Bad starts equal bad results. It’s tough to win when you spot the other team three early goals. Final Score: 5-3 Hurricanes
It’s weird to be writing about a must-win game in October but that’s where the Oilers were at heading into tonight’s matchup with the Hurricanes. Edmonton needed to win this game at all costs because going into the upcoming road trip at 1-4 is a disaster considering the teams they’ll be facing. Even though it’s still early in the season, and the Oilers have plenty of time to crawl out of the hole they dug for themselves, they had to find a way to get some points on the board tonight. They had to find a way to beat Carolina. They had to elevate their compete level and pay attention to the small details or risk being left behind by Halloween again. Is it still early? Yes. Does that mean that Oilers shouldn’t play with desperation? No.
As far as starts go, this one could not have gone much worse for the Oilers and it put them in a massive hole. Edmonton found themselves down by two goals before the game was even five minutes old and three goals down by the end of the first. That’s horrible in every way. Actually, it was the kind of opening that we would have expected during the Eakins era but these Oilers were supposed to be different. These Oilers were supposed to be contenders but, with stretches like we saw in the first period, the only thing they’ll be contending for is the draft lottery if they keep starting games like this. I mean, how can you expect to win if you’re spotting the opposition three early goals? Even though the team was able to find their legs in the second and third periods, the damage was already done and all of the good things they did got lost in their horrible start.
We wrap.
THE BRIGHT SIDE
- Mark Letestu scored his first power play goal of the year at a time when the Oilers desperately needed one. Edmonton was down by three goals and Letestu got greasy in front of the net and was able to bang home a loose puck in the crease.
- Ryan Strome scored his first goal with the Edmonton Oilers as he perfectly deflected a Jussi Jokinen pass that beat Cam Ward in off the post. In case you’re counting, Ryan Strome now has more goals than Jordan Eberle… sorry, I had to do it. Two point night for Strome and a night that he definitely needed.
- Milan Lucic scored his first goal of the season after following the play and smashing home a loose puck that was basically put on a tee for him right in the high slot. Cam Ward certainly would want that one back but it was a heavy shot that beat him through the arm and body.
- Kailer Yamamoto had another strong game tonight and was rewarded with his second NHL assist on Mark Letestu’s power play marker. Yamamoto made some nice reads and solid decisions in what I thought was his best game as an Oiler so far.
- Brad Malone had a solid game after being recalled from Bakersfield. He drew a couple penalties and did a good job of knowing his role and executing on what he was supposed to do. He banged, crashed, and got to the dirty areas on the ice. Nice season debut for Malone.
- Edmonton has struggled on the power play so far this season but they were able to get a couple of PP goals tonight. The Oilers finished the night at 2/7 with the man advantage which isn’t good enough but it’s a start.
- The Oilers dominated the shot clock and won the Corsi. Normally, you’d think that firing 51 shots on net would be a good thing but you have to get a save or two to make it count.
- 60% in the faceoff circle tonight. Nice improvement happening there.
THE FACE PALMERS
- Teemu Teravainen opened the scoring 20 seconds into the game. As far as starts go, this one couldn’t have gotten much worse. Absolutely gross. Teravainen followed that up with his second goal of the game only a few minutes later and the Hurricanes were up by two goals before the Oilers had even gotten a shot on net. Did I mention how gross the start was?
- Elias Lindholm scored the Hurricanes’ second power play goal of the night which was a third kick to the balls that Oilers fans suffered in the first period. It was an ugly 20 minutes.
- Shout out to Milan Lucic and Oscar Klefbom for combining on that horrible play at the blue line which resulted in a shorthanded goal for Jordan Staal.
- Another round of poor defensive positioning led to Slavin being able to walk down the left side of the ice untouched and in alone on Brossoit. Slavin’s goal was the second straight Hurricanes goal that was put in quickly after the Oilers scored, completely derailing their comeback attempt.
- Why are the Oilers flying their defensive zone so early? I counted at least a half dozen times that the forwards were completely gone before the puck had even been broken out and it caused either turnovers or broken plays. Those are small details that need to get fixed like yesterday.
- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins left the game after Justin Faulk threw out his knee, early in the third period. Nuge was slow to get up and went to the dressing room immediately. Fortunately for the Oilers, RNH returned to the bench only a few minutes later. That would have been salt in the wound.
- Not a great start for Laurent Brossoit but it’s hard to blame him completely for the trainwreck that happened tonight, especially early on. That said, he allowed some really tough goals at critical times and it gave the Hurricanes the counter punches they needed to coast to victory. I don’t know what the answer is in net right now but the Oilers need to find it. LB finished the night with 16 saves and a .762 save%.
- Not a great night for a lot of guys but it really wasn’t Pat Maroon’s night. Patty got two questionable penalties, missed a breakaway, and look generally out of sorts from what we’re used to. I assume he’s going to be mad at himself after this one.
- The penalty kill was bad again tonight, allowing two goals on five Carolina chances. I mean, how many power play goals do the Oilers plan on giving up before they pull their heads out of their own asses?
- I’ve written the same thing in every Wrap Up so far, but I guess I’ll have to keep repeating myself until the Oilers can figure out how to stay out of the penalty box. STOP. TAKING. SO. MANY. PENALTIES.
- The NHL site had the Oilers with 15 giveaways but I think that’s about half of what the real number was.
- How does Drew Remenda think that bringing up the 2006 loss is a good idea? Not only that, I’m pretty sure he mentioned it a few times. He’s the worst.
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST PERIOD
| TIME | TEAM | DETAILS | SCORE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00:20 | Carolina | Teuvo Teravainen (1) ASST: Jaccob Slavin (1), Justin Williams (3) | 1-0 |
| 04:53 | Carolina | PPG – Teuvo Teravainen (2) ASST: Justin Faulk (1), Jordan Staal (1) | 2-0 |
| 18:40 | Carolina | PPG – Elias Lindholm (1) ASST: Jordan Staal (2), Justin Faulk (2) | 3-0 |
2ND PERIOD
| TIME | TEAM | DETAILS | SCORE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17:11 | Edmonton | PPG – Mark Letestu (1) ASST: Kailer Yamamoto (2), Connor McDavid (3) | 3-1 |
3RD PERIOD
| TIME | TEAM | DETAILS | SCORE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 04:03 | Carolina | SHG – Jordan Staal (1) | 4-1 |
| 05:03 | Edmonton | PPG – Ryan Strome (1) ASST: Jussi Jokinen (1), Kris Russell (2) | 4-2 |
| 08:06 | Edmonton | Milan Lucic (1) ASST: Ryan Strome (1), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (1) | 4-3 |
| 10:36 | Carolina | Jaccob Slavin (1) ASST: Jordan Staal (3), Justin Williams (4) | 5-3 |
#GOODCONTENT
My four kids are having a call of duty tourney as we speak. You can take the loser…
— Curt Manning (@manningcurt) October 18, 2017
Hurricanes looking at the Oilers right now… pic.twitter.com/lqjXb0UsrF
— Mega Tron (@rocknrolltruckr) October 18, 2017
@OilersNation – after that period I might just settle for only a 6-1 loss #moralvictory
— paul ermantrout (@paulermantrout) October 18, 2017
@OilersNation current mood pic.twitter.com/I2mlxVZ4GK
— Peter Parker (@kalahari_jr) October 18, 2017
Safeway finally gets to give something away #OilersSilverLinings
— Mega Tron (@rocknrolltruckr) October 18, 2017
Talk to me, Twitter. Tweet at @OilersNation and @jsbmbaggedmilk for your chance to land in the Best of the Tweets.
REAL LIFE PODCAST
On this week’s Real Life Podcast, the boys dig into an array of topics ranging from Wanye’s continued run-ins with the police, to throwing your hat after a hat trick, to pizza, and anything in between.
Listen to Real Life on Soundcloud here, on iTunes here and on Google Play.
Source: NHL.com, Official Game Page, 10/17/2017, 10:00pm MST
* starts scrolling down slowly *
Oh god, oh sh!t, this…these comments…not gonna be prett-
* vomits *
But that first period…my…my God. I try to be positive here, but it was like…like…watching a dead skunk and a…shuttle crash making love in…in a…a substantially larger and more horrible shuttle crash.
I swear I’m not trolling. Oh, and that twitter stuff is awesome.
I’m fleeing ON for a few days.
Catch y’all in the bush!
Ugh your version of the battle of Alberta is so cute, the care bear routine is pedo-playground charming, don’t hurry back.
Please. Just go away. Oh god I cant stand you.
Why u heff to be mad at me?
I’m not the one who can’t shoot, can’t pass, can’t skate and can’t make a save!
Get mad at THOSE guys instead of my awesome, AWESOME funnies!
Your rainbow bright shtick is nauseating.
Let’s play word scramble. aMoron
O, Roman?
Need for speed we don’t have the depth yet,no worries nation the cup is coming home when bear and Benson are ready sucks we sign looch long term my man McDavid is no t 100 percent if we 1 and seven after road trip which we probably will be season in jeopardy,I’m thinking we be 4 and 4 the road is good thing,
Every coach in the league preaches the same Gospel:
– Forwards come back and support your D
– Go to where receiving a pass will be possible
– Keep your stick on the ice very few passes arrive at neck level, and so forth.
A good bag skate might help drive the lessons home. Right now they seem to want to do everything solo.
Lots of talent, no structure. Very fixable but they need to actually listen to their coach. Otherwise Todd will move to Winnipeg and the Jets will take home the Cup.
The main ingredient missing from this team – players that live and breathe to be an Edmonton Oiler. The Gretzky Era team had that. The Smyth Era team had that. This group is so “even keel”.
My list for what this Oiler team needs:
-D that can play D
-A goalie that can stop the puck
-A penalty kill
-A beating heart.
I think Tabot will come around. Under this coaching regime the penalty kill should improve. So IMO that leaves Chiarelli this list for the Oilers:
-NHL level D
-A beating heart.
My list for what this Oiler team needs:
-D that can play D
-A goalie that can stop the puck
-A penalty kill
-A beating heart.
So you can say that and I can’t make a joke?
Don’t worry, I forgive you
You’re dreaming if you think Todd will ever win a cup as a head coach. Gotta do more than just speak well but that’s what he is unfortunately. Don’t you ever wonder why SJ could never make it over the top and get to a final until they canned his ass??? The most important job a coach has is with the starting line up and in game adjustments. Todd starts his backup after his starter tells all the local media that he can’t wait to get in some consecutive games as we play Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday? Nothing like listening to the guy who got you to the playoffs last year. Ya Cam has had a tough start but he needs to have the respect and confidence from his coach to let him play through it. To top it off he lets Carolina dictate when Connor plays? What a joke, everyone says McDavid needs to lead his team but the coach doesn’t even start him????? Todd needs to play Connor more but he made the same mistake in the playoffs last year and it cost us the second round series. Sather knew how to lean on his go to guys but Todd has no clue. Don’t even get me started on the fact that no lines are ever left together to find some chemistry. I get that you have to change things up at times but not the blender that he always has out. Chia also let us down with the poor work he has done in filling out his roster. Now we are big but slow and that does not work in today’s NHL Peter. We are a mess but it’s just a game played by millionaires and owned by billionaires so in the grand scheme of life it really dones not matter. Give me homes for the homeless and cures for the diseases that ravage our society any day versus spending hundreds of millions of tax payers money on a playpen for Darryl and his rich cronies. Nough said.
The Todd blender really really makes me mad – I’ve thought it from day one with this guy… why can’t he leave lines alone for a little…
Todds been using pulled out the Oilers MacBlender and relabeled McBlender. The more things change around here there more they stay the same.
Oilers are in tough, they gotta get to work to dig themselves out of this before it gets away on them. Lots of time left, but it’s slowly ticking away.
Now for my complaint… Drew Remenda seems like a nice enough guy, but for whatever reason I simply can’t stand listening him. Don’t know what it is, but I have to watch sportsnet broadcasts on mute just so I don’t have to listen to him.
It’s nothing personal, he seems like a nice enough guy, But for whatever reason I just find him annoying
Don’t worry, it is not you, we all find him annoying.
You guys always rag on drew when the oilers aren’t playing well. I find that very annoying. You guys should start another petition to get him fired from his job! Classless oilersnation
Drew can be annoying, but usually tells it like it is. We don’t like to hear it.
At least I saw some domination for stretches. LB was terrible. On the one goal he watched the pass across the net and didn’t even push off from the near post. Brutal. That is a total lack of tracking. I like Strome with Nuge. I thought Malone and Iro the Hero played well. Yamamoto is finding his game at the NHL level ( they should bake him in the dub for another year though). Still not seeing 6 million dollars tied up in Lucic. Bound to get better in the next 6 years though.
My boy Nuge and Gryba looked terrible on the Slavin goal. If either of them had not been staring intently at the puck they could have picked that man up.
Kassian was invisible tonight outside of the partial breakaway. Was he getting icetime?
Nuge needs to start shooting high on goalies… he would score more. He seems to always shoot low, and the goalies are too good at covering the bottom of the net.
Connor needs to stop worrying about shooting the puck more and just play his game.
When is Draisaitl back… we need him.
I thought Schlep played well tonight too. Looch needs to be pulled off the 1st power play unit. Get Nuge out there instead. And maybe replace Letestu with Strome too. I like Letestu around the net, but I hat when he is carrying the puck up ice on the power play.
Agree will goaltending like that no team can win. Kassian had less than 5 min ice time, almost nothing after his penalty. Maroon perhaps deserved the same sentence, but you have to play somebody and its harder to bench a 27 goal guy.
Lol. You seriously would take letestu off the power play? Wow. You win dumbest post of the night for sure
There have been a lot of things out of sink for the Oil this year but what has been a true catastrophe has been the starting goalies. Dave Staples tracks scoring chances religiously has the Oilers goaltending not making a “grade A’ save this year. NHL goalies will usually stop about 75% of “grade A” scoring. As the old saying goes, goaltending is 75% of any team, unless it is bad, then its 100%
Thissss. Literally not one good save the entire year.. I think LB made a breakaway save a while back, that’s about it.
Word on the street is leon was out at cactus Monday night after the jets game got smashed and tried to pick up some girl her boyfriend than gave draisaitl a licken a friend of mine works for oeg and has confirmed what happen at cactus.
It’s interesting that these sorts of rumors come out when the Oil hit a rough spot. Similar to the sh…t that Hall had to put up with for years.
It’s not that interesting, and it’s speculation he hurt it playing the Jets. What do they expect. Just say it or don’t but don’t make somthing up.
Ya except everything about Hall was true, maybe he will be forced to grow up now in NJ.
What is the point in sharing these types of rumors? its ridiculous to think that A) an NHL player of Leon’s caliber could get in a fight in a busy bar and it not be posted all over the news and recorded on a dozen phones. The guy is an Edmonton celebrity and folks would be watching him like a hawk. B) that Drai would even have to pick up girls at the bar (pretty sure it works the other way when your a multi-millionaire, fit, and handsome to boot). C) Ask yourself this nation, if you were at this establishment and you witnessed a guy getting ready to punch Leon, what would you do? Are you going to let one of your all-star players potentially get hurt by some jealous idiot who should be flattered that Leon Draisaitl thinks his girl is hot enough to hit on?
No way this happened! none.
The trouba hit excuse on 29 doesn’t seem legit it couldn’t have gave him a swollen or black eye he finished the game on Monday. Plus if you pay attention to coach Todds interviews you can see in his eyes he’s hiding something. RIghtfullly so tho right it’s not good for us if it comes out to tsn and sn and things which will cause a distraction for the team. Just need him back he makes a huge difference for us in the lineup.
With Talbot and Brossoit this season I have noticed they are both on their knees early and often. I may be wrong but it sure looks like it is being coached into them. Neither of them are tracking the puck well. When you goalies stats are at the bottom of the league most times so is your team.
That’s the modern style: get down early and then shuffle. It works, but only if your positioning and angles are solid. Otherwise, you’re a Shooter Tutor.
Changing a goalies style because that is what everyone else is doing is why the Oilers spent a decade outside the playoffs.
They’re praying for help early 🙂
Yamamoto is unreal. Can’t see how the Oilers can send him down especially if they keep losing. Kid is making plays all night. Lucic needs to be removed from the PP asap.
I agree, hes a good net front presence but damn the guy does not know how to pass a puck.. Constantly ripping it into the shins or skates, never on the tape.
Dear Baby Jesus,
Remember when I said “If we can trash the Flames on opening night, I won’t care if we win another game in October?”
I was sort of kidding.
Love,
Kiltboy
When the team isn’t playing well, the goalie has to make a save or two. What is happening to the Oilers this year is exactly what happened to the Flames last year – every mistake seems to be in the back of your net.
It will come around, assuming Talbot gets it together. There is still lots of time. They looked like a team in the second and third and going on the road could be a good thing.
Don’t blame Klefbom on that goal. That was all (f***in’ useless) Lucic and his complete inability to look at anything other than the puck when he has the puck.
Don’t let Klef off of all responsibility too quick. You are dead on with Lucic’s inept pass to Klef, but a top line D-Man gets that puck and makes something with it…Klef just tapped it towards centre for the Canes. Even more worrisome though is Lucic’s lazy response…it is clear the puck is out but he doesn’t start skating hard for it until the Canes are gone on a breakaway. Had Lucic started skating back the instant he screwed up the pass he would likely have been in a position to harass (likely take a penalty) and eliminate or at least reduce the scoring chance. How many more years does Lucic have? Crap.
It’s been a slice fellas, after ten years of ranting and raving I thought we were done with this crap for a while. Not doing this again….see you around.
“I’m less convinced of my convincing-ness the older I get.” – Gord Downie
You’ll be back. They always come back when they learn how cold and lonely it is on the outside.
But wait, according to the Oiler trolls that come over to FN (you clowns know who you are) you were supposed to be the next Stanley Cup Champs. Hahahahahaha. Oilers fans, always arrogant and counting their chickens before they hatch.
Seems like too much overpraising in the offseason eased the team off. CMD will score 100 goals (why not 200?), Klef will emerge to top-D, #2 in the Stanley Cup odds, blah-blah-blah. Have the guys think they would pass the season on cruise control just because “we got McDavid? No way.
Remember how the last season have started, they had a serious approach to every opponent and played themselves out every night (instead of Eberle). Go Oilers!
Oilers currently on pace for 33 points; 70 points LESS than last season and their 103 points. Is the 2018 entry draft a good one? Need to change something and FAST. It’s not working now. Sit Maroon? Put Maroon on 4th line. Put Lucic on 1st line? Make a trade to shake things up? 95% of the playoff teams are determined by standings at the end of November. Look at the Oilers upcoming opponents and I can’t see another win in October with this line-up.
My real dissappointment is the first D-line. Everything points they’d gonna dominate this season, but their performance is above average. And the line-up looks so leaky without Drai and Sekera, boys gotta jump out of the pants and bring the wins from the road trip. Otherwise we’ll start to discuss future draft in the mid-November.
Svechnikov Jr. looks great btw)
*below average, sorry, add edit button pls
Despite the recent results Oilers are dominating most of play . Our dire lack of decent goaltending is erasing all the good it is doing for us . Lots of shots with poor shot selection haunts the club . Lack of efficient PP and PK is a sign of maybe lack of skilled player depth . When does Todd succeed in coaching out of the mistakes he claims team is making ? Bottom line : Team not that good or deep enough to compete with the type of goaltending we are getting from our goalies .
Oilers have one of the largest shot on goal totals in the league, but scoring chances/shot is second last in the league. They are getting lots of low quality shots.
Hmm, please quite your sources for scoring chances. Cult of Hockey showed them, prior to last night’s game, to be 3rd best inhigh quality scoring chances per game (based on natural stat trick data).
“The only thing they’ll be contending for is the draft lottery if they keep starting games like this”. I guess this is Oilers mentality; if you aren’t going to win the Cup just lose and you’ll get the #1 pick. I would LOL if it wasn’t so real.
Oh man thank God we made that Eberle trade and got Russell locked up long term. Imagine where we would be without those two transactions*** looks at standings*** oh yeah right never mind.
Yeah, Ebs has been absolutely lighting up the scoreboard this season! Oh, wait…
By the time this team figures it out, it will be too late and the games won’t mean anything.
Here’s some names to keep an eye on in junior and international hockey, Rasmus Dahlin, Andrei Svechnikov, Joe Veleno, Adam Boqvist and Brady Tkachuk (brother of the guy we should have probably drafted a couple years ago).
Talbot’s slow starts are real. He will eventually get his game back, might be too late. Penalty kill may be bad all season. Oilers had trouble with speedy teams in east last season and it looks like the Western teams are all quicker with the exception being the Oilers. PC built a team to grind and pound. The wingers are too slow.
Need coaching change. Veteran D. New back up goalie. Need stability on D. Goalie first.
The Oilers don’t have the roster. Their wings need work. Their best RW right now is a rookie. Their LW are too slow. Their defence depth lacks. This season will take a lot of work for Chia to get this team competitive next season.
I think Safeway should be sued for continuing to run that stupid commercial “If any OILER scores 5 goals in a game”. BOYCOTT SAFEWAY …AND THEIR EXTREME PRICES.
That Safeway add is just noise. When was the last time an NHL player scored 5 goals in one game?
ad
Willy Lindstrom maybe?
Can’t remember if either Gretzky or Kurri scored five in a game
WTF is going on here? Thought we had turned the corner, we have the best player in the league and a solid playoff team yet we are now 1 and 4 and in the Western Conf basement again. What has happened guys bcuz this isn’t just a blip! Anyone?
Same thing that happened to the Avs several years ago and Flames a couple years ago. Team still going through growing pains. Oilers lack the depth other teams like Chicago, Pittsburgh had when they had their recovery out of the NHL basement.
Two stupid penalties were the difference.
Might be a great time to sign Maroon to that 4 year, 1 million per year deal.
Yamamoto being in the top 6 is a huge red flag to the depth of this team. He’s a great story, but when a 5’6, 150lb kid can make the top 6 of a supposed cup contender, are they really a contender?
Agreed.
Reality is that with the McDavid and Draisaitl contracts, the team will need some low cost players to fill top 6 roles every year. Oilers signed Rattie for this purpose presumably, but he hasn’t panned out. Puljujarvi, Benson, and other picks haven’t been able to contribute much to this point, so they are left with Yamamoto. 49/50 contracts used, so low chance of just plucking someone off waivers. Team probably wants to push a contract out, to bring someone in.
This all day. This was my thought before training camp. Little Y making the team (even of only for a cameo) means that JP was disapointing and that Strome didnt’ really fit with McD. I am totally confident that Talbot will come out of his funk and when that happens a lot of perceived D problems will be resolved. But lack of quality wingers will be an issue all year.
I have a feeling Yamamoto will be here at least 30 games. Options are slim and sadly Jesse P doesn’t seem to be a better option.
Was going to avoid this place today but here I am. Not going to write them off until it gets really ugly. I hope they can build off the second half of that game last night can take it to the next team in line. Talbot is due for an amazing performance. Stay positive, its early.
Ed from Edmonton you think in halls days him partying all the time we’re rumors? Grow up man anyone who was at the bar scene those days knew hall Whitney ebzz were partying every night they had a chance I witnessed it.
yup probly true. Thank god Anderson, Messier, and Fuhr never liked to party. We never would have won anything if that had been the case.