Post-Game Talk: Mike Smith beats Hutch. Oilers win 3-2

[Twine Tickler]

I never want to hear anything about unlucky bounces when their second goal was going to go 8 feet wide and hit turris and went in.

at the end of the day, they made their luck on that play. Obviously its a lucky goal, but they won the battle on the wall, and Turris was driving the net as he should be. Obviously a very tough bounce, but if we win that battle on the wall we win the game. Game within the game

 

[egd27]

Preferably in the playoffs
Tor vs Edmonton (I truly think half that board would commit suicide if they lost out to us)
WPG vs MTL (avoid potential god mode Price or Helle in the first round)

Tor vs WPG (only makes sense to have the best two teams in the division duke it out for the crown)

Nah, I want to see a Leafs-Habs series. Likely 90% of the posters here have never experienced one......it's awesome.

(though probably less so without the fans in attendance)

 

[hobarth]

Getting a point with our third string goalie in net.

Meh. Managed to get 3/4 from the Oilers, after taking 6/6 from them in the previous series.

Im totally fine with being done with them for the year now lol

More like 3 out of 6, I'd say.

 

[hobarth]

Magic number to make the playoffs is 14

I think TO will need 30 more points to be considered a serious Cup contender.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

I don't understand something about Rielly. Is it a mental thing when it comes to playing actual Defense or something else? I mean, I get you can't teach someone to be a naturally gifted scorer or passer..but can't you learn to defend? I just shake my head with him sometimes...he really doesn't know how to defend ...like at all. I would have thought Babs first few years of reigning him in would have helped him tremendously on the defensive side but it looks like he either doesn't understand or just can't do it.

Another guy is Dermott...he is so obsessed with the zone entry break-up that he puts himself in all kind of awkward positions...and taking the puck out of the D-zone with him almost always ends up in a dump in. He can skate nicely...but is weak along the boards and useless offensively. Craig Button was right about him when he said that just because you skate well as a D-man doesn't mean it will translate to points. I think most of his points in Eerie were from playing with McDavid.

With Rielly he was always given green light his whole life to rush da puck ... so it is in his learned DNA ... i think after babs left (he pushed hard for defense first approach) da org has told him you are useless to us on defense so create offense every time you can ... and he is pushing up way too much like last night where he cost us 1st goal against ... he already knows he s*cks on defense so only way he can improve his narrative is to create offense ... and offense gives you a good contract and fat paycheck in show ... to me if he scored on one of his 2 glorious chances last night then it would all be swept under da table except for guys like me who watch defenders closely ... bottom line is he is weak physically (not athletically weak but power weak) and his shot is so bad that tenders can easily make saves on him so to me although I love his leadership skills and skating I think it is time to move on from him when trade value is high

Dermy is a little different story ... although I do not think he has developed as much as he should have this year under Bogo ... maybe he is not smart enough to learn .. this is what needs to be assessed with him in a very deep dive ... he has da skills ... he has de heart ... he will take a bullet for team ... but does he have da mental capacity to learn and grow his defensive awareness and positioning ... every day that goes by where he does not pick it up it worries me ... but also remember it takes 5-7 years to develop an NHL vet D with skills on average ... offensive only guys make it faster on 3rd pairs too

 

[Twine Tickler]

Preferably in the playoffs
Tor vs Edmonton (I truly think half that board would commit suicide if they lost out to us)
WPG vs MTL (avoid potential god mode Price or Helle in the first round)

Tor vs WPG (only makes sense to have the best two teams in the division duke it out for the crown)

I think from the 4 teams that looked poised to make the Playoffs in the North i'd like to see this exactly. Play the oilers in R1 and hope MTL beats WPG. or vice versa (MTL R1 and EDM R2)... I really think the oilers and Jets are comparable in difficulty. MTL on the other hand would need Price to really steal a series, which he can. But Toronto has been the class of the division all year, and I have not seen anything to think otherwise. Even in the losing streak TBH. WPG would be our toughest matchup I think. They have the deepest roster outside of TOR, but their D is a tire fire. If they find a way to protect the house when they get a lead, they could easily win a series. EDM has 2 game breakers that can win games on their own, and really could blow a game open if the game has a lot of PP's. Which is likely not going to happen in the Playoffs. I'd much rather go through EDM, as we have shown that we can keep Mcdrai off the scoresheet a couple times this year already. Which all but guarantee's you the win. Even when they have found the scoresheet, we still have found a couple ways to win. Not to mention we played hutch in 3 games against them and still took 6/9 games against them.

 

[Clark4Ever]

Some Oilers fans are really delusional in thinking that their team deserved to win last night. The truth is they didn't really deserve a single point in the last 2 games based on the run of play.

Mike Smith is the one and only reason we didn't humiliate them on the scoreboard again the last 2 games.

 

[horner]

Love Gallys game last night .

Coach Mathews and Marner work great with Hyman , should have had 4 goals.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Some Oilers fans are really delusional in thinking that their team deserved to win last night. The truth is they didn't really deserve a single point in the last 2 games based on the run of play.

Mike Smith is the one and only reason we didn't humiliate them on the scoreboard again the last 2 games.

Oh well, we will just need to run them out of the building in the playoffs.

 

[Thissiteisgarbage]

How did Hutch have a decent game? Oh yeah, he didn’t allow a goal in the first 5 minutes and none went through him. But how many great saves did he make? Smith makes a save on the best goal scorer in the league on a 2 on 1 and Hutch allows a goal by a defenceman on a 2 on 1. We really lower our standards when that sieve is in net.

We really are lucky we earned a point but that’s not because of Hutch. The Oilers really had no good scoring chances. They should have shot more from anywhere on the ice.

He did OK for a guy that under ordinary circumstances, wouldn't be playing in the NHL this season. No one is claiming he's a star...??

 

[ToneDog]

Yeah, just like Sakic should have been fired last year, right?

The situations are different. We have two goalies who have not been able to stay healthy. Sakic's goalies went into the playoffs healthy and went down. Let's see if Sakic learned anything from last year's playoffs.

Dubas knows his goaltending situation. If he knows Andy won't be 100% for the playoffs and stands pat, he deserves to be fired if they bow out in round 1. Of course 100% you disagree.

 

[ToneDog]

That seems to have been a one off in terms of goal scoring. He's going to get assists, particularly on this team... but that 20 goal season was more than double any previous year, or anything since. If you can pick up Ekholm, and move Rielly before the expansion draft, you do so.

Starting to agree. If he can't produce enough offence, we might be better off with a better defensive dman.

 

[ToneDog]

If it were up to me, I'd be looking to send Fred the other way in a move for a goalie. That would create a fair amount of cap space and we don't want Fred hanging around as a potentially disgruntled third wheel anyway.

Fred's actual salary at this point is minimal and any team looking to move a decent goalie at TDL probably doesn't mind taking on his cap. We can add sweeteners as needed.

Is there a goalie out there who checks all the boxes?

• Available in trade?
• Can be fit under cap for more or less what Fred makes?
• Can be part of a solid tandem along with Campbell?
• Could be relied on heavily if Campbell's durability remains an issue?

Those, to me, are the primary considerations. All the better if said goalie wouldn't cost an arm and a leg to acquire (though I'd be willing to trade some high-end assets to solve this problem) and is under a decent contract beyond this year (though a rental situation would be ok too).

Are there any such options? I'll leave that to Dubes to figure out! Unfortunately I suspect he will cross his fingers that Andersen and Campbell can get and stay healthy and get the job done. My belief is that this game plan will result in failure.

Dubas might have to sweeten to move Andersen at this point. Keep saying Sakic is looking for goaltending depth. Waiver pickup Johansson might not be the answer there. Go big or go home Joe.

 

[Sniper99]

I think its pathetic the idiots that always post in here how the Oiler fans are "losing their minds?" about a certain thing in their GDT and how they want to troll their board but when we lose and ***** about a certain moment in the game or "ref call" for 20+ pages if a fan of that team comes in here and starts trolling they get *****ed at. STFU take the L and move on. Also laugh at the "McDave dives posts" but youll gladly take him on your team when he hits free agency. Some of these guys really need to get a ****in clue. "Oilers fans are obsessed with Matthews" You're obsessed with their gdt.

 

[ToneDog]

Nah, I want to see a Leafs-Habs series. Likely 90% of the posters here have never experienced one......it's awesome.

(though probably less so without the fans in attendance)

Agreed but we better win otherwise the spin from some on this board will be even greater than last year.

 

[Not My Tempo]

I think its pathetic the idiots that always post in here how the Oiler fans are "losing their minds?" about a certain thing in their GDT and how they want to troll their board but when we lose and ***** about a certain moment in the game or "ref call" for 20+ pages if a fan of that team comes in here and starts trolling they get *****ed at. STFU take the L and move on. Also laugh at the "McDave dives posts" but youll gladly take him on your team when he hits free agency. Some of these guys really need to get a ****in clue. "Oilers fans are obsessed with Matthews" You're obsessed with their gdt.

My little less “angry” take is more or less the same as yours. Team boards are meant for homer takes and stuff. It’s part of the fun. I don’t get the need to complain about fanbases, because chances are if I met the posters on the Oilers board irl we’d have a beer and laugh and chat.

 

[egd27]

Agreed but we better win otherwise the spin from some on this board will be even greater than last year.

Spin is already well underway......Andersen, game management, expected goals, blah, blah, blah

 

[napoleon in rags]

at the end of the day, they made their luck on that play. Obviously its a lucky goal, but they won the battle on the wall, and Turris was driving the net as he should be. Obviously a very tough bounce, but if we win that battle on the wall we win the game. Game within the game

If my memory serves me right, the entry on that goal had Yamamoto chipping it in past Rielly. I was screaming for Rielly to take that SOB into the boards and turn him into a greasy smear, damn the penalty. As it turned out, he should have listened to me. It would have been worth it.

 

[Dekes For Days]

The situations are different. We have two goalies who have not been able to stay healthy. Sakic's goalies went into the playoffs healthy and went down.

Except they're not. They're amazingly similar. The only thing that's really different is your personal pre-conceived feelings about the GM. Grubauer was injured in mid-February and didn't return for the rest of the season. Their other goalie was an unproven goalie who had never played in the playoffs. The only move they made was getting Hutchinson. Hutchinson ended up starting game 7 for them and lost. By your own stated claim, that means Sakic should have been fired.

Of course, it's ridiculous to fire GMs over such arbitrary things, like not having an elite 3rd goalie after multiple goalies get simultaneously injured, but that's the standard you set, that you're now trying to backtrack on because you realized that it applies to a GM you like in Sakic, and not just a GM that you're trying to create reasons to fire, like Dubas.

 

[ToneDog]

Except they're not. They're amazingly similar. The only thing that's really different is your personal pre-conceived feelings about the GM. Grubauer was injured in mid-February and didn't return for the rest of the season. Their other goalie was an unproven goalie who had never played in the playoffs. The only move they made was getting Hutchinson. Hutchinson ended up starting game 7 for them and lost. By your own stated claim, that means Sakic should have been fired.

Of course, it's ridiculous to fire GMs over such arbitrary things, like not having an elite 3rd goalie after multiple goalies get simultaneously injured, but that's the standard you set, that you're now trying to backtrack on because you realized that it applies to a GM you like in Sakic, and not just a GM that you're trying to create reasons to fire, like Dubas.

OK if that was the case with Sakic, then he and Dubas should have learned something from it. The other difference is Sakic in Denver probably did not feel any heat. Dubas will not be as lucky under the same scenario. Shanny has been here for 7 years. He should be on the hot seat if they lose in round 1.

 

[namttebih]

I guess they can say the same for the 2 game series we played

NHL=joke

 

[Dekes For Days]

OK if that was the case with Sakic, then he and Dubas should have learned something from it. The other difference is Sakic in Denver probably did not feel any heat. Dubas will not be as lucky under the same scenario. Shanny has been here for 7 years. He should be on the hot seat if they lose in round 1.

Not sure what you think Dubas is supposed to be learning from. His goalies were healthy last playoffs, and there's really no indication that they won't be this year. Both Dubas and Sakic are secure in their jobs, and GMs aren't fired for such ridiculous and arbitrary things. For the record, Sakic has been with the Avalanche organization since 2011 (longer than Shanny has been here), and GM for longer than Dubas.

 

[57 Years No Cup]

I once “expected” to go out on a date with Mary , the hottest girl in HS , but alas I ended up with her sister Fred, at least I thought it was her sister ? ......could have been Lola though
life’s a bitch

Dude looks like a lady.

 

[ToneDog]

Not sure what you think Dubas is supposed to be learning from. His goalies were healthy last playoffs, and there's really no indication that they won't be this year. Both Dubas and Sakic are secure in their jobs, and GMs aren't fired for such ridiculous and arbitrary things.

Sure if he thinks Andy will be healthy by playoff time, roll with it. That is what I would do and am hoping that will be the case. My issue is if he knows Andy will not be ready by plaoff time and rolls with Campbell and Hutch and they lose in round 1, he should be held accountable, especially if Campbell does not show that he can play more than a few games in a row.

 

[Dekes For Days]

My issue is if he knows Andy will not be ready by plaoff time and rolls with Campbell and Hutch and they lose in round 1

So basically, your issue is a made up scenario about something that hasn't and likely won't ever happen... that's also different from what you originally said... Hmm...