Oilers need to build on losses

Banff Gondola

What a relaxing long weekend.  I ended up in Banff with some awesome people for a birthday party and although it is a “tourist” town, we still managed to have a great time.  Gotta give a shout out to the cafeteria cook at the top of the Gondola for giving me an extra piece of fish in my Fish and Chips meal.  Tasty!  I managed to catch some UFC, but missed the Pacquiao vs Marquez  fight.  There was no hockey at the few bars I hit up, which was a travesty.  Anyways, it was great getting away and not think about the Oil’s fall from grace.        

On with the blog. 

The Oilers went on a 6 game road trip that started off with a 2-1 record before losing the last 3 games to the Elite of the NHL.  This is where they were truly tested, and before people say the roof is coming down; consider the circumstances they were in.  The Oilers played 5 games in 9 nights into hostile, almost reverence territory, with teams that are considered the established perennial favourites of their divisions every year.  These wide-eyed rookies visited 4 of the Original 6 teams in the NHL which is quite daunting. 

In each loss, the Oilers started too passive.  They sat back, played defensive and tried to react to turnovers.  They didn’t forecheck and had absolutely no puck support.  Trying not to blanket statement, but one thing I’ve noticed this year is they rarely initiate a hit, instead the players have been reacting with rub outs along the boards, never putting themselves out of position.  I believe the only person I’ve see take a run at someone is the rookie Petrell.  What I’d like to see is a simple dump and chase from the 3^rd or 4^th line into the corner and make the defence think twice about an easy play.  Trying to play a Phoenix styled game without any puck pressure is ludicrous.  Ben Eager where are you?  Jonesy, stop trying to guide them around the corners, lay someone out.  Sometimes being a really nice guy shouldn’t translate onto the ice too.  Look at Iginla.  The Oilers really need Eager to be aggressive on the forecheck by using his big body and surprising speed into the corners.  Speaking from experience, this would help the other lines create turnovers in the offensive end.  I digress. 

Special Teams:

vs Phoenix- 0-2 power play, 1-2 penalty kill

vs Boston- 1-5 power play, 2-5 penalty kill

vs Detroit 0-3 powerplay, 0-5 penalty kill

vs Chicago 1-3 powerplay, 1-3 penalty kill

Overall they went 2 for 13 (15%) on the powerplay and 4 for 13 (71%) penalty kill.  The worst part is they took bad penalties at inopportune times.  When they had momentum and making a comeback, penalties in particular by Peckham have cost them.  Peckham has to learn how to be aggressively smart.          

Barker’s penalty against the Bruin’s was one of the most selfish plays I’ve seen from a player in a long time.  With the Oiler’s furiously mounting a comeback his penalty opened the floodgates in the final 3 minutes where the Bruin’s responded with a 2 goals by Lucic and Marchand 0:44 seconds apart.      

The Phoenix game was a close game, Whitney scored an empty net goal.  The Oilers sat back and lost to the very style they are trying to emulate.  Lack of forechecking by the Oilers and strong, but borderline wall play by the Coyotes resulted in turnovers in every zone.  Felt like playing my buddy DC at Chess in junior high.  He just sat back and replicated every move I made on the board until I made a mistake and he would eat my queen.   

The Bruins presented the best challenge to the young team as the mostly intact Stanley Cup Winners came at them hard.  Chara shut down the Hemsky line, while the kids were ineffective against their second line defensive pairing.  A costly penalty by Barker nullified a come back.  The Oilers fought hard but didn’t have the ammo to fight back.  In a game of war, the Bruins had an ace to every king the Oilers drew from the deck.  They needed more push, more spunk in their game.  Raask was solid in net, he made some remarkable saves, but there was no second chance efforts.  He left some juicy rebounds that needed to be buried.  The Oilers have gone away from crashing the net like they did during their win streak.  Lazy shots from the point by Gagner should have been corner dump-ins or low deflectable passes.               

The Oilers had every chance to make it close but fatigue was a problem in the Wings game.  They don’t get much credit, but the Wings are elite forecheckers.  Their super quick forwards are able to close enough ground on our defenceman to create turnovers, and their rock solid defence corp pinched along the boards.  The Oilers looked sluggish and disinterested at times, but I can’t really blame them.

Lastly, the surging Blackhawks were out to prove a point against our young kids.  Kane’s slick style and Toews relentless assault was too much for Oilers.  This was a learning curve of epic proportions.  This is the team that the Oilers have been compared to for the past 2 years as the recipe for success.  In reality, a couple of bad bounces and Montador playing out of his mind, turned into a loss.  Seemed like the Oilers were fishing and just couldn’t reel it in to stay even.  Everytime goal the Oilers scored, the Blackhawks responded to keep the lead by 2. 

They stood a chance to win each game they lost.  They were not blown out as the scores suggest.  Some mental lapses resulted in a goal against, but overall their play didn’t deviate from the 6 game winning streak and the current 3 games losing.  Khabibulin couldn’t steal any games, but kept them respectable. 

The sky isn’t falling, perhaps it’s getting a little cloudy, but that’s fine.  This is where you find out how resilient your team is.  When the low is low and the koolaid has run out.  Championship teams build from this.  What they learned and how they stand up will determine what personnel they have for the future. If that means sending MPS to the minors to work on his game, so be it.  I need to know right now if he can accept that role for the betterment of his future or not.  I believe that Smyth’s role in the organization just became more important as he is inevitably spreading calmness to the kids.  Hemsky needs to regain his form, Gagner needs a change of scenery more than Cogliano ever did, and Smid is a stud.                

This is the Sam Gagner we all miss.