Pre-Game Talk: Oilers @ Blues - Sunday November 14

[tardigrade81]

Need to play their A game, hopefully they’re ready to go. It was nice to see a stronger start but they coasted too much during the game (in context of back to back and 3 in 4 it’s understandable but needs to be avoided)

I’d like to see Tippett run forward pairings, credit to @KeithIsJustOkay for giving the idea of this:

x - McDavid - Pulju
Hyman - Draisaitl - x
Foegele - Nuge - x
x - Ryan - Sceviour

Fill X with complimentary third player, whoever works best / grabs each spot of Yamamoto, Kassian (RW), McLeod, Benson, Perlini (LW).

This is what they should be now that they have cushion. Spread the wealth and see how it goes. If it doesn’t work, stack the top 2 lines and construct the best possible 3rd line and mostly run those 3 lines until injuries come back.

D system needs some tweaking as well

Foeg and RNH will make noise. Book it.

 

[Delicious Pancakes]

The answer rhymes with Barey Trice.

Of course...fairy vice...I knew something supernatural must be at play.

 

[Spurdo]

My face when I realize God exists

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Game starts at 5pm MST

Oilers please make a note of it.

They all voted to stay on MDT which explains a lot.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

My face when I realize God exists

What did she tell you?

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Need to put in a strong effort from start to finish.

Some consistent goaltending would be nice too.

 

[LTIR]

Standings are so close together despite our hot start.
Lose to STL and we could be 9th in West (ie out of playoffs spot) by the time we play our next game.

 

[Snipes45]

Standings are so close together despite our hot start.
Lose to STL and we could be 9th in West (ie out of playoffs spot) by the time we play our next game.

We also have games in hand on people behind us

 

[TheNumber4]

Curious to see how we'll stack up against a pretty good Blues team. They seem to have cooled off a bit from their hot start though. But we've also been playing like garbage lately, wins included. McDrai points are nice. But I want/need to see this depth scoring get going.

 

[Spurdo]

What did she tell you?

I'm not telling

 

[Spawn]

Time for a win.

Preferably one where we don't need to come back from behind going into the 3rd period.

 

[tardigrade81]

Tough test. We got this.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Some consistent goaltending would be nice too.

It would, but if we want to be a great team we need to be able to win games when our goaltending is suspect in the regular season.

 

[Dakkon]

Ok Oilers show up tonight at puck drop please! It shouldn’t be hard to get outta bed for this game, the blues are one of the better teams in the west and coming off a loss last night will likely make them play with a chip on their shoulders so the Oil need to bring their A game tonight for a full 60 min effort.

 

[McDrai]

I won't have time to watch this tonight which should result in an Oilers win

 

[PaPaDee]

First losing streak of the season. 5-2 Blues.

 

[tardigrade81]

My face when I realize God exists

Heard he’s a decent guy.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Some consistent goaltending would be nice too.

I'd like to win the lottery too.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

Big game.

 

[tardigrade81]

Haven’t followed the Blues much this year. They have a nice record. Should be tough. They usually have a solid defence too.

 

[LemmyUlanov55]

I won't have time to watch this tonight which should result in an Oilers win

Yup, same. Watched the DET, BOS & BUF games live, the bad jinx which I seem to be won't watch against the Blues, I guess that would be a W then..

 

[doulos]

Team is getting outcoached on the road, but we'll see what happens.

 

[alphahelix]

The Oilers need to trade Barrie to realize their full potential. The opportunity cost has already been... costly, and will only be magnified going forward. If Evan Bouchard had Tyson Barrie’s PP minutes he’d be leading the NHL in D scoring. And we’d still have Bear to run on ES. This has been a mis-step (despite the great discount that Tyson Barrie gave us based on points production value), but when we need that 4.5 mil to upgrade goaltending or retain Puljujarvi, it will be catastrophic to have him still on the team. He also is most likely going to be a liability preventing this team from advancing deep into the playoffs, and I say this fully recognizing that he did manage to step up his game last year in crunch time. He is just a guy who has to play above his level to keep his head above water defensively. It’s never going to be easy with him. If Holland were a genius, he would have traded him last TDL. If Holland is reasonably intelligent, he’ll find a way to either flip him for a more reliable RD at the TDL this year, or include him in a package to land a goalie or middle 6 F while adding a veteran defensive RD rental to take his place.

There, I’m on the record again. If Tyson Barrie wins the conn smythe feel free to dig this up and crucify me. I’m just calling it the way I see it.

 

[BoldNewLettuce]

Heard he’s a decent guy.

what if he was one of us?

i mean....what if he was just a stranger on the bus?

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

It would, but if we want to be a great team we need to be able to win games when our goaltending is suspect in the regular season.

Great teams don't have average or even suspect goaltending.

Really good teams do however and I think we are a really good team, but not at the level of great until we address the goaltending.