep changing coaches when that position has not been the issue.

So when we win it's lucky but when we lose it's because we suck?

 

[Soundwave]

Amen. I look at what the Senators did last year and what the Canadiens are doing right now and think "Why not us?"

Props to Bergevin. Great start to his GM career.

One of the issues with us and why our development will be slower is because a lot of our kids are physically immature and haven't developed "man strength" yet.

Nugent Hopkins still has the body of a kid working his first job at Dairy Queen, Hall is a little bigger but could still use an extra 5-10 pounds. Eberle needs to get a bit stronger also.

It's a big difference for Ottawa when Spezza is 28/29 years old and 6 foot 3 and the Habs best player is Markov, who's 30+ years old.

Both those teams have better defense and goal tending than us to boot.

We'll get there, it's just not going to be at the quickest pace. It's something I definitely thought about even before the season started.

I also do tend to think we would probably do better in the Eastern conference overall, even though there would be some really ugly nights. That style of play just suits us better.Vancouver, Calgary, LA, Minnesota, Nashville, Phoenix, etc. just love to slow the pace down and grind.

Chicago is one of the few teams in the West to have the balls (or are dumb enough, take your pick) to try and play us straight up for skill.

 

[Replacement*]

So when we win it's lucky but when we lose it's because we suck?

Vancouver was better than us tonight in two periods and an OT. CLEARLY they were the better squad and the score, and lead, greatly flattered us. This was a game that could as easily have been 5-1 nucks. They dominated.

 

[Moonlapse Vertigo]

Except the org did. With great interest after the season opening win against the Nucks(and an against the grain win at that which was more about horseshoes than anything else) Kreuger has the balls to state in the dressingroom that this is how it should be all year, the Oil being good enough to beat every team this year. This was the same moment people have criticized with Renney, and MacT before him, but its basically the org expecting to win with this crew.

The org filled this crew with hot air after the Season opener win and they crashed like the Hindenberg in the very next game. Classic.

But we keep changing coaches when that position has not been the issue.

To be fair this idea that we're ready for prime time is not all on the organization. Nearly every member of the hockey media was expecting to see a significant jump in the standings from this team this year. Bob McKenzie even has us as his surprise team.

Wins and losses are one thing but there are probably a lot of people in the hockey world confused by this club's lack of offensive punch.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Vancouver was better than us tonight in two periods and an OT. CLEARLY they were the better squad and the score, and lead, greatly flattered us. This was a game that could as easily have been 5-1 nucks. They dominated.

But were they that much better when we beat them? You talked about the season opener. Not this game.

 

[Soundwave]

Vancouver was better than us tonight in two periods and an OT. CLEARLY they were the better squad and the score, and lead, greatly flattered us. This was a game that could as easily have been 5-1 nucks. They dominated.

I think that's hyberbole. They threw a lot of junk at the net from the point, and to their credit they got a couple of bounces doing that.

I would say we probably had more point blank chances from the slot on top of a freaking penalty shot in the OT. Just can't finish.

Largely I felt we kept the Sedins under control. We hit a point in the 2nd period where it felt like we just stopped playing offense around probably some of that due to the bench being shuffled with injuries. But we had several more chances in the 3rd. We had about 3 or 4 fantastic shifts in a row in the third. Just not finishing plays we normally do.

 

[H4LL]

Seems like most people fail to realize how young and inexperienced this team is. Of course there is gonna be games like the one tonight that are frustrating and infuriating to some. THIS TEAM IS YOUNG! We will have games where things will click and it will be unreal and there will be discouraging games like tonight. We have such a long way to go as a team, this group is just getting started. Don't be naive to think this team is gonna be what you expect just yet. Gotta be patient with this group, Shultz and Yakupov are only rookies for #@%*'$ sake. Progression is key this year, and we've seen plenty so far.

 

[Moonlapse Vertigo]

One of the issues with us and why our development will be slower is because a lot of our kids are physically immature and haven't developed "man strength" yet.

Nugent Hopkins still has the body of a kid working his first job at Dairy Queen, Hall is a little bigger but could still use an extra 5-10 pounds. Eberle needs to get a bit stronger also.

It's a big difference for Ottawa when Spezza is 28/29 years old and 6 foot 3 and the Habs best player is Markov, who's 30+ years old.

Both those teams have better defense and goal tending than us to boot.

We'll get there, it's just not going to be at the quickest pace. It's something I definitely thought about even before the season started.

I also do tend to think we would probably do better in the Eastern conference overall, even though there would be some really ugly nights. That style of play just suits us better.Vancouver, Calgary, LA, Minnesota, Nashville, Phoenix, etc. just love to slow the pace down and grind.

Chicago is one of the few teams in the West to have the balls (or are dumb enough, take your pick) to try and play us straight up for skill.

Then that's an indictment on Tambellini and the way he's built/crafted his team.