Post-Game Talk: Oilers lose 5-2 to Calgary.

[McPuritania]

http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/gamecast?gameId=400564847

I think everyone needs to look at this. The Flames had 14 shots from the prime scoring area and got 4 goals. The Oilers had 7 with 0 goals. 40 shots is nice but when they are from the boards and blueline they don't usually score on NHL goalies.

That's great. Like I said, our coverage was junk and needs to be talked about, but that doesn't mean we can't have a goaltender steal the show once and a while. I'm not saying goaltending is the reason we lost, but everyone should be held accountable, and excusing his performance doesn't sit right with me.

 

[guymez]

When you open it up just click on the ice surface and the shots come up (I am not too computer literate so have trouble with links). And use the trapezoid width as defining the prime scoring area and you will see what I mentioned.

Thanks for that...great tool.

 

[Replacement*]

From Scott Cullen of TSN:

There are some score effects in a 5-2 game, but Oilers C Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was on for 23 attempts for, 6 against (79.3%). When the score was close (within one in the first two periods or tied in the third), Nugent Hopkins was still on for 18 for and 5 against (78.3%) during 5-on-5 play.


That's a dominating performance by Nuge.

lmfao. By a player, and line that was on ice for 3GA, that didn't score EV, that required a two man advantage to bag their one goal, and did little the rest of the night.

I could do without that kind of "dominating"

Meanwhile back to reality Raymond had a Hat Trick, in our building.

"score effects' lol bs.

 

[KlimasLoveChild]

http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/gamecast?gameId=400564847

I think everyone needs to look at this. The Flames had 14 shots from the prime scoring area and got 4 goals. The Oilers had 7 with 0 goals. 40 shots is nice but when they are from the boards and blueline they don't usually score on NHL goalies.

I consider anything in the red a prime scoring opportunity...View attachment 76703...give or take the oilers had 18 shots in that zone. not sure where you come up with only seven good chances?

 

[KGM]

http://espn.go.com/nhl/statistics/team/_/stat/scoring/sort/avgShots/year/2014

4 of the bottom 6 drafted in the top 5 last year...

I'd say quantity of shots CERTAINLY impacts your chances of winning.

Only 3 actually - Buffalo, Calgary, Edmonton

The link actually proves that shots/game certainly DOES NOT have meaningful impact on winning. Have a look at the bottom 16 teams in shots/game:

Playoff teams? 8
Non-Playoff teams? 8

Have a closer look, and you'll notice St.Louis, Colorado, Montreal, and Minnesota, are in that bottom 16, yet all 4 finished top 10 in the league standings last year.


Quality over quantity. Good teams get quality shots, not necessarily large quantities of shots.

 

[AlowlyMcOilersfan]

Yeah, when you play your game plan to a tee and still lose, maybe it was the wrong game plan.

 

[Insta]

I consider anything in the red a prime scoring opportunity...View attachment 76703...give or take the oilers had 18 shots in that zone. not sure where you come up with only seven good chances?

Pretty much all those in-tight shots were the 4th liners crashing the net and slamming pucks into the pads of Ramo. Good for them doing what they're suppose to be doing but let's not confuse those with quality scoring chances.

 

[Titsuple]

I thought Oilers played good most of the game.

Bad coaching decisions - playing a hurt nakiton & scrivens

I hope mac T is looking for a centre because all lines where going good except for arco line. Arcobello is bringing nothing to this team.

 

[StoveTopStauffer]

I thought Oilers played good most of the game.

Bad coaching decisions - playing a hurt nakiton & scrivens

I hope mac T is looking for a centre because all lines where going good except for arco line. Arcobello is bringing nothing to this team.

Bringing nothing on a night where several key players brought plenty of negative is a bad thing?

TIL, after readin through some comments, that Arco is the player who makes or breaks this team and we lost because on top of being responsible for 0 goals against in a 5-2 loss, he should of potted about 3 or 4.

 

[IV XIV XCI]

You are right, I am going to suggest that maybe it's not necessarily the lack of experience so much as the kinds of experiences the team has had. They basically dominated all but the first couple minutes of the game before that 3-2 goal, but all of a sudden you're losing. That's where the continual losing the team has done rears it's ugly head. You get that "here we go again" mentality slipping in and guys start to try and win things all on their own rather than trusting their team mates. It's all mental at this point. Hopefully the coaching staff is able to calm them down in the future. I would highlight the good things they did to these players and reinforce how working as a team generates pressure and goals rather than focussing on what they did wrong.

Very fair, but I don't necessarily disagree, BUT:

This was the first game of the year that they all played together. We have new personnel in various places. Give it just a little bit more time.

I think as fans we are also a bit fragile. We lose one game and it's house-of-cards collapsing. There were more positive signs here than at many points last season.
I think we are going to be fine down the middle if we can stay healthy given the fact that I predict Leon will have a very solid year.

It is not just the Dmen that I am concerned about, it is team D.
Some of the best/worst plays we made yesterday in our own end were from our forwards. Retrieval of the puck and breaking out of the zone is a team effort and requires finding space quickly and intelligently. Sometimes we make assumptions, or incorrect reads trying to go N-S too soon. It is ok to go sideways or backwards in our own end if the passes create space and the puck goes tape to tape.

Fix that, and we begin to turn the ship. It's only game 1. There's a long way to sail yet.

 

[Tyrolean]

Only 3 actually - Buffalo, Calgary, Edmonton

The link actually proves that shots/game certainly DOES NOT have meaningful impact on winning. Have a look at the bottom 16 teams in shots/game:

Playoff teams? 8
Non-Playoff teams? 8

Have a closer look, and you'll notice St.Louis, Colorado, Montreal, and Minnesota, are in that bottom 16, yet all 4 finished top 10 in the league standings last year.


Quality over quantity. Good teams get quality shots, not necessarily large quantities of shots.

Of course that is just common sense. Shot quality is much more important than shot quantity. Having said that sometimes if you consistently out shoot your opponents it could mean you are controlling the play more and thus have a better chance of winning. I know there are tons of analytic to prove trends, so hopefully the Oilers can rebound and and show improvement.

Fans here are desperate to see improvement on the team after 8 lousy years and especially after last year. Be patient and wait for 3 weeks then you can complain if the trend is still down.

 

[ToeMcDrag83]

Home opener, provincial rival, beatable opponent, past greats in the building.

Stage set, but this team continues to fail when the cards are in their favour anyways.

Can't climb out of the basement when the other resident dwellers continue to beat us.

This one stings.

The Flames of all teams can not be allowed even an inch of hope the next five times we play them. We better hope this was rust and trying to get traction as team. Harder to feel that way when the loss was all too familiar for the same reasons. As it stands... 81 to go.

 

[KlimasLoveChild]

Pretty much all those in-tight shots were the 4th liners crashing the net and slamming pucks into the pads of Ramo. Good for them doing what they're suppose to be doing but let's not confuse those with quality scoring chances.

See it however you like I guess. An opportunity in the slot is still a grade A chance in my books even if Joey is shooting. I'm not sure why some on here are trying to down grade everything the oilers actually did well. Whatever floats your boat but it makes this place pretty unbearable at times. Cough....GreatKeith.....Cough....

The fact of the matter is for 2/3 of the game the oilers dominated a team in every which way but the scoreboard and it was nice to see. The end result was hard to swallow and they need to improve in some key areas but they looked a hell of a lot better then they ever did last year. There was a lot to like about last nights game but I guess it's all about starting the witch hunt early this year

 

[PeakMcOil]

We deserved a better fate. Our new D weren't great, and Ference was awful, he could not read the play at all. Scrivens had a bad night, let's not throw him under the bus quite yet though.

Still, there were some positives, Yak looked better than he ever has. He was taking the puck away in the D zone, in the right position, and quickly moving the puck. Draisatl was swimming. Purcell and Pouliot looked great. The top line looked ok. Eberle needs to do a bit more. Arcobello is getting a raw deal, he did fine. Sometimes not seeing a guy is ok, I think this is the case here.

It's 1 game, I'm disappointed too. But it's not over yet.

 

[OiledUp]

I consider anything in the red a prime scoring opportunity...View attachment 76703...give or take the oilers had 18 shots in that zone. not sure where you come up with only seven good chances?

Yeah that's the area I'd count as well, if you shoot almost twenty shots from that area you've done very well in getting to good spots.
The problem last night wasn't really from where they took the shots, to me it was more a lack of execution, too many shots where Ramo just needed good positioning to save the puck and since his positioning was pretty much flawless he got all shots except for two PP shots right after he had to reposition due to a pass.
The only quality finishes the Oiler players got off outside the goals were the ones that hit iron from Ebs and Hunt.

The problem last night was not the offensive game, if you keep getting shots off in those areas you eventually tend to calm down and have better shot selection and quality since you know you'll get more looks in good spots. At least that's my experience.

The D lapses are more troubling. Fayne was directly involved in three goals and obviously struggled. But another thing is just attention to detail from the offensive stars. On the first Flames goal the puck goes through both Hunt and Halls sticks. IF Hall got a puck played from behind the goal line straight up the middle in the offensive zone there's just no way he wouldn't get anything on it, but in his own zone? 1-0 the enemy.

And on the third goal before the puck is touched past Fayne by Bouma it goes right by Ebs who doesn't get anything on it due to being unfocused as the third as if just being in decent position is enough to be satisfied. That's followed by a failed defensive play on the blue line by Fayne(and a nice play by Bouma) and Ference who isn't in the right position covering for his D partner is behind Raymond. 3-2 and the game. Attention to detail.
If one of those guys is 100% focused on their defensive assignments and gets a stick on the puck it's a different outcome.
It was so obvious with Yak that he put extra focus on getting his stick on the puck defensively, being in the right position and knowing what's around him. So the lost russian gets it. How about the first line star players? The core? The minus 3 line?

 

[missinthejets]

Very fair, but I don't necessarily disagree, BUT:

This was the first game of the year that they all played together. We have new personnel in various places. Give it just a little bit more time.

I think as fans we are also a bit fragile. We lose one game and it's house-of-cards collapsing. There were more positive signs here than at many points last season.
I think we are going to be fine down the middle if we can stay healthy given the fact that I predict Leon will have a very solid year.

It is not just the Dmen that I am concerned about, it is team D.
Some of the best/worst plays we made yesterday in our own end were from our forwards. Retrieval of the puck and breaking out of the zone is a team effort and requires finding space quickly and intelligently. Sometimes we make assumptions, or incorrect reads trying to go N-S too soon. It is ok to go sideways or backwards in our own end if the passes create space and the puck goes tape to tape.

Fix that, and we begin to turn the ship. It's only game 1. There's a long way to sail yet.

I was definitely encouraged more than dismayed with that game. They carried the play so much and that one goal just sucked the life out of them. Yakupov looked damned good along with his line, the top line was as expected, Purcell and Perron did some good things as did Arcobello, the 4th line did what you expect from them. Shame that Scrivens didn't look comfortable and there were a coupld breakdowns wound up in the back of the net but that game showed this team could be capable of some good things this year. They're mentally weak still though and that is the biggest hurdle for them to get over I think. the 3-2 goal just broke their backs.

 

[harpoon]

He is actually quite good in most aspects of the game, he just doesn't cash in on chances. Probably the biggest difference between an NHL forward and an AHL forward is the ability to snipe goals. I'm sure he'll get a few if he stays up but I wouldn't think he would get more that 5-6.

As someone posted earlier. he isn't going to get many quality chances because he's so keyed in on being the first forward back and not giving up anything, or being the goat on any play. Its called Pajaarvitis. I'm sure our highest goalscorer from last season is delighted to be playing with a plug like Arcobello.

 

[KlimasLoveChild]

Yeah that's the area I'd count as well, if you shoot almost twenty shots from that area you've done very well in getting to good spots.
The problem last night wasn't really from where they took the shots, to me it was more a lack of execution, too many shots where Ramo just needed good positioning to save the puck and since his positioning was pretty much flawless he got all shots except for two PP shots right after he had to reposition due to a pass.
The only quality finishes the Oiler players got off outside the goals were the ones that hit iron from Ebs and Hunt.

The problem last night was not the offensive game, if you keep getting shots off in those areas you eventually tend to calm down and have better shot selection and quality since you know you'll get more looks in good spots. At least that's my experience.

The D lapses are more troubling. Fayne was directly involved in three goals and obviously struggled. But another thing is just attention to detail from the offensive stars. On the first Flames goal the puck goes through both Hunt and Halls sticks. IF Hall got a puck played from behind the goal line straight up the middle in the offensive zone there's just no way he wouldn't get anything on it, but in his own zone? 1-0 the enemy.

And on the third goal before the puck is touched past Fayne by Bouma it goes right by Ebs who doesn't get anything on it due to being unfocused as the third as if just being in decent position is enough to be satisfied. That's followed by a failed defensive play on the blue line by Fayne(and a nice play by Bouma) and Ference who isn't in the right position covering for his D partner is behind Raymond. 3-2 and the game. Attention to detail.
If one of those guys is 100% focused on their defensive assignments and gets a stick on the puck it's a different outcome.
It was so obvious with Yak that he put extra focus on getting his stick on the puck defensively, being in the right position and knowing what's around him. So the lost russian gets it. How about the first line star players? The core? The minus 3 line?

I think if Ebs doesn't shore up his defensive game he is going to follow in the foot steps of the previous teams whipping boys until he is finally run out of town. He doesn't have anyone to cover for him this year. MacT is slowly weeding out the non hackers... Hopefully he gets with the program.

Ference on the other hand is just past it. I think he is already in the way of better younger dmen coming threw the system. I'd put Nurse/Klef/Marincin in his spot and take my chances. I see him as a buy out candidate shortly. This one is on MacT.

Yak is definitely looking better these day. It's a breath of fresh air. Hopefully he pots a few and just takes off. I really had my doubts about him but he is slowly moving in the right direction.

 

[TheGuyInTheChair]

Raymond scoring that one slap shot goal was embarrassing...

A hat trick?

 

[OiledUp]

I think if Ebs doesn't shore up his defensive game he is going to follow in the foot steps of the previous teams whipping boys until he is finally run out of town. He doesn't have anyone to cover for him this year. MacT is slowly weeding out the non hackers... Hopefully he gets with the program.

Ference on the other hand is just past it. I think he is already in the way of better younger dmen coming threw the system. I'd put Nurse/Klef/Marincin in his spot and take my chances. I see him as a buy out candidate shortly. This one is on MacT.

Yak is definitely looking better these day. It's a breath of fresh air. Hopefully he pots a few and just takes off. I really had my doubts about him but he is slowly moving in the right direction.

I thought about it as I watched the game. If we replaced our entire left side this game with Nurse-Klef-Marincin do we get better or worse?
Niktin looked like he needed more time to get up to speed, Ference as you say looks finished and Hunt has some offense but is worse than all the three above in his own end.
Older players tend to make plays and affects the game in more subtle ways that are tricky to catch but that trio of youngsters are such great skaters and have so much hockey in them I'm not sure we wouldn't be better with them.
At least with both Ference and Niktin having missed games and on ice practice during TC.

I'm not saying we should play all the three kids but it would be interesting to see where the team would go.

 

[McTedi]

lmfao. By a player, and line that was on ice for 3GA, that didn't score EV, that required a two man advantage to bag their one goal, and did little the rest of the night.

I could do without that kind of "dominating"

Meanwhile back to reality Raymond had a Hat Trick, in our building.

"score effects' lol bs.

Don't know what game you were watching but for a large portion of the game the Oilers were dominating. And Nuge looked fast and I thought the line as a whole generated some good chances. I know this doesn't really jive with your Ebs hate though so carry on.

 

[Dave]

What happened to TSN's site? It's a total POS now. I can't find highlights of recent hockey games.

edit: this was likely a stupid comment, forgot about tsn losing hockey rights, I guess they're not allowed show highlights or something

 

[KlimasLoveChild]

I thought about it as I watched the game. If we replaced our entire left side this game with Nurse-Klef-Marincin do we get better or worse?
Niktin looked like he needed more time to get up to speed, Ference as you say looks finished and Hunt has some offense but is worse than all the three above in his own end.
Older players tend to make plays and affects the game in more subtle ways that are tricky to catch but that trio of youngsters are such great skaters and have so much hockey in them I'm not sure we wouldn't be better with them.
At least with both Ference and Niktin having missed games and on ice practice during TC.

I'm not saying we should play all the three kids but it would be interesting to see where the team would go.

I think they do better actually. It's kind of sad when a 19 year old is probably already the best of the bunch. Sadly I can't see how they are going to get both Nurse and Klefbom games. They can sit hunt no problem but they are kind of painted into a corner handing out those bad contracts to their veteran stop gaps. I don't think Nikitin can handle top pairing minutes either. If either of the three young guys was in Ferences place the shames don't score that third goal. All three can skate better and have massive wingspans. I don't think Raymond even gets a shot off if one of the young guys is out there. He is probably picking his ass up off the ice if Nurse is out there. Time to give Nurse a test drive against the Canucks on saturday night.

 

[OiledUp]

I think they do better actually. It's kind of sad when a 19 year old is probably already the best of the bunch. Sadly I can't see how they are going to get both Nurse and Klefbom games. They can sit hunt no problem but they are kind of painted into a corner handing out those bad contracts to their veteran stop gaps. I don't think Nikitin can handle top pairing minutes either. If either of the three young guys was in Ferences place the shames don't score that third goal. All three can skate better and have massive wingspans. I don't think Raymond even gets a shot off if one of the young guys is out there. He is probably picking his ass up off the ice if Nurse is out there. Time to give Nurse a test drive against the Canucks on saturday night.

They have an opening to play Nurse for Nikitin without losing face due to him looking rusty and needing more time after his injury. And Klefbom for Hunt since they can't match the pairings in an away game, you don't want Hunt and Schultz out against the Sedins.
Sadly there's no way they'll sit Ference, at least not this early in the year. And I don't think they'll put both Nurse and klefbom into the line up at once. But one of them will get a shot is my guess. Nurse likely since they need to make a decision on him sooner.

 

[Bankerguy]

Why are you guys hating on Raymond??

Guy is a legit top 6 forward.

Scored 20 goals in Vancouver and 19 in Toronto. Had a 45 and 50 point seasons... solid second liner who doesnt offer a lot of intangibles but can produce offense.

decent player...