Hey Oilers, What Was THAT?

Sunday was one of the toughest games to watch all season long. As an Oilers fan, I find myself saying that a lot, but sadly it’s usually true. There are just some games that become a task to watch, including this debacle in Carolina. The Oilers had a 3-0 lead, but honestly they didn’t play well for most of the afternoon. They deserved to lose this hockey game, zero debating that point.

The painful part is, Edmonton led 3-0 at one point. I’m sorry, but when you have a three goal lead, you should win that game ten times out of ten. For Edmonton to blow a three goal lead is just flat out unacceptable, it’s unacceptable for any team. Any respectable team puts that hockey game away this afternoon, no ifs, ands or buts about it.

To lose a game 7-4 after leading 3-0 is mind-boggling. In the second half of that hockey game, Edmonton got outscored SEVEN to one, SEVEN goals allowed! Are you kidding me? Look, I could sit here and rant all night, but that won’t accomplish anything besides me being able to sleep a little bit better tonight. Why did this happen? Let’s take a look.

Goaltending:

Was Richard Bachman the reason Edmonton lost today? Nope, not at all, but he certainly didn’t help the Oilers win this hockey game. At least two of those Carolina goals shouldn’t have gone in, and that’s on Bachman. Thing is, what else could you expect from an AHL goalie? That’s what Bachman is, a solid AHL goaltender and nothing else. It’s not his fault, it’s just the reality of the situation.

That being said, he was weak for the final forty minutes of this hockey game, and it was a big reason why this game went they way it did. When you have to hold your breath EVERY time a shot goes on net, you know it will be a long day. This has been a problem all season long, and I’d wager it’s Edmonton’s biggest problem among the many they have.

AHL’ers Everywhere:

This line-up had a handful of players that just shouldn’t be in this league. Up front, Luke Gazdic, Matt Fraser and Ryan Hamilton just are not NHL players. That’s a whole line of guys, one fourth of your line-up, that doesn’t belong in the league. That’s a staggering amount and one that will result in games like today. Edmonton’s line-up is riddled with players that wouldn’t be playing on about 26 other teams. That’s a problem.

Not to mention, the team had Jordan Oesterle, a defender, filling in for Benoit Pouliot today. He’s an AHL defender tasked with playing up front, that’s a recipe for disaster. He and Keith Aulie represent two defenders on the NHL roster that are AHL players and who shouldn’t be on the roster at this time.

Until Edmonton gets 23 NHL players, this will keep happening. That’s just the facts of the matter.

Defensive Issues:

This is the worst defense in the NHL, and I’ll hear nothing else about it. Mark Fayne is the only established top-four player on this unit, while Andrew Ference has simply become a liability for this team, he’s just not good enough anymore. Jordan Oesterle and Keith Aulie are AHL players, while Justin Schultz, Martin Marincin and Oscar Klefbom are all young players who make key mistakes, but that’s part of the process.

This unit simply struggles playing defense, there isn’t another way to sum it up. Far too often, the slot is left open and players are allowed to penetrate the key areas without any challenge. That results in golden opportunities against, and a lot of goals against. It’s a recipe for failure.

With a unit this bad, these mistakes will continue, and as a result high goals against totals will remain. It’s, again, the facts of the matter. This is another area that MUST be addressed this summer.

Confidence:

The Oilers have the confidence level of a fat kid trying to talk to a pretty girl (I can joke about that because that’s me). It’s just non-existent. When things start going poorly, it’s game over, this team simply can’t recover. They panic and start trying to make the homerun play. They get away from the system and begin running around and making even more mistakes.

Once the house catches fire, there is no putting the blaze out, it just grows into a forest fire that consumes every player within it’s range. As soon as something goes against the Oilers, it snowballs out of control. I’m not sure if it’s a sense of “here we go again” or if it’s a lack of leadership, but this happens a lot. It happened again today, as the Oilers made the SAME mistakes all afternoon.

I watched the Hurricanes broadcast today (John Forslund is a broadcasting giant) and it’s all they could talk about, Edmonton making the same mistakes over and over again. This needs to be fixed too, no confidence means no results.

The Overview:

This team is broken, but we knew that. The Oilers goaltending is awful, and it’s defense is honestly worse. There is so much wrong with this hockey team that it isn’t even funny. Until Craig MacTavish finds a goaltender capable of stopping the puck and a few defenders that can play the position, this will continue.

This loss was one of the most frustrating of the season, but once Semin scored that beautiful goal, we should have known it was coming. This has happened time and time again this season, and the reasons above are always the main culprits.

Craig needs to get on it, and fast.