Getting Back to .500 Jan 21 vs Leafs
It's Friday! It's game day! What could be better? Not much if you ask me. Although the Leafs aren't celebrating as they lost their last one and are without two key players tonight vs the Oilers.
Last game vs the Leafs was snore fest for 2 periods. It started to pick up in the 3rd, however I loved how the game was built up as a battle of the power house offenses!
"TONIGHT, MCDAVID! MATTHEWS! DRAISAITL! MARNER! GET READY FOR OFFENSE!"
...2-1 with an empty net to make it 3-1.
Coaches love it but fans not so much. Now if your team wins that boring game, you hope its boring all the time!
Tonight the Leafs will be without Joe Thornton as he came out in the game vs the Oilers on Wednesday. He was hit by Josh Archibald and is likely to be out some weeks. The big blow tonight for the Leafs is Auston Matthews will not be suiting up for the buds. From what I am seeing it is the NHL standard (Not to mention vague) upper body injury. No telling how long he will be out for.
COVID Got Neal:
James Neal was held out of the Oilers lineup because of COVID Concerns. He says he got the virus the day he was supposed to leave his home in Nashville. In an interview he did with TSN 1260 host Jason Gregor, he said that it hit him pretty hard: "The timing aspect wasn’t good and then the quarantines made it tough physically. I got it (COVID) the day I was leaving (Nashville), so then I had to stay 15 more days in Nashville. Then I had to quarantine again when I got to Edmonton. It was a long time off the ice. Anyone who has had it knows it is a long process. You can go a bit stir crazy."
You see it in Dallas that this virus can take out half of a team real quick. Plus the NHL is taking a no nonsense approach to this as well. Fining the Washington Capitals $100,000 for breaking COVID protocols earlier this week.
Will We See a New Goalie Soon?:
To answer the question honestly...No I don't see Skinner getting in a game in the near future. That being said, Koskinen will need some help here soon. The next back to back for the Oilers comes next weekend when they play these same Leafs on the Saturday the 30th, then the Sens on the 31st. So what is the option? The Oilers claimed Troy Grosenick off of waivers on January 16th. So where is he? I have heard a story that he is stuck at the border and cannot get into Canada. Once he does get into the Great White North Division sponsored by Scotia, he has to quarantine for 14 days. The 31 year old net minder actually had some decent numbers last year in the AHL! In 33 games he won 20 of them and posted a .920 sv% and a 2.20 GAA for the Milwaukee Admirals. Plus he recorded a shutout in his first NHL start back in 2014-15. It will be a temporary fix at the backup position as Mike Smith tries to get healthy and back in the lineup.
Oilers News & Notes:
James Neal is set to be ready to go back into the lineup tonight that means there are some moves that needed to be made:
- James Neal (F) activated off IR
- Joakim Nygard (F) loaned to Taxi Squad
- Olivier Rodrigue (G) assigned to Bakersfield
- Dylan Wells (G) moved to the Taxi Squad
Weird that Nygard was the odd man out as I thought he played well in his time out on the ice. Here is what I think the lineups will be:
Oilers (2-3):
RNH - McDavid - Kassian
Kahun - Draisaitl - Yamamoto
Ennis - Turris - Puljujarvi
Neal - Shore - Archibald
Nurse - Bear
Russell - Barrie
Koekkoek - Larsson
Koskinen
Skinner
It looks like James Neal is ready to play tonight! He says he is feeling much better and was running with the 1st PP unit yesterday in practice *giddy*. So whether that means he goes in for Chaisson or somebody else, it looks like the Oilers will get a much Needed boost to the powerplay. It is an abysmal 3-21 to start he year. They scored last game on the power play which is great, they went 1-3 and hopefully it is a sign of things to come.
The Leafs (3-2):
So there hasn't been any word on what the Leafs will do with no Matthews in the lineup but Sportsnet blogger and Leaf fan Steve Dangle proposed this:
Vesey - Tavares - Nylander
Hyman - Kerfoot - Marner
Brooks - Engvall - Mikheyev
Barabanov - Spezza - Simmonds
Reilly - Brodie
Muzzin - Holl
Dermott - Bogosian
Anderson
The Leafs are 20-12-2 without Matthews in the lineup since coming into the league. It will be interesting to see what Head Coach Sheldon Keefe will do with the line-up as it has been very hush hush.
3 Oil Drops for Victory:
Make sure to attack the depleted lineup of the Leafs. Toronto is beat up, Jumbo Joe is hurt, Matthews is down. Time to attack them hard on the forecheck and put the puck in the back of the net.
McDavid and Drai shoot the puck. These two guys lead the team in points with 6 each. They easily could have more if they were a little more selfish! Especially on the Powerplay where they are looking for the perfect pass all of the time. The Power play is not clicking as you saw with the 3-21 stat. Fire pucks at the net and hope for something greasy!
Capitalize when on the Powerplay. Toronto is 6th in the NHL when it come to penalty minutes with 59 penalty minutes. That is just under 6 penalties a game! It is great that you can get to the Powerplay, now execute when you are on it!
What do you think will happen tonight? Will the Oilers need a genuine back up soon?
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