Oilers win 4-2

[bombers15]

...and 19 pts out of a playoff spot. I get this year's Pacific division is weak with the 2nd and 3rd place teams with 28 and 27 points respectively, but there is a chance.

<insert Lloyd Christmas gif here>

15 technically (32 points was the last wildcard spot).

But yeah, that's a little crazy how out of it we were so early. Hooray for a terrible Pacific Division!

 

[ChaoticOrange]

Nuge didn't play a second on the penalty kill tonight. Which is pretty strange, since he's been a mainstay on it the majority of the season. I wonder if the change will be permanent.

Gotta get his ice-time down somehow.

Interestingly I thought Nuge had his best game in a month tonight.

 

[McHilman]

It's amazing what good goaltending does for a team, Nilsson has been outstanding
Dat goal differential compared to last year.....

Oilers in October 2014: 4-5-1
Oilers in October 2015: 4-8-0
Oilers in November 2014: 2-9-3
Oilers in November 2015: 4-7-2
Oilers in December 2014: 2-8-4
Oilers in December 2015: 3-0-0
Oilers after 28 in 2014-15: 7-16-5, 19 points (-40 GD)
Oilers after 28 in 2015-16: 11-15-2, 24 points (-11 GD)
It comes down to this: After that crazy road trip (0-4-0) to start the season, Edmonton is now 11-11-2. Music! Music? Well, music drifting in the window, just barely audible. Okay! Faint music!

http://lowetide.ca/2015/12/07/morning-in-the-north-country/

 

[McJadeddog]

LOL, that was fast.

Nilsson is 8-7. Not bad

And I'm just going to say it. I ****ing love Teddy Purcell. He's been playing very well for a long while now and deserves some recognition for it. He's earning himself a contract somewhere at the very least.

3 in a row without their entire 2nd line including one of the best players in the league. Is it ok to get a bit excited about the looks of this team when they return?

yeah purcell has been pretty good this year actually, i wouldn't be against another 1-2 year contract for him, not at current rate of course though

 

[Aerrol]

Like Roy and Lander didn't exist. In addition, the same crap was said about Hall when McDavid-Hall and RNH-Hall combos weren't producing. The team needs to stop hammering a square peg into a round hole. The reason why these combos work is because they play the same style:

Hall+Drai play strength game, based on outmuscling others for the puck.
McDavid+Yak play the game based on speed, most of their goals are scored with a quick transition or seconds after a turnover.
RNH+Ebs play a puck possession game, looking for better shot angles.

Some players like Pouliot can play multiple styles but they aren't excelling in any one of them. Their advantage is versatility.

With the above in mind, Hall and McDavid won't work. RNH and Yak won't work either. Not because they are bad players but because you aren't matching their strengths.

A little late to this party, but I love this post. Playing style matters so much for chemistry and creating lines. That's not to say that we might not see chemistry develop later on between these players...but right now it's looking like we've got 3 great pairs to build around, which is a phenomenal position to be in (at forward, anyway).

Also, I really enjoyed this game. Faced paced and exciting. Nilsson was crucial to our win, but the team as a whole played well I thought. Good to see Eberle looking like his old self this game and I also felt we had some good push-back to Buffalo trying to get physical with us.

As someone who was harping on Nilsson's fundamentals earlier on, I have to say that he's done a great job cleaning up on them so far. A lot steadier. Much less flailing. In a similar vein, Purcell has actually looked good the last few games. I wanted him gone so, so badly so good for him for turning it around. I'd accept a cheap short-term re-signing for him if he keeps this up the rest of the year.

I'll add my voice to those impressed by how Sekera has looked the last few games. This is the defenceman I thought we were getting - not a true top-pairing, but pretty damn good puck skills. He's been great at keeping the puck in at the blue line and opening up offensive opportunities either by puck skills or with his shot.

Hopefully we can grab a win or two in the next 5 rough games to stay in it.

 

[Aceboogie]

Also to note, we have improvement this year and done it without either McDavid or Eberle healthy at the same time. Then when Eberle is healthy he has just regained form.

The duo of McDavid/Yak that was scoring at a great pace is both out. And RNH-Eberle are just heating up after being one of the leagues hottest due last season

If Hall/LD duo can keep it up, Ebs/RNH can continue to heat up and then Yak/McDavid can come back from injury and find themselves, our scoring would be crazy

As of right now, Nilsson is a massive part of us winning or even being in games

 

[McJadeddog]

A more consistent Bobby Ryan is probably an 80-90 point player in this league.

I donno. Lot of Oiler fans in here drawing conclusions on Eichel based on one game (where he scored a goal and rifled one off the crossbar). Just think about where Draisaitl was this time last year, compared to where he is now.

Eichel is going to be a star in this league. Probably a superstar. He was up and down tonight, but he's 19 years old.

yeah, i don't know what game people were watching, eichel was very solid all night and was inches from a 2 goal game.... how is this bad? lol great player, and his size/speed combo will give people fits for years and years

 

[Aerrol]

Also to note, we have improvement this year and done it without either McDavid or Eberle healthy at the same time. Then when Eberle is healthy he has just regained form.

The duo of McDavid/Yak that was scoring at a great pace is both out. And RNH-Eberle are just heating up after being one of the leagues hottest due last season

If Hall/LD duo can keep it up, Ebs/RNH can continue to heat up and then Yak/McDavid can come back from injury and find themselves, our scoring would be crazy

As of right now, Nilsson is a massive part of us winning or even being in games

Yeah. As it seems has been the case forever, our defence is still far too porous. We can't expect Nilsson to keep this up forever, as much as I'd love him to. Not really much we can do about that other than hope Chia can swing a trade for Hamonic or some other impact defenceman. That said, I'm kind of hoping we get to see all 3 pairings healthy and playing together before we trade someone away. Not because I think we'd be a better team pre-trade, but because I'd just love to see how much we'd score with 3 lines like that.

 

[oXo Cube]

Eichel reminds me a little bit of Kovalchuk.

You can forget he is even playing and then he wakes up with a crazy good chance out of nowhere.

 

[Aceboogie]

Yeah. As it seems has been the case forever, our defence is still far too porous. We can't expect Nilsson to keep this up forever, as much as I'd love him to. Not really much we can do about that other than hope Chia can swing a trade for Hamonic or some other impact defenceman. That said, I'm kind of hoping we get to see all 3 pairings healthy and playing together before we trade someone away. Not because I think we'd be a better team pre-trade, but because I'd just love to see how much we'd score with 3 lines like that.

I think our scoring could rival Stars once/if everyone is healthy, and the Stars are in first by outscoring everyone even with a below average D. They can outscore those issues

But thats under the assumption 2/3 of the lines play at the peak weve seen them play at the same time, and the other line plays well

We have 71 GF right now, 14th in the league. I think McDavid/Yak would have had 7 goals between them if healthy (since McDavid got injured), RNH/Eberle probaly 8 more goals if Eberle was healthy and didnt come back slow. Both realistic numbers to me. We could be up there in terms of GF

 

[CornKicker]

lol we have already won more games in dec than we did last year

 

[oobga]

lol we have already won more games in dec than we did last year

Maybe Stauffer actually meant 2015 with his 7 wins in Dec prediction

 

[Aerrol]

I think our scoring could rival Stars once/if everyone is healthy, and the Stars are in first by outscoring everyone even with a below average D. They can outscore those issues

But thats under the assumption 2/3 of the lines play at the peak weve seen them play at the same time, and the other line plays well

We have 71 GF right now, 14th in the league. I think McDavid/Yak would have had 7 goals between them if healthy (since McDavid got injured), RNH/Eberle probaly 8 more goals if Eberle was healthy and didnt come back slow. Both realistic numbers to me. We could be up there in terms of GF

I don't disagree with you, but I've been conditioned by this team not to make those statements out loud lest I jynx it/give my friends who cheer for other teams yet more fodder to use against me.
...

That said, we'd really have a top 9 that on paper should rival any team in the league for offensive ability. It'd be really fun to watch happen if they can start firing on all cylinders.

edit:

Maybe Stauffer actually meant 2015 with his 7 wins in Dec prediction

LOL I HAD FORGOTTEN ABOUT THIS. If we make 7 wins in December, someone should tweet him. I bet even he'd see the humour in it - everyone's happy if we're actually winning games.

 

[bombers15]

I think our scoring could rival Stars once/if everyone is healthy, and the Stars are in first by outscoring everyone even with a below average D. They can outscore those issues

But thats under the assumption 2/3 of the lines play at the peak weve seen them play at the same time, and the other line plays well

We have 71 GF right now, 14th in the league. I think McDavid/Yak would have had 7 goals between them if healthy (since McDavid got injured), RNH/Eberle probaly 8 more goals if Eberle was healthy and didnt come back slow. Both realistic numbers to me. We could be up there in terms of GF

They can outscore those issues, and maybe the Oilers could too, but I don't see the point. If you get a really solid defenseman who can play D and also move the puck well, that adds a lot to the offense right there.

 

[DipsyMcDoodles]

They can outscore those issues, and maybe the Oilers could too, but I don't see the point. If you get a really solid defenseman who can play D and also move the puck well, that adds a lot to the offense right there.

But we already have one in Justin Schultz?

 

[Aerrol]

But we already have one in Justin Schultz?

Honestly, I'm a little amazed that Klef and Nurse have developed as well as they have with no real vet mentors here. The Schultz situation really hammered home to me how important good coaching and veteran support is for developing young players.

I was so excited that first season in the AHL and NHL...

 

[Aceboogie]

They can outscore those issues, and maybe the Oilers could too, but I don't see the point. If you get a really solid defenseman who can play D and also move the puck well, that adds a lot to the offense right there.

I agree. I think in the offseason a move for a D has to happen. I think a big trade in season either isnt possible, or wed get hosed, so well have to stand pat till offseason. So I think we MIGHT be able to outscore our problems this season.

Another possibility is that the D core progresses for the remaining 50 games and eliminates the need for a big trade. Maybe Klefbom continues and becomes top pairing able, or Nurse keeps it up and looks ready for big things in 2016-17, Sekera continues to look like the guy we brought him in to be, Davidson becomes a good bottom pairing guy or even #4 and Reinhart rebounds. Or so combo of the above (wishful thinking). And we go into next year with a good D core but very good forward core

 

[Aceboogie]

Honestly, I'm a little amazed that Klef and Nurse have developed as well as they have with no real vet mentors here. The Schultz situation really hammered home to me how important good coaching and veteran support is for developing young players.

I was so excited when that first season in the AHL and NHL...

Sekera is a pretty good mentor for Nurse and Klefbom got some from Petry. But last season he was on an island with Schultz and succeeded. Thats truely amazing hes made it as far as he has

 

[Aerrol]

I agree. I think in the offseason a move for a D has to happen. I think a big trade in season either isnt possible, or wed get hosed, so well have to stand pat till offseason. So I think we MIGHT be able to outscore our problems this season.

Another possibility is that the D core progresses for the remaining 50 games and eliminates the need for a big trade. Maybe Klefbom continues and becomes top pairing able, or Nurse keeps it up and looks ready for big things in 2016-17, Sekera continues to look like the guy we brought him in to be, Davidson becomes a good bottom pairing guy or even #4 and Reinhart rebounds. Or so combo of the above (wishful thinking). And we go into next year with a good D core but very good forward core

All our years of pinning our hopes and dreams on nothing but prospect development have me firmly convinced that this isn't happening...but can you imagine if it did? The rest of the league would just be furious . They'd probably push for an Oilers rule to prevent us from drafting in the top 5-10 for some set period of time.

Sekera is a pretty good mentor for Nurse and Klefbom got some from Petry. But last season he was on an island with Schultz and succeeded. Thats truely amazing hes made it as far as he has

Sekera is a decent mentor, far better than what we've had so far... but I'd really like to see a true top-pair vet dman to teach them. Someone who can really talk about what it took to succeed (not just survive) on the top pairing of a good team. An example would be Gonchar circa 2010-2012. He was still top-pairing when the Pens won that cup (and was key to Letang's development), and I'd say he was still pretty effective up until 2012, maybe 2013.

 

[I am the Liquor]

Eichel reminds me a little bit of Kovalchuk.

You can forget he is even playing and then he wakes up with a crazy good chance out of nowhere.

Not based on last nights game. He was a force. Should have had more than one goal. He is going to be a very good player.

Kovy was a head case.

 

[oXo Cube]

Not based on last nights game. He was a force. Should have had more than one goal. He is going to be a very good player.

Kovy was a head case.

Yeah, I was speaking strictly on his skillset, it was intended to be a compliment.

I'm impressed.

 

[Canovin]

Missed the first period. But good game overall.

With that being said, I like to see more Musil and Yakimov get a call up. And Joey Laleggia when Schultz gets traded.

 

[McDeathbyCheerios*]

Missed the first period. But good game overall.

With that being said, I like to see more Musil and Yakimov get a call up. And Joey Laleggia when Schultz gets traded.

Don't know if it's a temp thing but Laleggia has played forward the last few games

 

[Aceboogie]

All our years of pinning our hopes and dreams on nothing but prospect development have me firmly convinced that this isn't happening...but can you imagine if it did? The rest of the league would just be furious . They'd probably push for an Oilers rule to prevent us from drafting in the top 5-10 for some set period of time.



Sekera is a decent mentor, far better than what we've had so far... but I'd really like to see a true top-pair vet dman to teach them. Someone who can really talk about what it took to succeed (not just survive) on the top pairing of a good team. An example would be Gonchar circa 2010-2012. He was still top-pairing when the Pens won that cup (and was key to Letang's development), and I'd say he was still pretty effective up until 2012, maybe 2013.

I dont think the D discussion above is too far fetched. They are all realistic cases, but extremely hopefult o have it all happen.

Nurse and RR were drafted in same range with same potential. RR ha sreal come into his own, maybe Nurse follows suit soon. Klefbom has already shown some top pairing ability, he just needs to do it conistently. Sekera as well as shown well in past stretch. IMO these 3 are very important and if they can be 3 good top 4 D, with maybe even Schultz playing at a good level, we could be good to go. Vancouver was a top team for several years without a true #1. They did it by committee with 4 good top 4 D, 2 able to play top pairing

This is all bets case scenerio tho

 

[McPuritania]

Ever since Purcell got his stick shortened suggested by Oates, he has played relatively well with Draisaitl and Hall. He deserves every credit for turning his game around so far. I love Yak, but the only player he'll manage to produce with, is McDavid himself. I'll leave Purcell with Drai and Hall. Pouliot joins McDavid and Yak. Khaira slots with RNH and Eberle.

Hall Draisaitl Purcell
Khaira RNH Eberle
Pouliot McDavid Yakupov

That's what I'd like to see as well. And just because McDavid would be on the so-called "third line" doesn't mean he wont get a good chunk of ice time.