Oilers

2022 - 3 - 27

Post cover — Image courtesy of "The Copper & Blue"

Oilers Receive Timely Wake-Up Call (The Copper & Blue)

With the Stanley Cup Playoffs fast-approaching, the Edmonton Oilers have little time to right the ship and last night's thrashing at the hands of the ...

During the current campaign, the Edmonton Oilers have had multiple first-hand viewings of what works and what doesn’t. The decision should be an easy one to make. Whatever the reason, the players decided to abandon what had been a nice run of a defensively discipline style of play and it cost them big time. To a degree that is exactly what it was but they know all-to-well it isn’t quite that simple. Koskinen nor Mike Smith could stop the bleeding but expecting either one of them to suddenly morph into a goaltender that could is as unrealistic as it gets. Like it or not, Darryl Sutter’s side is the cream of the crop in the Pacific…if not the entire Western Conference. They are a deep team, loaded with a bunch of talented players who play a ridiculously fast pace and punish opponents on a nightly basis. After suffering what was an exciting but troubling 9-5 drubbing at the hands of the Calgary Flames, this group of players knows exactly what has to happen.

5 Ugly Stats From Oilers' 9-5 Loss to Flames (The Hockey Writers)

The Edmonton Oilers dropped an exciting back and forth game on Saturday against the Calgary Flames. However, there were several ugly stats.

After the Oilers had battled back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the score at 3-3 on Draisaitl’s goal at 0:44 of the second period, Koskinen could make only one save before Oliver Kylington scored at 3:07 to restore Calgary’s lead. All of Calgary’s goals were scored five-on-five, tying the Oilers NHL franchise record for most even-strength goals allowed in a single game. In his last 67:11 between the pipes, Koskinen has allowed nine goals. But in their 290 regular-season meetings, dating back to 1979-80, only half a dozen times have the Flames erupted like they did on Saturday. Before Saturday, John Anderson was all alone in holding that dubious distinction, having potted three goals and registering a minus-4 rating when his Maple Leafs fell 6-4 to the Boston Bruins on Jan. 12, 1983. Again, the Oilers answered, making it 4-4 on Nugent-Hopkins’ goal at 3:52. But the game would stay tied for all of 74 seconds before Tkachuk beat Koskinen on the Flames’ very next shot. He’s just the 14th player in NHL history, and the first Oiler, to go minus-3 or worse while scoring a hat trick. Edmonton has now allowed nine even-strength goals three times since joining the NHL in 1979. There isn’t a superlative that can convey the extent of the carnage in downtown Calgary on Saturday night. Interestingly, in each of those three games, an Oilers player recorded a hat-trick. In what was supposed to be the biggest Battle of Alberta in years, one team didn’t even look like it belonged on the ice. The Oilers rallied back three times, evening things up after trailing 3-1, 4-3, and 5-4, but couldn’t get a save when they needed one.

SLAUGHTER IN THE SADDLEDOME: Off night or warning sign for ... (Edmonton Sun)

Kailer Yamamoto (56) of the Edmonton Oilers reacts after Oliver Kylington (58) of the Calgary Flames scored ...

Because while the Oilers were bowing down in Calgary, the L.A. Kings, Vegas Golden Knights and Vancouver Canucks all won their games. We won’t know until they meet again, but what happened Saturday night is enough to make anyone nervous. We’re not talking about falling asleep during a mid-week game against Seattle. This was an electric atmosphere against a bitter rival that played the night before. It’s not on our goalies, it’s on us.” In goal, Mikko Koskinen and Mike Smith weren’t great but it honestly didn’t matter because no goaltending tandem in the world was going to win such a poorly contested game. Starts with me, our leadership group.” From Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci spending most of the night fishing pucks out of their own net, to Evan Bouchard gliding around aimlessly in key moments, the blue line had its worst game of the season. Article content “Nine even-strength goals is not good enough.” Until the Oilers make things right, echoes of a jam-packed Calgary Saddledome chanting: “We Want 10! Article content Article content

Is a bird in the hand worth 2 in the bush for the Edmonton Oilers: 9 ... (Edmonton Journal)

As Jay Woodcroft sorts out the sordid defensive issues that plagued Saturday's loss in Calgary, lets gaze a little further into the Oilers future.

Money and term will of course matter when it comes to Kane’s future. Pick just 2 examples: Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto. Both are expiring RFA’s. Yamamoto has 18 goals in 64 games this season. But if they do and a D-man gets hurt (and hey, it happens), then Jay Woodcroft could call on dependable Kris Russell and his 905 regular season games of experience instead of only having the option of a D-man with 22 or fewer games under his belt. Article content It is after all a tough job in the best league in the world. Article content Philp is a better than a point a game performer the last 2 seasons and has scored 8 goals in 8 games this year. 7. The Oilers are down draft picks, ahead of Summer’s 2022. Article content Some key decisions lay ahead for players currently on this roster. Article content Article content

'The alumni, every one of us loved it': Flames' latest victory had ... (Calgary Sun)

A franchise icon and now one of the Calgary Flames' biggest fans, Lanny McDonald had just a single gripe about Saturday's rout of the arch-enemy Edmonton…

Article content Article content “I can’t even read it.” Article content Article content Article content All that was missing to complete the throwback feel was a mess of gloves on the ice. “I would have never guessed 14 goals would get scored, in this game especially. Article content Oh my gosh, it was fast and furious.” Article content Article content

The Day After: It wasn't just bad goaltending (Oilers Nation)

Mikko Koskinen started the game and didn't fare well, as he allowed five goals on 12 shots before getting yanked five minutes into the second period. Mike Smith ...

The Oilers are now four points back of the Kings with only one game in hand. The Golden Knights are now only one point back of the Oilers but Edmonton has two games in hand. “Let’s get one thing out of the way: neither team was especially good defensively, though the Flames were a little bit better than the Oilers in that respect. The Flames only allowed two goals at even strength, and at five-on-five they generated a ton off winning defensive zone battles, face-offs, and timely saves.” –Ryan Pike, FlamesNation The Flames won the fourth and final installment of the 2021-22 regular-season Battle of Alberta on Saturday night with a wild 9-5 victory. Mike Smith came into the game in relief and allowed four goals on 22 shots, an improvement over Koskinen but still nowhere near good.

Beyond the Boxscore: Calgary Flames entertain fans in blowout win ... (Flames Nation)

Lights! Camera! Goals! In one of the most entertaining Flames games in recent memory the Battle of Alberta left the northern Alberta neighbours wondering ...

He hasn’t needed to be that secondary scoring option as consistently as he was needed earlier in the campaign, but it is a fair bit of a slump for a guy that has 30 goals this season. He’s due for a couple to come his way here soon – he’s certainly got some solid numbers in possession and chances over this stretch, just a matter of time in my opinion. DailyFaceoff has the tools you need for both daily and season-long fantasy leagues, including a lineup optimizer, daily projections, and a whole lot more. In The Crease – I absolutely love Markstrom’s numbers when you take the power play out of this game. It’s a Team Game – As soon as the Flames stopped parading to the penalty box – which was more frequently than it should have been – Calgary was able to gain control of the game. On the flip side we may not have Beiber jerseys but we do have Johnny Gaudreau (57.09% // 65.32%) Matthew Tkachuk (51.96% // 60.79%) and Elias Lindholm (52.06% // 60.79%) had 10 high danger chances as a unit tonight. Oliver Kylington (56.57%) has been lights out in his first full season in the NHL. 2 of those guys were drafted and developed by the Flames organization. The Oilers as a team were not really bad until the third period kicked in. Corsi King – It has consistently been a great line when Andrew Mangiapane (74.15 CF%) gets paired up with Mikael Backlund (72.29%). There were a lot of jumbled combinations after all the special teams in this one, but everyone was largely consistent in being decent. Ryan Carpenter (64.27%) sees the least number of attempts against in his debut – mind you in fourth line minutes. Lights! Camera! Goals! In one of the most entertaining Flames games in recent memory the Battle of Alberta left the northern Alberta neighbours wondering what happened on the wrong side of a 9-5 score. The Flames take the last 2021-22 regular season battle of Alberta matchup.