The Copper & Blue - Edmonton Oilers @ Pittsburgh Penguins - Gameday CoverageA site for fans of the Edmonton Oilers. Someday we'll get to write about an Oilers playoff game. Hopefully sooner than later.https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/13253/copper-fave.jpg2013-10-15T23:02:23-06:00http://www.coppernblue.com/rss/stream/46048232013-10-15T23:02:23-06:002013-10-15T23:02:23-06:00Better Effort, Same Result: Oil Lose 3-2 to Pens
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<figcaption>Vincent Pugliese</figcaption>
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<p>The Oilers hung tough on the road tonight against a very good team in the Pittsburgh Penguins. Of course close doesn't count for a lot in the standings.</p> <p>Last night in Washington the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.coppernblue.com/">Oilers</a> didn't play very well and lost. Tonight in Pittsburgh the team played better, but unfortunately they still lost. Following the script of too many other games early in this season there was a soft goal allowed by the Oilers netminder, and on this night a single goal ended up being the margin of victory. That probably stings a little. But coming in the second of back-to-back games, and on the road in Pittsburgh no less, I'm sure this is a moral victory for the Oilers. Or a learning experience. Or something like that. I think I've seen this exact same game a few hundred times in the last few seasons and I'm really not sure, or just don't care what it's supposed to mean anymore.</p>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">The Highlights</h4>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="395" width="640" frameborder="0" src="http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/embed?playlist=2013020085-X-h&site=oilers"></iframe></p>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">The Numbers</h4>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://oilers.nhl.com/gamecenter/en/boxscore?id=2013020085&navid=DL%7CEDM%7Chome" target="_blank">Box Score</a> -- <a href="http://www.boysonthebus.com/2013/10/15/game-stats-oilerspenguins-oct-15/" target="_blank">Boy on the Bus</a> -- <a href="http://www.extraskater.com/game/2013-10-15-oilers-penguins" target="_blank">Extra Skater</a> -- <a href="http://www.shiftchart.com/" target="_blank">Shift Chart</a></p>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">The Game</h4>
<p>The day started out well enough with news that the exiled <span>Nail Yakupov</span> would be back on the ice for the Oilers after two games spent watching from the press box. And then just before game time it was announced that he'd be skating with quality line mates in <span>Ryan Nugent-Hopkins</span> and David Perron. This is what a lot of fans had been hoping for. Give Yak top quality line mates and watch him explode. That's not quite what happened though. Tonight Yakupov looked out of place and almost uninterested at times. He finished with 5 Corsi events for versus 18 against. The raw total of -13 and his Corsi percentage (22%) were both team lows on the night.</p>
<p>Yakupov's evening closely matched the Oilers first period. The visitors were completely dominated by the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.pensburgh.com/">Penguins</a>, who outshot the Oilers 15-4. The Corsi events in the first period were just as lopsided, 22-9 in favour of Pittsburgh. But the score was just 1-0 somehow. The lone goal of the period came off the stick off <span>Pascal Dupuis</span> who was on the receiving end of a Sideny Crosby pass from behind the Oilers net. Dupuis' shot found it's way through a couple of Oilers before beating surprise starting goalie, <span>Jason LaBarbera</span>.</p>
<p>The Oilers started the second period with a brief 18 second two man advantage, followed by 1:17 of 5-on-4 power play time. The Oilers failed to convert during the power play but were quite active attempting six shots and getting four through to Marc-Andre Fleury. And four seconds after the power play ended, <span>Ales Hemsky</span> jammed home a loose puck that was sitting in the crease behind Fleury tying the game at one a piece.</p>
<p>Even after the tying goal the Oilers continued to carry the play. Just look at the slope of the line representing the Oilers in the Fenwick chart at Extra Skater to get an idea of how strong the team's play was early in the second period tonight. Unfortunately they couldn't convert the good play into another goal. Instead, it was the Penguins who scored next when a shot deflected by Crosby squeaked through LaBarbera and was knocked home but Chris Kunitz. This was actually the second time tonight a shot had dribbled through LaBarbera, the other, in the first period, he fell on before it could get across the goal line. In the second period he wasn't so lucky.</p>
<p>Before the end of the second period the Oilers would once again tie the game when <span>Jordan Eberle</span> scored his second goal of the season. Before the goal, Eberle, <span>Taylor Hall</span>, and <span>Mark Arcobello</span> had the Penguins scrambling around their own net. In a five second sequence Eberle missed the net, then Hall's attempt was stopped by a diving Fleury, before Eberle found the rebound at the side of the net and then scored on a backhand from the slot. This trio was the Oilers best forward line tonight, and even though this wasn't the prettiest goal I've seen, it was nice to see them rewarded.</p>
<p>In the third period the pace slowed down a little. Possibly a byproduct of the Oilers having played the night before, or perhaps just a strategy by both teams to play a slightly more defensive/safe game in the final period. The lone goal came on the power play from <span>Evgeni Malkin</span> who was the recipient of a rather lucky play where <span>Paul Martin</span> partially fanned on a shot from the point, only to have the puck end up going right to Malkin. Since both of the Oilers positioned between Martin and the net, as well as LaBarbera, had committed to the shot from the point Malkin had a fairly open net to shoot at, and unfortunately for the Oilers that's not an opportunity that he missed very often.</p>
<p>After the Malkin goal the Oilers still had 12 minutes to try and even the score and didn't generate much of anything, which might have been the most frustrating part of the game. I know they'd played the night before, but a team down a goal has to do more than generate a measly two shot in the last 12 minutes of a hockey game. It wasn't a game that the Oilers should have won, it was a game they could have won though. Seems like that's been a recurring theme this season.</p>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">The Copper & Blue Three Stars</h4>
<p style="text-align: center;">★★★ - Ales Hemsky</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">★★ - Jordan Eberle</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">★ - Taylor Hall</p>
https://www.coppernblue.com/2013/10/15/4843270/edmonton-oilers-penguins-3-2-lossryan_batty2013-10-15T16:30:01-06:002013-10-15T16:30:01-06:00Oilers v. Penguins - Genesis 9:18-28
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<figcaption>Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The three chosen ones when Dallas arrived were Taylor, Ryan, and Nail (the Russian). All future team success would come because of these three men.</p>
<p>After <a href="http://www.coppernblue.com/2013/4/16/4229522/steve-tambellini-fired-1-samuel-28-3-20">the Great Firing</a>, Dallas began to change the culture of the team, and he planted new ideas about fitness, nutrition, and defensive play into the heads of all his players. One evening, after another meltdown by his goaltender, he decided to eat an entire box of donuts as the club left for an extended road trip, but he fell asleep while eating. Nail, the Russian, came to speak with the coach a few minutes later, but when he noticed the box of donuts, he left quietly to mock the coach with Taylor and Ryan.</p>
<p>But Taylor and Ryan didn't find the situation funny. They quickly grabbed some blankets, walked to the front of the plane and covered their new coach so that no one else would know of his shameful deed. As they did this, they made sure to look at the ceiling so that, in case someone asked, they could say they had never seen the donuts.</p>
<p>Dallas woke up with crumbs all over the seat, and he was very nervous. When he learned what Nail, the youngest player on the team, had done, he was furious. And so he cursed the Russian:</p>
<p>"May Nail be cursed! May he always be seen as less than Taylor and Ryan!"</p>
<p>Then Dallas said:</p>
<p>"May Yahweh, the God of Canadian hockey, be blessed! And may Russia serve him forever! O God, make Ryan's name great! Let him share in Taylor's awesomeness, and may it be that Nail will always play a line below them, that is, if he plays at all!</p>
<p>Dallas coached the team for two years after the Great Firing. He had coached professionally for six years, and then he was fired.</p>
<p> </p>
<h4><b><span class="sbn-auto-link"><span class="sbn-auto-link"><span class="sbn-auto-link"><span class="sbn-auto-link"><span class="sbn-auto-link"><span class="sbn-auto-link"><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.coppernblue.com/">Edmonton Oilers</a></span></span> @ <span class="sbn-auto-link"><span class="sbn-auto-link"><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.pensburgh.com/">Pittsburgh Penguins</a></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="sbn-auto-link"> </span></b></h4>
<p><b>Consol Energy Center, 5:00 p.m. MDT</b><br><b>Television: Sportsnet<br></b></p>
<p><b>Visiting Team Scouting Report: </b>Pittsburgh is off to a much better start than the Oilers in the standings, but that's not all that relevant for a team with <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl-playoffs">Stanley Cup</a> aspirations. More encouraging for the Penguins is the fact that their possession numbers have bounced back nicely after spending last season south of 50%. So far this year, the Penguins have a Corsi percentage 53.7% during five-on-five play overall, and 57.4% with the score close. Importantly, they've been able to convert those shots into goals at a good rate, scoring 2.9 goals for every sixty minutes of five-on-five ice time.</p>
<p><b>Expected Lineups:</b></p>
<p><b>Edmonton Oilers (1-4-1):</b></p>
<p>Hall - Nugent-Hopkins - Hemsky<br> Perron - Gordon - Yakupov<br>Smyth - Arcobello - Eberle<br> Gazdic - Acton - Jones</p>
<p>Ference - J Schultz<br>Belov - Petry<br>Smid - N Schultz</p>
<p>Dubnyk</p>
<p><b>Pittsburgh Penguins (4-1-0):</b></p>
<p>Kunitz - Crosby - Dupuis<br> Jokinen - Malkin - Kobasew<br> Jeffrey - Sutter - Zolnierczyk<br> Glass - Vitale - Adams</p>
<p>Orpik - Martin<br> Scuderi - Niskanen<br> Maatta - Bortuzzo</p>
<p>Fleury</p>
<p><b>By The Numbers:</b></p>
<ul>
<li> Dallas Eakins wasn't joking when he spoke about riding his best players for a lot of minutes. <span>Ryan Nugent-Hopkins</span> has averaged 24:13 per game so far this season, tops in the NHL among forwards. <span>Taylor Hall</span> is second at 23:09, <span>Jordan Eberle</span> eleventh at 21:15, and <span>David Perron</span> fourteenth at 21:01. Pittsburgh's top four forwards have all played much less. <span>Sidney Crosby</span> leads the team at 21:13, followed by <span>Pascal Dupuis</span> at 18:58, <span>Evgeni Malkin</span> at 18:56 and <span>Chris Kunitz</span> at 17:52.<br>
</li>
<li>It's hard to believe, but the Atlanta Thrashers lost badly when they traded <span>Marian Hossa</span> to the Penguins even if you don't include Marian Hossa as part of the transaction. Hossa came to the Penguins along with Pascal Dupuis, and he's done far more to help Pittsburgh in the years since than <span>Colby Armstrong</span>, <span>Erik Christensen</span>, <span>Angelo Esposito</span>, and <span>Daultan Leveille</span> have to helpl the Thrasher-<a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.arcticicehockey.com/">Jets</a>. I grant that offensive performance isn't the only thing that matters, but Dupuis has 216 points (and counting) for the Penguins since the trade compared to 103 (and no one left on the team) for the Atlanta four.</li>
<li>David Perron is a fun player to watch, and I think he's certainly been a positive contributor so far this season, but he sure has taken a lot of minor penalties. Through six games, Perron has six minors, second-most in the NHL and more than any other forward. It's something that he's had a problem with in the past, too. Last season, he finished in a tie for eighth in the NHL with twenty-two minor penalties and in 2009-10 he finished in a tie for thirty-sixth with thirty. </li>
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https://www.coppernblue.com/2013/10/15/4841998/oilers-v-penguins-genesis-9-18-28Scott Reynolds2013-10-15T11:30:00-06:002013-10-15T11:30:00-06:00Yakupov In, Larsen Down, Jones Up
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<figcaption>Doug Pensinger</figcaption>
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<p>Nail Yakupov gets back into the lineup and Ryan Jones makes it back to the NHL</p> <p><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.coppernblue.com/">Oilers</a>' team blogger Chris Wescott was a busy man today, posting updates about both <span>Nail Yakupov</span> and roster movements. <a target="_blank" href="http://oilers.nhl.com/club/blogpost.htm?id=21454">First, about Yakupov</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Oilers Head Coach Dallas Eakins confirmed in his morning media presser that Nail Yakupov will play tonight against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.pensburgh.com/">Penguins</a> in Pittsburgh.</p>
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<p>Then about <a target="_blank" href="http://oilers.nhl.com/club/blogpost.htm?id=21453">the roster moves</a>:</p>
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<p>Oilers Head Coach Dallas Eakins confirmed to the media today that the team has assigned <span>Philip Larsen</span> to Oklahoma City in the American Hockey League and has recalled forward <span>Ryan Jones</span>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Finally, <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/EdmontonOilers/status/390157058450141185">the Oilers Twitter account</a> announced that <span>Jesse Joensuu</span> has left the team to seek treatment for his back injury.</p>
<p>The Yakupov news is a welcome announcement for the team and fans alike. The Oilers need all of the help they can get and though it's disappointing that an injury is the cause for the change, the Oilers have spotted the last playoff spot a 5 point lead and can't afford to dither with the lineup any longer.</p>
<p></p>
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<b>More</b>: <a href="http://www.coppernblue.com/2013/10/14/4836998/nail-yakupov-healthy-scratch-back-to-russia" target="new">On Scratching Yakupov</a>
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<p>Joensuu has struggled with injuries for the bulk of his professional career, and his back injury is another obstacle he's going to have to overcome to find a regular spot in the lineup. Keeping Joensuu in the lineup to help bolster the fourth line would be preferable, but if he's not healthy, he's not helping. Hopefully for his sake, returning to the lineup too early didn't extend his stay on the injured reserve.</p>
<p>Jones is back on the NHL roster, and while he's a better option than any of the current fourth line forwards, he's just a depth player who can contribute on the 5th-worst penalty kill in the league and possibly move some of the Oilers' stars off of the penalty kill and back to the bench.</p>
https://www.coppernblue.com/2013/10/15/4836910/oilers-yakupov-draws-larsen-down-jones-up-joensuu-to-the-docCopper and Blue Staff2013-10-15T08:00:00-06:002013-10-15T08:00:00-06:00Oilers @ Penguins Preview
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<img alt="Deterrence" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/46pIxQcHva0fd5jcNC6DLKfuvqU=/13x0:3986x2649/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/21194795/184634945.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Deterrence | Greg Fiume</figcaption>
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<p>In Pittsburgh for the second half of a back-to-back? It will all turn out well.</p> <p><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.coppernblue.com/"></a></p>
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<td><center> <img alt="Edmonton Flyers" class="photo" src="http://cdn2.sbnation.com/assets/2059375/Flyersplane.GIF">
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<td><center> <b></b>
<h1 align="center">@</h1>
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<td><center> <img alt="Pittsburgh Shamrocks" class="photo" src="http://cdn3.sbnation.com/assets/3392927/Pittsburgh_Shamrocks__icon_.jpg">
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<td style="text-align: center;"><b>1-4-1, 0.5 p/g<br></b></td>
<td>Ranks</td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>4-1-0, 1.6 p/g</b></td>
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<td style="text-align: center;">Western Conf: 15th</td>
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<td style="text-align: center;">Eastern Conf: 2nd</td>
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<td style="text-align: center;">26th</td>
<td>P/G</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">5th</td>
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<td style="text-align: center;">19th</td>
<td>ST</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">11th</td>
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<td style="text-align: center;">14th</td>
<td>ES</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">5th</td>
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<td style="text-align: center;">30th</td>
<td>Goal</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">23rd</td>
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<br><b><b>5:00 p.m. MDT</b><b> | Sportsnet<br></b></b>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><b>Consol Energy Center</b></b><br><a target="_blank" href="http://www.tiqiq.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers-tickets/?brandid=sbnation_coppernblue">Tickets</a><br>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><br></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>The opposing view</b>: <a target="_blank" href="http://pensburgh.com/">Pensburgh</a>
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<h3><b>Top Story:</b></h3>
<p>The Jason LaBarbera experience was no better than the <span>Devan Dubnyk</span> mystical magical show. Dubnyk will get the start in Pittsburgh tonight, just in time for a team averaging four goals per game. Of particular concern will be the penalty kill, where the Oilers are not only allowing vast swaths of the scoring chance area to go unguarded, but they're also giving up the 5th most shots in the league while short-handed. Lots of shots from high value areas? This is a recipe for disaster against <span>Sidney Crosby</span>, who is always among the league's leaders in shooting distance. The Oilers need to avoid penalties at all costs.</p>
<p><b>Badger don't give a ...</b>: <span>Justin Schultz</span> is a disaster in his own end right now. His possession numbers don't look bad because once he has the puck he does cool things with it, but when he doesn't have the puck, he doesn't have much interest in obtaining it. His shadowboxing routine in his own end is a strange thing.</p>
<h3>
<b>The Oilers are saying</b>:</h3>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p>Even better comp for Gazdic's 5 shifts in the 3rd? RNH's 5 shifts in the 3rd. And Acton had 7.</p>
— Michael Parkatti (@mparkatti) <a href="https://twitter.com/mparkatti/statuses/389961996952547328">October 15, 2013</a>
</blockquote>
<p>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p><span>Ryan Nugent-Hopkins</span> played the same amount of shifts as <span>Luke Gazdic</span> in the 3rd period and that's with Gazdic serving 2 minutes for roughing. <span>Will Acton</span> had more shifts than Hopkins in the 3rd. And <span>Nail Yakupov</span> was watching from the press box.</p>
<p>Next up? Dallas Eakins bag skates <span>Dustin Penner</span>.</p>
<p>We don't need to go into a deep discussion about how awful the fourth line is, and how Eakins had them out against <span>Alex Ovechkin</span> three times last night, but Edmonton has <a target="_blank" href="http://www.extraskater.com/players/on-ice?team=edm&pos=F&sit=5v5">three sub-40% forwards</a> and they're getting <a target="_blank" href="http://www.extraskater.com/players/deployment?team=edm&pos=F&sort=odst_pct">nice zonestarts</a>. None of these three players are NHL players. Stop playing them and especially stop playing them while putting Nail Yakupov in the press box.</p>
<h3>
<b>The Opponent is saying</b>:</h3>
<blockquote>
<p>"I feel pretty good. I think it's still a process, getting used to everything -- timing, execution.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>--Sidney Crosby, talking about <a href="http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/penguins/penguins-notebook-bennett-misses-practice-likely-out-707653/" target="_blank">getting his game back</a> and moving into mid-season form.</p>
<p>Nine points in five games and he's still getting used to everything.</p>
<p><b>Key matchup:</b> <span>Jeff Petry</span> versus the world. Petry has been the Oilers lone bright spot on defense in all situations. Petry is going to have to take on and saw off either Sidney Crosby or <span>Evgeni Malkin</span> for the Oilers to have a chance in Pittsburgh</p>
<h3><b>Expected Lines & Pairings:</b></h3>
<p align="center"><span>Taylor Hall</span> - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - <span>Ales Hemsky</span><br><span>Ryan Smyth</span> - <span>Mark Arcobello</span> - <span>Jordan Eberle</span><br><span>David Perron</span> - <span>Boyd Gordon</span> - Nail Yakupov<br>Luke Gazdic - Will Acton - <span>Jesse Joensuu</span></p>
<p align="center"><br><span>Ladislav Smid</span> - Jeff Petry <br><span>Andrew Ference</span> - Justin Schultz <br><span>Nick Schultz</span> - <span>Anton Belov</span> <br><br>Devan Dubnyk<br><br>Scratches: <span>Mike Brown</span>, Phillip Larsen</p>
<p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.pensburgh.com/">Penguins</a> expected lineup based on recent practices and updates:</p>
<p align="center"><span>Chris Kunitz</span> - Sidney Crosby - <span>Pascal Dupuis</span><br><span>Jussi Jokinen</span> - Evgeni Malkin - <span>Beau Bennett</span><br><span>Chuck Kobasew</span> - <span>Brandon Sutter</span> - <span>Dustin Jeffrey</span><br><span>Tanner Glass</span> - <span>Joe Vitale</span> - <span>Craig Adams</span></p>
<p align="center"><span>Brooks Orpik</span> - <span>Paul Martin</span><br><span>Matt Niskanen</span> - <span>Rob Scuderi</span><br><span>Olli Maatta</span> - <span>Deryk Engelland</span></p>
<p align="center"><span>Marc-Andre Fleury</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;" align="center">In honor of Justin Schultz and his own-zone shadowboxing routine:</p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/vimZj8HW0Kg" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
https://www.coppernblue.com/2013/10/15/4836154/edmonton-oilers-pittsburgh-penguins-game-7-previewCopper and Blue Staff