Edmonton Oilers Stopped By Playoff-Ready Jets
There is little doubt in my mind that the Edmonton Oilers were defeated, Monday night, by a better team. The margin was not quite as wide as the score suggests, nor were the Oilers nearly as bad as the hyperventilating masses would lead you to believe.
The Winnipeg Jets are a good team, that (if they sneak into the post-season, and get the goal-tending that they did in Edmonton) could go a round or two in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, this Spring. 9 Things:
9. The Jets possess a withering for-check. The Oilers D actually hung in there o.k., all things considered. Andrew Ference went down a few shifts in. It hurts to lose your grittiest defender against a team like this. It forced Justin Schultz to play a whopping 28:21. He was very good, against a team that should eat him alive…but didn’t.
8. The Edmonton Oilers out-shot the Jets 34-24, yet lost 4-1. I’ve heard all of the “Yeah, but most of them were from the perimeter” comments. Actually, 12 of their shots were from the slot. So much for that arguement. The real problem was that The Oilers had the 2nd best goalie tonight. Ondrej Pavelec was superb.
7. Less than a half-dozen shifts in, The Edmonton Oilers lost their best face-off man (Boyd Gordon) and their most experienced defender (Andrew Ference), both men from your 1st PK Unit. the Jets proceeded to score 2 power play goals. Roll out all of the fancy stats you like, folks, in a 4-1 decision…that is the game, right there. Oh, and the Oilers were 36% on the dot.
6. O.K., lets talk about “The Shift”. Nikita Nikitin was on the ice for a 3:29 shift. Almost the entire time, the Jets had the Oilers penned in, or Nikitin was too distant from the far player’s box to safely change. Watch the tape, I did, several times over. For all his warts, Nikitin held it together then. Amazing. Good thing he’s in shape.
5. It is time to move Taylor Hall up a line. I was just fine with him working out the rust with Anton Lander and Andrew Miller. But if I am Todd Nelson, I now swap he and Teddy Purcell. It continues to be obvious that Nail Yakupov and Derek Roy have chemistry, and Hall has a good history with Yak. More on #4 in a minute…
4. When you are a 21 year old D-man in the NHL, with 68 games on your resume, and you play 25:00 per night…you will make the odd mistake. The one Oscar Klefbom made, an ill-advised blue-line pass to a covered Justin Schultz, ended up in his own net. When you demand Darnell Nurse be in Edmonton next year, remember that play, O.K.?
3. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was very good again tonight, and full value for his 3rd star selection. He played just shy of 20 minutes, registered 3 hits (he was very physical), 2 shots, a goal…and was Plus 1 on the night. His all-around game continues to round out in impressive style. What a player.
2. Roster-wise, the Oilers could be in a tough spot. They play Colorado Wednesday, but if Gordon and Ference are out, what do they do? Aulie (ugh) can sub in for the Captain. But who plays center? The OKC Barons finished Sunday’s game with 8 forwards, and Brad Hunt (BRAD HUNT!) played center in the 3rd Period. None of the other injured NHL players are ready to return, and your AHL club can barely ice a team. Oh yeah…and they play Wednesday, next, too.
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Blackhawk Up
1. O.K. Lets talk about Taylor Hall. Honestly, I could hardly believe some of the dim, ill-informed vitriol that I encountered on Twitter & the open-line shows tonight. For all the smart hockey fans in this city, there sure are some real “winners”. But I find it absolutely abhorrent that SportsNet commentator Corey Hirsch would attempt to chase the best Edmonton Oiler since Doug Weight out of town. Excuse me: The kid scored 80 points last year, on a bad team, just missed 20+ games with a broken ankle, for pity sake, and the best the former Portland Pirate, Malmo Redhawk and Kassel Huskie can come up with is “he’s not developing”?? 29 other teams would line up to take this “non-developing” player, and he is still only 23 years old. 23!!!
For the love of god, Corey Hirsch, would you please give your big, hairy head a shake, and come to your senses, before you plunge all of us over the cliff like so many Buffalo (and I don’t mean the Sabres)?