Edmonton - Nashville post-game: Back to the drawing board

by Bruce McCurdy on Dec 18, 2009 12:02 AM MST in Game Reports

So much for the 5-game winning streak. The Oilers have returned home with a mighty thud, 2 straight regulation losses. They are now a very Oiler-like 5-4-1 in the last 10 games which is not even going to tread water in Gary Bettman's NHL, let alone gain ground on the top 8 in the West.

More disturbing still is the team's inability to win on home ice. This was a problem last year that Pat Quinn addressed as a priority matter, yet after a promising start the team's home record stands at a desultory 8-7-2, or as some might put it, 8-9. That's four straight losses at Rexall, with only one of those (San Jose) garnering so much as a Bettman Point.

Nashville Predators became the latest team to walk into our building, have their way with us, and walk out with all the points. If there's one team in the league that has the ability to make Oilers look bad, it's the Preds. Tonight they had a bit of hiccup as the hosts roared out of the gate to a quick 2-0 lead, forcing Barry Trotz to play both of his major cards -- calling his time out and giving his starting goalie the hook-- just 5 minutes in. His team picked it up after that and Oilers wilted badly, getting outscored 6-1 over the last 55 minutes.

The Preds were full value for the win, as were the Oilers for the loss. Jeff Deslauriers had a tough night and didn't get a lot of help either. All three defence pairs were exposed on first period goals-against that extinguished that early lead, and the forwards were no hell in the defensive zone either. A harsh night all around.

A few stats after the jump:

Faceoffs (2 or more):

Cogliano 3/3 = 100%
Penner 6/9 = 67%
Potulny 8/13 = 62%
Stortini 4/7 = 57%
O'Sullivan 1/4 = 25%
Gagner 2/9 = 22%
Stone (?) 2/10 = 20%

Oilers 27/57 = 47%

Four guys held their own, the others got owned.

* * *

Corsi by line (listed in order of EV TOI):

Stone -8, Nilsson -13, Horcoff -15
Gagner +7, Penner +6, Brule +6
Cogliano +3, Moreau -1, Potulny -5
Stortini 0, Jacques -5, O'Sullivan -8

Visnovsky -5, Smid -8
Souray -2, Gilbert -4
Grebehkov -1, Staios -2

Oilers -11

Not quite sure how come the Horcoff line got more EV time than the Gagner trio.

* * *

Nilsson 2-0-2, 6 shots, 1 hit, 1 block, -1
O'Sullivan 0-0-0, 1 shot, 2 missed shots, 1 hit, 2 giveaways, 1/4 = 25%, -3
Jacques 6:30 TOI, -2
Deslauriers 21/27, .778, 3 giveaways, L
Souray 0-1-1, 0 shots, 5 missed shots, -2
Visnovsky 1-1-2, 3 shots, 6 attempted shots, -1

* * *

Hornqvist 2-1-3, 6 attempted shots, 2 hits, +2

* * *

Watch the carnage below:

Next up: vs. Washington, Saturday, 20:00

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Comments

I think it’s about time we see what DD can do.

by AdR23 on Dec 18, 2009 12:37 AM MST reply actions

Quinn’s on the same hot seat MacT used to occupy. You don’t want to switch up goalies when you’re winning cuz he’s on a roll and so is the team. You don’t want to switch up goalies when you’re losing cuz you don’t want to put the new kid in a pressure situation, you want to turn things around with your best line-up, yada yada. Unfortunately in Gary Bettman’s NHL there is no third option. :(

DD to the wolves against Ovechkin, Backstrom, Semin, Green & Co.? I don’t think so. Frankly, neither option is particularly palatable at this moment. I know! Let’s blow the goaltending budget to an old injury-prone guy and hope for the best.

Writer for The Copper & Blue and primary shareholder of Zorg Industries

by Bruce McCurdy on Dec 18, 2009 9:54 AM MST up reply actions

Apparently we are now the 'Edmonton Flames'

..or at least the AP seems to think so:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/recap;_ylt=Av0NNpGMIEERXKFoxRi9j.E5nYcB?gid=2009121706

It’s in the 10th paragraph (more or less) right in the middle of the article.

by Simon M on Dec 18, 2009 3:46 AM MST reply actions

Nilsson should slide back to the fourth.

Pouliot needs to hustle back so that O’Sullivan can sit awhile.

Lastly, this coaching staff must match lines and pairs.

Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.

by Derek Zona on Dec 18, 2009 8:38 AM MST via mobile reply actions

Ha, on the radio they were touting Strudwick’s return to the lineup. Alas, Grebs has been underwhelming to this point, but please no to Strudwick. Grebs will come around, Jason is what he is.

In the meantime the switch-up of the lines has proven disastrous. Where the Horcoff-O’Sullivan line was bleeding goals against, now the Horcoff and the O’Sullivan lines are getting lit up.

Writer for The Copper & Blue and primary shareholder of Zorg Industries

by Bruce McCurdy on Dec 18, 2009 9:48 AM MST up reply actions

In the meantime the switch-up of the lines has proven disastrous. Where the Horcoff-O’Sullivan line was bleeding goals against, now the Horcoff and the O’Sullivan lines are getting lit up.

The key is Nilsson.

Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.

by Derek Zona on Dec 18, 2009 10:45 AM MST reply actions

Agreed. If he’s going to kill soft opp, let’s get him back there forthwith. Give him some PP minutes as well.

Writer for The Copper & Blue and primary shareholder of Zorg Industries

by Bruce McCurdy on Dec 18, 2009 12:18 PM MST up reply actions

OK ….sooo one game and we feel its great to have Horc with Nilsson and Stone and another one and we want them split up. lets watch another couple and then analyse/

by SumOil on Dec 18, 2009 12:27 PM MST up reply actions

Go back to the Kings PGT. I wanted Nilsson to stay where he was. Let him crush the fourth line.

Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.

by Derek Zona on Dec 18, 2009 12:41 PM MST up reply actions

SumOil: Let’s analyze Stone and Nilsson’s performance since their return:

Game ….. 12 ….. 32 ….. Result
-———————————————
@DET … +2 …… +2 ……. W
@DAL … +1 …… +1 ……. W
@FLA …. 0 ……… 0 …….. W
@TBL … +2 ……. +2 …… W
@STL … +1 ……. +1 …… W
-———————————————
v.LAK … -1 ……… -1 …….. L
v.NAS … -1 ………. 0 …….. L

… with the line representing that point where they got promoted from the Stortini line to the Horcoff line. If you look back at the pregame thread for the Kings game you will see a poll question on this very subject, in which 71% of C&B readers voted not to mess with a winning combination.

While I don’t disagree that Stone and Nilsson — and Stortini for that matter — were in line for more responsibilities, generally lines get changed up when the team is losing (i.e. now) as opposed to when it’s on a roll (i.e. then). In retrospect it hasn’t worked out well, and the knowledgeable C&B readership seems to have been bang on the nail.

Writer for The Copper & Blue and primary shareholder of Zorg Industries

by Bruce McCurdy on Dec 18, 2009 12:47 PM MST up reply actions

Comments For This Post Are Closed

Northwest Standings

	GP	W	L	OTL	PT
Vancouver Nucks Misconduct	52	32	15	5	69
Minnesota Hockey Wilderness	52	25	19	8	58
Calgary Matchsticks and Gasoline	53	24	22	7	55
Colorado Mile High Hockey	54	26	25	3	55
Edmonton The Copper & Blue	53	21	27	5	47

(updated 2.7.2012 at 7:26 AM MST)

21 - 27 - 5

Streak: Lost 1

Oilers Schedule

Next 5 Games

@ Detroit Winging It In Motown	Wed 02/08	5:30 PM MST
@ Ottawa Silver Seven	Sat 02/11	12:00 PM MST
Toronto Pension Plan Puppets	Wed 02/15	8:00 PM MST
Colorado Mile High Hockey	Fri 02/17	7:30 PM MST
Vancouver Nucks Misconduct	Sun 02/19	7:00 PM MST

Last 5 Games

@ Toronto Pension Plan Puppets	Mon 02/06	L 3 - 6
Detroit Winging It In Motown	Sat 02/04	SO - W 5 - 4
Chicago Second City Hockey	Thu 02/02	W 8 - 4
Colorado Mile High Hockey	Tue 01/31	W 3 - 2
@ Vancouver Nucks Misconduct	Tue 01/24	SO - L 2 - 3