Oilers win 4-2

[karnige]

The lineup has been unaffected since Yak went down, in fact we've been much better. Could just be a coincidence, but I forgot about him being out of the lineup.

because eberle has stepped up.

 

[Aladyyn]

jebus Drai was a horse and made half a dozen good to great plays. Why was the one assist taken away?

Anyway another solid contribution from first line. Nice to see Eberle and Nuge get on the board, Khaira doing very well supporting offense there by winning a puck battle resulting in the goal.

Gotta say it but Sabres are pretty porous. I thought we should have been up about 5-1 in this one at one point. We arguably had better scoring chances shorthanded then the Sabres had in the whole game. Are Sabres always this much of a gongshow defensively?

This was one of our worst game this season. Our LD depth is awful and it especially shows when McCabe has a bad game like he did tonight. Hopefully it gets better when Pysyk is bad, I think that'll be the first time we actually have our top 6 on the ice if no more injuries happen.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Sabres aren't even a good team. They're just fortunate to play in the Eastern Conference. Funny enough, the oilers refused to back down from the sabres in terms of physical play. Gotta love Gionta acting like a tough guy like Kane did. Kane's a straight pos. Maybe he can flash selfies of him flexing with money again. Arrogance.

Small man syndrome...
St. Louis had it, too. Maybe you have to in order to survive in the league at that teeny, tiny size.

But it must seem pretty cute for his wife, when she's being him socks or underwear for Christmas, going down the "Boys 12 and under" size isles in the department stores.

 

[Soundwave]

Sabres aren't even a good team. They're just fortunate to play in the Eastern Conference. Funny enough, the oilers refused to back down from the sabres in terms of physical play. Gotta love Gionta acting like a tough guy like Kane did. Kane's a straight pos. Maybe he can flash selfies of him flexing with money again. Arrogance.

We're not a good team either (yet). Still making a lot of stupid mistakes, Nilsson is just playing stellar and that's the difference.

The one thing that drives me CRAZY about this team is they *always* have 3-4 sequences every game where they have full possession of the puck and fail to get the puck out. It never fails.

Ah well. Winning sure beats losing so I'll take it.

 

[Jeff Lebowski]

WTF? An entertaining game? It's been a while since I've seen one of those. They actually played with a little bit of fire. Nice to see the guys push back when they get pushed around. Playoff hopes are still alive.

 

[Quality Oil]

He still has stamkos potential, but LD is better right now and has been this season. Unquestionable.

Eichel has higher potential tho

Eichel will definitely be a shoot first Stamkos, Gaborik, Iginla type imo. A master of finishing plays off and creating them completely on his own. Eberle is quite like this.

Leon is almost a competent 2 way player at 20 years old. There are very few issues Leon needs to work on - based upon him handling the criticisms he had coming out of junior I have no doubt he will improve his game every offseason. He makes everyone around him better.

I think they have the same ceiling, really, just in different capacities.

 

[Replacement*]

Eichel will be very good. No need to compare him w/ Drai as they are stylistically very different players. Drai is exactly the kind of player the Oilers need; fits like a glove.

Drai is like the answer to someones prayers. Perfect match to what we needed. Didn't much like Purcell with the topline though despite the goal. Purcell also was the cooler on several good looking plays.

That said just ridiculously filthy pass by Drai back to Hall and with him knowing what play would develop from there. Nice 3 way passing play. Did everything but score, great save.

I still feel we could've blown the Sabres out in this one. We sure weren't getting the calls either. lol at Hall kicking the stick out that was used to trip him. That was priceless. Then they nail Hall with the penalty 3 secs later as a Sabre turns into the boards...

like clown officiating

 

[RebuildTheRebuild]

The downplaying of Eichel in here is just gross..

I agree. Its only one game and people downplaying him like crazy. The kid is going to be stud in this league. He was pretty dangerous tonight I thought with that wrist shot alone. He is only 19. He is going to figure this league soon.

 

[Blue Line Turnover]

I feel bad for Eichel... poor guy had a hat-trick in terms of facial trauma: a puck to the face, a few sticks, and ate an elbow.

 

[Up the Irons]

The lineup has been unaffected since Yak went down, in fact we've been much better. Could just be a coincidence, but I forgot about him being out of the lineup.

coincidence. It all goes back to Nilsson's solid/stellar play.


Nice to half more than 1 line score.
Hall is very good at hockey.
The big Saxon's passing is sublime.

 

[syz]

Eichel's shot is elite. He was invisible out there but still could have had a hat trick out of nowhere. At worst he'll be a more athletic Kessel.

Still feel like his speed is overrated. Keep hearing about how he's just as fast as McDavid... doesn't even look close to me.

 

[McPuritania]

haha, ain't that the truth.
HFOil is sometimes sour at the Oilers even after wins.

Actually, sounds like some sour grapes about Eichel in this thread.
The kid is a stud, don't know what people are watching. You could see how tough he's going to be to handle once he figures out the pro game.

I won't poop on Eichel, he's gonna be a stud, but I'm not surprised people are saying things after all the crap we had to listen to about Eichel being way better than McDavid, and how much better the Sabres are, and how their rebuild is super successful and we're gutter rats.

I get it.

 

[Onslow]

jebus Drai was a horse and made half a dozen good to great plays. Why was the one assist taken away?

Anyway another solid contribution from first line. Nice to see Eberle and Nuge get on the board, Khaira doing very well supporting offense there by winning a puck battle resulting in the goal.

Gotta say it but Sabres are pretty porous. I thought we should have been up about 5-1 in this one at one point. We arguably had better scoring chances shorthanded then the Sabres had in the whole game. Are Sabres always this much of a gongshow defensively?

No, not really. That was one of their worst games so far this year. McCabe was especially bad.

 

[voxel]

Carter/Eichel is a good comparison.

I've said D.Strome is the next Bobby Ryan

Draisaitl is our Kopitar

 

[Mr Positive]

We're not a good team either (yet). Still making a lot of stupid mistakes, Nilsson is just playing stellar and that's the difference.

The one thing that drives me CRAZY about this team is they *always* have 3-4 sequences every game where they have full possession of the puck and fail to get the puck out. It never fails.

Ah well. Winning sure beats losing so I'll take it.

I totally agree. Getting these points is so important because it means if we can get our team together we still have a chance to make a run. As it stands today, I don't think we're playing good enough to get a playoff spot and hold it to the end of the season, despite this winning streak.

Having said that, we have been getting better as the season has went on, and when McDavid comes back we will get a big boost there. We could continue to improve.

The next game will be a another good test. The Sharks could hit us hard, or maybe we can step up again.

 

[Replacement*]

This was one of our worst game this season. Our LD depth is awful and it especially shows when McCabe has a bad game like he did tonight. Hopefully it gets better when Pysyk is bad, I think that'll be the first time we actually have our top 6 on the ice if no more injuries happen.

Well don't give the Oil any praise for playing a pretty solid game or anything. We had twice as many chances as Sabres did while they were on the many iffy PP's they got tonight.

Oilers were far and away the better club in this one. How they didn't blow this wide open when they had the 3-1 lead I don't know. They were getting huge scoring chances. Oilers got a bit too cute and fancy on some of them.

 

[Soundwave]

I agree. Its only one game and people downplaying him like crazy. The kid is going to be stud in this league. He was pretty dangerous tonight I thought with that wrist shot alone. He is only 19. He is going to figure this league soon.

Eichel, Draisaitl, Reinhart are going to be stars, Hall already is, RNH is in that mix.

Lots of good players on both sides, and that McDavid kid may not be too bad either

It's all about becoming a good team though, as we've learnt the hard way .... this ain't basketball. You can't just have 3 or even 4 talented young players and think you're going to be a good team on that alone.

 

[Quality Oil]

coincidence. It all goes back to Nilsson's solid/stellar play.


Nice to half more than 1 line score.
Hall is very good at hockey.
The big Saxon's passing is sublime.

I'm happy to accept that. Ideally Yak is on a line with McDavid and this starts to get ridiculous.

 

[McAsuno]

You're all welcome.

 

[Replacement*]

No, not really. That was one of their worst games so far this year. McCabe was especially bad.

Couldn't at all be that the Oilers were going tonight and that the Hall-Drai line is pretty much unstoppable which every team in the league has been figuring out.

Sabres were leaving guys open near the net which is a bad idea playing the Oilers. Just saying but the Oilers were going there with purpose and a lot of good developing plays.

 

[Frank the Tank]

Progress - The Oilers playing at home against the East has become a high percentage chance at getting a win (6-2 record so far).

 

[Soundwave]

I totally agree. Getting these points is so important because it means if we can get our team together we still have a chance to make a run. As it stands today, I don't think we're playing good enough to get a playoff spot and hold it to the end of the season, despite this winning streak.

Having said that, we have been getting better as the season has went on, and when McDavid comes back we will get a big boost there. We could continue to improve.

The next game will be a another good test. The Sharks could hit us hard, or maybe we can step up again.

Still too much stupid hockey to be a legit playoff threat, but we're finally getting great goaltending and some of the lucky bounces that were going against us earlier in the year are evening out, as they tend to.

If McLellan can purge out more of the "stupid" in this team and then you add McDavid back and Nilsson can hold the fort ... then yeah you got something.

 

[Aladyyn]

Well don't give the Oil any praise for playing a pretty solid game or anything. We had twice as many chances as Sabres did while they were on the many iffy PP's they got tonight.

Oilers were far and away the better club in this one. How they didn't blow this wide open when they had the 3-1 lead I don't know. They were getting huge scoring chances. Oilers got a bit too cute and fancy on some of them.

Not denying that Oilers were the better team tonight and definitely could have won by a larger margin. No slight, they looked very good.

 

[NewBoysClub97*]

Davidson is a big reason why we aren't getting obliterated. He has come in and been playing almost flawless hockey 20+ minutes a night. If he faltered, we would be having to play guys like Fayne or Ference every night. His importance needs to be highlighted.

Nurse too. Guy is our #1 D as a rookie.

Yup. Talked about him a few times tonight. He is looking good...Smart and composed and he's not soft. He knows how to make shooting lanes and when to just throw it in the corner instead of a shinpad.

 

[voxel]

Eichel's shot is elite. He was invisible out there but still could have had a hat trick out of nowhere. At worst he'll be a more athletic Kessel.

Still feel like his speed is overrated. Keep hearing about how he's just as fast as McDavid... doesn't even look close to me.

Oilers have been burnt by snipes by Larkin and Eichel this season. Both are big speedy skilled wingers with wicked shots.

If Yak was just that - we'd be set for years.