Post-Game Talk: Oilers win 4-1

[Wheatking]

That crowd was just not into that game.

My buddy had to turn down tickets to the game because his girlfriend didn't want to walk from the parking lot behind the LRT station to Rexall. It was so cold. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a lot of people that found just going to the game a lot of work. It's -20 before the wind chill right now.

 

[Spawn]

Holy Feck...TSN stats saying Avs outshot us 24-6 in the 3rd !!!

To be fair to that stat, a whole lot of those shots were from the out side and the Oilers had 4 or 5 chances that didn't result in shots on net that were great chances they just couldn't connect on.

 

[booyakasha]

How do you figure that?

Hall was easily the driving force tonight....best Oiler bar none.

 

[McDNicks17]

Colorado's a pretty awful hockey team. Who's out besides Captain Intangibles?

The Oilers should be getting at least a dozen power plays a game on a defense like that. Every play should be breakout pass -> drive wide -> get power play on stone feet defensemen.

O'Reilly and Downie.

Their 1st line from last season.

 

[Grod]

Colorado's a pretty awful hockey team. Who's out besides Captain Intangibles?

The Oilers should be getting at least a dozen power plays a game on a defense like that. Every play should be breakout pass -> drive wide -> get power play on stone feet defensemen.

Ryan O'Reilly and Steve Downie. NM. Nicks ruined my moment.

 

[Mentallydull]

Hemsky has always had a lot of turnovers. It comes with his style of play. He also scored one and got robbed on another, in case you weren't paying attention.

Hemsky fanned on the puck, he didn't get robbed at all.

 

[smokersarejokers]

Really liked Hartikainen tonight. He battled hard, did what he had to do.

Belanger is a different player from last year. Night and day. He looks good out there.

 

[pocketful]

Glad we got the win and very happy pp is clicking but I am crying on the inside because we still can't score at ES. Baby steps...at least we won in regulation and were leading throughout.

 

[Harley]

Good stuff. Smid was a beast. Hartikainen if he plays like he did in the first will be an awesome part of this team. And a really strong game from Ganger. Both ends. Even more important because Yakapov kind of had the night off. Good on you Sam. Maybe I was riding him a bit hard after the first two games. lol

And Dubnyk looked strong again. And Horcoff. And Belanger hasn't annoyed me once this year.

The difference from one ref crew to another is striking.

 

[BoldNewLettuce]

Hemmer needs to do his old sick dangy-dangle for old sicky-sick times sake.

 

[OilerTyler]

Hemsky fanned on the puck, he didn't get robbed at all.

Duchene knocked the puck away from Hemsky

 

[Brokenhead]

Colorado's a pretty awful hockey team. Who's out besides Captain Intangibles?

The Oilers should be getting at least a dozen power plays a game on a defense like that. Every play should be breakout pass -> drive wide -> get power play on stone feet defensemen.

THey are missing key players. Gabriel obviously, but also O'Reilly and Downie is hurt too.
I don't think they are that bad of a team, they dominated that third period every second that our first line wasn't on the ice.

 

[Mentallydull]

My buddy had to turn down tickets to the game because his girlfriend didn't want to walk from the parking lot behind the LRT station to Rexall. It was so cold. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a lot of people that found just going to the game a lot of work. It's -20 before the wind chill right now.

He's looking for a new girlfriend now, right?

 

[Draiskull]

Yakupov had a bad game. (Goal)
Hemsky looked like crap. (Goal)
Nothing from the vets. (Horc Goal)
No killer instinct led to a crappy 3rd.

Still got the win.

.... well that is 3 of our goal scorers tonight

 

[Frank the Tank]

Hemsky fanned on the puck, he didn't get robbed at all.

If you are refering to when Hemsky picked Varlamov's pocket, Duchene got his stick on the puck.

 

[Mentallydull]

Duchene knocked the puck away from Hemsky

Negative, good Sir! The replays showed that the puck was almost unmoving as Hemsky laid a giant Horcoff right there on the ice.

 

[NeverForget06]

Great game tonight, good to see us control and lead game for 60 minutes. Just a few thoughts I'd like to share:

- Hartikainen and Paajarvi seemed to have alot of chemistry, lots of good play down low in the offensive zone, really good cycle going on there
- Hall was dominant, he was flying out there. Every shift he created chances
- Ebs shot seems unstoppable in between the circles, the guy is gonna be a 40 goal scorer in the next few seasons easy
-J. Schultz played another solid game, was more impressed with him on the defensive side of the puck, shut down the elusive duchene a couple times down low
-Besides the weak wrap around crap, Dubnyk played a very strong game, made a couple big saves on hejduk and duchene in the slot.

 

[CupofOil]

It was nice to get a win but tonight was a big mixed bag....

Eberle and Hall were excellent, constantly pushing the play and creating consistent 5 on 5 pressure. Hall is much better when he keeps it simple which he did tonight although he did get too fancy at times. Eberle was a stud, plain and simple, dat shot on the goal. RNH just seems off, his timing is off and he looks weaker on the puck than he did last season and a bit passive. I wonder if he's playing with some kind of injury because this isn't the Nuge that we all know and love.

Gagner looks really good this season, he is playing with as much consistency as i've ever seen him play with which leads to my next point. It's a shame that he's stuck with Hemsky and Yakupov. I know that each scored a goal but Hemsky looks horrible with the puck this season, just fumbling all over the place and i hate to say it but Yak just doesn't look like an NHLer right now. So many turnovers and he looks lost more often that not. Rookie is rookie so i'm not concerned.

The 4th line was great. THAT'S what we need from a 4th line, really should be the 3rd line. We might have something there with Paajarvi and Hartikainen, they always look good together, Belanger was just riding shotgun. Lets hope they keep it up.
The 3rd line was meh. They did ok i guess.

The defense was solid up until the 3rd when it turned into an all too familiar fire drill.
Whitney looks brutal, Nick Schultz still seems off and Petry and Smid were good at times but suspect at others. Justin Schultz continues to be the most solid defender for the Oilers and while that's good for him, that's not a good sign for the team when he's the best defender. Petry and Smid need to be more consistent and play like a top pairing if this team is to succeed.

One thing that really concerns me about this team is that when momentum goes against them, they have a very hard time stopping it. Dubnyk and some luck prevented this from being a much closer game or even a tie in the 3rd. I hate when they sit on leads, reminded me all too much of a lot of games last season when they got dominated in the 3rd. I hope that this doesn't become a habit because it was ugly there for a good 10 minute stetch against a depleted Avs team.
Anyway, a win is a win. We'll take all the wins we can get.

 

[Wheatking]

Hall got better as the game went on, started being smarter and using his teammates, good to see.

Haiti was in beast mode, hope that line sticks together, was impressed all night.

I think as soon as RNH gets one, the gates all open up.

Glad Yak got the EN goal, he was terrible the rest off the game.

j Schultz looks better and better each game.

I think that's been the story of every game for Hall.

He's looking for a new girlfriend now, right?

I don't know. I think he might just be using her as an excuse

 

[ithxan]

I don't get this community sometimes. HF Oil throws guys under the bus over simple mistakes. Where is the loyalty? We are tired of losing year after year, but there is a difference between critical thinking and *rablerable* grab the pitchforks. Sack up, haters.

That being said, the only player I was frustrated with tonight was Potter. Hemsky had a few dumb plays , but certainly didn't SUCK. No, dont trade him. Hemmer is good.

Positives:

-The Avs commentators. They called it well, seemed quite unbiased. They absolutly love H,RNH,E,Y,and Sh. As one mod commented, "they are gushing over Eberle." Not like the homers in Vancouver. But hey, I'm biased.

-Kid line was fantastic. Halls speed is unbelievable! Eberle is turning into a phenom. RNH was fine tonight. Settle down HF Oil.

-Yak got the empty netter. Nice. Made some silly mistakes but hes a rookie. Hope he isnt hurt. Love this kid.

-Doobie was solid. The goal he let in was soft, but its not like he was beaten from 20ft out. It was a bit of a scramble in front of the net and it squeaked past him. That being said, he had 37 shots tonight. Solid.

-Hartski was fantastic! Tough to beat off the puck!

-MPS was good too. Didnt play a ton, but used his speed and had some chances.

-Horc was good too. So was SMitty. I dont understand the hate he was getting on the boards during gametime. I didnt see him mess anything up TOO BAD. Settle down, boys. Smitts a beut.

-Question mark over WHitney remains. Lets hope he turns it arouns.

-Petrell with a stupid, I mean stoopid penalty.

 

[smokersarejokers]

My buddy had to turn down tickets to the game because his girlfriend didn't want to walk from the parking lot behind the LRT station to Rexall. It was so cold. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a lot of people that found just going to the game a lot of work. It's -20 before the wind chill right now.

Welcome to January. I fear for the future if Albertans don't go to hockey games because it's -20.

 

[RipsADrive]

Hemsky has always had a lot of turnovers. It comes with his style of play. He also scored one and got robbed on another, in case you weren't paying attention.

He did well on the powerplay. I'll give him that.

Doesn't mean he didn't have a crap game though. You say he got robbed or you could say he failed to put away a gimme. Depends on how you look at it.

 

[Cam98]

dominated all third, wow. and still can't score and even strength goal, jesus.

 

[Grod]

Hemsky fanned on the puck, he didn't get robbed at all.

It was knocked off his stick after he forced the turnover and turned the D-man inside out. He had a few too many soft turnovers tonight but trying to discredit his good plays is a little bit far fetched.

 

[tiger_80]

OIlers PP right now is probably up there with SJ. If they manage to improve on the PK, special teams might just make them competitive enough this year.