CONSISTENCY
These up and down Oilers are going to give me motion sickness. That’s a sentiment I gather a lot of Oiler fans might agree with. The way they started the Nashville game was unacceptable and unfortunately Fasth wasn’t able to bail them out. The team is on the hunt for consistency in all facets of their game and they are struggling badly to find it. To go from dominant performances against the Sabres and Rangers to allowing the Preds to direct 17 shots on net is not the way the team wanted to transition back to playing a Western Conference team.
In net the Oilers have a real problem too. That was a statement game for Viktor Fasth and the statement he made was that he cant be counted on. He was peppered with shots and that’s out of his control, but the team needed him to shut the door and he couldn’t. The last goal was the one that put the game out of reach and it was the worst one. Fasth had 2 very solid starts and was on the verge of making a completely different statement. He was one solid outing away from letting the Oilers know he was ready to be the team’s starter.
Instead of Fasth announcing he was number 1, it was Ben Scrivens making 18/18 saves in relief to become the 3rd Star of the game. Somebody has to start making timely saves for this team or MacTavish will have no choice but to look for a different netminder. Ben Scrivens and Viktor Fasth are 49th and 57th in the NHL for save percentage respectively. That’s LaBackup territory. The Oilers, and I, thought they had found competent goaltending this year but it hasn’t been there on a consistent basis.
Both players are capable of playing well, very well even. But where’s the consistency?
ERIE
According to
this report in the Erie Times the Oilers attempted to purchase the Erie Otters, current home of Connor McDavid, but the deal fell through and they now feel cheated (reasonably so). Under the umbrella of the Oilers Entertainment Group the team had lent the Otters money to pay its bills and such to the tune of 4.2M dollars before the sale went through. The Oilers in 2011 wanted to buy the Otters and move them to Hamilton. Sherry Basin, the owner of the Otters, signed the deal and accepted 3.5M in advance and payments that continued up to May 14th of 2013, as per the article written by Ed Palattella.
If the report is accurate then Bassin balked on selling the team to the Oilers and hasn’t repaid the money loaned to him either. Loaning money to companies that you want to buy is very common practice. I worked for one tech company that had its payroll covered for months by the company that went on to buy them. So there’s nothing uncommon about what the Oilers reportedly did in this scenario. What I’m sure is pretty uncommon is someone taking the money and trying to walk away with it.
The mandate of the OEG is to expand their hockey entertainment empire into other markets and it doesn’t shock me to see them going after an OHL team. It would now surprise me if they weren’t doing the same thing in the QMJHL and across the pond in Europe. Yes, the Oilers would have moved the Otters and I’m sure there are fans in Erie who would be upset by that, but having a hockey team isn’t a right and the owners are welcome to move if all the right pieces line up.
With former Hockey Canada boss Nicholson now piloting the ship I’m willing to bet the sailing goes smoother for the OEG. In fact, this incident might have been the impetus behind finding somebody with Hockey business connections throughout Canada to run the OEG. The potential deal, I'm positive, had nothing to do with Connor McDavid and everything to do with a team whose lease was coming up, could be had relatively inexpensively because they were struggling financially, and an OEG group that saw an opportunity in Hamilton. But it sure would be interesting if Katz already had his hands on Connor McDavid in some form or another.
LINEUP
With Fasth blowing his opportunity to take the reins and Scrivens stopping them all in relief I think it’s safe to assume Scrivens will get the start tonight against the Sens. Luke Gazdic’s conditioning stint is done and he’s back in Edmonton. The Oilers have been sitting both Klefbom and Marincin while Aulie has managed to not vomit all over himself since the Boston game but now it’s clear that Nikitin is struggling to keep up with Petry and the assignments he takes with him. The coach has moved NN away with Fayne as of today. I’ve liked Pakarinen in the few minutes he’s been able to play but the coach doesn’t trust him much yet and Joensuu had a tough game against the Preds.
Pouliot RNH Eberle
Perron Arco Yak
Pakarinen Draisaitl Purcell
Hendricks Gordon Joensuu
Aulie Schultz
Ference Petry
Nikitin Fayne
Scrivens
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) Jultzing About. That 1st period was an advanced lesson in Jultzing, which is defined in Webster’s Dictionary as the act of leaning towards the puck carrier with no intent of making contact. That movement can include but does not necessitate a complimentary motion of the stick towards the puck carrier. One of the things that is becoming painfully clear is that Justin Schultz is avoiding contact at all costs. When he has the puck and a forechecker is bearing down he will throw the disc away like it’s a live hand grenade. The only hit I’ve ever seen him make ended up shoulder to chin on Hall by accident. Not being physical isn’t a crime. Being afraid of contact is another matter completely.
2) Taking Advantage. The Oilers will now face the 10th ranked PK instead of the 28th and there IS reason to be concerned based on what we saw vs Nashville. The Oilers PP was gifted entry into the Offensive Zone because the Preds were happy to use only 1 penalty killer at the blueline and the Oilers were unable to use that to their advantage. The Oilers have smart offensive players on their top PP units but cant enter an uncontested blueline with the man-advantage? What is going on there?
3) Stop Erik. If you want to know what an offensive defenseman ACTUALLY looks like, then look no further than Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson. He’s tied for the team lead in points, plays 27 minutes a night, and has taken 61 shots this year. Justin Schultz, by comparison, has half the points and has only taken 22 shots. Karlsson is the linchpin of the Senators’ offense. He is a fantastic puck carrier and opportunistic shooter. If the Oilers make mistakes on risky plays around him the puck will be coming back up the ice with purpose.
Puck drops tonight at 7:38PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet Oilers. Game On!
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