Oilers win 4-2

[Replacement*]

That would make next year a contract year too

Yeah, exactly. I'm on board with just a bridge contract for Purcell as he's a replaceable non essential. A one year contract might keep him more honest. I would never commit to a player with such prolonged periods of indifferent play.

I really lack patience with players that "find" their games at convenient times after being underwhelming in the first couple years of a contract. He didn't lose anything, except his motivation, which is curiosly returned.

Sorry, and just a distraction but WTF with Purcells eyes? Try making eye contact with this guy sometime. His eyes are opening and closing and darting around like a pinballs on a bonus score.. Is there some medical condition with this guy or just a nervous tic? Not trying to rude with this but its just odd.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

It's kinda crazy that Perron has more or less fallen off... only 4 goals in 26 games this year.

Purcell has been a nice surprise the past few weeks.

 

[Aerrol]

No doubt. Balanced scoring all over the three lines.

I don't disagree with this, but seeing "three scoring lines" come up again is hilarious to me. It seems like fate - this board has been talking about 'three balanced scoring lines' forever, and we've finally sucked our way into being able to do it. It's destiny!

 

[Evilsports]

I'm trying to not be carried away, but the 3 wins, and against good clubs, has sure elevated spirits. Last night I thought the team played well and is back to generating a lot of chances with their talent. We had a lot of guys rowing. But I'm reminded that that's not always happening on good ship Oiler and that the same club lost, I mean got clubbed, by the Toronto Maple Leafs last night.

The worst foil of this core is at times indifferent effort or player "not on" or "not confident" or "not feeling it". We seem to have more of this going on within this group than most clubs experience. Its not the skill or ability that holds this team back its that theres such a backlog of potential excuses that are known they can draw back on. Not intentionally, I think it just creeps in subconsciously, that I don't always have to be on. You see it with these players from shift to shift, from game to game, or even sometimes from roadtrip to roadtrip.

There needs to be a modicum of inconsistency which is human, but reeled into a degree where it doesn't result in such stark ranges in individual and team play.

I agree.

I feel like for every game we've lost however, due to a lack of confidence, there is also a game that we have lost due to an over abundance of confidence (however fleeting).

Point being, as important as it is to fix the aspect of jaded minds being accustomed to losing, equal energy/time may be needed to mend the idea that a big win means more than just another 2 points on the sheet.

The painful losses for me are the ones where we are coming off of an impressive outing and we follow it up with a cocky/half hearted affair.

Which was conversely what I appreciated so much about the Buffalo game. It had all the markings of a game we could unnecessarily drop. Coming off of a few wins against good teams? Check. Going up against a team that we should be able to beat soundly? Check. The level of compete for this type of game was encouraging to me. Maybe the peaks and valleys are leveling off into a more sustainable terrain?

 

[CupofOil]

I'm trying to not be carried away, but the 3 wins, and against good clubs, has sure elevated spirits. Last night I thought the team played well and is back to generating a lot of chances with their talent. We had a lot of guys rowing. But I'm reminded that that's not always happening on good ship Oiler and that the same club lost, I mean got clubbed, by the Toronto Maple Leafs last night.

The worst foil of this core is at times indifferent effort or player "not on" or "not confident" or "not feeling it". We seem to have more of this going on within this group than most clubs experience. Its not the skill or ability that holds this team back its that theres such a backlog of potential excuses that are known they can draw back on. Not intentionally, I think it just creeps in subconsciously, that I don't always have to be on. You see it with these players from shift to shift, from game to game, or even sometimes from roadtrip to roadtrip.

There needs to be a modicum of inconsistency which is human, but reeled into a degree where it doesn't result in such stark ranges in individual and team play.

As hard as it is to do in the heat of the moment, it's probably best to not be too high during the good stretches and too low during the bad stretches and realize that this is still a bit of a patchwork roster trying to settle into roles with some of the young guys still trying to coax out the bad habits and some of the veterans trying to get back to what earned them a spot in this league so there are going to be plenty of rough patches left to go especially if Nilsson starts to cool off.

This is going to be an exciting team without a doubt when they get healthy but I think we need to keep in perspective how flawed this roster still is and how young it is in key spots. I'd really like it if they got Hamonic somehow. A player like that could really transform the defense and elevate the play of Klefbom who has had to play with a mish mosh of mediocrity.

Regardless, winning begets more winning so if they put together some winning stretches, that could result in a huge spike of confidence despite the roster flaws. Big if though. They are still outmatched on paper most nights.

 

[Dorian2]

It's kinda crazy that Perron has more or less fallen off... only 4 goals in 26 games this year.

Purcell has been a nice surprise the past few weeks.

I'm not surprised at all with Perron's falling off. I posted that was going to happen when he was traded. He'll be good his first year, much like here, and fall of the cliff after that. But I'm happy at how well Purcell is doing as well.

 

[oilz89*]

Gotta keep the momentum.going and hopefully gain some ground. IMO Wednesday is a must win. Then if we can win 3 of the remaining 6 before Christmas were setting ourselves up nice to come out of the break and perhaps chase a playoff spot. Coming out of the break our last 4 games of the year are against pacific division teams. All those are must wins.

LOL bro temper your expectations or you're going to be really disappointed come that time. You can't expect all that to happen lol not even some of the best teams could win all that

 

[TennisBalls]

The biggest thing with this team right now is consistency. They've found a way to beat the leagues best teams, only to get destroyed by the worser teams.

Our defence is not as bad as it seems, our goaltending is now showing to be above adequate. We all know what Hall, Nuge, Ebs and now Drai are capable of, they just have to play with confidence and remain marginally consistent.

I cannot wait for McDavid's line to be healthy, this will be one of the most interesting teams in hockey in a long time.

 

[oilz89*]

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.

I'd keep his time limited. It's helping him. Letestu, Hendricks, Korpi, Lander are fine

 

[oilz89*]

They also won 1 damn game between November 11 and December 27 last season.

God that was depressing.

It's almost like the guys hated their coach and were trying to get him fired or something...

It worked

 

[McAsuno]

It worked

Depressing as hell. Couldn't imagine how the players must have felt losing while having to play under that joke of a coach. Stay the hell away from Eakins.

 

[oilz89*]

it's pathetic...

True. Eichel is a fantastic player. I see him finishing around 50-60 pts. That shot is tremendous and deft at the same time

 

[oilz89*]

yeah eichel looked very good

buffalo is a bad, bad team though... their defence might be worse than ours, and that is saying something

Liking Risto tho. Hell of a dman. They have they're Ekman-Larsson

 

[frag2]

He looks like a young player playing his first year. I'm sure he will turn out to be a very good player one day but he has a long ways to go.

This. Not sure how posters saying he's comparable to Bobby Ryan [currently 26 pts in 27 gp] or my example, Jeff Carter [at one point 84 [86?] in 82gp] is a bad thing.

The hype surrounding him made him inevitably have these high expectations and unfortunately, he hasn't met them the same way McDavid has.

 

[ZJuice]

Sorry, and just a distraction but WTF with Purcells eyes? Try making eye contact with this guy sometime. His eyes are opening and closing and darting around like a pinballs on a bonus score.. Is there some medical condition with this guy or just a nervous tic? Not trying to rude with this but its just odd.

As someone with an intense phobia of being 'noticed', it takes everything in my power not to dart my eyes and keep respectable eye contact. He had a history of being bullied which could of have conditioned him to a fear reaction also.

 

[FamilyGuy716]

Sabres fan coming in peace...

You made us look bad and that's only happened a couple times this season. Looks like you've turned a corner to me. Was really impressed with your team play. Hall and Draisaitl playing together have great chemistry. When McDavid gets back, you're going to be that much better. Hopefully we both make playoff runs this year. Good luck the rest of the season just so it can shut up all the trolls on the main board.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

As someone with an intense phobia of being 'noticed', it takes everything in my power not to dart my eyes and keep respectable eye contact. He had a history of being bullied which could of have conditioned him to a fear reaction also.

I'd never seen that Re: Purcell. Pretty solid revenge, becoming a multimillionaire pro athlete

 

[McJadeddog]

Remaining games in December will be tough nonetheless. Sharks, Rangers, Bruins, Rangers, Blackhawks, Avalanche, Jets, Nucks, and Flames.

- rangers x2, blackhawks are for sure losses
- bruins, sharks, jets are hard games, and the nucks always have our number regardless of how they are playing
- flames and avs are the only games where i would give us the slight edge

if we came out at 4-5 i'd be extremely pleased to be honest

 

[McJadeddog]

Liking Risto tho. Hell of a dman. They have they're Ekman-Larsson

yeah risto looked quite good i thought... the sabres definitely have some pieces... reinhart will be okay as well, should be similar to how RNH turned out for us i would think... not a world-beater, but solid 2nd line player

 

[Senor Catface]

- rangers x2, blackhawks are for sure losses
- bruins, sharks, jets are hard games, and the nucks always have our number regardless of how they are playing
- flames and avs are the only games where i would give us the slight edge

if we came out at 4-5 i'd be extremely pleased to be honest

Chicago is very beatable and far from "sure losses."

They've only won 14 out of the 27 games.

That's only 3 more than the Oilers.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Sabres fan coming in peace...

You made us look bad and that's only happened a couple times this season. Looks like you've turned a corner to me. Was really impressed with your team play. Hall and Draisaitl playing together have great chemistry. When McDavid gets back, you're going to be that much better. Hopefully we both make playoff runs this year. Good luck the rest of the season just so it can shut up all the trolls on the main board.

Hopefully there isn't a cliff around the corner this time.

Thanks for the comments. I feel like if your goaltending tandem was healthy you'd be a few spots higher in the standings. You're certainly a better team than the Flyers ahead of you.

 

[tempest2i]

Depressing as hell. Couldn't imagine how the players must have felt losing while having to play under that joke of a coach. Stay the hell away from Eakins.

Looking back on it, I really hope that ends up being rock bottom for the team.

Admittedly it'll be hard to top that dark period. The team was dead last in the league, they couldn't win and it seemed like they gave up as soon as the first goal went in. The fans booed them mercilessly as they walked back to the dressing room between periods. Hell, even Fasth lost it and started dressing the team down while on the bench during that period.

Ugh.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

Hopefully there isn't a cliff around the corner this time.

Thanks for the comments. I feel like if your goaltending tandem was healthy you'd be a few spots higher in the standings. You're certainly a better team than the Flyers ahead of you.

Good call. I think the Flyers and Canucks are the next generation of bottom feeder.

 

[Aceboogie]

Liking Risto tho. Hell of a dman. They have they're Ekman-Larsson

Risto is damn, damn good. Im jealous

 

[McFlyingV]

Good call. I think the Flyers and Canucks are the next generation of bottom feeder.

I don't think the Flyers are anything like the Canucks. Gostisbehere looks like a solid middle pair power play guy who could be a 50 point dman down the road, Sanheim and Provorov both have top pairing potential and I wouldn't be surprised to see one of them turn into a #1 D, and then Morin who I'm not very high on still looks like he could be a Coburn replacement. I also really like Konecny and think he'll be a good 2nd liner at worst.

I think as long as Mason is playing well, and Giroux, Voracek, and Simmonds are still around and playing at a high level, that team will be very good in 3 or 4 years, whereas the Canucks will be at the bottom of the league trying desperately to restock the cupboards.