Post-Game Talk: Same Ol' Oilers

[FlameChampion]

I thought he looked miles ahead of the player he was 2 years ago. Made good decisions with the puck, was hard on Hughes on the forecheck a few times. Set up Turris for a grade A chance in the third.

The whole team looked off ish, but Pulju was among the few on that FWD group who actually attempted to do something.

Yeah its hard to know, my memory is a bit foggy now that its been a couple years. I personally thought JP looked pretty good in his second year. He had 12G-8A-20P in 65 games. He looked like a NHL player (but probably not a #3-4 overall pick) but you could tell he wasnt quite ready. He had a disaster of a third year though, so I think thats what most people remember about him. I had never seen such a large guy get knocked over so easily before and his puck handing was very bad. He didnt look like a NHL player remotely in his third year.

I did like his speed/reach and forechecking last night. I think he could be a really good PK'er. I kinda hope that Tippett tries to find more of a role for him this year, but if we start poorly and are working from behind, its going to be hard for Tippett to try anything new. He didnt get knocked off the puck as easily last night, but I think for a player as big as him, he still lost more battles than he should. His puckhandling was much better but he still had some issues. It could be rust though, a lot of guys had problems handling the puck last night. It didnt seem like a glaring weakness last night compared to others, which is a positive thing I think considering his past.

 

[fireantz]

Mcdavid had literally 3-5 grade A chances. Hit the bar at the end of the game, should have had a penalty shot on his breakaway. And got robbed by Holtby on his other partial break.

If that’s Neutralizing I hope they do that more every game. Because I can guarantee he won’t have that many chances again and not score more.

What they neutralized was puck movement between RNH and McD. Most of his quality chances were solo efforts. Kassian has to work the walls and the other two have to find the seams. Last nite was all about McD in overdrive or they didn’t get a shot

 

[brentashton]

lol, yes

Go 0-3 in a short 56 game season though and 5% of the season is already gone.

 

[tardigrade81]

Agreed.
When is the last time we actually had a goalie that could steal a game for us? I remember Scrivens had that crazy night against San Jose but I think our last legit goalie was Roloson

Yup, I think you’re correct

a game shouldn’t have to come down to your goalie bailing you out...... but it would be nice once and a while to get a Halak playoff type performance for Montreal once in a blue moon lol.

 

[ToeMcDrag83]

Markstrom and Demko beat the Blues and took Vegas to 7. Without those 2 standing on their head, they lose in 5 to St Louis.

Goalie's part of the team.

I don't think we took them light necessarily, but I feel like we were still out-efforted by a good margin

 

[OldManBouchard]

I mean if they don’t there is only 54 games left, so would put them in a tough spot?

I mean come one people, they played bad but it’s game 1. Mcdavid was snake bitten and they had some bad defensive breakdowns that normally get dealt with in the exhibition games.

I’m expecting a better team tonight. I hope at least because I can’t stand Canucks Twitter talking like their team is the best after last night. It’s game 1.

I understand that it's only 1 game. What I'm actually getting at with that comment is we all know what a strong start does for a season. Going 0-2 against the same team not a good look.

 

[McSuper]

Puljujarvi was noticeable in a good way

 

[JAK]

Surprised big Larsson found his way to the podium instead of veering way off to the hallway

He was trying to avoid it and sneak out, he went the wrong way

 

[ijk]

I'm late to this party, but what was Larsson thinking on the 1st goal? Why go for the half-assed hit when Kassian is already covering the player and you have another player coming joining the rush from the middle of the ice.

That was a Dion Phaneuf type of braindead play, and he didn't even fully connect with the hit.

That's a double fail. A Double Dion!

 

[ujju2]

You watch the Nucks and it doesn't seem like they have many useless sods like this in the lineup. unfortunately we added another with Turris. Sure to be disappointing. Ennis was invisible. So many passenger forwards. I thought Archibald might have had his worst game as an Oiler. I mean Pulju was the best bottom player we had. I mean good on him but some others need to be much better.

One game. I get being upset but can we not write off Turris after one game?

 

[MessierII]

I'm late to this party, but what was Larsson thinking on the 1st goal? Why go for the half-assed hit when Kassian is already covering the player and you have another player coming joining the rush from the middle of the ice.

That was a Dion Phaneuf type of braindead play, and he didn't even fully connect with the hit.

That's a double fail. A Double Dion!

Larsson and Jones were an unmitigated disaster in our zone all night. The 4th goal was just as bad where they were both caught high in the zone before the puck came out leaving Boesser all alone out front.

 

[Konami McDavid]

Not much stock can be put in that game. A lot of players looked really rusty. Early games like this are typically riddled with bad decision making and mistakes. Compound that with a lack of training camp. If they are still playing like this in a week, I will start to get scared.

Usually, for the first few games of the season, the team that works the hardest wins, not the team with more skill. This does have me concerned. I though our boys would come out with a fire in their belly. McD's birthday, getting bounced by Chicago in the play-in, and watching someone else lift the cup in their arena should have motivated them, but man were they lackadaisical. Vancouver was attacking the puck all over the ice while our boys were soft on it. Vancouver never gave up on a play, and our boys did.

The PP really let us down tonight as well. There seemed to be no sense of urgency. The pace needs to be quicker, and our boys need to move that puck much faster and more often. Vancouver was able to get back in position after every pass. I expect this to be worked out in the next couple games.

Now, I could not pay full attention to the game, so take what I am saying with a grain of salt. However, when I would watch for 5-10 minute stretches, I saw a team that lacked passion. Sometimes I feel like we are never gonna get a hard working team. This is Edmonton. Our region was founded on hard work. We push tools in mud and snow. We have calloused hands and make a living working through pain. I wish we had a team with the work ethic that everyone who pays to see them has.

Time to put this one behind them, and get ready to put their nose to the grind stone. Time to be relentless.

 

[TB12]

Boeser has a rather punchable face.

 

[McJadeddog]

Go 0-3 in a short 56 game season though and 5% of the season is already gone.

The question was about 2 games in, not 3. Also losing 3 games starts to become a thing, whereas lots of good teams lose 2 in a row. But yes, your point obviously stands that the shortened season makes every game more important.

 

[Arpeggio]

Draisaitl looked incredible last night, very confident with the puck. I think we'll see some goals tonight, because that line was buzzing once they got going.

I didn't really notice Turris at all, he just seemed sluggish. That third line was just nothing, hopefully they can get going. That was the least notable game from Archibald that I've seen in a while.

 

[Stoneman89]

You're going to lose games, I get it. But it was the way we lost that concerns me. Defence looked soft, Tippet still making a mess of the lines, goalie 2nd best, lack of chances by the depth, etc. Same old, same old. The process is the important thing that will eventually drive the result.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Watched the highlights and plus I also saw a bit of the game this morning.

First word that came to mind was sloppy. A bit concerning, considering how much it reminded me of the play-ins. They're trying to make mid-season plays while rusty; not a recipe for success...

Although they made some good plays, that lack of polish had them miss or allowed the Canucks to make a nice play to recover.

The 5 star variety of mistake the Oil made in the d-zone though... Dear god, Tippett likely had an brain aneurysm watching from the bench... Several goals against due to an inability to clear the zone and losing a battle at the blueline; or sloppy coverage in transition, where they whiffed going for all or nothing plays.


Other quick thoughts...

I saw more floating out of guys that I'd expect to be feeling the heat. *Cough* Khaira *cough*

While I thought Kahun had a good game (his lack of finish is concerning though), I'm not sure he's a top 6 option. Gives me the same vibe as Jurco from last year. Hopefully though him, Ennis, Neal, and possibly Benson can play hot potato for the roll.


Considering none of the Canadian teams are physical (outside of Calgary), I think they'd be far better to go small and speedy.

Kahun-Draisaitl-Yamamoto
RNH-McDavid-Kassian
Ennis-Turris-Puljujarvi
Nygard-Haas-Archibald

Maybe swap in Chiasson or Khaira for Ennis if you want some more size beyond just Kassian. Though give that spot to Neal once he's healthy.

Kahun will score some goals. Lets keep in mind Nucks got a great goaltending performance last night. Stoned the Oilers all night, not just Kahun, but Drai and McD. the thing you have to look at is Kahun probably had the 3rd most scoring chances on the team, not bad for a debut, and was also reasonably good on the puck, creating separation from defenders, had a lot of jump, and was hard to contain. He complimented Drai well.

Not covered much but the PP was a bit of a mess. Not really featuring Drai often on right side for the one timer. Best shot on the club and they weren't getting the puck to him there. Nuge as usual taking a few muff shots instead of passing. The execution on the PP was slow, rusty, I thought we made too many passes on our PP breakouts and even negating speed of entry. Just not sharp. This allowed Nucks to be covering everything even a man short.

 

[Drivesaitl]

You're going to lose games, I get it. But it was the way we lost that concerns me. Defence looked soft, Tippet still making a mess of the lines, goalie 2nd best, lack of chances by the depth, etc. Same old, same old. The process is the important thing that will eventually drive the result.

Yeah but as long as we are putting players like Chiasson, Khaira on the ice we are losing in our bottomsix. Chiasson had his moment here but he's slowed down. Khaira was never up to the task. Its really sad in 2021 to still see this type of fill in a lineup.

But hey, we weren't even winning the topline matchup and we loaded the top line with 22M bucks in players. They gotta be better than that. Nobody had a good game on that line. This is the worst opening game by McD ever, but Nuge was atrocious and Kass was just his usual "I got my new contract self"

 

[BoldNewLettuce]

you care about them that much?

I mostly hate sportsnet and tsn actually.

 

[Stoneman89]

Kahun will score some goals. Lets keep in mind Nucks got a great goaltending performance last night. Stoned the Oilers all night, not just Kahun, but Drai and McD. the thing you have to look at is Kahun probably had the 3rd most scoring chances on the team, not bad for a debut, and was also reasonably good on the puck, creating separation from defenders, had a lot of jump, and was hard to contain. He complimented Drai well.

Not covered much but the PP was a bit of a mess. Not really featuring Drai often on right side for the one timer. Best shot on the club and they weren't getting the puck to him there. Nuge as usual taking a few muff shots instead of passing. The execution on the PP was slow, rusty, I thought we made too many passes on our PP breakouts and even negating speed of entry. Just not sharp. This allowed Nucks to be covering everything even a man short.

I have nothing against Kahun on that line, but it's more that we've lost Nuge by playing him with McDavid. I have no doubt Kahun would look good on McDavids line, but we need Nuge engaged and clicking, and that's why he needs to go back with Drai and Yams. After all, I think they were one of the best lines in the league last year when they were together. Nuge looked like he was comatose last night.

 

[Stoneman89]

Yeah but as long as we are putting players like Chiasson, Khaira on the ice we are losing in our bottomsix. Chiasson had his moment here but he's slowed down. Khaira was never up to the task. Its really sad in 2021 to still see this type of fill in a lineup.

But hey, we weren't even winning the topline matchup and we loaded the top line with 22M bucks in players. They gotta be better than that. Nobody had a good game on that line. This is the worst opening game by McD ever, but Nuge was atrocious and Kass was just his usual "I got my new contract self"

McDavid was flying last night, but looked like a nervous teenager when he got in close a few times. He needs to finish for us to have a chance, and I have no doubt that will happen sooner than later.

 

[Drivesaitl]

McDavid was flying last night, but looked like a nervous teenager when he got in close a few times. He needs to finish for us to have a chance, and I have no doubt that will happen sooner than later.

For sure, he had his chances. Can't blame it on him, and I don't. McD was guilty of trying to do it all last night. But look at the linemate performances he was playing with last night. I don't know, from the outset one got the impression his linemates were just not going to be there, and they weren't. It was like he was having to run solo. Seems like he knew that. Its hard to pull a cart with two flat tires.

 

[TheNumber4]

On a positive note: Koekoek was pretty damn good last night. Happy we picked him up, I think he'll establish himself as a bonafide NHLer this year and will earn a long term stay.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Draisaitl looked incredible last night, very confident with the puck. I think we'll see some goals tonight, because that line was buzzing once they got going.

I didn't really notice Turris at all, he just seemed sluggish. That third line was just nothing, hopefully they can get going. That was the least notable game from Archibald that I've seen in a while.

Had identical comments to this. Not sure if Archie is banged up. Didn't look right, normally he always brings it. But Turris looked really slow, nervous, I mean I get it, first game, no exhibition games, new team, he was probably getting confused. Didn't help that the guys that were here were also confused.

 

[Arpeggio]

Had identical comments to this. Not sure if Archie is banged up. Didn't look right, normally he always brings it. But Turris looked really slow, nervous, I mean I get it, first game, no exhibition games, new team, he was probably getting confused. Didn't help that the guys that were here were also confused.

It's a bit of a weird line too. They have to commit to being an aggressive forechecking line, but two of the players really are finesse players whereas Archibald is the only real banger on that line. I'm not sure it's going to work, I think ultimately Turris ends up playing up the lineup on the wing and Kassian moves down. Though Puljujarvi will probably get the first look on McDavid's wing if Kassian falters.