EDMONTON 3
VS.
COLORADO 4
In a freaking shootout...
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Games like tonight make the case that ties should be reinstated. If they won't let the 2 teams play until the bitter end, deciding a contest like this with an event like that belittles the quality of the contest (and screwed us out of an eventual win).
There were many many storylines in tonight's game and I'm going to try to catch as many as I can, but be sure to chime in if I miss some of the exceptional things that went down.
The first period was pretty disgusting; the feeling in the building was definitely "here we go again" and I think if you'd polled you'd have seen about 75% believing this was heading towards a 6-0 or 6-1 kinda blowout.
The three Avs goals were all due to glaring errors on the Oilers behalf. They spent the first period clearing out of proper positioning and having D way too high in the zone when the puck wasn't moving far enough ahead. This meant the Avs had many odd-man chances and victimized Dubnyk early.
On the first, three Oilers (Foster, Gagner and Eberle I believe) closed on the Avs player but did not check. Extending a weak stick won't do anything when a guy is moving with purpose. This created an odd man situation down low that Smid couldn't play and Foster tried to rectify with another weak stick. No such luck.
The second Avs goal occurred because Gagner got owned in the corner and allowed his man to walk straight out (also Strudwick overcommitted to his man and wasn't able to assist in the recovery), causing another odd man situation for Petry, and he made a bad but understandable choice to leave his man and attempt to play the puck, so his man (Stastny) buried it. He'd have been better to let the sharp angle chance happen and guard Stastny.
The third goal happened because Cogliano made a bad choice to flip the puck when he had time and a clear man to other side, and because both GIlbert and Peckham were behind the red line. This created another low 2-on-1 that led to a goal.
Low 2-on-1s are KILLER. We allowed way too many of them.
Our goals were fairly interesting: on the first, Foster makes a good play to keep it in the zone but actually doesn't make a very good play towards the net. Fortunately Gagner was in good position, the puck popped to him, Hall smartly drifted into the open slot and Gagner found him with a nice pass that he buried. Good finish. This actually wasn't a very good shift as Hall had made 2 or 3 mistakes trying to get into the offensive zone on it. Needless to say the goal was a solid recovery.
The second was very purdy. Hemsky had started in on his mission to save the game with Penner riding shotgun. Cogliano rescued the puck from the crease, made a speedy turn up ice and found Hemsky in the neutral zone on a great pass where Hemsky and Penner ran a screen of sorts (KEY! DON'T LET COGLIANO CARRY IT IN THE NEUTRAL ZONE!). Right at the point Hemsky cuts in, not only does Penner drive the net and provide a screen, but knocks both Avs Dmen down and towards the goalie. Hemsky's wide open in the slot and shoots across his body into the open and screened net as the dmen crash into Anderson. Beautiful sequence with great plays all around. It looked like Petry made a great read and jumped in to open up for a shot and sold it as well. Nice little touch.
Our third was also nice; with another Hemsky-led rush resulting in a goal. He'd cranked it up about 8 notches by this point and Penner was along for the ride. It was good to see Cogliano figure out what to do when those 2 get going. 1) get them the puck in the neutral zone and 2) go to the slot. I loved the way Hemsky gloved the puck and strode with authority into the offensive zone. Something was going to happen on that shift. The crowd and Hemsky knew it. Penner forced 2 different guys to cover him and got the D off-kilter in a hurry. I'm still a little amazed that Cogliano finished, but am very glad he did.
Did anyone see the random line-flipping Renney on faceoffs where Cogliano and Gagner switched about 4 times while the wingers got double the length of shift? I had no idea what was going on.
Very glad Renney's decision to play the Fraser line with 2:11 to go didn't cost us the game; that was a bad move, even with the wingers on that line playing great tonight.
Where was Hejduk until that SO goal? He must really be feeling the aging process as he doesn't seem to be a feature part of the Avs' attack.
This game fundamentally changed when we (for once) decided we were going to hit at home and run the opponent out of the rink; above all else tonight proved we can do that when we decide to. It really worked as we backed Colorado off considerably and had room to play with all of a sudden.
On to PLAYER REPORTS
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Dubnyk
- Not much chance on any of the three goals really as he was just screwed over defensively. Once they played half-decent in front of him, he was really solid. Some big saves in the third (as the breakdowns were still there, just less often) kept the team alive long enough that they should have been able to win. Good performance where he looked really calm. Start him against CGY.
Foster
- His first period was atrocious, but this was still probably his best game of the year. He had several defensive stops and was very aggressive tonight. What he needs to figure out though, is that his shots aren't going in. I don't blame him for the OT PP failing to produce a winner, his teammates (and likely the coach) were forcing a play that wasn't going to result in a goal. Why they don't go back door with the game Penner and Hemsky had been having I have no idea...we woulda won right there. I suspect if Whitney's around we alter the plan and do indeed win it. Foster fired wide when he nailed his shots, and took too many weak wristers that couldn't go in. These need to be low if he's going to take them. This may seem critical for a guy I said had a good game, but the fact that he got himself into all those positions was impressive. I liked how decisive he was, the decisions just needed to be better. Also love the revenge shot for the Hemsky elbow. Well done sir. (even though the elbow just pissed Hemsky off and made him play even better than he was).
Petry
- Last game it took him a period to get going, whereas tonight it took him about 2 shifts. I liked a lot of what I saw from him, includng a little play in OT where instead of just firing a blind stupid shot at the net, he faked and waited for a lane to form as well as his forwards to get in position, then took a great low shot that could've ended the game. Beautifully simple play that required thought and poise. He did it with ease. Also loved when he knocked Koci's stick right out of his hands in the corner. Koci looked stunned. Petry was tough in the corners all night, skated very hard and made fewer defensive mistakes. This kid looks like a fast learner and a guy who can elevate his game to the NHL level without too many bumps. Exactly what we need. Very nice game being that he's thrown into a big role, yet seemingly has very little pressure on him in the traditional sense. Could be ideal for development. With the amount of times I noticed him, I'm rather surprised he only got 16.5 minutes.
Strudwick
- He was Strudwick. I nearly cried in OT when I saw 43 on the ice but thankfully he survived while Peckham did some tremendous work to keep the game tied. His shot on net later on in the third was one of the sadder things I've seen. I'd gladly challenge him to a hardest shot competition (wrister at the very least).
Gilbert
- Quieter game than the last one for him tonight but still rather brilliant. He's the rock now and aside from that brief moment on the Colorado goal he was excellent and in position for most of the night. I honestly thought he'd contribute more offensively once they really got rocking and rolling but for some reason he didn't. Oh well.
Smid
- He did some really nice things tonight, mainly skating the puck out of trouble after the first period several times with Avs players draped all over him. This is one of the few unique skills he shows on pretty much a nightly basis. Defensively he made some mistakes along with the rest of the crew but they were certainly minimized after the first period which was good to see. One of these days he's going to score a goal as well.
Peckham
- I loved the way Theo both took it to the Avs physically even talking all kinds of smack to Koci after the Hemsky incident. I was surprised they didn't get into it later in the game. Theo's at his best when he's ornery and adds a little offence to his usual game which is what he did tonight, jumping into a couple rushes and letting another quality shot go (he needs to use it more often as I've said previously). I only wish Theo was able to learn playing a role more appropriate to his current level of development. He's coming along well despite the less than ideal situation.
Brule-O'Marra-Paajarvi
- They couldn't seem to decide which wings 67 and 91 should play as they kept switching all night. I didn't really understand what was going on there. Magnus didn't get a lot of touches and wasn't a big factor in this game. He's in a bit of a slump right now and I'm not sure we have the horses to haul him out of it with better linemates and such. Hopefully he can figure it out on his own. Brule was one of the few guys who didn't start hitting tonight; and he needed to. Being that he's doing nothing offensively (even when they inexplicably had him on the PP) he needs to bring other elements and the most obvious one on a night when everyone hit would have been to play physical. he didn't. O'Marra on the other hand did. I kept wishing for Renney to wake up and bench Fraser allowing O'Marra to play with Jones and Stortini. That would be a nice fourth line if we'd just pick up a third line C and boot Fraser. O'Marra's playing generally smart hockey and knows when to pick his spot and go for a nice hit. There was a particularly good one in the high Avs zone in the third. Really think he's progressing. Certainly won't ever be a 2C, but could be part of a future if he's blooming late and continues to build his game.
Jones-Fraser-Stortini
- Until Fraser had a chance to win the game on a great pass from Hall I didn't notice him aside from his feeble attempts to hit as Stortni and Jones were doing. I really don't know what he does and I'm going to keep repeating that until he does something. Jones was running around making the Avs' life hellish tonight which is exactly what he needs to do on a line like this. I loved the hits he laid out. He also made some nice defensive stops including backing up Dubnyk in the third on a particularly dangerous chance. Got to respect when he puts out an effort like that. Stortini was also good. While he didn't land as many hits as Jones, he got in peoples faces and won races to loose pucks. This is something he did very well in the preseason and tonight was the first time I saw him playing that game with some force. He also drove the net effectively on a couple occasions and got into proper offensive position on his rushes. Very nice.
Hall-Gagner-Eberle
- Jordan Eberle started the hit parade. Yes you heard right. He got two Avs with really solid hits along the far boards in the second period and then his teammates started bullying the Avs around and suddenly we had offensive room. i didn't think it was his best game overall but those two hits made a difference that lasted until the end of the game. I really liked the move he made around an Avs dman with a quick deke to his backhand that JUST missed (can't recall third or OT). He also played a part on the Hall goal as two Avs defenders were playing him to some extent. He showed his smarts well tonight. As I noted above, Gagner screwed up bad on one of the Avs goals and was indeed horrid in his own zone for most of the first half of the game. He was getting outmuscled but the perplexing part was that the other guys weren't too big. Sometimes he was overcommitting physically to a compromised defensive position, while other times he was trying to make the play with too much stick. This contrasted with his rather excellent support efforts in the offensive zone including some time with Hemsky and Penner on the PP that looked rather golden. He had a lot of jump in the offensive zone. The Oilers certainly win this game if either Hall or Eberle scores on their chances during the mad dash to the end of the second period. I really thought Eberle's shot from the slot would go in. I also thought Hall generated plenty near the end of the game, but the chances were more B chances than A chances. Too bad, would have been nice to see him win another COL game. Certainly better than his last 2 nights.
Penner-Cogliano-Hemsky
- Ales struggled a little in his own end early on, giving up the puck a couple times. After that though, he was flying in all zones. He'd already stepped it up when he got elbowed on a dangerous rush, but after that he was just excellent. He set up numerous chances and forced the Avs D into all kinds of bad situations for the rest of the game. He got through some excellent shots including on a little drag move that nearly went in during the third period. He's still our best player and certainly worth the price of admission. Hemsky and Penner work magic together because they know how to use each others' skillsets and how to weave effectively between each other on the ice. Penner was calm and smart all night long. I was getting really annoyed at these guys above me in a skysuite who were actually berating the guy despite the fact that he was bullying the Avs D all night.These efforts make me think that the most important thing we could do to get back winning would actually be to sign both 83 and 27, then focus on finding them a C. A big C would make that line indestructible. Cogliano did a pretty decent job after the first (where he was much like Gagner in the defensive zone) and certainly had one of his better nights this season. We'll see next game if he learned from the experience and continues to go to the proper areas. I agree with the approach of some though, who would trade him at the deadline or draft if he drums up some value playing with 83 and 27. They're so good they can make him look rather excellent despite the fact that he's still not confident. I saw some good boardplay from 13 that I hadn't seen in a really long time, which was refreshing. He actually believed he could keep the puck tonight.
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Certainly an entertaining game. We deserved a better fate aside from making too many mistakes in the first and not being able to close in the third. There were so many chances too which made it rather heartbreaking.
Suggested lines vs CGY:
Penner-Cogliano-Hemsky
Hall-Gagner-Eberle (though I actually wouldn't mind trying Eberle at C with 83 and 27)
Jones-O'Marra-Stortini
Paajarvi-Fraser(blech, call up Reddox)-Omark
Crazy game. Not what I expected to be writing after period one!
12/30/10
12/28/10
LMHF Game Report #17
EDMONTON 2
VS.
BUFFALO 4
--------------
I made a pretty decently sized effort to get home from skiing to attend this game tonight and was really expecting my team to attend as well.
I'm not sure if it was just one line (which I'll discuss later) or the whole squad, but I have a feeling at least some of the Oilers really tied one on last night. That's about the only explanation I'd imagine for an effort that utterly strange; we had about 5 minutes worth of GO and that was it.
Buffalo never really did anything out there tonight. Every goal they scored was weak and they were missing their biggest pieces other than Vanek and Miller, yet we laid a big enough egg and lost a big enough piece of our own to come out on the short end. That's pretty sad.
If you missed the first few minutes of this one you wouldn't have seen very many positives. In the first few we looked way too talented and fast for this Sabres team. We should have run them out of the barn kicking and screaming if we'd kept that pace for even another period. We didn't.
I'd give Renney a massive minus for yanking Linus off the PP in favor of Magnus on the first PP of the game. Doing that to a rookie after a puck gets stuck in some water and your apparently sleeping goalie lets in a total floater is bad coaching. That PP unit Omark-Penner-Hemsky is probably one of the few positives out of this game. They needed to get more of the overall share on the PP, but Renney kept rushing 4-89-14 out there. I didn't like the way Tom coached tonight's game at all. For one, when he saw how bad the first two goals 35 let in were, he shoulda yanked him. Anyway...on to PLAYER REPORTS
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Khabibulin
- As discussed, he was putrid. The first goal, while awkward, went in because he triple clutched rather than just covering the most area possible. The second has no excuse, and the third was from an angle where it should be impossible to score on anything but a perfectly released deceptively quick shot (which Hecht's wasn't). When your goalie is having to turn around and check his angle on that play, he's having a bad night. He made probably 3 good saves, though they were recovery saves and he was late on a bunch more shots that came at him. He was completely asleep out there tonight. Even with as bad as we were, if he plays well we win this one.
Whitney
- I really hope he didn't get seriously hurt...once he was gone we really couldn't move the puck to the forwards and were just handicapped something fierce.
Petry
- Was very interested to see this kid play. He really struggled in the first; at least 2 bad turnovers and while I liked the boldness of his first pinch, his others weren't so good. One thing you need to be able to do to pinch well in the NHL is either make perfect reads or be able to skate your butt off back into position (Pitkanen was the best I'd ever seen at this), he wasn't doing either. After he made a nice play to stop a partial break in the second, he settled in and started looking before he passed. I liked what he brought after that, including a couple passes that created nice rushes and a beautifully timed LONG bank pass. His PP positioning and shot choice is pretty good as well. He 'skates big' as well; that's about as well as I can describe it (it's a good thing). There are D his size who go unnoticed when they're not hitting but he isn't like that. I think despite his rating tonight he had a solid first pro effort and that we likely have something here. Likely in the Gilbert (good Gilbert) mold.
Smid
- Much better from him tonight. On several occasions he skated the puck to safety and beyond, plus he actually had a shift with 2 shots which is something I can't really remember him doing. His defensive zone play could've been a tad better, but the way he broke up that breakaway without taking a penalty even though the BUF player defended the puck wonderfully was beautiful to watch as a former Dman. Great play.
Peckham
- Needs to remember he does have some offensive skill. He backed off 2 open rush chances before getting his one solid slapper away. He needs to get some aggression back into his game. I didn't like that he got beat wide a couple times, including once by Grier who shouldn't beat anyone wide. I'm not singling out Theo, but the entire Oilers unit was off in their coverages of the high men tonight, and this led to several odd man and breakaway (including a 2-on-0 where bonehead didn't pass to Vanek) chances. This can't be happening.Theo made a great aggressive play to break up one of the 2-on-1s (always take a shot at the puck-carrier near the blue line if at all feasible, they choke under the early pressure).
Foster
- Wasn't impressed as he was pretty weak defensively and his shot remains haywire. I don't know if we really have anything to work with which is sad when you consider his physical attributes.
Gilbert
- Tom has returned to form. He carried the mail for the D tonight and was excellent. His effort to skate past and through one BUF defender then make a perfect pass to Jones through 2 more was just sublime. He also joined a couple rushes very successfully and certainly could have scored. I think he got caught on one, which isn't usually terrible. He broke up several good chances and should be commended on a night when not many should be.
Hall-Gagner-Eberle
- Easily their worst home game. They were terrible, creating nothing after the first 5. Eberle had a couple decent moments, but also more screwups and sequences where he was behind the play than I've seen combined in all the other home games. Hall was getting knocked around and not bouncing back up. You could see him back off of pucks after a couple big hits. That's unacceptable for a guy who plays his best after a couple hits. No decent shots on net either...why does he keep missing? I've also noticed that he screws up the cross-crease feeds due to overskating more than a scorer should. It might sound like I'm being really negative but I have a reason. Gagner couldn't do much either, and whiffed a couple nice Eberle feeds. I really think these guys at the very least looked like they went out boozing last night and hadn't recovered. That would explain 14's totally inexplicable performance and the general malaise that was their PP effort. They even looked wiped standing there while the anthem played. Very disconcerting.
Penner-Cogliano-Hemsky
- I really thought for a moment that 13 would just play his role on this line like he did in the first couple shifts. I suspect it was Whitney or Gilbert feeding Hemsky and Penner, which resulted in productive rushes highlighted by a nice little stick-lift hard work play by 83 getting Penner a clean look that he finished. They really looked good briefly back together. After Cogliano started getting the puck in the neutral zone (which seemed to happen a TON in the third) the line was dead because 13 kept giving it up. Hemsky worked really hard this game and definitely had his quick step (which you'd worry about after a groin injury). It was certainly a joy to watch him play again. Penner was good and okay depending on the point in the game. He needed the puck more tonight (the formula for their success is Hemsky-to-Penner-zone entry-to-Hemsky on their best nights) and that just wasn't happening for some reason. He did take a while to get used to reading 83's zone entry style on the PP, but as noted earlier, they didn't get enough time.
Paajarvi-O'marra-Omark
- They didn't look great but the 2/3 benching that took place in the third was idiotic. Not sure if you could see at home but Omark's turnover was the result of some water on the ice (which was in a spot that seems to be a constant problem spot, I'm amazed they havent fixed it) rather than a screwup. Those of you bagging on him tonight don't know what you're talking about. He wasn't good but he certainly wasn't bad on a night when many forward were bad. Looked solid with 27 and 83, which is the line we would've seen 5-on-5 late needing a goal if Renney was actually watching the effing game...O'Marra didn't really do much but again, I didn't see any screwups really and he didn't deserve a benching. 91 struggled to get momentum tonight and I imagine he'll bounce back next game. Still want to see him on the PK.
Jacques-Fraser-Jones
- Fraser missed a rebound chance in the third that should have tied the game. He really shouldn't have been on the ice, but again, Renney lost his coaching brain tonight and played the heck out of him. Jones worked hard but this line combo doesn't suit his game. If he's the physical presence on his line it works; he's expected to be the scorer on this line which doesn't work as well. Good of him to be in the right spot and beat a BUF defender for his goal though. Jacques didn't do much other than nearly kill Jones again. How you don't demote him I have no idea.
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Very frustrating night. We should've schooled a bad team who didn't put forth much effort and instead we lose. Sad.
VS.
BUFFALO 4
--------------
I made a pretty decently sized effort to get home from skiing to attend this game tonight and was really expecting my team to attend as well.
I'm not sure if it was just one line (which I'll discuss later) or the whole squad, but I have a feeling at least some of the Oilers really tied one on last night. That's about the only explanation I'd imagine for an effort that utterly strange; we had about 5 minutes worth of GO and that was it.
Buffalo never really did anything out there tonight. Every goal they scored was weak and they were missing their biggest pieces other than Vanek and Miller, yet we laid a big enough egg and lost a big enough piece of our own to come out on the short end. That's pretty sad.
If you missed the first few minutes of this one you wouldn't have seen very many positives. In the first few we looked way too talented and fast for this Sabres team. We should have run them out of the barn kicking and screaming if we'd kept that pace for even another period. We didn't.
I'd give Renney a massive minus for yanking Linus off the PP in favor of Magnus on the first PP of the game. Doing that to a rookie after a puck gets stuck in some water and your apparently sleeping goalie lets in a total floater is bad coaching. That PP unit Omark-Penner-Hemsky is probably one of the few positives out of this game. They needed to get more of the overall share on the PP, but Renney kept rushing 4-89-14 out there. I didn't like the way Tom coached tonight's game at all. For one, when he saw how bad the first two goals 35 let in were, he shoulda yanked him. Anyway...on to PLAYER REPORTS
------------
Khabibulin
- As discussed, he was putrid. The first goal, while awkward, went in because he triple clutched rather than just covering the most area possible. The second has no excuse, and the third was from an angle where it should be impossible to score on anything but a perfectly released deceptively quick shot (which Hecht's wasn't). When your goalie is having to turn around and check his angle on that play, he's having a bad night. He made probably 3 good saves, though they were recovery saves and he was late on a bunch more shots that came at him. He was completely asleep out there tonight. Even with as bad as we were, if he plays well we win this one.
Whitney
- I really hope he didn't get seriously hurt...once he was gone we really couldn't move the puck to the forwards and were just handicapped something fierce.
Petry
- Was very interested to see this kid play. He really struggled in the first; at least 2 bad turnovers and while I liked the boldness of his first pinch, his others weren't so good. One thing you need to be able to do to pinch well in the NHL is either make perfect reads or be able to skate your butt off back into position (Pitkanen was the best I'd ever seen at this), he wasn't doing either. After he made a nice play to stop a partial break in the second, he settled in and started looking before he passed. I liked what he brought after that, including a couple passes that created nice rushes and a beautifully timed LONG bank pass. His PP positioning and shot choice is pretty good as well. He 'skates big' as well; that's about as well as I can describe it (it's a good thing). There are D his size who go unnoticed when they're not hitting but he isn't like that. I think despite his rating tonight he had a solid first pro effort and that we likely have something here. Likely in the Gilbert (good Gilbert) mold.
Smid
- Much better from him tonight. On several occasions he skated the puck to safety and beyond, plus he actually had a shift with 2 shots which is something I can't really remember him doing. His defensive zone play could've been a tad better, but the way he broke up that breakaway without taking a penalty even though the BUF player defended the puck wonderfully was beautiful to watch as a former Dman. Great play.
Peckham
- Needs to remember he does have some offensive skill. He backed off 2 open rush chances before getting his one solid slapper away. He needs to get some aggression back into his game. I didn't like that he got beat wide a couple times, including once by Grier who shouldn't beat anyone wide. I'm not singling out Theo, but the entire Oilers unit was off in their coverages of the high men tonight, and this led to several odd man and breakaway (including a 2-on-0 where bonehead didn't pass to Vanek) chances. This can't be happening.Theo made a great aggressive play to break up one of the 2-on-1s (always take a shot at the puck-carrier near the blue line if at all feasible, they choke under the early pressure).
Foster
- Wasn't impressed as he was pretty weak defensively and his shot remains haywire. I don't know if we really have anything to work with which is sad when you consider his physical attributes.
Gilbert
- Tom has returned to form. He carried the mail for the D tonight and was excellent. His effort to skate past and through one BUF defender then make a perfect pass to Jones through 2 more was just sublime. He also joined a couple rushes very successfully and certainly could have scored. I think he got caught on one, which isn't usually terrible. He broke up several good chances and should be commended on a night when not many should be.
Hall-Gagner-Eberle
- Easily their worst home game. They were terrible, creating nothing after the first 5. Eberle had a couple decent moments, but also more screwups and sequences where he was behind the play than I've seen combined in all the other home games. Hall was getting knocked around and not bouncing back up. You could see him back off of pucks after a couple big hits. That's unacceptable for a guy who plays his best after a couple hits. No decent shots on net either...why does he keep missing? I've also noticed that he screws up the cross-crease feeds due to overskating more than a scorer should. It might sound like I'm being really negative but I have a reason. Gagner couldn't do much either, and whiffed a couple nice Eberle feeds. I really think these guys at the very least looked like they went out boozing last night and hadn't recovered. That would explain 14's totally inexplicable performance and the general malaise that was their PP effort. They even looked wiped standing there while the anthem played. Very disconcerting.
Penner-Cogliano-Hemsky
- I really thought for a moment that 13 would just play his role on this line like he did in the first couple shifts. I suspect it was Whitney or Gilbert feeding Hemsky and Penner, which resulted in productive rushes highlighted by a nice little stick-lift hard work play by 83 getting Penner a clean look that he finished. They really looked good briefly back together. After Cogliano started getting the puck in the neutral zone (which seemed to happen a TON in the third) the line was dead because 13 kept giving it up. Hemsky worked really hard this game and definitely had his quick step (which you'd worry about after a groin injury). It was certainly a joy to watch him play again. Penner was good and okay depending on the point in the game. He needed the puck more tonight (the formula for their success is Hemsky-to-Penner-zone entry-to-Hemsky on their best nights) and that just wasn't happening for some reason. He did take a while to get used to reading 83's zone entry style on the PP, but as noted earlier, they didn't get enough time.
Paajarvi-O'marra-Omark
- They didn't look great but the 2/3 benching that took place in the third was idiotic. Not sure if you could see at home but Omark's turnover was the result of some water on the ice (which was in a spot that seems to be a constant problem spot, I'm amazed they havent fixed it) rather than a screwup. Those of you bagging on him tonight don't know what you're talking about. He wasn't good but he certainly wasn't bad on a night when many forward were bad. Looked solid with 27 and 83, which is the line we would've seen 5-on-5 late needing a goal if Renney was actually watching the effing game...O'Marra didn't really do much but again, I didn't see any screwups really and he didn't deserve a benching. 91 struggled to get momentum tonight and I imagine he'll bounce back next game. Still want to see him on the PK.
Jacques-Fraser-Jones
- Fraser missed a rebound chance in the third that should have tied the game. He really shouldn't have been on the ice, but again, Renney lost his coaching brain tonight and played the heck out of him. Jones worked hard but this line combo doesn't suit his game. If he's the physical presence on his line it works; he's expected to be the scorer on this line which doesn't work as well. Good of him to be in the right spot and beat a BUF defender for his goal though. Jacques didn't do much other than nearly kill Jones again. How you don't demote him I have no idea.
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Very frustrating night. We should've schooled a bad team who didn't put forth much effort and instead we lose. Sad.
12/16/10
LMHF Game Report #16
EDMONTON 6
VS.
Kristian Huselius 3
-----------------
I said to my friend at the game that I had a good feeling before we got started this evening...guess I was right!
Even though it took some surviving through a horrendous defensive first period, we did the absolute most important thing in the sport tonight: put the damn puck in the damn net. We were on our chances and playing aggressive, confident hockey in the offensive zone and upon entry into the offensive zone. This very rarely ends in a loss. Tonight was no different.
Amazing to watch a game with nearly 80 shots on net these days. It seems like lately we either can't penetrate the shooting lane or have our attempts blocked. Tonight wasn't that way. I'm not sure Mason was really as bad as some people think; he was beaten by good offensive players simply doing their thing.
Columbus is a strange team...they have some toughness, very little top level talent, and a bunch of guys who should be good but appear to have quite the variable level of play. I'm betting they'd be fun to watch as a season ticket holder.
There can be no doubt that there are massive holes on this squad; but when the parts we do have in place fire, we're tough to beat. I'd play the "I can get 7 goals faster than you can" version of hockey for the rest of the year to the greatest extent possible. We seem to win every time the game is characterized by offence and the rush (both back and forth).
PLAYER REPORTS
------------
Gagner
- I'm very pleased to be wrong on him with regards to last game. He made the necessary adjustments to his game, namely getting the puck to 4 and 14 then driving to open positions where he can either create or provide support, and really looked solid in the spot he occupied. His goal was a very smart little shot that changed the angle for the goalie just enough that it became very tough to spot. Kudos to Sam on using his IQ to figure out how to use the lethal weapons patrolling his wings. Almost had two as a sharp angle shot in the second period could have gone in (if he were Alex Semin, that's his wheelhouse).
Eberle
- Very smart game from Jordan; I'm just a little disappointed he didn't get more chances to cash #3. He got a good shot away in the third period that nearly beat Garon (who was very solid and should have started), but other than that he was pretty much done for the eve which is okay when you make it look as easy as he did. His first goal was a great example of following with proper puck support and making the most of a chance. Nice finish off the rush Hall created. Too many players don't get into the spot Eberle did then have the patience to make a proper play on the net. His second goal was simpler, but still a nice example of positioning and awareness. Kid plays a smart game.
Hall
- While he got back into the habit of carrying the puck too far ahead of him (and had more turnovers at the opposition blue line because of this), he still played a great game. Every time he got the puck, he pushed the Columbus D back with his speed and made something happen. You can see that teams are forced to play him like a star at this early stage of his career, which is amazing. Loved the puck grab and slick little play to Gagner for that goal. Normally Eberle would be out in that situation and it speaks to the improvement in Hall's game that Renney had him there instead. Hall's read on his quick little pass to Whitney before Eberle's second was also quite smart; deftly gliding across the ice, winning a race with positioning, then selling the forward pass and going backwards while taking a it. Beauty. The competition between he and Eberle for years to come (Hall the flashy one, Eberle the quiet but skilled, both racking up goals and points) is going to be truly amazing.
Paajarvi
- Excellent game for Magnus that will fly under the radar due to the efforts of others. He used a great little speed step to get to the net and finish the Omark-generated rebound for his goal. His work behind the net in the first to get the puck to Omark for the Penner goal showed some evolution in his game. He used his size, positioning and a little tenacity to fend off two Jackets even after they knocked him down. Aside from the point producing; he read off of Omark beautifully. You can see that they communicate really well and skate in lines that the other knows well. There were several no-look and half-look passes that were totally untelegraphed and fooled the D. This is a combo we should keep for sure; it almost made 91 a good PP guy even (and he can still learn). Well done for Magnus.
O'Marra
- He's better than Fraser and actually brings something to the lineup. He laid a couple solid hits tonight (I really didn't think he should've gotten a penalty on his hit near the Jackets' box) and manages to support his linemates from solid positions. He's also a big man who can skate and doesn't look incompetent with the puck. These are valuable people to some degree. He's better than Jacques right now even if you like Fraser for some crazy reason. The fact that his line was still as dangerous as it was shows that he played a decent game and really didn't weigh them down; which is impressive considering their skill and the supposed drop off to O'Marra. I'm not saving he's a saviour; but I am certainly saying that given our current roster even with 83 and 10 back in, he's at worst our 4th best C (and could play wing in a pinch I'm sure).
Omark
- Dominated. He was tremendous in the offensive zone. Before we get to his points, let's talk about the fact that he had another dangerous chance (with the goalie half-fooled already) foiled by a penalty by 43; he made several cross ice passes to set up forwards and Mr. No Goals Allowed himself, he ran the PP whenever he was on and made it look easy, held the puck in nearly every difficult situation he got into and bounces around and off of hits like a pinball. This guy is a serious player. His first goal might've been one of the smartest play sequences I've ever seen. If you know anything about scoring goals, you know this wasn't a fluke. He's skating in and won't beat the D, so he flicks the puck at the net at slow speed but a spot Mason might have trouble, he fakes left around Hejda who overcommits, drives the middle and times his arrival at the puck perfectly, kicks it up to his stick, in the blink of an eye changes the angle to open a spot and finishes. Absolutely magnificent. 95% of guys would never even think to attempt that, but if you watched him, you know that he saw it in his mind before he did it. I could barely believe it. His assists were great too. He read that 91 was in trouble and inched in from the corner when he saw he could get a pass, shoulder-checked almost imperceptibly for Penner and then completely sold that he was going to keep it on the boards and fed it straight to Penner's blade through his legs. Wow. His assist on 91's goal wasn't as flashy, but still very good, as he delayed, took the drop pass, made a nice recovery of the puck and chose a solid low shot that would generate a rebound. He made so many things happen. To watch a guy with his smarts, creativity, and passion for the game is truly a pleasure. This is what a complimentary difference maker looks like ladies and gents. The only thing that would improve the 91-23 combo is if they threw Penner in the middle like they did on the powerplay. That line might just be untouchable.
Cogliano
- Skate, skate skate and nothing. I actually got angry at him for shooting on a rush; he did have 2 guys with him but still you shouldn't get angry for a player shooting on the rush. I was. He's just got no clue right now. He also ran around the defensive zone a lot. That's not what we want to see at all. When we have a full lineup back; if this is how he looks, he should see the PB.
Brule
- I thought Gilbert almost alternated between good solid shifts and "what are you DOING?" out there tonight. He hit some people which was great to see in a game where we needed it. If he brought that on a more regular basis I think he'd have a place here. He shot from an improper angle on the rush again tonight...I'm not sure when he forgot that shot needs to be a one-timer with the goalie moving across to work. I did like that he got the puck on net in other situations because that's something he's really been failing at lately. On the bad shifts, he was out of position, made lame passes and got knocked around a bit. He's being passed at supersonic speed by Linus, and is going to have to realize that his spot on this team may be in more of a 4th line role than an offensive one.
Penner
- Certainly looked best when paired with Linus and Magnus, but he pulled enough weight to keep the other guys out of trouble, He seemed to have a good eye for the puck in the high slot tonight; chasing it down and controlling it through size and positioning. I suppose if he could anchor another line it creates a situation where we can run 3 lines out for significant minutes once we have a full lineup, but you've got to plug him in on the PP and late in games with the Swedes, though you also would have to muse about the possibility of having Penner-Horcoff-Hemsky return to play the other teams' best and have the 4 young guns murder the other lines.
Stortini
- The fight he got in was pretty bad. Nothing but hugging and he got openly mocked by Sestito (who had me confused as hell with TIM Sestito as opposed to TOM). He did nothing but chase and shove the rest of the game. 46 is totally off his game and isn't useful at all like this. Someone's got to sit him down and get back on track, which means: forechecking, being a pain in the butt, and being a solid receiver of the first pass in the defensive zone. He can do all these things, but is not.
Fraser
- Don't remember him tonight. Apparently he won some faceoffs? Didn't seem to help any. There's no place for him on this squad with a bigger, younger, more interesting player in O'Marra available.
Jones
- I thought he did his best with a bad lot. He's been good offensively and I'd be disappointed to be in the role he got tonight if I were him. He still managed 2 really solid offensive chances that nearly resulted in goals, and got under Columbus' skin, but isn't as effective on a line where he is the skilled guy. Oh well, we didn't need him to be great tonight.
Khabibulin
- Kept us in long enough. He nearly stopped the second goal which would have been amazing. Columbus didn't get a ton of great chances but he did turn them away when needed. Probably disappointed with allowing 3, but if we're not leading after the first this is a different game. I probably would've started #40 tonight (or if I had the choice, #29), because I didn't like Nik against T.O.
Whitney
- Amazing. He was truly stupendous tonight. I lost count of the great breakout passes. The only negative from him was some iffy defensive play in the first, but after that he was wheeling and dealing. He obviously got his assists, but he also set up the 91 goal with a solid pass out of the zone, either he or Smid (who was also excellent) made that brilliant flip pass to Hall that reminded me of Joni, and every time he was on the ice and the Oilers had a rush he was a big part. He just finds the passing lanes and his passes are rarely uncatchable. It's very simple but if you can do it you're so valuable. He hit almost every one tonight. I feel a little sad for Ryan in his attempts at goal scoring because he's joining the rush so effectively but can't get a finishing shot on to save his life. He's taken to staring off into the crowd for a brief second every time he misses and I do sympathize. He can take heart however in the fact that he's having one of the finest offensive seasons we've seen from a Dman in a long while and lugging all kinds of defensive deadweight along with him. Amazing player.
Smid
- Really really upped his game tonight and it started with his first rush out of our zone, into theirs and a successful feed to Taylor Hall. He's been missing that element lately and it makes him special. He was physical behind the net and made a bunch more passes in addition to Whitney's. Great to see probably the first really complete game from Ladislav tonight. Made just an excellent play to break up a key 2-on-1 in the first as well, which showed the correction of a mistake he made last game that resulted in a goal. Big plus tonight.
GIlbert
- Playing great and kept that up aside from probably 2 shifts where he got caught running around a little bit. The biggest difference I can see in Gilbert, and maybe you can't see this at home, is his passion is back. He's really into the game, reacting after good plays and bad, looking really focused. He's got it together and that's a huge plus.
Peckham
- Continued his current slide of iffy play. In a lot of ways that's to be expected but that doesn't make it any better. He does have too much responsibility right now, but he needs to at least dish out some big hits and this homestand has been missing those. His positioning was off again tonight, specifically due to chasing and he was behind the play enough that he wasn't getting to handle pucks. Hope he bounces back on the road; betting he will.
Foster
- Didn't see a lot from him other than some decent reads from the offensive blue line on the PP; he made good choices when it came to shoot/pass/hold. For once tonight, most of the fans weren't yelling SHHHOOOOOTTT! so lustily on the PP because we showed some competency.
Strudwick
- Stupid penalties, bad D, nearly had another TWO moments in front of his own net like the Toronto game. Call up someone already...this is maddening....
------------
Say what you will about the first, when we're an effective offensive team we win.
If Omark maintains near this level of play, even if just on the PP, he needs to stay for good regardless of who comes back. He's already been an essential part in 2 wins.
Not too worried about the minor let down in the third and some fancier plays from everyone not working out. Glad they had fun with a win. They deserve some help in doing that more often (management).
VS.
Kristian Huselius 3
-----------------
I said to my friend at the game that I had a good feeling before we got started this evening...guess I was right!
Even though it took some surviving through a horrendous defensive first period, we did the absolute most important thing in the sport tonight: put the damn puck in the damn net. We were on our chances and playing aggressive, confident hockey in the offensive zone and upon entry into the offensive zone. This very rarely ends in a loss. Tonight was no different.
Amazing to watch a game with nearly 80 shots on net these days. It seems like lately we either can't penetrate the shooting lane or have our attempts blocked. Tonight wasn't that way. I'm not sure Mason was really as bad as some people think; he was beaten by good offensive players simply doing their thing.
Columbus is a strange team...they have some toughness, very little top level talent, and a bunch of guys who should be good but appear to have quite the variable level of play. I'm betting they'd be fun to watch as a season ticket holder.
There can be no doubt that there are massive holes on this squad; but when the parts we do have in place fire, we're tough to beat. I'd play the "I can get 7 goals faster than you can" version of hockey for the rest of the year to the greatest extent possible. We seem to win every time the game is characterized by offence and the rush (both back and forth).
PLAYER REPORTS
------------
Gagner
- I'm very pleased to be wrong on him with regards to last game. He made the necessary adjustments to his game, namely getting the puck to 4 and 14 then driving to open positions where he can either create or provide support, and really looked solid in the spot he occupied. His goal was a very smart little shot that changed the angle for the goalie just enough that it became very tough to spot. Kudos to Sam on using his IQ to figure out how to use the lethal weapons patrolling his wings. Almost had two as a sharp angle shot in the second period could have gone in (if he were Alex Semin, that's his wheelhouse).
Eberle
- Very smart game from Jordan; I'm just a little disappointed he didn't get more chances to cash #3. He got a good shot away in the third period that nearly beat Garon (who was very solid and should have started), but other than that he was pretty much done for the eve which is okay when you make it look as easy as he did. His first goal was a great example of following with proper puck support and making the most of a chance. Nice finish off the rush Hall created. Too many players don't get into the spot Eberle did then have the patience to make a proper play on the net. His second goal was simpler, but still a nice example of positioning and awareness. Kid plays a smart game.
Hall
- While he got back into the habit of carrying the puck too far ahead of him (and had more turnovers at the opposition blue line because of this), he still played a great game. Every time he got the puck, he pushed the Columbus D back with his speed and made something happen. You can see that teams are forced to play him like a star at this early stage of his career, which is amazing. Loved the puck grab and slick little play to Gagner for that goal. Normally Eberle would be out in that situation and it speaks to the improvement in Hall's game that Renney had him there instead. Hall's read on his quick little pass to Whitney before Eberle's second was also quite smart; deftly gliding across the ice, winning a race with positioning, then selling the forward pass and going backwards while taking a it. Beauty. The competition between he and Eberle for years to come (Hall the flashy one, Eberle the quiet but skilled, both racking up goals and points) is going to be truly amazing.
Paajarvi
- Excellent game for Magnus that will fly under the radar due to the efforts of others. He used a great little speed step to get to the net and finish the Omark-generated rebound for his goal. His work behind the net in the first to get the puck to Omark for the Penner goal showed some evolution in his game. He used his size, positioning and a little tenacity to fend off two Jackets even after they knocked him down. Aside from the point producing; he read off of Omark beautifully. You can see that they communicate really well and skate in lines that the other knows well. There were several no-look and half-look passes that were totally untelegraphed and fooled the D. This is a combo we should keep for sure; it almost made 91 a good PP guy even (and he can still learn). Well done for Magnus.
O'Marra
- He's better than Fraser and actually brings something to the lineup. He laid a couple solid hits tonight (I really didn't think he should've gotten a penalty on his hit near the Jackets' box) and manages to support his linemates from solid positions. He's also a big man who can skate and doesn't look incompetent with the puck. These are valuable people to some degree. He's better than Jacques right now even if you like Fraser for some crazy reason. The fact that his line was still as dangerous as it was shows that he played a decent game and really didn't weigh them down; which is impressive considering their skill and the supposed drop off to O'Marra. I'm not saving he's a saviour; but I am certainly saying that given our current roster even with 83 and 10 back in, he's at worst our 4th best C (and could play wing in a pinch I'm sure).
Omark
- Dominated. He was tremendous in the offensive zone. Before we get to his points, let's talk about the fact that he had another dangerous chance (with the goalie half-fooled already) foiled by a penalty by 43; he made several cross ice passes to set up forwards and Mr. No Goals Allowed himself, he ran the PP whenever he was on and made it look easy, held the puck in nearly every difficult situation he got into and bounces around and off of hits like a pinball. This guy is a serious player. His first goal might've been one of the smartest play sequences I've ever seen. If you know anything about scoring goals, you know this wasn't a fluke. He's skating in and won't beat the D, so he flicks the puck at the net at slow speed but a spot Mason might have trouble, he fakes left around Hejda who overcommits, drives the middle and times his arrival at the puck perfectly, kicks it up to his stick, in the blink of an eye changes the angle to open a spot and finishes. Absolutely magnificent. 95% of guys would never even think to attempt that, but if you watched him, you know that he saw it in his mind before he did it. I could barely believe it. His assists were great too. He read that 91 was in trouble and inched in from the corner when he saw he could get a pass, shoulder-checked almost imperceptibly for Penner and then completely sold that he was going to keep it on the boards and fed it straight to Penner's blade through his legs. Wow. His assist on 91's goal wasn't as flashy, but still very good, as he delayed, took the drop pass, made a nice recovery of the puck and chose a solid low shot that would generate a rebound. He made so many things happen. To watch a guy with his smarts, creativity, and passion for the game is truly a pleasure. This is what a complimentary difference maker looks like ladies and gents. The only thing that would improve the 91-23 combo is if they threw Penner in the middle like they did on the powerplay. That line might just be untouchable.
Cogliano
- Skate, skate skate and nothing. I actually got angry at him for shooting on a rush; he did have 2 guys with him but still you shouldn't get angry for a player shooting on the rush. I was. He's just got no clue right now. He also ran around the defensive zone a lot. That's not what we want to see at all. When we have a full lineup back; if this is how he looks, he should see the PB.
Brule
- I thought Gilbert almost alternated between good solid shifts and "what are you DOING?" out there tonight. He hit some people which was great to see in a game where we needed it. If he brought that on a more regular basis I think he'd have a place here. He shot from an improper angle on the rush again tonight...I'm not sure when he forgot that shot needs to be a one-timer with the goalie moving across to work. I did like that he got the puck on net in other situations because that's something he's really been failing at lately. On the bad shifts, he was out of position, made lame passes and got knocked around a bit. He's being passed at supersonic speed by Linus, and is going to have to realize that his spot on this team may be in more of a 4th line role than an offensive one.
Penner
- Certainly looked best when paired with Linus and Magnus, but he pulled enough weight to keep the other guys out of trouble, He seemed to have a good eye for the puck in the high slot tonight; chasing it down and controlling it through size and positioning. I suppose if he could anchor another line it creates a situation where we can run 3 lines out for significant minutes once we have a full lineup, but you've got to plug him in on the PP and late in games with the Swedes, though you also would have to muse about the possibility of having Penner-Horcoff-Hemsky return to play the other teams' best and have the 4 young guns murder the other lines.
Stortini
- The fight he got in was pretty bad. Nothing but hugging and he got openly mocked by Sestito (who had me confused as hell with TIM Sestito as opposed to TOM). He did nothing but chase and shove the rest of the game. 46 is totally off his game and isn't useful at all like this. Someone's got to sit him down and get back on track, which means: forechecking, being a pain in the butt, and being a solid receiver of the first pass in the defensive zone. He can do all these things, but is not.
Fraser
- Don't remember him tonight. Apparently he won some faceoffs? Didn't seem to help any. There's no place for him on this squad with a bigger, younger, more interesting player in O'Marra available.
Jones
- I thought he did his best with a bad lot. He's been good offensively and I'd be disappointed to be in the role he got tonight if I were him. He still managed 2 really solid offensive chances that nearly resulted in goals, and got under Columbus' skin, but isn't as effective on a line where he is the skilled guy. Oh well, we didn't need him to be great tonight.
Khabibulin
- Kept us in long enough. He nearly stopped the second goal which would have been amazing. Columbus didn't get a ton of great chances but he did turn them away when needed. Probably disappointed with allowing 3, but if we're not leading after the first this is a different game. I probably would've started #40 tonight (or if I had the choice, #29), because I didn't like Nik against T.O.
Whitney
- Amazing. He was truly stupendous tonight. I lost count of the great breakout passes. The only negative from him was some iffy defensive play in the first, but after that he was wheeling and dealing. He obviously got his assists, but he also set up the 91 goal with a solid pass out of the zone, either he or Smid (who was also excellent) made that brilliant flip pass to Hall that reminded me of Joni, and every time he was on the ice and the Oilers had a rush he was a big part. He just finds the passing lanes and his passes are rarely uncatchable. It's very simple but if you can do it you're so valuable. He hit almost every one tonight. I feel a little sad for Ryan in his attempts at goal scoring because he's joining the rush so effectively but can't get a finishing shot on to save his life. He's taken to staring off into the crowd for a brief second every time he misses and I do sympathize. He can take heart however in the fact that he's having one of the finest offensive seasons we've seen from a Dman in a long while and lugging all kinds of defensive deadweight along with him. Amazing player.
Smid
- Really really upped his game tonight and it started with his first rush out of our zone, into theirs and a successful feed to Taylor Hall. He's been missing that element lately and it makes him special. He was physical behind the net and made a bunch more passes in addition to Whitney's. Great to see probably the first really complete game from Ladislav tonight. Made just an excellent play to break up a key 2-on-1 in the first as well, which showed the correction of a mistake he made last game that resulted in a goal. Big plus tonight.
GIlbert
- Playing great and kept that up aside from probably 2 shifts where he got caught running around a little bit. The biggest difference I can see in Gilbert, and maybe you can't see this at home, is his passion is back. He's really into the game, reacting after good plays and bad, looking really focused. He's got it together and that's a huge plus.
Peckham
- Continued his current slide of iffy play. In a lot of ways that's to be expected but that doesn't make it any better. He does have too much responsibility right now, but he needs to at least dish out some big hits and this homestand has been missing those. His positioning was off again tonight, specifically due to chasing and he was behind the play enough that he wasn't getting to handle pucks. Hope he bounces back on the road; betting he will.
Foster
- Didn't see a lot from him other than some decent reads from the offensive blue line on the PP; he made good choices when it came to shoot/pass/hold. For once tonight, most of the fans weren't yelling SHHHOOOOOTTT! so lustily on the PP because we showed some competency.
Strudwick
- Stupid penalties, bad D, nearly had another TWO moments in front of his own net like the Toronto game. Call up someone already...this is maddening....
------------
Say what you will about the first, when we're an effective offensive team we win.
If Omark maintains near this level of play, even if just on the PP, he needs to stay for good regardless of who comes back. He's already been an essential part in 2 wins.
Not too worried about the minor let down in the third and some fancier plays from everyone not working out. Glad they had fun with a win. They deserve some help in doing that more often (management).
12/14/10
LMHF Game Report #15
EDMONTON 1
VS.
TORONTO 4
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I was worried even though I missed an utterly pathetic sounding game Sunday; I apparently didn't have to wait long to see a putrid game in person.
Make no mistake, the Oilers could have won this sucker in the first period. There were openings and chances just like when they pasted the Leafs in Toronto not so long ago. The difference was this time the Oilers missed their chances and got frustrated thereafter.
The second and third periods were a complete and utter disgrace. This team didn't look into it at any point after the blown chances. I don't particularly know why the individual players would get down on themselves as they were playing a truly horrible hockey team, but I think one can look to the lineup and the system in some ways tonight. Renney's line combos were not working and did not change. The decision to dress MacIntyre and Stortini backfired horribly, placing a line on the ice that could really do nothing. They were bad and even though the stretches they played in the second and third were short, the distracted hockey they played put the game off course in a lot of ways. Some will say Renney had to play Strudwick tonight; but he didn't. He could have recalled Belle in time to dress tonight, but instead gave the guy who's only good in the room with skates off a chance; he was terrible and couldn't provide the Oilers with near enough minutes to help out the other 5 D (who were having a rough time themselves tonight). More on some of Renney's decisions in PLAYER REPORTS
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Hall-Gagner-Eberle
- This line doesn't work; Gagner tries to carry the puck too much. Pretty much every time Sam attempted to lug the puck instead of feeding Hall and Eberle (who did a good job of getting open for a while) things went wrong. I know Sam got the assist on Eberle's goal, but that pass probably shouldn't have made it through anyway. He throws off the groove that 4 and 14 have in a big way. Hall could have won this thing early. I'm not sure exactly what he thought he was doing on the two partial breakaways he got in the first period, but what he did gave him a low chance to score. By the third he was trying to do way too much and paying a physical price for it, but also giving up the puck. I know he got his shots on and I liked how he pissed off Miz Dion a little bit, but this was not one of my favorite games from Taylor. Eberle played alright; and he certainly got himself to the right places (but didn't receive passes) and made some good decisions in the offensive zone. It wasn't enough tonight.
Omark-Cogliano-Penner
- Even though they didn't generate a ton of offence, I didn't mind Penner and Omark tonight. They put in a decent effort and made some nice things happen in the corners and behind the net. There needed to be more finish and someone supporting from a solid position which should be where Cogliano comes in, but this didn't happen. I don't know what has happened to Andrew, but if someone were watching for the first time they sure wouldn't conclude he was any kind of NHL player or even a vet (which he almost is). He's just not generating anything and seems to have forgotten basic positioning. Not helping the team win at all.
Paajarvi-Brule-Jones
- This line was a pretty big disappointment; and it starts in the middle. Brule looked like Cogliano #2 all night tonight. He wasn't physical, took one half decent shot (which needed to be perfect to be the right choice off the rush) and generally just skated around a bunch. He's not very good positionally so he cannot play this way. Jones tuned down his physical game on a night when he needed to hit, but did get himself into some decent offensive situations. The disappointment comes from the fact that he didn't score and didn't show a lot of jump to make up for it either. I can understand why Magnus would struggle with these two, but he was probably the best of the three, certainly showing some good things with his skating. I didn't have a good view of the penalty he took on Kessel; did 81 embellish? (I'm assuming he would)
Stortini-Fraser-MacIntyre
- Writing any more than these two sentences would be a waste of virtual breath. NEVER AGAIN.
Gilbert
- One of the stronger defenders tonight. He at least played his position most of the time, though I didn't like what he did on the second Leafs goal at all. Gilbert's been better lately and I'd mainly attribute that to his increased skating time with the puck. He's just just getting it away from himself anymore.
Peckham
- A ROUGH night for Theo. He didn't really smack anyone around and kept getting caught flatfooted or late to his position. He could be way better than this and we certainly need him to be if there's any hope of hanging on to this season.
Strudwick
- All you need to know you saw on the third T.O. goal that was the backbreaker. NHL defencemen don't do that. AHL defencemen don't do that. You don't stand there like a goof in front of your own net and essentially score on yourself. This guy is defensive poison. I feel bad for him on some levels. Also cannot believe there are still those out there who defend him. Will Fraser certainly expressed my thoughts on 1260's post-game show (I think his is by far the best show on the station actually).
Smid
- Also a rough night. I'm not sure what precisely he was trying to do on the Leafs third goal, as that play was telegraphed 80 miles away and he still got caught surprised. He didn't have any particular help but really should have made a better play. Didn't carry the puck, didn't hold the offensive zone and didn't fight in a game where I think he needed to. Not good enough. Then again, when Smid and Peckham are keys to the game, it's a problem.
Whitney
- Not one of his best. I'm not actually sure why he jumps into the rush to attempt shots anymore. He's got to know by now that he'll whiff or miss or something. It's just not his year for goals. He should join the rush of course, but focus on passing. In the defensive zone he was not as locked-down as he usually is and when he's off, we're screwed.
Foster
- Didn't see him much other than some spots where he was out of position and struggled to get back. He's best when he was a little physical and he wasn't tonight. Bergeron would be a better PP QB.
Khabibulin
- Not good, not utterly terrible. Certainly didn't face a deluge from the Leafs though. Can't allow 4 no matter how they get in on a night like that.
-----------------
It's not like the Leafs were good tonight; don't get that misconception. Their rushes and zone play were mis-mashes supported by the bad play of a confused and uninspired Oilers team.
The "cheerleaders" were boring. I don't agree with cheerleaders in hockey (it's not football dammit!) but if they'd have called them something else, ditched the pom poms and had them essentially replace Scholz, it could've flew. People's reaction was essentially none. I don't see this lasting too long; the event team is a better vehicle.
Leafs fans who attended tonight: too many of you were jerks in your own class far and away. Booing the home team and abusing fellow fans is not the way to act. Calgary and Montreal fans don't act that way in our barn. You're very similar to VanFan in a lot of ways, but with a special arrogance that makes it worse. You act like it's the Stanley Cup when you win in Edmonton...talk about sad.
Props to everyone who stayed to the end; that was hard to take.
VS.
TORONTO 4
------------------
I was worried even though I missed an utterly pathetic sounding game Sunday; I apparently didn't have to wait long to see a putrid game in person.
Make no mistake, the Oilers could have won this sucker in the first period. There were openings and chances just like when they pasted the Leafs in Toronto not so long ago. The difference was this time the Oilers missed their chances and got frustrated thereafter.
The second and third periods were a complete and utter disgrace. This team didn't look into it at any point after the blown chances. I don't particularly know why the individual players would get down on themselves as they were playing a truly horrible hockey team, but I think one can look to the lineup and the system in some ways tonight. Renney's line combos were not working and did not change. The decision to dress MacIntyre and Stortini backfired horribly, placing a line on the ice that could really do nothing. They were bad and even though the stretches they played in the second and third were short, the distracted hockey they played put the game off course in a lot of ways. Some will say Renney had to play Strudwick tonight; but he didn't. He could have recalled Belle in time to dress tonight, but instead gave the guy who's only good in the room with skates off a chance; he was terrible and couldn't provide the Oilers with near enough minutes to help out the other 5 D (who were having a rough time themselves tonight). More on some of Renney's decisions in PLAYER REPORTS
-----------
Hall-Gagner-Eberle
- This line doesn't work; Gagner tries to carry the puck too much. Pretty much every time Sam attempted to lug the puck instead of feeding Hall and Eberle (who did a good job of getting open for a while) things went wrong. I know Sam got the assist on Eberle's goal, but that pass probably shouldn't have made it through anyway. He throws off the groove that 4 and 14 have in a big way. Hall could have won this thing early. I'm not sure exactly what he thought he was doing on the two partial breakaways he got in the first period, but what he did gave him a low chance to score. By the third he was trying to do way too much and paying a physical price for it, but also giving up the puck. I know he got his shots on and I liked how he pissed off Miz Dion a little bit, but this was not one of my favorite games from Taylor. Eberle played alright; and he certainly got himself to the right places (but didn't receive passes) and made some good decisions in the offensive zone. It wasn't enough tonight.
Omark-Cogliano-Penner
- Even though they didn't generate a ton of offence, I didn't mind Penner and Omark tonight. They put in a decent effort and made some nice things happen in the corners and behind the net. There needed to be more finish and someone supporting from a solid position which should be where Cogliano comes in, but this didn't happen. I don't know what has happened to Andrew, but if someone were watching for the first time they sure wouldn't conclude he was any kind of NHL player or even a vet (which he almost is). He's just not generating anything and seems to have forgotten basic positioning. Not helping the team win at all.
Paajarvi-Brule-Jones
- This line was a pretty big disappointment; and it starts in the middle. Brule looked like Cogliano #2 all night tonight. He wasn't physical, took one half decent shot (which needed to be perfect to be the right choice off the rush) and generally just skated around a bunch. He's not very good positionally so he cannot play this way. Jones tuned down his physical game on a night when he needed to hit, but did get himself into some decent offensive situations. The disappointment comes from the fact that he didn't score and didn't show a lot of jump to make up for it either. I can understand why Magnus would struggle with these two, but he was probably the best of the three, certainly showing some good things with his skating. I didn't have a good view of the penalty he took on Kessel; did 81 embellish? (I'm assuming he would)
Stortini-Fraser-MacIntyre
- Writing any more than these two sentences would be a waste of virtual breath. NEVER AGAIN.
Gilbert
- One of the stronger defenders tonight. He at least played his position most of the time, though I didn't like what he did on the second Leafs goal at all. Gilbert's been better lately and I'd mainly attribute that to his increased skating time with the puck. He's just just getting it away from himself anymore.
Peckham
- A ROUGH night for Theo. He didn't really smack anyone around and kept getting caught flatfooted or late to his position. He could be way better than this and we certainly need him to be if there's any hope of hanging on to this season.
Strudwick
- All you need to know you saw on the third T.O. goal that was the backbreaker. NHL defencemen don't do that. AHL defencemen don't do that. You don't stand there like a goof in front of your own net and essentially score on yourself. This guy is defensive poison. I feel bad for him on some levels. Also cannot believe there are still those out there who defend him. Will Fraser certainly expressed my thoughts on 1260's post-game show (I think his is by far the best show on the station actually).
Smid
- Also a rough night. I'm not sure what precisely he was trying to do on the Leafs third goal, as that play was telegraphed 80 miles away and he still got caught surprised. He didn't have any particular help but really should have made a better play. Didn't carry the puck, didn't hold the offensive zone and didn't fight in a game where I think he needed to. Not good enough. Then again, when Smid and Peckham are keys to the game, it's a problem.
Whitney
- Not one of his best. I'm not actually sure why he jumps into the rush to attempt shots anymore. He's got to know by now that he'll whiff or miss or something. It's just not his year for goals. He should join the rush of course, but focus on passing. In the defensive zone he was not as locked-down as he usually is and when he's off, we're screwed.
Foster
- Didn't see him much other than some spots where he was out of position and struggled to get back. He's best when he was a little physical and he wasn't tonight. Bergeron would be a better PP QB.
Khabibulin
- Not good, not utterly terrible. Certainly didn't face a deluge from the Leafs though. Can't allow 4 no matter how they get in on a night like that.
-----------------
It's not like the Leafs were good tonight; don't get that misconception. Their rushes and zone play were mis-mashes supported by the bad play of a confused and uninspired Oilers team.
The "cheerleaders" were boring. I don't agree with cheerleaders in hockey (it's not football dammit!) but if they'd have called them something else, ditched the pom poms and had them essentially replace Scholz, it could've flew. People's reaction was essentially none. I don't see this lasting too long; the event team is a better vehicle.
Leafs fans who attended tonight: too many of you were jerks in your own class far and away. Booing the home team and abusing fellow fans is not the way to act. Calgary and Montreal fans don't act that way in our barn. You're very similar to VanFan in a lot of ways, but with a special arrogance that makes it worse. You act like it's the Stanley Cup when you win in Edmonton...talk about sad.
Props to everyone who stayed to the end; that was hard to take.
12/10/10
LMHF Game Report #13
EDMONTON 4
VS.
TAMPA 3
In a freaking shootout...
-------------------
*NOTE* Sadly I will be missing the Sunday game against Vancouver as well...I hate stretches of my schedule like this.
I returned tonight expecting to see that a few things had changed with the team that went out on the road, won a bunch and then came back home and clearly was playing a different brand of hockey. Even though tonight was at many times a strange, bouncy, puck-losing affair, there were a lot of new positives showing on this team tonight, and I'm going to focus on that for much of this report.
The first and the third were not pretty. We lost the puck at, or just inside the opposition blue line many times and that cost us some great chances. Tampa was not very good tonight. They left holes to be exploited by several of our lines.
In the second period we really stepped up our play. It went back and forth with a lot more focus on doing positive things with the puck. It paid off in the end.
The overtime was dominated by one man, who didn't actually get enough playing time from the coach. Hall was standing at the door the whole time ready to rock and roll. He was angry at himself for not closing the deal earlier (though it wasn't really his fault). I was shocked when he didn't score in the SO, but perhaps it was just the hockey gods tonight.
The shootout was truly something. I think we all knew it was possible we'd see something like that. I was so relieved and pumped when I saw little Linus getting ready to hop the boards (you never know whether he'd actually get the call), then the crowd is so loud he can't hear the whistle hasn't gone, and nearly plows into a linesman at full speed. Unlike most guys who would've then gotten meek, forgotten the windup and tried something unplanned, Omark went straight back to his playbook, wound up, spun around, confused the hell out of Ellis (what do you really make of a guy spinning at you from that far away? where's he going? what the hell is he going to do???), then put on a beauty fake that almost broke his stick and finished like a boss. You could tell he didn't whiff even though his shot looked a little odd based on the reaction. The goal, the building going absolutely crazy, his teammates mobbing him...just an incredible experience.
Even though we were outshot severely, we had so many chances to score and so many chances to win that game that tonight's result was justice. It would really have hurt to lose that one. We'll need to be a fair bit better against Vancouver on Sunday, but when our offence gets its speed game going and the passes connect, we are very dangerous. We can put up goals. Consistency is coming slowly, but the rest of the year is going to be a lot of fun!
PLAYER REPORTS
---------------
Khabibulin
- He was triple screened by his own players and also an additional player on the first goal, so it's hard to fault him for that one. The second goal was a result of a long rebound kick which he should have controlled better (even though it was a wise shooting choice). The third was mainly a coverage breakdown, which was certainly unfortunate. HUGE save in the overtime period though a massive screen by kicking his leg instinctually to where the shot should be. Deserving of his star, though I thought the quality chances weren't too numerous. A lot of decent chances though.
Gilbert
- The best game I've seen him play live in a LONG time. He skated with confidence when he had the puck and really pushed the offence. He's at his best when this happens. Great read to sneak in and convert after Omark's beauty little play on the PP. He also had a chance that should've ended the game in OT after Hall got a shot on that generated a rebound, but whiffed. I thought he was in much better defensive position, and even got a little mean at times. THIS is the Gilbert we remember and need. He really made a difference tonight.
Peckham
- There were times tonight when Peckham was REALLY good. He began the game by establishing a physical tone and laid a bunch of hits throughout the game (including making a point of going after Stamkos). I'd agree with the idea that even though St Louis made a pass to Stamkos after going wide on Peckham for the third goal, Theo did a good enough job. He drove Marty wide even though he wasn't in a great position and the trailer should have been picked up. The only thing i'd criticize about Peckham tonight was that his puck movement wasn't quite as good as it usually is.
Foster
- Better game because he stepped up his physicality as well. Let a couple real rippers go that could've been goals. He was certainly no tower defensively, but he did enough. I believe it was he that got caught up ice after the first Hall-O'Marra break; NOT good.
Whitney
- The curse continues after he rang a beauty shot off the post. At this stage I just want him to keep racking up assists and audibly yell for him not to shoot at the game. It ain't going in Ryan! Good news is that his passing game is there, and he was the calm defensive presence we need as per usual. Made one truly horrible giveaway that almost wound up in our net in the third.
Smid
- Not the type of game I like to see from Ladislav. He didn't hit enough, only skated the puck into the opposition zone once that I recall, and was an unfortunate part of the puck staying low in our zone several times. He's rarely this shaky defensively. Wonder if something was wrong tonight.
Vandermeer
- Kept his nose clean, didn't make big mistakes and didn't get beat wide. Good enough for me!
Jacques
- He was able to be in position and tip some pucks deep into the Tampa zone, and landed a couple decent hits. That's all I'm able to give him. He's better without the puck than with it, even in the open ice. Please play #46.
Fraser
- Better than usual in that I actually noticed him doing some positive things. He was deep in the offensive zone and controlled the puck a couple times as well as delivering some hits. He had to play in more crucial moments than usual tonight and managed not to screw up. Low expectations but he beat them for once.
Brule
- In some ways I feel bad for GIlbert having to play on this line; he can't really generate anything from here. On the other hand he could have led the line and really didn't. While he did get in on the forecheck and lay some hits, he didn't generate any offence aside from 1 rush where he took the puck to the net. He needs to be better than that no matter where he's playing. In very real danger of losing his spot to a guy like Omark if tonight is any indication. While Brule hits and Omark doesn't, Omark wins more puck battles and never, ever quits (or so it seems).
O'Marra
- I actually quite like the way O'Marra plays the game. He got a decent amount of prime time tonight, including some 4-on-4 that generated two 2-on-1's with Taylor Hall. Hall should've finished the first, O'Marra had a wide open net (twice!) on the second (first forehand, then back), but at least they got their goal and I'm glad O'Marra got his point. He didn't make a great play on the first TB goal, but I think that can be forgiven. He also looked a tad tired in the third. He skates fairly well for a bigger man and often goes to the right place. If he's able to become comfortable with the NHL game flow, I think he can play for us due to our glaring holes in the lineup.
Jones
- Here's a man who's had confidence do him a world of good. Every time the puck goes into the offensive zone, including tonight, Jones is just steaming after it. He made hits and intelligent plays with the puck. At least twice he had very nice chances from the slot, and his move to out wait Kubina (I think) and deke Ellis only to be poke-tripped was very good for a grinder. I really like the enthusiasm and confidence this guy is showing on most every shift right now. I can see why he got a shift in OT (and he did generate a chance, even though I put Hall right back out there instead).
Omark
- I covered the SO goal above, and it was truly an amazing way to announce your presence in the league. This kid flat out believes in himself. You need players that are cocky as all hell to win hockey games and championships. As we become a more balanced and solid team, a guy like Omark could be very important to provide secondary scoring, a PP presence and some swagger. The most obvious place he can make a difference right now is the PP. The very first time he was out and control was gained at the half boards, he controlled the puck and made a beauty little move just like in preseason, stickhandling through what looked like no space to generate a chance and a goal. It is important to note that this is right after he got DRILLED into the boards, There's no being scared after hits with this guy. While he didn't make a great choice on the first Tbay goal, he did a good job of getting in lanes, having an active stick, and generally being a pain. One thing people might not have noticed on the goal he generated was that not only did he follow up the play, he appeared to snag the Tbay defender and give 77 more time to finish. Beauty! He could be a gamebreaker, especially if used properly. He just never quits on the puck and showed that by winning several corner battles. There is certainly some polishing to do, but at this point it's more of getting the hang of the NHL I think. The confidence, skill and drive are all there. This kid could be an absolute steal. He's already made more difference than #22, #43, and #33. Another thing to watch: the way he dumps and chases; best I've seen in a long time.
Penner
- Mean Penner is the best Penner. He was pissed off tonight. He fought Kubina (or at least tried to, Kubina showed off an iron grip that made it a non-fight really), he threw people around, he took solid shots and controlled the puck, he hustled, it was lovely to watch. Dustin made a difference at a time when we clearly needed him to. Loved the fire.
Cogliano
- Third period Andrew was terrible. I don't know what he thought he was doing but he just kept losing the puck. Before that he seemed to be skating really well and moving the puck forward. He took on his responsibility for two periods anyway, and managed to survive the Tampa PP late in the game (though I don't know why he confused everyone by directing traffic and sending a dman out to the point when it was his job). I don't know what's going to help #13...he hasn't played a truly strong game since the night he spent driving to the scoring areas a couple weeks ago.
Paajarvi
- He could really be effective on a line with Penner. A big strong guy and a big fast guy can work wonders. 91 spent his night drag racing the opposition and really looked to be in place. I liked the work he did on the PP with Omark, and I think this is a combo we keep together there until #83 gets back at the very least. His goal was interesting. It looked really ripped but I honestly couldn't tell. Great to see him get it. The nice thing about 91, and he showed it again tonight, is that he plays solid D as well. Seriously, train this guy to PK!
Eberle
- Did what he does. He basically inherited the puck support role from Horcoff and I think he's doing a fine job. While Hall makes plays, he's always right there to pick up a rebound, recover the play or accept a pass. His SO goal was an absolutely sick move; the guy is great at the SO. He made two defensive mistakes tonight that were uncharacteristic of his usual play, but I believe these were both giveaways high in the zone at the end of long shifts.
Gagner
- I'm a bit confused with regards to Sam; there were times tonight where I thought his reads were oustanding and he generated excellent chances, but others where he looked like he had 10 thumbs. I know he's working himself into the line he's now on, but he needs to be more consistent. I know it's a lot of work for a not-so-fast smaller guy to handle, but I saw a lot of potential in the way he played tonight.
Hall
- Now here's the guy who has taken a leap. This is not surprising if you've seen other stars develop before, but the Taylor Hall we sent out on the road is no more. This guy is ready for primetime now. Tonight he was a chance-generating machine. In the second you might as well have just conceded the offensive zone to him. I wish he'd get more selfish and fire the puck but MAN was he dynamic. Should've scored in the first (pass was too deep in his feet), should have scored multiple times in the second (managed the rush goal on sheer force of will after O'Marra was thwarted, just tremendous focus and effort), a quiet third and then in OT it was on like crazy. He could have beat Ellis with his rush shot off the faceoff, then did beat Ellis with another truly sublime backhand (don't think I've seen a better one than he has) only to be stopped by a player (I believe an Oiler) then got another quality shot off as well. The guy was everywhere tonight. He makes people miss. He carries tremendous speed into the offensive zone. He's stopped floating and is picking very disciplined skating lines; I can understand why this took him some time as scoring in the OHL is different but MAN was he skating efficiently tonight. Truly a thing of beauty to watch this kid play. If #35 didn't have to make so many saves, I'd have made Hall first star. Get he and Omark on the same PP and the other team might as well pull the damn goalie before too long.
-----------------
The excitement is coming back to the building. If we were to add some bit parts right now to hang on until #83 and #10 returned, the rest of this season could be anything really. I have no interest in a high draft pick and truly believe the best thing for these guys is to start winning now. Take the momentum that has arrived, and add some weight to it. Don't let these guys regress. Upward and onward.
VS.
TAMPA 3
In a freaking shootout...
-------------------
*NOTE* Sadly I will be missing the Sunday game against Vancouver as well...I hate stretches of my schedule like this.
I returned tonight expecting to see that a few things had changed with the team that went out on the road, won a bunch and then came back home and clearly was playing a different brand of hockey. Even though tonight was at many times a strange, bouncy, puck-losing affair, there were a lot of new positives showing on this team tonight, and I'm going to focus on that for much of this report.
The first and the third were not pretty. We lost the puck at, or just inside the opposition blue line many times and that cost us some great chances. Tampa was not very good tonight. They left holes to be exploited by several of our lines.
In the second period we really stepped up our play. It went back and forth with a lot more focus on doing positive things with the puck. It paid off in the end.
The overtime was dominated by one man, who didn't actually get enough playing time from the coach. Hall was standing at the door the whole time ready to rock and roll. He was angry at himself for not closing the deal earlier (though it wasn't really his fault). I was shocked when he didn't score in the SO, but perhaps it was just the hockey gods tonight.
The shootout was truly something. I think we all knew it was possible we'd see something like that. I was so relieved and pumped when I saw little Linus getting ready to hop the boards (you never know whether he'd actually get the call), then the crowd is so loud he can't hear the whistle hasn't gone, and nearly plows into a linesman at full speed. Unlike most guys who would've then gotten meek, forgotten the windup and tried something unplanned, Omark went straight back to his playbook, wound up, spun around, confused the hell out of Ellis (what do you really make of a guy spinning at you from that far away? where's he going? what the hell is he going to do???), then put on a beauty fake that almost broke his stick and finished like a boss. You could tell he didn't whiff even though his shot looked a little odd based on the reaction. The goal, the building going absolutely crazy, his teammates mobbing him...just an incredible experience.
Even though we were outshot severely, we had so many chances to score and so many chances to win that game that tonight's result was justice. It would really have hurt to lose that one. We'll need to be a fair bit better against Vancouver on Sunday, but when our offence gets its speed game going and the passes connect, we are very dangerous. We can put up goals. Consistency is coming slowly, but the rest of the year is going to be a lot of fun!
PLAYER REPORTS
---------------
Khabibulin
- He was triple screened by his own players and also an additional player on the first goal, so it's hard to fault him for that one. The second goal was a result of a long rebound kick which he should have controlled better (even though it was a wise shooting choice). The third was mainly a coverage breakdown, which was certainly unfortunate. HUGE save in the overtime period though a massive screen by kicking his leg instinctually to where the shot should be. Deserving of his star, though I thought the quality chances weren't too numerous. A lot of decent chances though.
Gilbert
- The best game I've seen him play live in a LONG time. He skated with confidence when he had the puck and really pushed the offence. He's at his best when this happens. Great read to sneak in and convert after Omark's beauty little play on the PP. He also had a chance that should've ended the game in OT after Hall got a shot on that generated a rebound, but whiffed. I thought he was in much better defensive position, and even got a little mean at times. THIS is the Gilbert we remember and need. He really made a difference tonight.
Peckham
- There were times tonight when Peckham was REALLY good. He began the game by establishing a physical tone and laid a bunch of hits throughout the game (including making a point of going after Stamkos). I'd agree with the idea that even though St Louis made a pass to Stamkos after going wide on Peckham for the third goal, Theo did a good enough job. He drove Marty wide even though he wasn't in a great position and the trailer should have been picked up. The only thing i'd criticize about Peckham tonight was that his puck movement wasn't quite as good as it usually is.
Foster
- Better game because he stepped up his physicality as well. Let a couple real rippers go that could've been goals. He was certainly no tower defensively, but he did enough. I believe it was he that got caught up ice after the first Hall-O'Marra break; NOT good.
Whitney
- The curse continues after he rang a beauty shot off the post. At this stage I just want him to keep racking up assists and audibly yell for him not to shoot at the game. It ain't going in Ryan! Good news is that his passing game is there, and he was the calm defensive presence we need as per usual. Made one truly horrible giveaway that almost wound up in our net in the third.
Smid
- Not the type of game I like to see from Ladislav. He didn't hit enough, only skated the puck into the opposition zone once that I recall, and was an unfortunate part of the puck staying low in our zone several times. He's rarely this shaky defensively. Wonder if something was wrong tonight.
Vandermeer
- Kept his nose clean, didn't make big mistakes and didn't get beat wide. Good enough for me!
Jacques
- He was able to be in position and tip some pucks deep into the Tampa zone, and landed a couple decent hits. That's all I'm able to give him. He's better without the puck than with it, even in the open ice. Please play #46.
Fraser
- Better than usual in that I actually noticed him doing some positive things. He was deep in the offensive zone and controlled the puck a couple times as well as delivering some hits. He had to play in more crucial moments than usual tonight and managed not to screw up. Low expectations but he beat them for once.
Brule
- In some ways I feel bad for GIlbert having to play on this line; he can't really generate anything from here. On the other hand he could have led the line and really didn't. While he did get in on the forecheck and lay some hits, he didn't generate any offence aside from 1 rush where he took the puck to the net. He needs to be better than that no matter where he's playing. In very real danger of losing his spot to a guy like Omark if tonight is any indication. While Brule hits and Omark doesn't, Omark wins more puck battles and never, ever quits (or so it seems).
O'Marra
- I actually quite like the way O'Marra plays the game. He got a decent amount of prime time tonight, including some 4-on-4 that generated two 2-on-1's with Taylor Hall. Hall should've finished the first, O'Marra had a wide open net (twice!) on the second (first forehand, then back), but at least they got their goal and I'm glad O'Marra got his point. He didn't make a great play on the first TB goal, but I think that can be forgiven. He also looked a tad tired in the third. He skates fairly well for a bigger man and often goes to the right place. If he's able to become comfortable with the NHL game flow, I think he can play for us due to our glaring holes in the lineup.
Jones
- Here's a man who's had confidence do him a world of good. Every time the puck goes into the offensive zone, including tonight, Jones is just steaming after it. He made hits and intelligent plays with the puck. At least twice he had very nice chances from the slot, and his move to out wait Kubina (I think) and deke Ellis only to be poke-tripped was very good for a grinder. I really like the enthusiasm and confidence this guy is showing on most every shift right now. I can see why he got a shift in OT (and he did generate a chance, even though I put Hall right back out there instead).
Omark
- I covered the SO goal above, and it was truly an amazing way to announce your presence in the league. This kid flat out believes in himself. You need players that are cocky as all hell to win hockey games and championships. As we become a more balanced and solid team, a guy like Omark could be very important to provide secondary scoring, a PP presence and some swagger. The most obvious place he can make a difference right now is the PP. The very first time he was out and control was gained at the half boards, he controlled the puck and made a beauty little move just like in preseason, stickhandling through what looked like no space to generate a chance and a goal. It is important to note that this is right after he got DRILLED into the boards, There's no being scared after hits with this guy. While he didn't make a great choice on the first Tbay goal, he did a good job of getting in lanes, having an active stick, and generally being a pain. One thing people might not have noticed on the goal he generated was that not only did he follow up the play, he appeared to snag the Tbay defender and give 77 more time to finish. Beauty! He could be a gamebreaker, especially if used properly. He just never quits on the puck and showed that by winning several corner battles. There is certainly some polishing to do, but at this point it's more of getting the hang of the NHL I think. The confidence, skill and drive are all there. This kid could be an absolute steal. He's already made more difference than #22, #43, and #33. Another thing to watch: the way he dumps and chases; best I've seen in a long time.
Penner
- Mean Penner is the best Penner. He was pissed off tonight. He fought Kubina (or at least tried to, Kubina showed off an iron grip that made it a non-fight really), he threw people around, he took solid shots and controlled the puck, he hustled, it was lovely to watch. Dustin made a difference at a time when we clearly needed him to. Loved the fire.
Cogliano
- Third period Andrew was terrible. I don't know what he thought he was doing but he just kept losing the puck. Before that he seemed to be skating really well and moving the puck forward. He took on his responsibility for two periods anyway, and managed to survive the Tampa PP late in the game (though I don't know why he confused everyone by directing traffic and sending a dman out to the point when it was his job). I don't know what's going to help #13...he hasn't played a truly strong game since the night he spent driving to the scoring areas a couple weeks ago.
Paajarvi
- He could really be effective on a line with Penner. A big strong guy and a big fast guy can work wonders. 91 spent his night drag racing the opposition and really looked to be in place. I liked the work he did on the PP with Omark, and I think this is a combo we keep together there until #83 gets back at the very least. His goal was interesting. It looked really ripped but I honestly couldn't tell. Great to see him get it. The nice thing about 91, and he showed it again tonight, is that he plays solid D as well. Seriously, train this guy to PK!
Eberle
- Did what he does. He basically inherited the puck support role from Horcoff and I think he's doing a fine job. While Hall makes plays, he's always right there to pick up a rebound, recover the play or accept a pass. His SO goal was an absolutely sick move; the guy is great at the SO. He made two defensive mistakes tonight that were uncharacteristic of his usual play, but I believe these were both giveaways high in the zone at the end of long shifts.
Gagner
- I'm a bit confused with regards to Sam; there were times tonight where I thought his reads were oustanding and he generated excellent chances, but others where he looked like he had 10 thumbs. I know he's working himself into the line he's now on, but he needs to be more consistent. I know it's a lot of work for a not-so-fast smaller guy to handle, but I saw a lot of potential in the way he played tonight.
Hall
- Now here's the guy who has taken a leap. This is not surprising if you've seen other stars develop before, but the Taylor Hall we sent out on the road is no more. This guy is ready for primetime now. Tonight he was a chance-generating machine. In the second you might as well have just conceded the offensive zone to him. I wish he'd get more selfish and fire the puck but MAN was he dynamic. Should've scored in the first (pass was too deep in his feet), should have scored multiple times in the second (managed the rush goal on sheer force of will after O'Marra was thwarted, just tremendous focus and effort), a quiet third and then in OT it was on like crazy. He could have beat Ellis with his rush shot off the faceoff, then did beat Ellis with another truly sublime backhand (don't think I've seen a better one than he has) only to be stopped by a player (I believe an Oiler) then got another quality shot off as well. The guy was everywhere tonight. He makes people miss. He carries tremendous speed into the offensive zone. He's stopped floating and is picking very disciplined skating lines; I can understand why this took him some time as scoring in the OHL is different but MAN was he skating efficiently tonight. Truly a thing of beauty to watch this kid play. If #35 didn't have to make so many saves, I'd have made Hall first star. Get he and Omark on the same PP and the other team might as well pull the damn goalie before too long.
-----------------
The excitement is coming back to the building. If we were to add some bit parts right now to hang on until #83 and #10 returned, the rest of this season could be anything really. I have no interest in a high draft pick and truly believe the best thing for these guys is to start winning now. Take the momentum that has arrived, and add some weight to it. Don't let these guys regress. Upward and onward.
11/27/10
LMHF Game Report #10
EDMONTON 3
VS.
SAN JOSE 4
-----------------
The result of tonight's game is quite frustrating; with the first reason being that we lost to a team that essentially only had 4 defencemen. It's rather inexcusable that we weren't even able to outshoot SJ tonight. We should have been able to run them into the ground in the offensive zone.
We were of course shorthanded in our own way; without Ales Hemsky and against a decent team we simply had to lean way too hard on one line. More on that in the player reports section.
One positive thing we did tonight was activate the defencemen into the cycle. Too bad we don't really score off the cycle.
I will re-iterate my yearly prediction that SJ won't wind up accomplishing anything this season. They are simply too thin and even in their areas of strength are improperly constructed to win a championship. Their chances increased slightly now that they changed goaltenders, but elsewhere they are still lacking. Their D is the most obvious weakness, and I don't see them addressing that in a major way. They will also have to lean far too hard on Thornton, Heatley and Marleau who have all shown their inability to lead these guys to the promised land. They should have totally reloaded several years ago and have not. Good luck with the insanity SJ!
I have a feeling that many regulars were missing tonight's game to partake in Grey Cup related festivities...the crowd was a very strange one and didn't follow the usual course.
Gerber starting tonight would have been interesting for me. I'd really like to see what he could do if he settled into a bit of a groove. I know why this won't happen, but that doesn't make it the right decision. On to PLAYER REPORTS
-------------
Dubnyk
- A fairly weak game from him tonight. Whether Pavelski whiffed on his shot or not, Dubnyk's got to have that one and looked totally handcuffed. He also handled the puck badly tonight, resulting in a couple chances and seemed to be a little lost in his crease. I'm not sure how Heatley's first beat him so badly either. There were some bad rebounds to boot. He needs to be better than this. He didn't face a ton of quality chances and sure faced fewer shots than he's used to.
Smid-Whitney
- A weaker night from these two than their last couple efforts. It was Smid rather than Whitney who was carrying the puck in his own zone tonight which is kind of strange. Whitney got out of position a number of times and wasn't very physical. He did jump into the offence, which was a plus. Kind of a blah game all around from these guys.
GIlbert-Peckham
- No massive hits from Theo tonight, which isn't really a big deal but you now notice when he doesn't land a big one. With the puck he was just okay. Decent defensive positioning though. Gilbert carried the puck better in the neutral zone and was okay in the offensive zone, but gave it away in his own zone due to iffy passes and panicky play a few times. Not exactly progress. Every time he tries to hit, he gets out of position; he needs to stop that and just play his game.
Vandermeer-Foster
- Kind of a strange game from these guys by my eye. They looked really scary (in the BAD way) on the ice for much of tonight but never really had it bite them. Foster took some hard shots but really needs to do some accuracy work. He should be scoring on several of them and is either missing the net or hitting the goalie square. It's too bad he isn't better at hitting forwards' sticks. Vandermeer took a decently timed shot that ricocheted of an SJ forward for his goal; which I'm sure he'll take. He actually looked like a decent skater at times tonight which helped defensively.
Jacques-Fraser-Stortini
- They had 2 fairly effective shifts in the game with sustained offensive pressure, but unfortunately none of them are able to make a strong enough play on the puck that this matters. Stortini managed to skate himself into a couple shooting situations in the second period which was good to see. He needs to do more of that. I have no real interest in the other 2. One lands one large hit that borders on a charge each game and the other just sorta does nothing.
Brule-Cogliano-Penner
- Nothing at all like their last effort. While Penner had a fairly strong game and ragged the puck by himself on several occasions to generate chances, he had absolutely no help in the offensive zone and minimal help (mostly from Cogliano) in the defensive zone. He needed a Hemsky or Gagner playing with him tonight and he probably would have had a couple more points. Oh well...Cogliano didn't go to the scoring areas during any point of the game tonight and returned to being a perimeter guy; something he's terrible at doing. I will give him credit for some attempted physical play. On a night like tonight with SJ's D short, Cogliano and Brule could've been a holy terror for SJ to deal with and were not effective at all. Penner made a great little play to Gagner for his goal. Beauty read.
Paajarvi-Gagner-Jones
- Penner should have replaced Jones in the second half of the third. While I appreciate the effort Jones gave (he won a lot of races, drove the net and made some intelligent choices), he wasn't enough to make this an effective second scoring unit. It's really too bad he's not a better shooter because he makes the most of his skating and takes excellent lines to the puck. Gagner played a pretty solid game. He fought hard to get the first goal after first being rejected on a nice backhand that required a lot of patience to begin with, helped (along with Magnus) to screen on the third goal, and generally worked very hard in the offensive zone. While he was provided marginal support by his linemates, he like Penner was capable of more tonight. Magnus showed glimpses of his skating speed again, and had a fabulous chance to tie the game late but missed a clean wrister wide-left. Too bad because it would've been pretty.
Hall-Horcoff-Eberle
- These guys carried the offensive ball tonight and nearly got it over the goal line. Eberle made two bad mistakes (1 SH turnover in the second that resulted in the Heatley goal and a similar turnover 5-on-5 in the third that didn't cost us, and was more out of trying to hard than making a mistake) but was fabulous in the offensive zone. He owned the corners, retrieved a ton of pucks and made some excellent passes. After watching Horcoff shoot to the wrong spot on an odd man rush with Eberle, he went over and said something to him; the next rush Eberle led, took a very intelligent shot and the rebound went right to Horcoff for his goal. Beauty. He even got Horcoff a chance late on a pass I have no idea how he got through. Hall showed a lot of promise tonight, carrying the puck aggressively into tough areas and often coming out with it. While his shots from the wing still sailed wide, he nearly tied it in the third on a pure wrister from the slot. It was impressive that shot nearly went in because it was so plain. Horcoff had a mostly strong game and certainly worked his tail off; though I would like to point out that he too made a mistake in the third that cost a should have been goal; he got his first shot attempt muffled in the slot, then the puck came back to him. Rather than take one step to his left, which would have afforded him a wide open shot at a wide open net (Antero had slid the other way), Horcoff simply hacked away and didn't score. Very disappointing. Kind of surprising he didn't score on the chance he had in close in the first after a nifty little play was made at the blue to get him the puck (by either Eberle or Hall). Horcoff got his chances tonight.
----------
When you only have one effective offensive line, this stuff happens. With that said, we had our chances. Definitely a winnable game as that was NOT an 'A' effort from SJ.
*NOTE* I will be missing the next 2 home games on a trip to Las Vegas to run in a half marathon, so no game reports for those. Sorry guys!
VS.
SAN JOSE 4
-----------------
The result of tonight's game is quite frustrating; with the first reason being that we lost to a team that essentially only had 4 defencemen. It's rather inexcusable that we weren't even able to outshoot SJ tonight. We should have been able to run them into the ground in the offensive zone.
We were of course shorthanded in our own way; without Ales Hemsky and against a decent team we simply had to lean way too hard on one line. More on that in the player reports section.
One positive thing we did tonight was activate the defencemen into the cycle. Too bad we don't really score off the cycle.
I will re-iterate my yearly prediction that SJ won't wind up accomplishing anything this season. They are simply too thin and even in their areas of strength are improperly constructed to win a championship. Their chances increased slightly now that they changed goaltenders, but elsewhere they are still lacking. Their D is the most obvious weakness, and I don't see them addressing that in a major way. They will also have to lean far too hard on Thornton, Heatley and Marleau who have all shown their inability to lead these guys to the promised land. They should have totally reloaded several years ago and have not. Good luck with the insanity SJ!
I have a feeling that many regulars were missing tonight's game to partake in Grey Cup related festivities...the crowd was a very strange one and didn't follow the usual course.
Gerber starting tonight would have been interesting for me. I'd really like to see what he could do if he settled into a bit of a groove. I know why this won't happen, but that doesn't make it the right decision. On to PLAYER REPORTS
-------------
Dubnyk
- A fairly weak game from him tonight. Whether Pavelski whiffed on his shot or not, Dubnyk's got to have that one and looked totally handcuffed. He also handled the puck badly tonight, resulting in a couple chances and seemed to be a little lost in his crease. I'm not sure how Heatley's first beat him so badly either. There were some bad rebounds to boot. He needs to be better than this. He didn't face a ton of quality chances and sure faced fewer shots than he's used to.
Smid-Whitney
- A weaker night from these two than their last couple efforts. It was Smid rather than Whitney who was carrying the puck in his own zone tonight which is kind of strange. Whitney got out of position a number of times and wasn't very physical. He did jump into the offence, which was a plus. Kind of a blah game all around from these guys.
GIlbert-Peckham
- No massive hits from Theo tonight, which isn't really a big deal but you now notice when he doesn't land a big one. With the puck he was just okay. Decent defensive positioning though. Gilbert carried the puck better in the neutral zone and was okay in the offensive zone, but gave it away in his own zone due to iffy passes and panicky play a few times. Not exactly progress. Every time he tries to hit, he gets out of position; he needs to stop that and just play his game.
Vandermeer-Foster
- Kind of a strange game from these guys by my eye. They looked really scary (in the BAD way) on the ice for much of tonight but never really had it bite them. Foster took some hard shots but really needs to do some accuracy work. He should be scoring on several of them and is either missing the net or hitting the goalie square. It's too bad he isn't better at hitting forwards' sticks. Vandermeer took a decently timed shot that ricocheted of an SJ forward for his goal; which I'm sure he'll take. He actually looked like a decent skater at times tonight which helped defensively.
Jacques-Fraser-Stortini
- They had 2 fairly effective shifts in the game with sustained offensive pressure, but unfortunately none of them are able to make a strong enough play on the puck that this matters. Stortini managed to skate himself into a couple shooting situations in the second period which was good to see. He needs to do more of that. I have no real interest in the other 2. One lands one large hit that borders on a charge each game and the other just sorta does nothing.
Brule-Cogliano-Penner
- Nothing at all like their last effort. While Penner had a fairly strong game and ragged the puck by himself on several occasions to generate chances, he had absolutely no help in the offensive zone and minimal help (mostly from Cogliano) in the defensive zone. He needed a Hemsky or Gagner playing with him tonight and he probably would have had a couple more points. Oh well...Cogliano didn't go to the scoring areas during any point of the game tonight and returned to being a perimeter guy; something he's terrible at doing. I will give him credit for some attempted physical play. On a night like tonight with SJ's D short, Cogliano and Brule could've been a holy terror for SJ to deal with and were not effective at all. Penner made a great little play to Gagner for his goal. Beauty read.
Paajarvi-Gagner-Jones
- Penner should have replaced Jones in the second half of the third. While I appreciate the effort Jones gave (he won a lot of races, drove the net and made some intelligent choices), he wasn't enough to make this an effective second scoring unit. It's really too bad he's not a better shooter because he makes the most of his skating and takes excellent lines to the puck. Gagner played a pretty solid game. He fought hard to get the first goal after first being rejected on a nice backhand that required a lot of patience to begin with, helped (along with Magnus) to screen on the third goal, and generally worked very hard in the offensive zone. While he was provided marginal support by his linemates, he like Penner was capable of more tonight. Magnus showed glimpses of his skating speed again, and had a fabulous chance to tie the game late but missed a clean wrister wide-left. Too bad because it would've been pretty.
Hall-Horcoff-Eberle
- These guys carried the offensive ball tonight and nearly got it over the goal line. Eberle made two bad mistakes (1 SH turnover in the second that resulted in the Heatley goal and a similar turnover 5-on-5 in the third that didn't cost us, and was more out of trying to hard than making a mistake) but was fabulous in the offensive zone. He owned the corners, retrieved a ton of pucks and made some excellent passes. After watching Horcoff shoot to the wrong spot on an odd man rush with Eberle, he went over and said something to him; the next rush Eberle led, took a very intelligent shot and the rebound went right to Horcoff for his goal. Beauty. He even got Horcoff a chance late on a pass I have no idea how he got through. Hall showed a lot of promise tonight, carrying the puck aggressively into tough areas and often coming out with it. While his shots from the wing still sailed wide, he nearly tied it in the third on a pure wrister from the slot. It was impressive that shot nearly went in because it was so plain. Horcoff had a mostly strong game and certainly worked his tail off; though I would like to point out that he too made a mistake in the third that cost a should have been goal; he got his first shot attempt muffled in the slot, then the puck came back to him. Rather than take one step to his left, which would have afforded him a wide open shot at a wide open net (Antero had slid the other way), Horcoff simply hacked away and didn't score. Very disappointing. Kind of surprising he didn't score on the chance he had in close in the first after a nifty little play was made at the blue to get him the puck (by either Eberle or Hall). Horcoff got his chances tonight.
----------
When you only have one effective offensive line, this stuff happens. With that said, we had our chances. Definitely a winnable game as that was NOT an 'A' effort from SJ.
*NOTE* I will be missing the next 2 home games on a trip to Las Vegas to run in a half marathon, so no game reports for those. Sorry guys!
11/25/10
LMHF Game Report #9
EDMONTON 3
VS.
COLORADO 2
--------------------
When we scored #3 tonight, everyone cheered a bunch and most remained standing for some time. We needed this home win and badly. It's one thing to stink; it's another to stink even worse than normal at home.
I didn't see a great game from the guys tonight. Tonight is the type of game that proves you don't actually need to play 60 to win. You need to play 5 great minutes and 55 decent ones. We did that.
We gave up too many shots and spent most of our offensive zone time on the perimeter. Credit to Colorado for keeping us to the outside most of the night, but they paid dearly when they didn't.
Strangest moment of the night: they played a rap-infused version of Free Fallin...so very very very wrong.
I trust that everyone sitting near someone in a hideous green non-hockey jersey calmly informed them that they were in the wrong building watching the wrong sport in the wrong province and kindly asked them to leave. So very annoying...
Colorado certainly looked like a team that played late last night. They were asleep for the first few minutes and dragged themselves essentially lifeless back into the game just enough to have something of a chance but that was it. They certainly have some talent, though all but Duchene looked off their games tonight. On to our squad
PLAYER REPORTS
------------------
Gerber
- Didn't really have his body under control and kept sliding out of the net. I could see how his style would be effective when he's on because he can cover a lot of net, but he looked a little over-amped tonight and gave up some seriously juicy rebound. His best save came only because he'd kicked out a rebound to an open Avs player. If not for Sam scoring on him, he has a 1 goal allowed night which is wonderfully solid for that many shots. He definitely has a unique method of playing the puck; often flicking his stick out with one hand to direct it. I suppose if our players had seen him more they'd know where to go and it wouldn't look so awkward. It generated a goal in the second for the Avs, but generated the winner for us. Congrats on returning to the show with a W Martin!
Peckham
- Just destroyed 3 different Avs players with wonderful right-on-the-edge hits. This guy is the best Oilers hitter in a long time not just because he connects but because he does it without being thrown way out of position like some of the forwards who try to land bombs. Even though he had something of an iffy game in his own zone (he wasn't as strong as usual in the corners but okay in other areas), this was an excellent game for him because it was noticeable after the hits that several Avs players backed off of the puck when he was near. They also must know he can fight because none came after him despite his aggressive play. VERY effective night from Theo.
Gilbert
- Really liked the little rush play he made with tired linemates in the third to gain the red line and get the puck deep. I think I might have caught some of what the problem is with Tom. Normally, he's from the calm school of defencemen and sort of slides into his position, cutting off opposition forwards rather than catching or hitting them. Tonight and recently, when I look for him in the spot he should be (safe side, tight gap, facing the play), he's often overcommitted towards the opposition player. Because he's not physical, this means he often misses his check and the puck and is forced to chase. He's not a chaser. This needs to be corrected.
Whitney
- Great pass to catch Magnus in stride in the third; loved the calm read. Controlled the puck and the play for much of the night, often skating it into the opposition zone and making a solid play. I think without Hemsky as an outlet he took some of the neutral zone responsibility on himself. I'm surprised he didn't bring up his hitting game when he saw what Peckham was doing. Certainly one of our best and much improved since the last games on home ice.
Smid
- He looked a little out of sorts tonight; and that was before he got popped in the third. I was certainly scared for him as he sort of wobbled around the ice the rest of that shift. It appears he's okay and I sure hope so. Looked like a good fit with Whitney tonight as he knew how to find him with the pass and where to provide defensive support.
Vandermeer
- bringmebackshawnbelle! *cough*, nothing special and nothing really bad I suppose.
Foster
- What is it with Oilers players getting caught in the mouth with the puck lately? I don't get it...He got some shots away and made a couple lovely slap passes (the one I remember most was in the second and Penner kind of whiffed on a great chance). He also kept up the minor physical element of his game which is good. Not amazing defensively, but oh well.
Cogliano
- Okay, so let me get this straight: Andrew Cogliano turns into a scorer if we outfit him with a 2-piece mask featuring face and jaw shield as opposed to a full shield? (seriously, find a pic it looked silly as all hell!) If it takes looking like RoboCop's strange hockey-playing cousin out there, so be it I guess! What Andrew did well tonight was use his speed to get to the scoring areas and lurk there. He's forgotten how to do this the last year and some but it certainly came back tonight. The strange thing about this way of playing is that it's actually easier to do than his usual strategy of skating a million miles with the puck but never being in a scoring area. I loved his quick little jump play for goal number 2. Renney missed a chance to use a hot player more than he'd anticipated in the game plan tonight. #13 didn't see the PP (despite his 2 linemates playing there) and didn't get overshifted, yet still managed to come within inches of his trick several times. He was really good tonight and needs to remember where he spent most of the evening. Should've been first star and didn't even get one.
Penner
- The semi-dominant Penner was back tonight; plain owning players while he ragged the puck on command. This is the kind of guy that has a 4-point night with Ales Hemsky. He flourished as the puck carrier and dominant player on his line tonight however. I suspect it was he that gave Cogliano the chance to play in the scoring area. I'm surprised he wasn't able to pop one tonight.
Brule
- Decent, aggressive game from him. His slapper wasn't effective because he was forcing it too much from non-ideal positions but he was aggressive in the corners and actively distributed the puck. For some reason he picked tonight to be horrible on the dot...
Jacques
- 2 hits that I thought should've earned him at least one penalty. I understand why people get excited for some of the stuff he does, but the only other thing I remember about his game tonight was a weak shot from the RW in the third.
Fraser
- Even less. Does he do anything? Seriously? I can't find anything from this guy ever.
Stortini
- Had an even more borderline hit than Jacques behind the Colorado net. Cogliano got booted for something very similar and Stortini's, while slower, looked like a harder hit. He did skate fairly well tonight and made at least one decent backcheck play, but nothing really special.
Paajarvi
- I didn't really notice him much until the end of the game (he hadn't even drawn a penalty!), but boy did he ever have a shift at the end. When he gets his feet moving and commits to making a move with the puck in a protected position, he's very hard to stop. Needs to learn to go upstairs on that play however. The nice thing about Magnus is that he doesn't tend to make mistakes that wind up in our net. Looks like he may have some confidence back.
Jones
- Kind of a mid-physical game from him in that he was finishing checks but not making huge contact. I don't mind this because it can be part of a successful strategy. He also uses his skating well in games like this. It's really too bad he doesn't have just a little more offence to his game.
Gagner
- Didn't love Sam's game tonight, but he was okay. Tough break knocking one into his own net. I'm really not a fan of the way he sets up on the powerplay, and that continued tonight. He also took a couple more of his special slappers that always seem to go high. He grips really low and almost upshoots them...don't quite understand his method.
Eberle
- Nothing quite like taking a pass from your goalie, going the length of the ice, beating an opposition guy behind the net with smarts and positioning, faking another defender to pass between his stick and feet, passed several more, to the guy waiting wide open to finish the game. That play was beautiful for so many reasons and only happens with Jordan Eberle leading it. Just stupendous. He almost led a rush up the middle (that looked like Magnus 3.0) as well and spent the night getting the puck to the slot. His line generated a bunch of offence (even if it didn't succeed often) and it almost always came off his stick. He made two mistakes tonight that I can recall; one was not clearing a puck from his own zone in the third, and he got beat to a puck in the corner in the offensive end. He makes so few mistakes I can usually recount the individual plays. Amazing.
Horcoff
- Pretty solid game from him. He spent the evening in solid puck support position and got some solid shots away from scoring places. Kind of unlucky not to pop one. Certainly worked hard and wasn't overskating his checks.
Hall
- Much better game offensively from Taylor. There was one shift where he popped the puck over an Avs' stick in his own zone (reminding me of a move from NHL 11) and then tried it again and was rebuffed. Rather fun to watch. He got past opposition players much more easily than usual and went to more appropriate spots. Very nice finish on Eberle's pass, showing plenty of patience, awareness and precision to put the puck in even though Budaj was there. If anyone would like to see an example of why I criticize how Hall carries the puck, watch the third period with about 16:30 remaining and he gives the puck away on the rush after a lead pass from Penner I believe. He needs to eliminate that play. Thankfully it was much less plentiful tonight than in previous efforts. I didn't like his defensive game too much because it looked like he was chasing and not winning puck battles. Thankfully his offensive play counter-balanced that.
-------------
Anyone else think if we had a strong D it'd be fun to see what Peckham could do to opposition players playing forward? I think that'd be great.
Winning is so much more fun than losing...YAY!
VS.
COLORADO 2
--------------------
When we scored #3 tonight, everyone cheered a bunch and most remained standing for some time. We needed this home win and badly. It's one thing to stink; it's another to stink even worse than normal at home.
I didn't see a great game from the guys tonight. Tonight is the type of game that proves you don't actually need to play 60 to win. You need to play 5 great minutes and 55 decent ones. We did that.
We gave up too many shots and spent most of our offensive zone time on the perimeter. Credit to Colorado for keeping us to the outside most of the night, but they paid dearly when they didn't.
Strangest moment of the night: they played a rap-infused version of Free Fallin...so very very very wrong.
I trust that everyone sitting near someone in a hideous green non-hockey jersey calmly informed them that they were in the wrong building watching the wrong sport in the wrong province and kindly asked them to leave. So very annoying...
Colorado certainly looked like a team that played late last night. They were asleep for the first few minutes and dragged themselves essentially lifeless back into the game just enough to have something of a chance but that was it. They certainly have some talent, though all but Duchene looked off their games tonight. On to our squad
PLAYER REPORTS
------------------
Gerber
- Didn't really have his body under control and kept sliding out of the net. I could see how his style would be effective when he's on because he can cover a lot of net, but he looked a little over-amped tonight and gave up some seriously juicy rebound. His best save came only because he'd kicked out a rebound to an open Avs player. If not for Sam scoring on him, he has a 1 goal allowed night which is wonderfully solid for that many shots. He definitely has a unique method of playing the puck; often flicking his stick out with one hand to direct it. I suppose if our players had seen him more they'd know where to go and it wouldn't look so awkward. It generated a goal in the second for the Avs, but generated the winner for us. Congrats on returning to the show with a W Martin!
Peckham
- Just destroyed 3 different Avs players with wonderful right-on-the-edge hits. This guy is the best Oilers hitter in a long time not just because he connects but because he does it without being thrown way out of position like some of the forwards who try to land bombs. Even though he had something of an iffy game in his own zone (he wasn't as strong as usual in the corners but okay in other areas), this was an excellent game for him because it was noticeable after the hits that several Avs players backed off of the puck when he was near. They also must know he can fight because none came after him despite his aggressive play. VERY effective night from Theo.
Gilbert
- Really liked the little rush play he made with tired linemates in the third to gain the red line and get the puck deep. I think I might have caught some of what the problem is with Tom. Normally, he's from the calm school of defencemen and sort of slides into his position, cutting off opposition forwards rather than catching or hitting them. Tonight and recently, when I look for him in the spot he should be (safe side, tight gap, facing the play), he's often overcommitted towards the opposition player. Because he's not physical, this means he often misses his check and the puck and is forced to chase. He's not a chaser. This needs to be corrected.
Whitney
- Great pass to catch Magnus in stride in the third; loved the calm read. Controlled the puck and the play for much of the night, often skating it into the opposition zone and making a solid play. I think without Hemsky as an outlet he took some of the neutral zone responsibility on himself. I'm surprised he didn't bring up his hitting game when he saw what Peckham was doing. Certainly one of our best and much improved since the last games on home ice.
Smid
- He looked a little out of sorts tonight; and that was before he got popped in the third. I was certainly scared for him as he sort of wobbled around the ice the rest of that shift. It appears he's okay and I sure hope so. Looked like a good fit with Whitney tonight as he knew how to find him with the pass and where to provide defensive support.
Vandermeer
- bringmebackshawnbelle! *cough*, nothing special and nothing really bad I suppose.
Foster
- What is it with Oilers players getting caught in the mouth with the puck lately? I don't get it...He got some shots away and made a couple lovely slap passes (the one I remember most was in the second and Penner kind of whiffed on a great chance). He also kept up the minor physical element of his game which is good. Not amazing defensively, but oh well.
Cogliano
- Okay, so let me get this straight: Andrew Cogliano turns into a scorer if we outfit him with a 2-piece mask featuring face and jaw shield as opposed to a full shield? (seriously, find a pic it looked silly as all hell!) If it takes looking like RoboCop's strange hockey-playing cousin out there, so be it I guess! What Andrew did well tonight was use his speed to get to the scoring areas and lurk there. He's forgotten how to do this the last year and some but it certainly came back tonight. The strange thing about this way of playing is that it's actually easier to do than his usual strategy of skating a million miles with the puck but never being in a scoring area. I loved his quick little jump play for goal number 2. Renney missed a chance to use a hot player more than he'd anticipated in the game plan tonight. #13 didn't see the PP (despite his 2 linemates playing there) and didn't get overshifted, yet still managed to come within inches of his trick several times. He was really good tonight and needs to remember where he spent most of the evening. Should've been first star and didn't even get one.
Penner
- The semi-dominant Penner was back tonight; plain owning players while he ragged the puck on command. This is the kind of guy that has a 4-point night with Ales Hemsky. He flourished as the puck carrier and dominant player on his line tonight however. I suspect it was he that gave Cogliano the chance to play in the scoring area. I'm surprised he wasn't able to pop one tonight.
Brule
- Decent, aggressive game from him. His slapper wasn't effective because he was forcing it too much from non-ideal positions but he was aggressive in the corners and actively distributed the puck. For some reason he picked tonight to be horrible on the dot...
Jacques
- 2 hits that I thought should've earned him at least one penalty. I understand why people get excited for some of the stuff he does, but the only other thing I remember about his game tonight was a weak shot from the RW in the third.
Fraser
- Even less. Does he do anything? Seriously? I can't find anything from this guy ever.
Stortini
- Had an even more borderline hit than Jacques behind the Colorado net. Cogliano got booted for something very similar and Stortini's, while slower, looked like a harder hit. He did skate fairly well tonight and made at least one decent backcheck play, but nothing really special.
Paajarvi
- I didn't really notice him much until the end of the game (he hadn't even drawn a penalty!), but boy did he ever have a shift at the end. When he gets his feet moving and commits to making a move with the puck in a protected position, he's very hard to stop. Needs to learn to go upstairs on that play however. The nice thing about Magnus is that he doesn't tend to make mistakes that wind up in our net. Looks like he may have some confidence back.
Jones
- Kind of a mid-physical game from him in that he was finishing checks but not making huge contact. I don't mind this because it can be part of a successful strategy. He also uses his skating well in games like this. It's really too bad he doesn't have just a little more offence to his game.
Gagner
- Didn't love Sam's game tonight, but he was okay. Tough break knocking one into his own net. I'm really not a fan of the way he sets up on the powerplay, and that continued tonight. He also took a couple more of his special slappers that always seem to go high. He grips really low and almost upshoots them...don't quite understand his method.
Eberle
- Nothing quite like taking a pass from your goalie, going the length of the ice, beating an opposition guy behind the net with smarts and positioning, faking another defender to pass between his stick and feet, passed several more, to the guy waiting wide open to finish the game. That play was beautiful for so many reasons and only happens with Jordan Eberle leading it. Just stupendous. He almost led a rush up the middle (that looked like Magnus 3.0) as well and spent the night getting the puck to the slot. His line generated a bunch of offence (even if it didn't succeed often) and it almost always came off his stick. He made two mistakes tonight that I can recall; one was not clearing a puck from his own zone in the third, and he got beat to a puck in the corner in the offensive end. He makes so few mistakes I can usually recount the individual plays. Amazing.
Horcoff
- Pretty solid game from him. He spent the evening in solid puck support position and got some solid shots away from scoring places. Kind of unlucky not to pop one. Certainly worked hard and wasn't overskating his checks.
Hall
- Much better game offensively from Taylor. There was one shift where he popped the puck over an Avs' stick in his own zone (reminding me of a move from NHL 11) and then tried it again and was rebuffed. Rather fun to watch. He got past opposition players much more easily than usual and went to more appropriate spots. Very nice finish on Eberle's pass, showing plenty of patience, awareness and precision to put the puck in even though Budaj was there. If anyone would like to see an example of why I criticize how Hall carries the puck, watch the third period with about 16:30 remaining and he gives the puck away on the rush after a lead pass from Penner I believe. He needs to eliminate that play. Thankfully it was much less plentiful tonight than in previous efforts. I didn't like his defensive game too much because it looked like he was chasing and not winning puck battles. Thankfully his offensive play counter-balanced that.
-------------
Anyone else think if we had a strong D it'd be fun to see what Peckham could do to opposition players playing forward? I think that'd be great.
Winning is so much more fun than losing...YAY!
11/19/10
LMHF Game Report #8
EDMONTON 3
VS.
PHOENIX 4
In freaking shootout....
-----------------------
I really felt we were going to win tonight. Even though we were outshot, they out-played Phoenix for most of the game tonight.
The refereeing absolutely sucked. We should've had a myriad of powerplays tonight and actually looked pretty good on it when we had them. Disgraceful. Cogliano's "major" was just the beginning. That was never 5 minutes for boarding...what a joke.
It is true we played fairly weakly in the third period, but we still had enough chances to win. Whitney was excellent for PHX. He made a play on Eberle at the end of OT that saved the game by lifting #14's stick. Beauty defensive backcheck. We'd been in an OT groove and should've won. Several posts as well, which was a problem.
PLAYER REPORTS
----------------
Dubnyk
- Aside from the fact that he got beat the same way 3 times in the shootout, which is rather bad, he looked fairly solid. In particular he played the puck reasonably well and much better than Khabibulin. The third PHX goal was clearly on Whitney and Horcoff as well as narrowly not averted by Gilbert. Korpikoski's goal he didn't really have a chance. It's possible he could have stopped #2, though it was a good shot. Outside of the shootout, he basically did his job tonight.
Belle
- In the overtime period, Belle's play was stupendous. 4-on-4 his skating shines through wonderfully. He also showed enough instinct to skate to the front of the net which unfortunately Hemsky couldn't work into a goal. Belle also got a nice shot on net on a wide drive. The rest of his game was pretty plain, but so far he looks very good compared to his competition. He's not experiencing any of the nervousness that we were supposed to be seeing. This is great. We may have a late blooming gem by next year. That's the optimism in me, but we'll see.
Vandermeer
- Had his moments. He managed to avoid the bad pinch tonight which, which is good. I still didn't think his play along the boards was particularly good, and he gave the puck away as usual. He was far above Strudwick-level tonight though, which is enough.
Foster
- Got shots away but none were particularly good. Thankfully he had no major defensive screwups. Didn't see him doing much else.
Gilbert
- The struggles continue; partially because he's trying to be physical and can't. He needs to play with a strong stick and good positioning; unfortunately when you're a bad hitter this throws your positioning out of whack. Not Jacques-out-of-whack, but still out of it. He made an utterly horrible play to create a PHX scoring chance in the first and had to make the long march to the bench. Couldn't have been fun. He played a support role to Whitney all night and did just okay. He's better than okay and sure isn't playing like it.
Whitney
- So, we've found the magic move. Whitney gets the puck to Hemsky. He was an excellent puck distributor tonight and facilitated many of Hemsky's rushes. Defensively he was pretty decent actually. This was hopefully a recovery game for Whitney and the Whitney-Gilbert pair overall. Unfortunately this was somewhat ruined by their bad play on the tying goal. Great pass on Penner's goal.
Peckham
- More solid play from him. Fought hard for the puck in the corners and won a decent amount of battles. He was also in PHX's face every time any sort of scrum started. He's going to be excellent for us for many years and is much better with the puck than a guy like Matt Greene, which hopefully will help us when we're finally a good team again.
Jacques
- Congrats bonehead! You nearly killed a teammate. His hit on Stortini was certainly a low moment but he didn't do anything else either. I didn't seem him for the end of the third but wasn't sure whether he'd left the bench or not. The fact that he took away icetime from #91 tonight disgusts me. He helps us win in absolutely no way. He didn't even take the hits he had lined up half the time.
Fraser
- I really didn't notice him aside from getting in the middle of a scrum and taking one decent shot in the first period. He's really the invisible man.
Stortini
- Has lost all of preseason momentum officially at this stage. Even his skating looked pretty weak tonight and that's been a strong point even in his not so great games. I think we broke him; which is too bad. I had hope he'd be doing what Ryan Jones is right now but better because he's smarter.
Jones
- Again, pretty invisible tonight. I imagine most of this was because of the Cogliano booting but I'm not totally sure. Good enough to anger Phoenix on a couple of occasions but not really enough to make a positive difference unfortunately.
Cogliano
- Yeah, not a major. Not at all. Brutal call. Barely even a major.
Penner
- Had maybe 5 moments tonight where he really looked in control of the game. He didn't however get any productive shots off really, but did make a nice play on his goal I suppose. The puck slipped off his stick far too many times tonight.
Gagner
- Why is he still in the shootout? He should really yank himself out of the shootout because he's just not going to score again. He's also still taking his goofy slapshot that goes over the net most of the time. Luckily he didn't try to carry the puck through the neutral zone too much; that is where he usually fails when playing with Hemsky.
Hemsky
- Utterly sublime effort from him tonight. If you watch the highlights, half of them are him taking the puck from Whitney then streaking through the PHX defenders. He went into odd man situations and was almost always productive. This is the kind of game he can play when he's really firing. If any of his linemates had been going too, he would've had 5 or 6 points tonight. He was that good. His goal was an excellent SH read and a solid finish that looked like something of an optical illusion. Great pass to start the Penner goal. There are very few guys in the league who can do what he did tonight. So much fun. *random note* he always plays his best when I don't wear my Hemsky jersey; it's weird.
Hall
- Cannot do anything 5-on-5 because he can't beat anyone 1-on-1 and doesn't skate properly to put himself in a position of advantage. It's very disappointing. 4-on-4 or on the PP he's doing okay, but he needs to be used in a more dedicated way. I suppose he supports Horcoff and Eberle okay. I'm waiting to be blown away again. He made an interesting move between the legs in the first, but I'm still trying to figure whether it actually did anything for him.
Horcoff
- Solid goal due to solid positioning. I didn't mind him much tonight. His shootout "move" was rather pathetic. I still don't understand why people shoot five hole without moving drastically from side to side.
Eberle
- Played very well as per usual. Loved the way he kept the puck away from the PHX defenders who were rather aggressive on him. Probably had an SH goal taken away by the linesman getting in his way as that was a very dangerous looking odd-man rush. Made some phenomenal passes. Play him with Hemsky and Penner just for kicks.
--------------
Another loss...this one more painful than the others because it was close. We shoulda won tonight. BLECH. Not the way to start a weekend.
VS.
PHOENIX 4
In freaking shootout....
-----------------------
I really felt we were going to win tonight. Even though we were outshot, they out-played Phoenix for most of the game tonight.
The refereeing absolutely sucked. We should've had a myriad of powerplays tonight and actually looked pretty good on it when we had them. Disgraceful. Cogliano's "major" was just the beginning. That was never 5 minutes for boarding...what a joke.
It is true we played fairly weakly in the third period, but we still had enough chances to win. Whitney was excellent for PHX. He made a play on Eberle at the end of OT that saved the game by lifting #14's stick. Beauty defensive backcheck. We'd been in an OT groove and should've won. Several posts as well, which was a problem.
PLAYER REPORTS
----------------
Dubnyk
- Aside from the fact that he got beat the same way 3 times in the shootout, which is rather bad, he looked fairly solid. In particular he played the puck reasonably well and much better than Khabibulin. The third PHX goal was clearly on Whitney and Horcoff as well as narrowly not averted by Gilbert. Korpikoski's goal he didn't really have a chance. It's possible he could have stopped #2, though it was a good shot. Outside of the shootout, he basically did his job tonight.
Belle
- In the overtime period, Belle's play was stupendous. 4-on-4 his skating shines through wonderfully. He also showed enough instinct to skate to the front of the net which unfortunately Hemsky couldn't work into a goal. Belle also got a nice shot on net on a wide drive. The rest of his game was pretty plain, but so far he looks very good compared to his competition. He's not experiencing any of the nervousness that we were supposed to be seeing. This is great. We may have a late blooming gem by next year. That's the optimism in me, but we'll see.
Vandermeer
- Had his moments. He managed to avoid the bad pinch tonight which, which is good. I still didn't think his play along the boards was particularly good, and he gave the puck away as usual. He was far above Strudwick-level tonight though, which is enough.
Foster
- Got shots away but none were particularly good. Thankfully he had no major defensive screwups. Didn't see him doing much else.
Gilbert
- The struggles continue; partially because he's trying to be physical and can't. He needs to play with a strong stick and good positioning; unfortunately when you're a bad hitter this throws your positioning out of whack. Not Jacques-out-of-whack, but still out of it. He made an utterly horrible play to create a PHX scoring chance in the first and had to make the long march to the bench. Couldn't have been fun. He played a support role to Whitney all night and did just okay. He's better than okay and sure isn't playing like it.
Whitney
- So, we've found the magic move. Whitney gets the puck to Hemsky. He was an excellent puck distributor tonight and facilitated many of Hemsky's rushes. Defensively he was pretty decent actually. This was hopefully a recovery game for Whitney and the Whitney-Gilbert pair overall. Unfortunately this was somewhat ruined by their bad play on the tying goal. Great pass on Penner's goal.
Peckham
- More solid play from him. Fought hard for the puck in the corners and won a decent amount of battles. He was also in PHX's face every time any sort of scrum started. He's going to be excellent for us for many years and is much better with the puck than a guy like Matt Greene, which hopefully will help us when we're finally a good team again.
Jacques
- Congrats bonehead! You nearly killed a teammate. His hit on Stortini was certainly a low moment but he didn't do anything else either. I didn't seem him for the end of the third but wasn't sure whether he'd left the bench or not. The fact that he took away icetime from #91 tonight disgusts me. He helps us win in absolutely no way. He didn't even take the hits he had lined up half the time.
Fraser
- I really didn't notice him aside from getting in the middle of a scrum and taking one decent shot in the first period. He's really the invisible man.
Stortini
- Has lost all of preseason momentum officially at this stage. Even his skating looked pretty weak tonight and that's been a strong point even in his not so great games. I think we broke him; which is too bad. I had hope he'd be doing what Ryan Jones is right now but better because he's smarter.
Jones
- Again, pretty invisible tonight. I imagine most of this was because of the Cogliano booting but I'm not totally sure. Good enough to anger Phoenix on a couple of occasions but not really enough to make a positive difference unfortunately.
Cogliano
- Yeah, not a major. Not at all. Brutal call. Barely even a major.
Penner
- Had maybe 5 moments tonight where he really looked in control of the game. He didn't however get any productive shots off really, but did make a nice play on his goal I suppose. The puck slipped off his stick far too many times tonight.
Gagner
- Why is he still in the shootout? He should really yank himself out of the shootout because he's just not going to score again. He's also still taking his goofy slapshot that goes over the net most of the time. Luckily he didn't try to carry the puck through the neutral zone too much; that is where he usually fails when playing with Hemsky.
Hemsky
- Utterly sublime effort from him tonight. If you watch the highlights, half of them are him taking the puck from Whitney then streaking through the PHX defenders. He went into odd man situations and was almost always productive. This is the kind of game he can play when he's really firing. If any of his linemates had been going too, he would've had 5 or 6 points tonight. He was that good. His goal was an excellent SH read and a solid finish that looked like something of an optical illusion. Great pass to start the Penner goal. There are very few guys in the league who can do what he did tonight. So much fun. *random note* he always plays his best when I don't wear my Hemsky jersey; it's weird.
Hall
- Cannot do anything 5-on-5 because he can't beat anyone 1-on-1 and doesn't skate properly to put himself in a position of advantage. It's very disappointing. 4-on-4 or on the PP he's doing okay, but he needs to be used in a more dedicated way. I suppose he supports Horcoff and Eberle okay. I'm waiting to be blown away again. He made an interesting move between the legs in the first, but I'm still trying to figure whether it actually did anything for him.
Horcoff
- Solid goal due to solid positioning. I didn't mind him much tonight. His shootout "move" was rather pathetic. I still don't understand why people shoot five hole without moving drastically from side to side.
Eberle
- Played very well as per usual. Loved the way he kept the puck away from the PHX defenders who were rather aggressive on him. Probably had an SH goal taken away by the linesman getting in his way as that was a very dangerous looking odd-man rush. Made some phenomenal passes. Play him with Hemsky and Penner just for kicks.
--------------
Another loss...this one more painful than the others because it was close. We shoulda won tonight. BLECH. Not the way to start a weekend.
11/5/10
LMHF Game Report #6
EDMONTON
VS.
DETROIT
--------------------
This is the first report issued from my iphone. I'm off to a friend's birthday and will write more later on.
Once again we had chances to win. After the first we really limited Detroit's chances and got some of our own. We only scored 1 due to a horrid PP, hitting posts and missing rebounds. We could've won this game on the strength of period 2 but didnt capitalize.
While Det's big guys were solid, they were not scary aside from a couple moments (datsyuk off the bar comes to mind). We matched them decently despite being down our best D. Against skating teams we will always contend.
PLAYER REPORTS
--------------------
Khabibulin
- go find the highlight film from his second period save on #40 if you want to see play of the year. AMAZING glove save. He needed to stop the first goal however. Aside from that he was pretty good.
Whitney
- his defining moment tonight had to be the fight after the late hit on Hemsky. It might not have been dirty but it was late. To me, the fight makes it clear that a message was sent in the room after last game. This is a good thing. Ryan didnt have a particularly strong game.
Vandermeer
- when a guy makes you wish for the fine and steady play of Aaron Johnson, you know he's not great. Vandermeer got blown clear by twice in the first and didnt make up for anything by bringing a physical element. He's better than Strudwick but still needs to go as he costs us goals.
GIlbert
- probably one of his better games in a while. He got physical in the corners and won pucks a couple times in addition to solid positioning. He also avoided penalty situations while breaking up 2 nearly clear Detroit rushes (including the one #35 poked away). I liked his game.
Foster
- totally all over the place. He made a great read and slap pass for the Hall goal but was horrid defensively and made a lot of bad passes.
Smid
- not his best, but made some excellent passes and got in Holmstrom's face.
Peckham
- didnt play for some reason...
Strudwick
- blech...best #2 comment of the night: "helm just held the puck longer on that rush than Strudwick has all year!
Jones
- got a couple good chances and thought he might score an ugly one.
Fraser
- the invisible man? He does nothing.
Stortini
- other than owning Lidstrom for the puck twice on the same shift in the third he was terrible. Has totally forgotten his job is to be physical.
Cogliano
- not as noticable as the last few games. Couldnt seem to get going tonight.
Brule
- he played very well aside from a couple giveaways. Loved the physicality, especially the MOnSTER hit on Datsyuk. Had he connected on the shooting chance from his wheelhouse, the night would have been complete.
Penner
- better in that he got his shots away including a second period post that would have changed the game, but not dominant in any way and needs toget back to planting out front.
Paajarvi
- not his best effort. Had a couple nice backchecks but generated litrle offence and shied away from hits too often.
Gagner
- fell down every second shift. Seriously. He also got a couple nice shots on but varied wildly between productive looking rushes and giveaways. I didnt think he gelled with his line.
Eberle
- probably the first game of his i wasnt totally blown away. Solid play still and love his PK, but no theatrics.
Hemsky
- ales got some shots on net but struggled a bit tonight. Didnt seem to have an open man much of the time. The puck wasnt going to him on the rush either, which looked like a planning flaw. Got stuck standing still at times with no outlet.
Horcoff
- carried the puck too much and didnt use his speed to get open. Probably needs a game to adjust to playing with ales again.
Hall
- like that he got his first goal at home but needs to tighten up his skating lines a bunch and stop taking stupid wide angle shots when trailers are open for the pass. He could have had a very good game and squandered it by my eye. 83 and 10 make his job very easy.
----------------------
If our PP didnt stink, we win. We gave the puck up on break in way too often. Back to he drawing board.
VS.
DETROIT
--------------------
This is the first report issued from my iphone. I'm off to a friend's birthday and will write more later on.
Once again we had chances to win. After the first we really limited Detroit's chances and got some of our own. We only scored 1 due to a horrid PP, hitting posts and missing rebounds. We could've won this game on the strength of period 2 but didnt capitalize.
While Det's big guys were solid, they were not scary aside from a couple moments (datsyuk off the bar comes to mind). We matched them decently despite being down our best D. Against skating teams we will always contend.
PLAYER REPORTS
--------------------
Khabibulin
- go find the highlight film from his second period save on #40 if you want to see play of the year. AMAZING glove save. He needed to stop the first goal however. Aside from that he was pretty good.
Whitney
- his defining moment tonight had to be the fight after the late hit on Hemsky. It might not have been dirty but it was late. To me, the fight makes it clear that a message was sent in the room after last game. This is a good thing. Ryan didnt have a particularly strong game.
Vandermeer
- when a guy makes you wish for the fine and steady play of Aaron Johnson, you know he's not great. Vandermeer got blown clear by twice in the first and didnt make up for anything by bringing a physical element. He's better than Strudwick but still needs to go as he costs us goals.
GIlbert
- probably one of his better games in a while. He got physical in the corners and won pucks a couple times in addition to solid positioning. He also avoided penalty situations while breaking up 2 nearly clear Detroit rushes (including the one #35 poked away). I liked his game.
Foster
- totally all over the place. He made a great read and slap pass for the Hall goal but was horrid defensively and made a lot of bad passes.
Smid
- not his best, but made some excellent passes and got in Holmstrom's face.
Peckham
- didnt play for some reason...
Strudwick
- blech...best #2 comment of the night: "helm just held the puck longer on that rush than Strudwick has all year!
Jones
- got a couple good chances and thought he might score an ugly one.
Fraser
- the invisible man? He does nothing.
Stortini
- other than owning Lidstrom for the puck twice on the same shift in the third he was terrible. Has totally forgotten his job is to be physical.
Cogliano
- not as noticable as the last few games. Couldnt seem to get going tonight.
Brule
- he played very well aside from a couple giveaways. Loved the physicality, especially the MOnSTER hit on Datsyuk. Had he connected on the shooting chance from his wheelhouse, the night would have been complete.
Penner
- better in that he got his shots away including a second period post that would have changed the game, but not dominant in any way and needs toget back to planting out front.
Paajarvi
- not his best effort. Had a couple nice backchecks but generated litrle offence and shied away from hits too often.
Gagner
- fell down every second shift. Seriously. He also got a couple nice shots on but varied wildly between productive looking rushes and giveaways. I didnt think he gelled with his line.
Eberle
- probably the first game of his i wasnt totally blown away. Solid play still and love his PK, but no theatrics.
Hemsky
- ales got some shots on net but struggled a bit tonight. Didnt seem to have an open man much of the time. The puck wasnt going to him on the rush either, which looked like a planning flaw. Got stuck standing still at times with no outlet.
Horcoff
- carried the puck too much and didnt use his speed to get open. Probably needs a game to adjust to playing with ales again.
Hall
- like that he got his first goal at home but needs to tighten up his skating lines a bunch and stop taking stupid wide angle shots when trailers are open for the pass. He could have had a very good game and squandered it by my eye. 83 and 10 make his job very easy.
----------------------
If our PP didnt stink, we win. We gave the puck up on break in way too often. Back to he drawing board.
11/2/10
LMHF Game Report #5
EDMONTON 3
VS.
VANCOUVER 4
----------------
There were a lot of different stories to tonight's game from my perspective. This one didn't have a discernible flow from beginning to end like many games do.
The first period was an utter trainwreck from an Oilers perspective. We gave the puck away a whole bunch and were consistently turned aside at the top of the circles in the Canuck zone without a fight. This was just painful to watch. We kept letting the Canucks get the puck deep. A big reason for this was a lack of gap control. We let the Canucks D have free reign at the top of the zone when in control, and also backed off WAY too far on the rush. This did lead to some of the plays leading up to the three goals that VAN scored, but didn't really mean we were all that bad. The goals were not great ones by any stretch.
In the second we started to right the ship. While we were still backing off a bit too much, gaps were narrowing and we were taking a little more control of the play. Penner's goal was a huge one as we needed something to start tilting in our favor. Eberle made an amazing play that could've changed the game utterly near the end of the period; stickhandling a puck out of trouble and eventually generating an offensive chance that narrowly missed in the opposing end that would've brought us to within one. So began the first in a series of plays that could have led to a victory.
Then came the third. After a minor stretch following their third goal, the Canucks still didn't have a decent scoring chance and pretty much didn't for the rest of the game. We had all the decent chances and scored two excellent goals as a result. The ice was tilted in our preference and the game was our...oh wait...they sent out Jason Strudwick...oh wait...he's screening the goalie and standing still covering no one...oh wait...Khabibulin didn't move on another weak shot and it's in the net. So goes the game. There was a play Eberle made (I believe before this one but am not sure) that could've led to an Oilers win, save for a brilliantly placed skate of a Canucks defenceman (for anyone who missed this, Eberle made a great play off the wing, had the complete 'eye of the tiger' look and was one step away from a totally open slot with Luongo going the wrong way when the puck slipped away). If the Oilers don't allow that weak 4th goal, they probably win this one going away. If Eberle doesn't get skate-checked, they win. If...if...UGH.
I have to once again comment on the refereeing. It's something that comes up most often it seems with the Canucks. There was a sequence in the third after an Oilers PP where there were 4 non-calls that could've gone against the Canucks. Every Oilers forward was slashed and hooked after they entered the zone. Elbows were flying everywhere and interference was plenty. Why precisely the Canucks, a team the league should be looking at with increased scrutiny, get away with such utter crap is beyond me. We should have been trotting out the 5-on-4 crew 9-12 times tonight and hardly had any PP time. What a joke.
On a night when we effectively shut down the Sedins, Kesler, and the usual suspects, we get beat on crummy goals and crummier reffing. That sucks. By no means were we perfect, but we were certainly good enough to win.
PLAYER REPORTS
-----------------
Khabibulin
- Utterly horrible. I can understand that he was screened and there were some awkward plays and tipped shots, but he wasn't even moving in the correct direction half the time (if he was moving at all). He looked sluggish, and not ready. He should have been pulled after two goals but Renney appeared gun-shy just like last time #35 was getting shelled. I see no point to leaving him in when he's playing like that. A decent effort from him and no Jason Strudwick would have meant we win tonight.
Strudwick
- The death of our playoff hopes personified in one man. Even in limiting his icetime we couldn't keep him from poisoning the effort tonight. Is Jim Vandermeer suffering a serious injury or something? Are we that roster-stupid that we can't call up any of the more capable AHL dmen? (there are a number) All he does is stand there in a weird squat pose screening the goalie. When he touches the puck, it is for precisely .02 seconds so that he can rip it into parts unknown. I am so sick of watching this guy violate everything any defenceman learns about playing his position from the day he starts playing D.
Foster
- He wasn't very good either. For some reason #26 doesn't want to skate with the puck, which is a bad thing because he's not a very good passer. He also kept putting his shots in high even though there were forwards working. A shot with the force of his would generate automatic rebounds that could've been the difference tonight. I can't comprehend how an offensively gifted defenceman in the NHL can't know and do this consistently. Very frustrating.
Peckham
- He was good. He's learned how to use a combination of size and close-quarters explosiveness to win puck battles along the boards consistenly. He did this many times tonight. The next step will be for him to learn how to deck forwards who put their head down on the cycle (the Canucks and teams like them are vulnerable to this in the offensive zone). If Theo hadn't stepped up this way this year, we'd be nowhere. The only unfortunate thing about him having to take on such a big load is that he can't go out of his way to be a policeman (that would leave #43 on to PK, which we know seems to equal a sure goal). It's kind of funny that the numbers show Strudwick a +1 and Peckham a -1 on a night when their games were so different.
Smid
- Ladislav seems to have developed a signature play. He settles down a play, gathers the puck behind his own net, beats the lead forward to a spot 5-10 feet in front our net (using the net as a block) then fires a great pass to someone. He did this at least a couple times tonight and it resulted in at least one goal (Jones). He wasn't amazing defensively and got pushed around a bit more than usual. I think it's still evident that he's coming back from a pretty serious injury in that he's not being as aggressive as he otherwise would.
Whitney
- While he did log 29 minutes tonight, he was no superman really. I'm not sure why, but #6 seems to be getting into some bad habits, mainly associated with standing around too much when he needs to be moving his feet. He also gave the puck away and made some bad passes generally at various times tonight. I prefer when he plays with Gilbert for sure, but not his best effort. Needs to turn it around or get some help delivered by the trade market so there's less pressure on him.
Gilbert
- Aside from the offensive zone, where Tom could have had a very productive night and couldn't capitalize on his shooting opportunities, I liked his game. Very settled and solid, even dished out a hit or two.
Hemsky
- He had his struggles with the puck in the first and early second, and I'm betting some people will rip him for that. If I was Ales Hemsky, I would have had a seriously hard time not throwing an absolute fit in the dressing room after the game. Ales was run more times in one game than I've ever seen a guy get run. There were elbows, slashes, clean hits and dirty, ALL NIGHT, EVERY SHIFT. This is quite frankly what we should do to the Sedins, but for absolutely no Oilers to take umbrage and do something about this was very angering. #83 busted it all night and never quit, even trying to take matters into his own hands on several occasions in terms of redemption. Looked like he was bloodied on the 3rd or 4th shift then again multiple times after. He kept at it. All night. Incredible effort if you know anything about that kind of beating. He should have gone out immediately on the PP after he drew the third period penalty (at least the second of the night he drew); he would've scored. They've got to find a way to protect him against VAN. They started letting Gagner rush the puck, but that limited offence severely.
Gagner
- Looked...decent but not in top gear. At some point I kind of expected him to do something special and find an open player (such as in the second when Magnus led a rush, dished to #89 and broke to the net, only to not receive a return feed) and he just couldn't all night. I can't knock his effort but am still utterly perplexed as to why he's playing with Ales.
Paajarvi
- Didn't look quite ready for primetime tonight. I'm not sure Penner would've done any better on the line, but Magnus just wasn't quite in the right spots when his speed kicked in. I liked what he did defensively to get back to several pucks and always remain in position, but he had some chances to do more offensively and didn't. He had a nice break in the third I believe and tried to go five-hole...he seems over-prone to shoot there. I'm not sure whether we keep him on that line going forward or not. The guy for Hemsky to play with is probably still Hall, but that can't work with Gagner in the middle.
Jones
- Did his job to some degree. I liked the way he played in the offensive zone in terms of applying pressure, and obviously his goal (great example of not quitting on a free puck), but would've liked to see him finish his checks more like the Canuck forwards were doing. They bashed us all night.
Stortini
- Phenomenal effort to set up that goal. Absolutely owned a guy for the puck in the corner, then skated out and rather than taking some stupid sissy backhand, spun and fired a quality wrister forcing Luongo to make a save but not control the puck. I'd like to see what he could do with a little more icetime.
Fraser
- To be honest, I didn't really notice him aside from once in the second period along the boards in the Canucks zone...that was it.
Penner
- Honestly, aside from his goal (which #2 preceded by saying "why can't we have last year's Dustin Penner?" by about 30 seconds) I thought it was the same story as of late for Penner. He was lazy and slow, didn't bully anyone around when he had the puck (especially in the first) and didn't make the passes he can. I don't know what's wrong with him.
Brule
- A couple shifts before his goal, Cogliano came into the offensive zone in a very similar way and decided to shoot even though Brule was open for a pass. I have to wonder if #67 said something to #13 before the goal shift about getting him the puck in his office, because that goal was textbook Brule. He's got a wicked shot from that spot and we should have a set play (or 3) to take advantage of that. Considering he only got 10 minutes of time, I really liked his game tonight. He was decent in the offensive zone and kept up his speed game throughout. He was also solid on the dot and did a lot more to facilitate Cogliano's good game than Penner did.
Cogliano
- Aside from an utterly horrid show in the faceoff circle, Cogliano was pretty excellent tonight. He remembered suddenly how to create off the rush, and found Brule for that third period goal. The second period goal he generated for Penner should have been the turning point in a massive home win. Seeing Andrew Alberts struggling with the puck behind his own net in Strudwickian fashion, Cogliano didn't try a finesse move, but instead knocked the much larger man down and freed the puck to Penner who put it in. Simple hockey beauty. Loved it. He needs to keep bringing efforts like this and DRIVING DOWN THE MIDDLE NOT THE WING!
Horcoff
- I kept looking for him to show off the top gear and get open tonight but it didn't seem like he could do it against the Canucks. He was pretty bad in the offensive corners and had a couple ugly turnovers but aside from that played a pretty solid kid-support game out there. I think we should bar him from the half-boards on the PP however. Almost scored an UGLY goal after great efforts from the kids, but was somehow denied by Luongo.
Eberle
- The man's a hockey-playing genius. Period. I had another "I know I'm watching a special player when" moment in the third when he passed to a teammates heel instead of straight in the center of his blade and I wanted to chastise him. The guy makes so many productive plays with the puck in the course of one game that it is extremely hard to keep track; and you nearly can't take the puck away from him (and surely not with your stick). Maybe you need to give him a shot with Hemsky somehow; they could work some serious magic if one can play LW. We are safe when he has the puck. PKing was solid as usual (Hemsky-Penner unit should be used more too). I think I already mentioned his break for the slot and near goal at the end of the second...he also fed Hall a couple times that could've resulted in goals.
Hall
- Didn't use his speed as effectively as usual tonight. He also should've finished checks...he dodged a couple times. Taylor is better when he hits and is built solid. We need the banging in a game like this. Hall could've scored in the first on rush where he ripped a wrister that caused Luongo to reach back and BARELY make the save. Was really hoping he could start a streak, oh well...
---------------
Needless to say, tonight was a frustrating missed chance. There's no reason for this team to be losing the games like this, Calgary and Columbus other than the D depth. If we're competitive in these games, there's also no reason we shouldn't compete for (and the goal should be) 8th. Add something to this roster. Losses like tonight don't help development; they just frustrate you and injure your best player.
Over/under on how many ice bags Hemsky needed after this one?
VS.
VANCOUVER 4
----------------
There were a lot of different stories to tonight's game from my perspective. This one didn't have a discernible flow from beginning to end like many games do.
The first period was an utter trainwreck from an Oilers perspective. We gave the puck away a whole bunch and were consistently turned aside at the top of the circles in the Canuck zone without a fight. This was just painful to watch. We kept letting the Canucks get the puck deep. A big reason for this was a lack of gap control. We let the Canucks D have free reign at the top of the zone when in control, and also backed off WAY too far on the rush. This did lead to some of the plays leading up to the three goals that VAN scored, but didn't really mean we were all that bad. The goals were not great ones by any stretch.
In the second we started to right the ship. While we were still backing off a bit too much, gaps were narrowing and we were taking a little more control of the play. Penner's goal was a huge one as we needed something to start tilting in our favor. Eberle made an amazing play that could've changed the game utterly near the end of the period; stickhandling a puck out of trouble and eventually generating an offensive chance that narrowly missed in the opposing end that would've brought us to within one. So began the first in a series of plays that could have led to a victory.
Then came the third. After a minor stretch following their third goal, the Canucks still didn't have a decent scoring chance and pretty much didn't for the rest of the game. We had all the decent chances and scored two excellent goals as a result. The ice was tilted in our preference and the game was our...oh wait...they sent out Jason Strudwick...oh wait...he's screening the goalie and standing still covering no one...oh wait...Khabibulin didn't move on another weak shot and it's in the net. So goes the game. There was a play Eberle made (I believe before this one but am not sure) that could've led to an Oilers win, save for a brilliantly placed skate of a Canucks defenceman (for anyone who missed this, Eberle made a great play off the wing, had the complete 'eye of the tiger' look and was one step away from a totally open slot with Luongo going the wrong way when the puck slipped away). If the Oilers don't allow that weak 4th goal, they probably win this one going away. If Eberle doesn't get skate-checked, they win. If...if...UGH.
I have to once again comment on the refereeing. It's something that comes up most often it seems with the Canucks. There was a sequence in the third after an Oilers PP where there were 4 non-calls that could've gone against the Canucks. Every Oilers forward was slashed and hooked after they entered the zone. Elbows were flying everywhere and interference was plenty. Why precisely the Canucks, a team the league should be looking at with increased scrutiny, get away with such utter crap is beyond me. We should have been trotting out the 5-on-4 crew 9-12 times tonight and hardly had any PP time. What a joke.
On a night when we effectively shut down the Sedins, Kesler, and the usual suspects, we get beat on crummy goals and crummier reffing. That sucks. By no means were we perfect, but we were certainly good enough to win.
PLAYER REPORTS
-----------------
Khabibulin
- Utterly horrible. I can understand that he was screened and there were some awkward plays and tipped shots, but he wasn't even moving in the correct direction half the time (if he was moving at all). He looked sluggish, and not ready. He should have been pulled after two goals but Renney appeared gun-shy just like last time #35 was getting shelled. I see no point to leaving him in when he's playing like that. A decent effort from him and no Jason Strudwick would have meant we win tonight.
Strudwick
- The death of our playoff hopes personified in one man. Even in limiting his icetime we couldn't keep him from poisoning the effort tonight. Is Jim Vandermeer suffering a serious injury or something? Are we that roster-stupid that we can't call up any of the more capable AHL dmen? (there are a number) All he does is stand there in a weird squat pose screening the goalie. When he touches the puck, it is for precisely .02 seconds so that he can rip it into parts unknown. I am so sick of watching this guy violate everything any defenceman learns about playing his position from the day he starts playing D.
Foster
- He wasn't very good either. For some reason #26 doesn't want to skate with the puck, which is a bad thing because he's not a very good passer. He also kept putting his shots in high even though there were forwards working. A shot with the force of his would generate automatic rebounds that could've been the difference tonight. I can't comprehend how an offensively gifted defenceman in the NHL can't know and do this consistently. Very frustrating.
Peckham
- He was good. He's learned how to use a combination of size and close-quarters explosiveness to win puck battles along the boards consistenly. He did this many times tonight. The next step will be for him to learn how to deck forwards who put their head down on the cycle (the Canucks and teams like them are vulnerable to this in the offensive zone). If Theo hadn't stepped up this way this year, we'd be nowhere. The only unfortunate thing about him having to take on such a big load is that he can't go out of his way to be a policeman (that would leave #43 on to PK, which we know seems to equal a sure goal). It's kind of funny that the numbers show Strudwick a +1 and Peckham a -1 on a night when their games were so different.
Smid
- Ladislav seems to have developed a signature play. He settles down a play, gathers the puck behind his own net, beats the lead forward to a spot 5-10 feet in front our net (using the net as a block) then fires a great pass to someone. He did this at least a couple times tonight and it resulted in at least one goal (Jones). He wasn't amazing defensively and got pushed around a bit more than usual. I think it's still evident that he's coming back from a pretty serious injury in that he's not being as aggressive as he otherwise would.
Whitney
- While he did log 29 minutes tonight, he was no superman really. I'm not sure why, but #6 seems to be getting into some bad habits, mainly associated with standing around too much when he needs to be moving his feet. He also gave the puck away and made some bad passes generally at various times tonight. I prefer when he plays with Gilbert for sure, but not his best effort. Needs to turn it around or get some help delivered by the trade market so there's less pressure on him.
Gilbert
- Aside from the offensive zone, where Tom could have had a very productive night and couldn't capitalize on his shooting opportunities, I liked his game. Very settled and solid, even dished out a hit or two.
Hemsky
- He had his struggles with the puck in the first and early second, and I'm betting some people will rip him for that. If I was Ales Hemsky, I would have had a seriously hard time not throwing an absolute fit in the dressing room after the game. Ales was run more times in one game than I've ever seen a guy get run. There were elbows, slashes, clean hits and dirty, ALL NIGHT, EVERY SHIFT. This is quite frankly what we should do to the Sedins, but for absolutely no Oilers to take umbrage and do something about this was very angering. #83 busted it all night and never quit, even trying to take matters into his own hands on several occasions in terms of redemption. Looked like he was bloodied on the 3rd or 4th shift then again multiple times after. He kept at it. All night. Incredible effort if you know anything about that kind of beating. He should have gone out immediately on the PP after he drew the third period penalty (at least the second of the night he drew); he would've scored. They've got to find a way to protect him against VAN. They started letting Gagner rush the puck, but that limited offence severely.
Gagner
- Looked...decent but not in top gear. At some point I kind of expected him to do something special and find an open player (such as in the second when Magnus led a rush, dished to #89 and broke to the net, only to not receive a return feed) and he just couldn't all night. I can't knock his effort but am still utterly perplexed as to why he's playing with Ales.
Paajarvi
- Didn't look quite ready for primetime tonight. I'm not sure Penner would've done any better on the line, but Magnus just wasn't quite in the right spots when his speed kicked in. I liked what he did defensively to get back to several pucks and always remain in position, but he had some chances to do more offensively and didn't. He had a nice break in the third I believe and tried to go five-hole...he seems over-prone to shoot there. I'm not sure whether we keep him on that line going forward or not. The guy for Hemsky to play with is probably still Hall, but that can't work with Gagner in the middle.
Jones
- Did his job to some degree. I liked the way he played in the offensive zone in terms of applying pressure, and obviously his goal (great example of not quitting on a free puck), but would've liked to see him finish his checks more like the Canuck forwards were doing. They bashed us all night.
Stortini
- Phenomenal effort to set up that goal. Absolutely owned a guy for the puck in the corner, then skated out and rather than taking some stupid sissy backhand, spun and fired a quality wrister forcing Luongo to make a save but not control the puck. I'd like to see what he could do with a little more icetime.
Fraser
- To be honest, I didn't really notice him aside from once in the second period along the boards in the Canucks zone...that was it.
Penner
- Honestly, aside from his goal (which #2 preceded by saying "why can't we have last year's Dustin Penner?" by about 30 seconds) I thought it was the same story as of late for Penner. He was lazy and slow, didn't bully anyone around when he had the puck (especially in the first) and didn't make the passes he can. I don't know what's wrong with him.
Brule
- A couple shifts before his goal, Cogliano came into the offensive zone in a very similar way and decided to shoot even though Brule was open for a pass. I have to wonder if #67 said something to #13 before the goal shift about getting him the puck in his office, because that goal was textbook Brule. He's got a wicked shot from that spot and we should have a set play (or 3) to take advantage of that. Considering he only got 10 minutes of time, I really liked his game tonight. He was decent in the offensive zone and kept up his speed game throughout. He was also solid on the dot and did a lot more to facilitate Cogliano's good game than Penner did.
Cogliano
- Aside from an utterly horrid show in the faceoff circle, Cogliano was pretty excellent tonight. He remembered suddenly how to create off the rush, and found Brule for that third period goal. The second period goal he generated for Penner should have been the turning point in a massive home win. Seeing Andrew Alberts struggling with the puck behind his own net in Strudwickian fashion, Cogliano didn't try a finesse move, but instead knocked the much larger man down and freed the puck to Penner who put it in. Simple hockey beauty. Loved it. He needs to keep bringing efforts like this and DRIVING DOWN THE MIDDLE NOT THE WING!
Horcoff
- I kept looking for him to show off the top gear and get open tonight but it didn't seem like he could do it against the Canucks. He was pretty bad in the offensive corners and had a couple ugly turnovers but aside from that played a pretty solid kid-support game out there. I think we should bar him from the half-boards on the PP however. Almost scored an UGLY goal after great efforts from the kids, but was somehow denied by Luongo.
Eberle
- The man's a hockey-playing genius. Period. I had another "I know I'm watching a special player when" moment in the third when he passed to a teammates heel instead of straight in the center of his blade and I wanted to chastise him. The guy makes so many productive plays with the puck in the course of one game that it is extremely hard to keep track; and you nearly can't take the puck away from him (and surely not with your stick). Maybe you need to give him a shot with Hemsky somehow; they could work some serious magic if one can play LW. We are safe when he has the puck. PKing was solid as usual (Hemsky-Penner unit should be used more too). I think I already mentioned his break for the slot and near goal at the end of the second...he also fed Hall a couple times that could've resulted in goals.
Hall
- Didn't use his speed as effectively as usual tonight. He also should've finished checks...he dodged a couple times. Taylor is better when he hits and is built solid. We need the banging in a game like this. Hall could've scored in the first on rush where he ripped a wrister that caused Luongo to reach back and BARELY make the save. Was really hoping he could start a streak, oh well...
---------------
Needless to say, tonight was a frustrating missed chance. There's no reason for this team to be losing the games like this, Calgary and Columbus other than the D depth. If we're competitive in these games, there's also no reason we shouldn't compete for (and the goal should be) 8th. Add something to this roster. Losses like tonight don't help development; they just frustrate you and injure your best player.
Over/under on how many ice bags Hemsky needed after this one?
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