Oilers Postgame: Swing and a Miss

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Final Score: Islanders 4 – Edmonton 1

I’ll give you all a second to pull your hair in anger just a little bit more following that bundle of 60 frustrating minutes…….. Ready? Good.

Trying to sum tonight’s game up in a single description is proving to be a rather difficult task, I must say. Segments of it were encouraging for the Oilers, in fact some portions were down right impressive; yet, contrasted against those positives was an underbelly of missed opportunities, select brain cramps, heroic opposition goaltending, and a bevy of bad luck.

So let’s stick with frustrating. Frustrating in that the positives of this game never really got a chance to truly shine due to the negative aspects that dampened the spirits and cost Edmonton the game.

One positive for the Oilers was the solid play of Larsson and Klefbom, once again.With 22 minutes of ice time for Oscar, and 20 minutes for Adam, I found that both men were generally contributing in a positive manner every time they stepped on the ice. Larsson was particularly impressive, generating 5 hits a blocked shot, and a brilliant stoppage of a Tavares on one select rush.

However, coupled with the positives brought there, were some brain cramps and misplays on a pair of Islanders goals that would prove to be the difference in the game. Klefbom lost a battle out front on one Islanders goal, while Benning lost his man in front of the net on the other. Even though Talbot and/or a bad bounce could be looked at as the culprit on the Klefbom goal, it still highlights two series where the opposition had access to the puck in a grade A area. Not great.

Another positive could be that, at least in this viewers eyes, no forward had by definition, a truly “bad” game. In fact, I thought that the majority of the forwards tonight were above average. The top line generated numerous chances and zone time, especially late, but just couldn’t put one home.

Great goal by Zack but also tip of the hat to Desharnais that guy is doing all the right things out there

— x-Chad Mulligan🇺🇦-Play La Bamba (@ChadMulligan) March 8, 2017

The 6 million dollar line continued their development of chemistry, with Nugent-Hopkins and Eberle looking flashy, confident and creative, while Lucic was once again heavy on the body, and smart with the puck. The trio overall had more than a few dominant sequences, and at their best moments, resembled a swarming, dangerous presence deep in the opposition’s end.

And to close out the forwards, the 3rd line looked generally more than okay as well, with Desharnais once again being a craftsmen with the puck and Kassian using his body to make a difference. That is now 2 straight nights that Kassian has used his net front presence to score a goal, with Desharnais playing a feature role in the set up.

However… with all of those good things, again, came some ugly things. The top line was dangerous yes, but I still think they passed up too many opportunities to shoot. When that wasn’t the case, they found themselves stricken with an inability to hit the net, puck bobbles, and incredible saves by Greiss, the New York netminder.

#Oilers having a healthy competition to see who passes up the best scoring chance by not shooting.

— Jason Gregor (@JasonGregor) March 8, 2017

Those big Islander saves would extend to the second line as well, with Nugent-Hopkins in particular standing out as someone who was robbed on a couple of occassions. And, as was the case with the top 3, a few too many shots found the end boards instead of the net.

Hit the God damn net!! #Oilers

— x – Oilers John 🇨🇦 ✈️ (@OilersJohn) March 8, 2017

And lastly, even though Desharnais and Kassian looked solid, I think it was more than obvious that once again, Caggiula failed to convince anyone that he is more worthy than Slepyshev of having that spot. The rookie did end the night with an assist, but he lacked the overall pop that a physical, hard shooting winger like Slepyshev could bring. Considering what a couple games in the press box did for Benning, I doubt that a couple for Caggiula would hurt.

Talbot wasn’t the reason for the loss, but he was no doubt outplayed by Greiss. He ended the night with 26 saves and a .885 save percentage.

Overall, the score wasn’t a true representation of how the game went, but the Oilers, with their missed chances, and select misplays, failed to truly grip this game by the throat and take the win. As a result, it got away from them in the 3rd, and that is a lost opportunity at 2 points.

Oilers Player of the Game

It’s a bit strange to give a defenceman the player of the game on a night with 4 goals against, but Adam Larsson is tonight’s player of the game. He was the biggest stand out from the start to the end in my opinion (and to more than a few folks on Twitter). His big presence behind the blue extended from the stop on Tavares (already mentioned) to his big hit on Ho-Sang in the 1st

To restate, he had 5 hits, a blocked shot, and 20:51 of ice time. Impressive evening for the man.

Notables

• One good thing about Matt Hendricks being in the lineup? He loves to crush his opponent with highlight reel hits. See below in the highlights section for that bell-ringer of a blast.
• This team continues to struggle on the power play, giving up a goal while down a man, late in the 1st. This continues to look like an issue involving not being aggressive enough on the puck holders.
• Over the past couple of games, Desharnais and Kassian have looked quite good together. Kassian provides the sort of gritty, physical presence that extends to the net-front, while Desharnais has been seriously crafty in his offence creation. That is excellent for this team’s bottom 6, and could improve if Slepyshev is swapped in for Caggiula.
• One segment in the 2nd period saw Darnell Nurse without a stick in front of his own net. Despite the loss of his twig, he gave the NYI forward a handful with a load of shoving, shuffling, and hitting. Larsson and his chippy play will be a pain for opponents in the playoffs.
• The Islanders 3rd goal, coming in the 3rd, came as a result of missed coverage in front by Matt Benning. Unfortunate goal, as it came immediately after a controlling Edmonton power play that resulted in a number of shot attempts.

Highlights

Hendricks Smash.

Hendricks with a huge hit. @OilersNation #Oilers pic.twitter.com/bXFMPmN2lj

— Adam (@OilersAdam) March 8, 2017

Kassian’s Tying Goal

No doubt about this deflection! #NYIvsEDM pic.twitter.com/sgyEwgUdhl

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 8, 2017

Opportunity Missed

SO CLOSE. #NYIvsEDM pic.twitter.com/22E2Jckxoh

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 8, 2017

Up Next: Sidney Crosby and the Penguins

Us Oilers fans will be treated to what should be a very fast paced and exciting game this Friday, when Sidney Crosby and the Penguins come into town. The Penguins are a damn good team and so the Oilers will have their work cut out for them, that is for sure.]]>