Hot Links: Thursday, October 14

Morning, folks!

Hope you’re all enjoying a spring in your step today after our heroes won their first game of the season, keeping the dream of 82-0 very much alive.

As you can see, a pretty tasty performance up and down the lineup. A couple of bad plays stood out to me early, like Duncan Keith leaving a man open for a breakaway in P1, Mike Smith’s work on G2 (though he was otherwise quite good), and basically anything Tyson Barrie did.

But, Zack Hyman looks to be the goods — which means the new-look second line has the makings of a buzzsaw — and I was quite impressed with Warren Foegele’s first game as an Edmonton Oiler. Evan Bouchard played PK1 beside Nurse, was out in the last minute with him too, and he paced all non-Nurse blue liners in terms of EV TOI last night.

Kyle Turris being out for the last minute was puzzling. As was Dave Tippett’s reluctance to take a timeout in OT despite Nurse (and McDavid and Draisaitl) playing almost all of it, and his selection of Tyson Barrie as #3 in the shootout. I suppose it’s been awhile since they’ve been in one, so it’s fair enough that he went with what’s been working in practice. Maybe Barrie is the Marek Malik of practice shootouts.

Edmonton will have a couple days to smooth out the kinks (like those that might see them blow two goal, third-period leads) before taking on the Calgary Flames on Saturday night.

PODCAST SZN

Hockey is just a few days away and the Copper & Blue crew couldn’t be more excited!

Preston and Corey do a final look at how the Edmonton Oilers look heading into the season and take a closer look at the defensive group.

Stick around for the second half of the podcast as they take a look at some intriguing waiver wire names as well as their final predictions on the opening night roster!

The Good, the Bad and the Holland Season Preview Part 2 (Copper and Blue)

Oilers Fend Off Canucks in 3-2 SO Win (Copper and Blue)

GAME THREAD: Edmonton Oilers vs. Vancouver Canucks (Copper and Blue)

GAME PREVIEW - 2021-22 Season Opener: Edmonton Oilers vs. Vancouver Canucks (Copper and Blue)

Vibe check (Copper and Blue)

Hot Links: Wednesday, October 13 (Copper and Blue)

Highlights And Numbers: Oilers Outplay Canucks At Even-Strength, Zach Hyman Shines In Debut (ON)

Turris Wins It In The Shootout For The Edmonton Oilers Home-Opener (ES)

The Day After: Hey Siri, Play La Bamba! (ON)

Oilers Blow 3rd-Period Lead Before Recovering To Stop Canucks In Shootout (CBC)

Sceviour Signs, McDavid Works On His ‘Fluffer’ (ES)

Edmonton Oilers Player Review And 2021-22 Preview: Devin Shore (ON)

Oilers Notebook: Joke About McDavid’s One-Timer At Your Own Peril (SN)

Edmonton Oilers Start 2021-22 With The “Nuclear Option” Of McDavid + Draisaitl (EJ)

2021-22 Game One: Canucks At Oilers (LT)

How The Oilers’ New-Look Second Line Wears Down Opponents And Makes A Difference: ‘It’s All Work-Based’ (TA)