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Post-Game Talk: Oilers ruin the Yzerplan

The Panther said:
Is it really necessary to crap on Skinner after:
-- Skinner just went .950 in his last two games
-- Pickard was good, but "beat" (if novelty OT counts) a club that has missed the playoffs the past 8 years

?
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Less shitting on Stu and more propping up Pickard. Stu has been very good for us in his last 2 starts. We need both guys going if we want to make noise this season.
 
Oilhawks said:
Turtled real fast. I'm guessing he might sue (if he's not too embarrassed to do so) and there will be some firings.
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He went up to the guy aggressively when he gestured that he should leave. The guy also threatened to fight him. IMO he was the aggressor the whole way up until the worker swung at him.
 
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The Panther said:
Is it really necessary to crap on Skinner after:
-- Skinner just went .950 in his last two games
-- Pickard was good, but "beat" (if novelty OT counts) a club that has missed the playoffs the past 8 years

?
Click to expand...
There are some things that Skinner does well that Pickard doesn’t, but athletically it’s not close between the two goalies. It’s clear that Skinner has higher upside as a goalie, but his lateral mobility is poor and I’ll say it whenever I please.
 
CupofOil said:
Holland had his share of f*** ups but, outside of the Pronger trade, the Ekholm trade might arguably be the best Oilers trade ever made at least since the dynasty years for sure. What a beauty, that pass was ridiculous. Despite all the guys struggling out of the gate, Ekholm has remained consistent in being one of the best Dmen in the NHL.
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You nailed it.
The improvement to this defence since Elkholm arrival is almost incalcuable.
Such a dependable high quality dman and the Oilers have him on a bargain contract....and what a play he made on the game winning goal. :thumbu:

Just imagine this defence without him.
Nurse would be on the top pairing. :facepalm:

BTW...what exactly was Nurse doing on the first Wings goal? Watching Kulak battle behind the net with no concern at all for the net front. :shakehead:

First period aside (not sure what happened there) the team looked better in this game. The Pittsburg game was hard to judge because the Pens were just awful. The Wings had a much higher compete level and the Oilers did enough to win.
Still some execution issues (and inconsistency) but things are coming.
The new players are starting to find their place on the team.

Draisaitl had his best game so far. Nice to see.
Podz looks pretty decent on that line. An interesting match with Arvidsson and Drai.

Loved Hymans game today (at both ends of the ice) even thouhg he didnt score.

Really respect Perry. Here is a player that is clearly at the end of his career and he STILL takes it upon himself to defend his teammates. He still has some game left too. Big time respect for him.

The bottom 6 gave up very little in this game and created some chances. Just a matter of time before they start contributing offensively.

Bouchard is playig better as well. Solid game offensivley from him...improved D zone play is coming.
Emberson looks better each game. I hope Knoblauch sticks with him.
Solid game from Pickard.

Im hoping that the back to back games will mean that they dont get off to the same start against Columbus.
 
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guymez said:
You nailed it.
The improvement to this defence since Elkholm arrival is almost incalcuable.
Such a dependable high quality dman and the Oilers have him on a bargain contract....and what a play he made on the game winning goal. :thumbu:

Just imagine this defence without him.
Nurse would be on the top pairing. :facepalm:

BTW...what exactly was Nurse doing on the first Wings goal? Watching Kulak battle behind the net with no concern at all for the net front. :shakehead:

First period aside (not sure what happened there) the team looked better in this game. The Pittsburg game was hard to judge because the Pens were just awful. The Wings had a much higher compete level and the Oilers did enough to win.
Still some execution issues (and inconsistency) but things are coming.
The new players are starting to find their place on the team.

Draisaitl had his best game so far. Nice to see.
Podz looks pretty decent on that line. An interesting match with Arvidsson and Drai.

Loved Hymans game today (at both ends of the ice) even thouhg he didnt score.

Really respect Perry. Here is a player that is clearly at the end of his career and he STILL takes it upon himself to defend his teammates. He still has some game left too. Big time respect for him.

The bottom 6 gave up very little in this game and created some chances. Just a matter of time before they start contributing offensively.

Bouchard is playig better as well. Solid game offensivley from him...improved D zone play is coming.
Emberson looks better each game. I hope Knoblauch sticks with him.
Solid game from Pickard.

Im hoping that the back to back games will mean that they dont get off to the same start against Columbus.
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Nurse did his hot potato thing too instead of just moving his feet when he got the puck early in that play. Just freezes like he is stuck in mud then passes to a guy a few feet away that isn’t in that much of a better spot than Nurse would have been if he just moved his feet when he got the puck. Oh well, survived another night with Nursey stacking some minuses.
 
oobga said:
Nurse did his hot potato thing too instead of just moving his feet when he got the puck early in that play. Just freezes like he is stuck in mud then passes to a guy a few feet away that isn’t in that much of a better spot than Nurse would have been if he just moved his feet when he got the puck. Oh well, survived another night with Nursey stacking some minuses.
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Stuck in mud. That is a perfect description. :nod:
 
guymez said:
Podkolzin had 4 hits in this game. The only other forward with a hit in this game was McDavid.
Wow.
Kane will be a welcome addition.
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I heard at some point that we only had like 7 hits. May have been after 2 periods? Pretty pathetic IMO.
 
Oilhawks said:
That's true, either way he got what was coming, IMO. Too many entitled dipshits around that never "found out"
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It’s amazing how fast an attitude changes when you get smacked in the face. We’ve probably got an entire generation at least that never learned that lesson growing up on the school yard.
 
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Our team is going full shoresy...first set the tone and beat them up in a fight and then win the game.
Love to see it.
 
I can't remember a former league MVP fighting as well as Perry. Lindros maybe? I never paid much attention to him.

edit: Messier? He definitely brought more energy into it.
 
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LevelingSolo said:
Huge bullet dodged there, he has fallen off a cliff and then some
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The guy has been done since he left Ottawa. He was mediocre his first year in San Jose and awful the rest of his time there. The year he recorded 101 points he was a -26. Think about how many goals against you have to be on the ice for to get that stat. The Sharks let him focus on offense to boost his trade value to find a sucker to dump his contract on. He was the last player we needed to add to this team.
 
tardigrade81 said:
You one of them crazy guys that spice don’t bother. I’ve heard of you before 😂

And tomatoes can give me heart burn. Have to watch those too 🤣🤣🤣
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I thought spice didn't bother me - but after trying a few of the "World's Spiciest..." Challenges, I can confidently say I do feel it, just takes a few more orders of magnitude for it to kick in. 😂

The chocolate wasn't bad, but the chip legit made me think I was going to die. 😂 Won't be doing that shenanigans again. The toilet afterwards...

But I do confidently drown everything I eat in some sort of hot sauce. Have since I was a kid, there's pictures of me being like 2 years old and tears rolling down my face from eating spicy chips - apparently I'd scream bloody murder if people tried to take em away. 😂
 
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Geez, I was just reading Bruce McCurdy's player-grades from the Detroit game. Usually the 'Cult of Hockey' guys are quite respectful (if critical) of Nurse, but this is McCurdy's take from this game:

Darnell Nurse, 3 / 10
Played in a complex rotation that included 12:13 of left defence with Stecher and 7:25 on the right side with Kulak, as coaches Knoblauch and Coffey have been trying a new wrinkle to maximize their group. Nurse had his issues at times, including being among the defensive culprits on both Detroit goals. Also took Edmonton’s lone penalty of the evening.
GAS: ES +2/-7; ST 0.

Didn't realize he was that bad (I missed this game, just saw highlights).

Oh, Darnell...! (He did have a few good-ish games recently...)

___________________________

By the way, Mattias Ekholm is a total stud. This guy -- despite his advancing years -- remains one of the best both-ways' defencemen I've ever seen. I only wish I had been able to appreciate him more in his Nashville years but didn't because... Nashville.

Anyway, Ekholm is +76 in his 109 games with Edmonton. Here is the plus/minus of ALL NHL PLAYERS since he was traded to the Oilers:
+76 Ekholm
+69 Forsling
+52 DeMelo
+52 McDavid
+50 Bouchard
+47 Hughes
+45 Toews

Since he was traded, Ekholm is literally the #1 player in the NHL in terms of even-strength results when the player is on the ice.

Now, you can argue that he gets considerable ice-time with McDavid, Bouchard, Draisaitl, etc., and that's true (to a degree). But we pause to remember that McDavid, for example, did not have exceptional plus/minus results prior to Ekholm's arrival ('22 playoffs aside). Ekholm's arrival also pretty-much exactly coincided with Bouchard's emergence into modest stardom (naturally Bouchard's ice-time and deployment went way up when Barrie was traded away for Ekholm).

In 111 games prior to Ekholm becoming his partner, Bouchard was -3. In 111 games after Ekholm became his partner, Bouchard is +50.

Ekholm is getting slower of foot (natural at his age), but he consistently has a remarkable ability to be in the right places at the correct time. He judges very expertly when to go, when to sag, when to attack, when to stay back, when to go to the front of the net, when to go behind and dig out a puck. (In short, he's the anti-Nurse.)

So far, I've talked defence only. But Ekholm also has considerable value offensively. Since coming to the Oilers, Ekholm is 19th highest in D-scoring in the NHL. That in itself is impressive for a remarkable defensive player, but get this: Since coming to Edmonton, Ekholm is 5th HIGHEST IN THE NHL in even-strength points. (He has has more ES points than Karlsson or Josi or Hedman since he came to Edmonton.)

I adore this player.
 
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