The Oilers take to the Rexall ice tonight against the Ottawa Senators, in the last of a 6-game homestand. While Rexall Place has usually been an okay place for the Oilers to be, they are 1-4 so far in this extended stay at home. February has so far been a forgettable month for the Oilers, seeing as how they’ve posted a 3-7 record and have been outscored 33-28 (don’t forget that 12 of the GF came in two games).
At this point in the season, fans had hoped there would be a more appreciable change in…..something. Instead it’s February 23rd and the Oilers are at the bottom of the standings and are (obviously) in the hunt for another top Draft Lottery spot. So….yay?
Last Game
Does it even matter anymore? The Oilers lost 3-2 to the Avalanche on Saturday night, in a game they probably should have won. Instead, they were beaten by, well, themselves (and some shoddy officiating). I know it’s de rigeur to complain about the officials when your team does poorly, but there’s been some hot garbage lately. Last week, against Anaheim, David Perron was credited with a goal that he should not have been, due to his covering the puck with his knee and interfering with Cam Talbot. Fast forward to Saturday: Taylor Hall gets pushed into Chet Calvin Pickard, and there’s a penalty called, ensuring that the Oilers can’t tie it up (because, let’s be honest, they’re not scoring on the PP very much right now).
I don’t mind that there was a penalty called on Hall (yes I do, but that’s a me thing, and not a hockey thing), but there’s been an awful lot of inconsistencies in officiating this season and it seems that those inconsistencies are becoming more magnified. I’m not saying the Oilers definitely would have won if Purcell’s goal had counted, but they would have at least been down only one goal and been able to use some of that momentum to maybe not crap the bed the way they do.
Keys to the Game
Win. It’s not hard, not really. They did it 6 times in a row in December and had all of us excited about playoffs, and saying things like “just imagine when Connor’s back”. Well, he is back and other than a breakout 6 games, he’s been pretty relatively quiet. I realize that me saying “Connor McDavid isn’t doing his part” is a little silly, but it seems to me that when one line is clicking (Hall-Drai-Teddy), the other is not (Pou-McDavid-Ebs). It’d be real nice if the Oilers could somehow get two scoring lines going at the same time for an extended period of time.
And it might be possible, if the defence wasn’t such a gross liability nearly all the time. I don’t know what the short-term solution is, but after watching Saturday’s game, I know it’s not Nikitin. Something has to give, and according to Peter Chiarelli (in a morning press conference), he’s probably not making any big deals before the deadline, but he will be in the summer. This strikes fear into my heart, and it’s my fault for getting attached to a player, but I can’t fathom an Oilers lineup without Taylor Hall. I really can’t. That’s not to say it’s not going to happen, and I will cry if it does, but for right now I’m going with him being an Oiler forever.
Players to Watch
I’m going to say it again for the people in the back: Taylor Hall. Since the team has been kind of hot garbage, he’s slipped a little in point production, but is still very much the driving force behind the Oilers offence.
After the Colorado game on Saturday, punctuated with that weird goal review, he had this to say:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX4PZ1Eupr0]He’s so grown, y’all. What a delight.
Projected Lineups
Edmonton
Taylor Hall – Leon Draisaitl – Teddy Purcell
Benoit Pouliot – Connor McDavid – Jordan Eberle
Zack Kassian – Mark Letestu – Nail Yakupov
Lauri Korpikoski – Matt Hendricks – Iiro Pakarinen
Andrej Sekera – Justin Schultz
Darnell Nurse – Mark Fayne
Brandon Davidson – Jordan Oesterle
Cam Tal-Bot
Ottawa
Mike Hoffman – Kyle Turris – Mark Stone
Ryan Dzingel – Mika Zibanejad – Bobby Ryan
Zack Smith – Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Alex Chiasson
Nick Paul – Curtis Lazar – Chris Neil
Marc Methot – Erik Karlsson
Dion Phaneuf – Cody Ceci
Chris Wideman – Mark Borowiecki
Craig Anderson
Final Thoughts
This Friday (February 26), The Oilers Rig is hosting a fundraiser at On the Rocks in downtown Edmonton, with all proceeds going to the MS Society of Alberta. there will be a silent auction, prize draws, and the change to meet some of Edmonton’s hockey blogging royalty (along with Matt Henderson from OilersNation).
Tickets are $12.50 and are available here. (We’ll have some at the door as well). With your ticket you’ll get a free drink, and be entered in to draws for some cool Oilers Rig swag, and other awesome prizes.
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