MOAR GOALS!!! vs Ottawa Feb 2
Well that was a game on Sunday! 13 goals total, a rookie goaltender getting his first win and the Oilers didn't look all that good in the last half of the game.
Now lets just say this, the Oilers Dominated for 40 minutes of that game. Faster, stronger and ultimately it showed as they were up 5-1 at one point. The power play came to play which was such a positive! I guess it only takes one game vs Ottawa to make your power play look like a world beater! They went 4-5 on the PP because of, well the best one two punch in the NHL! Tyson Barrie and James Neal! HAH! But you know they actually had their best games of the season for sure, Tyson Barrie scored finally and James Neal put in 2 on Sunday.
Connie & Drai
I mean that could either be put on a shirt or on TV as the new buddy cop show! They combined for 11 points and overall just looked dominant! Leon Draisaitl might be the best passer in the NHL, his vision to find the open man is just over the top good. The top guys showed that they are top guys in the game.
The Bad
Now lets not over look that they let in 5 goals vs the Senators who, before Sunday, only scored 7 goals in their last 5 games. OOF. Now a lot of that can be put on the goaltender, sure. He was making his first ever start in the NHL. His defenders in front of him, as we know, arent the most stout in the league. So a lot of it has to do with that. Tonight Koskinen should be back in after a well deserved rest on Sunday.
Oilers (5-6-0)
RNH - McDavid - Puljujarvi
Kahun - Draisaitl - Yamamoto Archibald - Haas - Kassian Turris - Chiasson
Nurse - Barrie Lagesson - Larsson K. Russell - Bouchard
Koekkoek
Koskinen
The Oilers opt to go with 7 defensemen for the 1st time this year and they turn to Evan Bouchard for the first time. Going in with Kris Russell. Now he will be moved around no doubt because of the 7 defensemen situation. It is very nice to see him in there and hopefully he can stick in the lineup. I do have a couple questions about the lineup however...Was James Neal worse than Alex Chaisson on Sunday? In my opinion no, I kind of thought he was better. Now fancy stats will tell us that Chaisson had a better game. His Corsi for was a staggering 87% while Neal was 50%. Neal played just over 13 minutes and Chaisson played 11 and some change. The only reason I would have Neal in over Chaisson is because Neal has shown that the has some finish to his game. We have not seen that yet with Alex Chaisson. Also I do like the movement of Haas into the 3rd line center position. I thought he had a solid game on Sunday, he played tough and was better in the faceoff circle than Turris. That being said, we will see the bottom 5 players get moved around and spaced out but hopefully Haas can take this and run with it tonight! The defense to me is a weird one. I like that Tippett put Koekkoek back in the lineup but I question a bit why he left Jones out? Caleb Jones was the 2nd best defensemen as far as Corsi goes on the team on Sunday and he has more experience than a guy like Lagesson. So that move doesn't make too much sense to me especially because we have seen Tippett favour Kris Russell in a situation where he was on his off hand. We will have to see how tonight goes
Sens (1-7-1)
Tkachuk - Norris - C. Brown
Stützle - Tierney - Batherson
Paul - White - Dadonov
Paquette - Stepan - Watson
Reilly - Zaitsev
Coburn - Gudbranson
J. Brown - Zub
Hogberg
1 lineup change for the Sens as Marcus Hogberg starts in net for Ottawa. His sv% and GAA aren't all that great this year, but neither is Matt Murray. I mean, you can't if you play for a 1-7-1 team! No Thomas Chabot again for the Sens as he deals with the ever dangerous and completely vague "undisclosed injury".
3 Oil Drops for Victory:
Don't Let Up. Now look, I know it is the Senators! That doesn't mean you should take this lightly. Smash their faces into the ice and beat them. Take your 3 day break and go into Calgary on Saturday! You have an opportunity to jump into a playoff spot with a win tonight and a Jets loss so keep that in mind.
Keep the Power Play Hot. The Oilers power play was hot. EN FUEGO if you will! 4/5 vs Ottawa and now is 9th in the league with the extra man. The main characters, of course, were Leon and Connor but I was impressed with Tyson Barrie that game. He didn't look hesitant and looked poised to either a) shoot it or b) pass it with the intent to move afterwards. Gotta keep that going tonight
PK has not figured it out. They went 3 for 5 and are now 27th in the league, sitting at 69(nice).4%. Constantly leaving men open in front and leaving assignments. You can hope that they figure some things out vs the Sens because of how bad they actually are. I think I have said this in the last 3-4 posts I have made. Penalties are going to happen. Make sure you just get t he puck out and be aggressive against the power play.
How many goals do you think will be scored tonight??
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