Good enough to win. Just needed a stop or 3. VS Jets Feb 17
You could just see what a good goaltender can do for you! Connor Hellebucyk let in 5 goals yesterday, yes but he made some key stops on his way to a victory. The Oilers just have not had a guy who can do that for them recently. The Oilers played well enough Monday to win that game. It came down to a couple of defensive breakdowns and goaltending. I am trying to think about the last time the Oilers had a goalie that they could trust. The last guy was 2016-17 Cam Talbot and that was really only for 1 year. So what are the options?
Goalies
You can trade for a goalie, sure. What would it cost? Let’s just say we pry away John Gibson from Anaheim. He is 27 years old, with a $6.4 million cap hit for 6 more years. What do you give up for him? You would have to get rid of a contract so in this case it would Koskinen. Throw in a kicker of a draft pick and young player. At this point you have some options in the system. Whether it be a Philip Broberg, Samorukov or one of the young forwards playing in college. You just can’t keep running the same two goalies for the rest of the year and expect to win games. They aren’t consistent enough! It was proven in the play in games vs Chicago last year and now early in this year. Also another thing to keep in mind, if you do trade for a goalie out of the states, he has to quarantine for 14 days. That means you run a Mike Smith/Dylan Wells tandem for two weeks worth of games. Can the Oilers do that? You may be able to get away with it if they have a good enough break in between the quarantine. I just think you can’t run the same duo of Mikko Koskinen & Mike Smith.
Oilers (9-8)
RNH - McDavid - Puljujarvi
Ennis - Draisaitl- Yamamoto
Kahun - Khaira - Archibald
Neal - Turris - Chaisson
Nurse - Barrie
Jones/Russell - Larsson
Koekkoek - Bouchard
Smith
Mike Smith was in the “starters net” in practice so expect him to start. I like going back to Smith. Give him another chance but make it a short leash.
A lot to digest here. These lines aren’t final as I am assuming we will know more soon. Word is that Ennis will be taking Kahun’s spot in the top 6 after a couple of bad plays in the 3rd period. Pretty short leash for Kahun. I don’t mind the move, hopefully it will shake some things up. The demesne is a little up in the air. Ethan Bear isn’t confirmed yet, William Lagesson is hurt so either Jones or Russell will draw in. Ideally you would wan’t Bear in and have Bouchard play his offside. We will just have to see.
Things are getting a but tough because of injuries but it is nice to see some depth coming in on both the defence and the offence. Chaisson finally broke through on Monday and as much as Barrie can be a liability in his own end. He is finally looking like the offensive guy he was brought in to be.
Another thing to watch for is Connor McDavid’s next point will be his 500th of his career. He played in 368 games in his young career and has 1.4 PPG. I think this guy will be good some day.
Jets (9-5-1)
Copp - Scheifele - Wheeler
Connor - Stastny - Ehlers
Perrault - Lowry - Appleton
Vesalainen - Harkins - Lewis
Morrissey - Poolman
Forbort - Pionk
Beaulieu - Demelo
Hellebuyck
These were the lines for the Jets last game. They honestly shouldn’t change anything. Yes they got heavily outshot but their big guns scored when it mattered. The second line especially. 4 points for that line including goals from Connor and Ehlers. A guy who impressed me was Neal Pionk. A couple points and tried to keep the top line of the Oilers in check. He also took a run at McDavid last game so watch for some retaliation this game.
Mark Scheifele is also a guy to try to keep in check. He is on a 7 game point streak and in those games he has 11 points, including three last game vs the Oilers.
3 Oil Drops for Victory:
Please get a stop. The Oilers were good enough to win that game on Monday. Outshooting the Jets 45-24. If you score 5 goals in a game, you should win said game. Make some saves and be tighter defensively.
Stop the big guns. I said it about Scheifele, he is on a tear right now. So are his team-mates. 3 players in the top 20 in the league in scoring and 4 players at a point per game pace. The top two lines are tough to stop but if you can keep them in line somewhat, you should have a chance to win this game.
Don’t make it easy. Too many times last night the Oilers gave up the puck with ease. Putting the Jets in prime scoring areas. Not strong enough on the puck and not getting the puck out have killed the Oilers in the past. Including the game on Monday. Make it hard to play against you. Have them coming out in the press conference saying “They are a frustrating team to play against”
Who do you want to see in net for the Oilers?
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