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Post-Game Talk: Oilers def. Canucks in season opener, 5-3 (Pettersson, Miller, Kuzmenko)

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There's alot of good things but it does feel like the sky is falling. Especially losing to the Oilers like that.

Kuzmenko looks good, some of the D were good, EP looks good, Demko looks good.

Hopefully this is just a 1 off with the PK against McDrai, but... Ugh, feels like what were used too
 
It's early.....but I'm starting to seriously wonder whether or not Horvat gets his extension or even if he finishes the year in Vancouver.

It there's help out there for their blueline, then it's something they have to at least think about. At this point, Bo is their #3 center by a fair margin.
 
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We looked really good 5 on 5.

I think our PP has the potential to get better.

That PK is still god awful and does have me fairly concerned. Granted, the Oilers are the Oilers and so I'm willing to see how our PK does against other teams...........but damn.

And to think - I was going to come on here to start trolling Oilers fans after our 2-0 lead. :'-(

Yes, the refs made a major gaffe on the non-call to Hughes but the Canucks showed absolutely no backbone after the 3-1 goal. That's concerning.
 
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MS said:
That was a f***ing strange game. We were easily the better team at ES for basically the whole night, outshot and outchanced them badly. But we caught a terrible break - we probably won't get a worse blown call than that all year - and our special teams were rancid. And their goalie was really good including stopping two breakaways that would have sealed the game.

- PP just awful. Edmonton is playing tick-tack-toe for high-percentage tap-ins. We're trying for low-percentage Petey one-timers from 40 feet away. Just totally ineffective and looked frazzled by their high-pressure PK.

- after all the worry about the defense pairings ... they were basically really good. Burroughs-Stillman held up really well. Burroughs needs to play more - he's really developing as a player and looks like he can handle heavier minutes. And he couldn't do worse on the PK than the guys playing there. Stillman made a good first impression - skated well, didn't make any obvious errors.

- Poolman - to his credit - played one of his best games as a Canuck. Pressed the play well, much better than usual with the puck on his stick. OEL is solid but so passive and his passivity kills him on the PK.

- Hughes was probably the defender who had the roughest night. Poor on the PP, weak on the winning goal.

- Kuzmenko is really, really good. He's probably going to push 70 points this year. So smart with the puck. He and Pettersson need a better linemate than Hoglander, though. Hoglander worked but doesn't think the game on the same wavelength. Garland or Podkolzin needs to be there.

- JT Miller was either great or horrible. Two great plays to create goals. Lots of terrible passes. Iffy effort on winning goal. But his wingers weren't great. Boeser probably gets some slack because he missed the whole preseason but on the other hand it didn't look any different from last year.

- Horvat stunk. Looked totally disengaged. Probably the most disappointing player on the ice. Podkolzin was doing his best to carry that line and played really well. Garland didn't have his best night.

- Aman and Lazar worked hard and did what they were supposed to do. Joshua needs to be much better if he's going to stay in the lineup.

- Demko made some good saves but overall did not look his best. Was outplayed by the guy at the other end.

Weird amount of negativity here. If they play that exact game most nights, they'll win a lot of games. Edmonton are a very good team and we mostly outplayed them.
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Excellent summary and this is my sentiment as well. Very strange game and a few unlucky breaks that broke our back. Overall, we outplayed them. PP definitely let us down and negated much of the momentum we were building at 5 on 5. Edmonton capitalized and we didn't. We play that same game and we win far more than we lose. Horvat is usually a slow starter but god did he look like he was lumbering around out there. Botched multiple grade A chances and had no real purpose to his game. Hoglander just doesn't have the skill to hang with Kuz and Petey. Would like to see Podkolzin on that line as it could really pop.

Overall, no reason for doom and gloom. If anything, based on the first half of the game, I'm pretty excited about the potential of this top 9 and their ability to dictate the play at evens. I anticipate a convincing W on Saturday.
 
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Reverend Mayhem said:
One last thought tonight. Friedman says any number for Horvat that doesn't start with at least $7M is dreaming. My question is this: Is Horvat only $1M AAV at most away in terms of value than Miller? It's ludicrous.
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I guarantee Elliotte is only talking to Pat Morris and getting an inflated number. There has been zero leaks about trades or contracts here, just insiders throwing shit at the wall or pumping agent rumors. When the Horvat story is resolved either re-signed or traded, every insider will be caught with their pants down.
 
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Just A Bit Outside said:
It’s pretty apparent that special teams aren’t easy to fix because the PP was atrocious and the PK picked up where they left off last year.

It will continue to cost them games.
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I think the most important thing to improve is the PK. I think the PP only has to be about mid league-wide. The PK cannot be in the bottom half of the league. Absolutely not.

I am hoping Mikheyev + an adjusted strategy on the PK will help it along.
 
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@MS - great analysis. I hear you with regards to the negativity, but my biggest concern about tonight was our absolute lack of push back after the 3-1 goal. Once the Oilers scored after that non-call to Hughes, the game completely changed. 5 on 5 play aside, that's not the stuff of champions. I'm willing to see how our PK looks against other teams, but that PK was just god awful. PP has talent but was just too predictable.
 
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Breakers said:
Can you even realistically pay Horvat if Kuzmenko has a strong start to the season?

Your cap would be absolutely screwed
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As it stands, you can probably keep one of Kuzmenko/Horvat, and the remainder can either go to Hoglander or a modest D upgrade.

If you can move on from 1 of Myers, OEL, Garland, or Boeser...keeping both becomes realistic. But again, no other upgrades. So really you want to move two of them.

I'm assuming we're stuck with Pearson, Poolman...
 
rypper said:
I guarantee Elliotte is only talking to Pat Morris and getting an inflated number. There has been zero leaks about trades or contracts here, just insiders throwing shit at the wall or pumping agent rumors. When the Horvat story is resolved either re-signed or traded, every insider will be caught with their pants down.
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The thing about that is (and I agree), I think there are teams out there that would easily shell out money in that ballpark to Horvat...for whatever reason. I don't think that's something to lament, it's something to be grateful for, and something to look at as an opportunity.
 
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Ruthervin said:
@MS - great analysis. I hear you with regards to the negativity, but my biggest concern about tonight was our absolute lack of push back after the 3-1 goal. Once the Oilers scored after that non-call to Hughes, the game completely changed. 5 on 5 play aside, that's not the stuff of champions. I'm willing to see how our PK looks against other teams, but that PK was just god awful. PP has talent but was just too predictable.
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I … don’t really agree?

I thought we had a lot of good shifts and quality chances at 3-1 and kept padding the shot differential. And then took a penalty and 10 seconds later it’s 3-2. And then played really well again only to get sunk by the terrible PP and SHG.

It didn’t feel like the typical blown lead to me where the team sagged and lost momentum and the opposition took over. It was just pure crap special teams. And a brutal blown call.
 
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MS said:
That was a f***ing strange game. We were easily the better team at ES for basically the whole night, outshot and outchanced them badly.
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Agree with most of your take, but not this. Edmonton really took it to us at ES in the 3rd. Whether it was them turning it up a notch, our D getting tired, or the team rattled from the bad bounces, not sure.
 
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Nurse needs to be suspended for targeting the head

Will he ?

Nope

Is Sutherland a horrible ref?

Will he ever be canned by the NHL?

Nope
 
Is Dermott a good PKer? Could really use a better alternative to OEL on the left side.
 
Ruthervin said:
5 on 5 play aside, that's not the stuff of champions.
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That makes total sense to me considering how the team right now is built. It's like in college when I'd go to an exam after a night of cram time and people would ask if I'm ready for the test and I would say "I'm certainly here and planning on taking it, but I'm not ready."
 
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Burke's Evil Spirit said:
Agree with most of your take, but not this. Edmonton really took it to us at ES in the 3rd. Whether it was them turning it up a notch, our D getting tired, or the team rattled from the bad bounces, not sure.
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Edmonton had their best stretch in the first 8-10 minutes of the 3rd, for sure, and that was probably the only stretch of the game where they outplayed us.

I thought we’d actually righted the ship, though, and that the 4-3 goal came a bit against the run of play.
 
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