The Good
The Game. That was a fantastically entertaining game. And wow, was it ever fast... back and forth, goals, great plays. Toronto fans certainly got their money's worth, the bastards.
Ok, how about those offensive lines?
The new Smyth-Arco-Eberle line. Suck it naysayers. Ryan Smyth has 3 goals on the season doing what he does best--going to the net. That said, he was on a line with Eberle, who also played well with a beauty wrist shot that had enough power to go through Bernier's glove, and who dangled in the slot with a perfect pass to Smyth. But how about that Arcobello? He's above 50% on the dot, hitting, and passing really well. Smyth's TOI wasn't huge but with 5 shots in 12 minutes, that's a very good stat. Arco got robbed by Bernier. I wish Dubnyk would make saves like that.
Nuge. He's currently our best all-round player. Another goal. His skating and defensive positioning is a joy to watch. He still needs to improve on the dot as he was 9 of 19, but it'll come. I think Hall and Hemsky on this line works. Hall and Hemsky were ok.
Joensuu-Gordon-Perron. I thought Perron played well... he's fun to watch. But what happened to Joensuu? It seemed Hall doubled his time on this line, replacing the Big Finn on some shifts. Gordon is solid. The guy gets so low on faceoffs, he's literally kissing the ice. I think he's been a great improvement over Horcoff.
We outshot them, out chanced them, out hit them, out faceoffed them. And we've been doing this much more consistently than last year. And that's why I believe the Oilers are better than last year and will do better... but Dubnyk.. more on that.
The Bad
Yak benched. Not sure why.. defense? Eakins sending a message? He's got over 4 chances per 15 minutes per game so far, by far the highest on the team up to tonight's game.
The 4th line was basically benched the entire 3rd period. I don't recall seeing Gadzic, Acton or Brown out there.
Belov didn't have a good game defensively making some weak backhanded passes on the boards out of the corners was atrocious. That indicates to me he still hasn't fully adjusted to the smaller rink.
Our wingers are STILL cheating on defense and not executing Eakins' swarm system by pinching in lower to help. I don't think our defense are the problem here, they're not getting help from the wingers which is trickling down to Dubie.
The Ugly
Dubnyk. Kadri's shot from the low side should not have gone in. Lupul's goal was also soft. But even though Nuge got the back of his head punched which led to a 3 on 1, the goal wasn't bad, but it was the bad rebound he gave on a big fat platter that led to the OT winner goal that was bad.
The refs. Nuge gets punched in the back of the head and knocked down which led to a 3 on 1 to close the game. Clearly a penalty, especially in OT. What a joke. Fuck you refs and your continued bias toward big market T Dot. Fuck you fifty times. Fuck! There was also a skirmish started by Ference and one of the Leaves punches and jumps on one of our guys, Perron I think. No penalty.
Oilers can't seem to beat Canadian teams so far. With a minute left and we're up 5-4, I thought the absolute worst would happen, and it did. I guess I know my team. But here's to hoping things turn around in Washington on Monday.
Ok, how about those offensive lines?
The new Smyth-Arco-Eberle line. Suck it naysayers. Ryan Smyth has 3 goals on the season doing what he does best--going to the net. That said, he was on a line with Eberle, who also played well with a beauty wrist shot that had enough power to go through Bernier's glove, and who dangled in the slot with a perfect pass to Smyth. But how about that Arcobello? He's above 50% on the dot, hitting, and passing really well. Smyth's TOI wasn't huge but with 5 shots in 12 minutes, that's a very good stat. Arco got robbed by Bernier. I wish Dubnyk would make saves like that.
Nuge. He's currently our best all-round player. Another goal. His skating and defensive positioning is a joy to watch. He still needs to improve on the dot as he was 9 of 19, but it'll come. I think Hall and Hemsky on this line works. Hall and Hemsky were ok.
Joensuu-Gordon-Perron. I thought Perron played well... he's fun to watch. But what happened to Joensuu? It seemed Hall doubled his time on this line, replacing the Big Finn on some shifts. Gordon is solid. The guy gets so low on faceoffs, he's literally kissing the ice. I think he's been a great improvement over Horcoff.
We outshot them, out chanced them, out hit them, out faceoffed them. And we've been doing this much more consistently than last year. And that's why I believe the Oilers are better than last year and will do better... but Dubnyk.. more on that.
The Bad
Yak benched. Not sure why.. defense? Eakins sending a message? He's got over 4 chances per 15 minutes per game so far, by far the highest on the team up to tonight's game.
The 4th line was basically benched the entire 3rd period. I don't recall seeing Gadzic, Acton or Brown out there.
Belov didn't have a good game defensively making some weak backhanded passes on the boards out of the corners was atrocious. That indicates to me he still hasn't fully adjusted to the smaller rink.
Our wingers are STILL cheating on defense and not executing Eakins' swarm system by pinching in lower to help. I don't think our defense are the problem here, they're not getting help from the wingers which is trickling down to Dubie.
The Ugly
Dubnyk. Kadri's shot from the low side should not have gone in. Lupul's goal was also soft. But even though Nuge got the back of his head punched which led to a 3 on 1, the goal wasn't bad, but it was the bad rebound he gave on a big fat platter that led to the OT winner goal that was bad.
The refs. Nuge gets punched in the back of the head and knocked down which led to a 3 on 1 to close the game. Clearly a penalty, especially in OT. What a joke. Fuck you refs and your continued bias toward big market T Dot. Fuck you fifty times. Fuck! There was also a skirmish started by Ference and one of the Leaves punches and jumps on one of our guys, Perron I think. No penalty.
Oilers can't seem to beat Canadian teams so far. With a minute left and we're up 5-4, I thought the absolute worst would happen, and it did. I guess I know my team. But here's to hoping things turn around in Washington on Monday.
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