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G34 Oilers vs Stars: Anton Landing

December 21, 2014, 10:49 AM ET [735 Comments]
Matt Henderson
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
It only took 2 games with him behind the bench for Craig MacTavish to make the move he refused to all year with Dallas Eakins as Head Coach. He recalled a Center to help this squad out. Even when Gordon went down with injury he refused to bring up anyone else just to help stop the bleeding, but as soon as it was HIM suffering the depth of the position the action was taken.

I can't help but feel for Eakins who, I hope, at least sent him an "I told you so" text after that news broke.

Lander currently has 27 points in 26 games with the OKC Barons and was top 10 in league scoring before he was recalled. He started off a little slow but in the past several weeks found his scoring touch with Head Coach Todd Nelson down on the farm. His task is to bring that aspect of his game up to the NHL with him this time. In 94 NHL a games he only has 8 points. The pressure to contribute offensively is going to weigh heavily on this young man.

When he made the team for the 1st time in his career they kept him up despite his obvious struggle to score. They let him play through it, hoping he would break out. It never happened and it's hard not to wonder what that level of failure early in his career did to Anton. All of those struggles are all too familiar for Oiler rookie Leon Draisaitl who will be sitting in the Press Box for the first time in his career today.

Draisaitl only has 7 points in 33 games which just isn't enough. If they could do it over again I'm sure there are plenty of Oiler higher-ups who would opt to send him back to Jr just to keep his confidence high and shelter him from all this losing. Here's the good news though, by eye he is doing ok at creating some chances out there for himself and his linemates. It's just that nothing is going in. Yak and Draisaitl have the lowest on-ice shooting percentage of any regular forwards on the team. Nobody scores when they are on the ice and they are on the ice together a lot.

What the team does with LD moving forward is my big concern. Sitting a young player for 1 game is not a big deal for me. There's no need to panic. He might see some things, clear his head, rest his body, and be ready to go again in the next game. If the club opted to sit him multiple games instead of loaning him to the World Junior Championships or sending him back to the WHL then I would have a problem. However, when news broke that he was coming out for Lander it was also reported that he would be re-inserted immediately after for the next game.

Now, if Lander does a great job at C then I wouldn't mind it if Dr. Drai moved over to the Wing for a while. There are less responsibilities, more opportunities for him to focus on his Offense, and he should be in position along the wall or in the corners more often. That might not be a great thing for most rookies, but Draisaitl has impressed me with his ability to match up in the corners against NHLers. He uses his frame very well and he's a Hoover on the puck.

If Lander fails the test then there's really been no harm done and LD can take his place back down the middle again.

When Lander was recalled I actually thought that Arcobello was going to be the one sitting because the Yak-Drai-Pitlick line looked good by eye and by number in the last game. In a very big departure from their regular deployment, that trio had 0 OZ Starts but still finished with a CF in the high 50's. In other words, they took on difficult starting positions but held the puck in the right side of the rink all night. That is fantastic work from 3 of the team's least experienced forwards.

LINEUP

Obviously Draisaitl is coming out and Lander is coming in. Beyond that there shouldn't be many other changes except possibly in net. Scrivens blew that game for the Oilers and I wouldn't put him back in, but it's not as if the Oil have a remarkably better option with Fasth either. These guys are leading the Franchise directly to McEichel Avenue. Nikitin started skating with the team again yesterday so Hunt's days may be numbered.

Hall RNH Purcell
Perron Gordon Eberle
Yak Lander Pitlick
Hendricks Arco Pinizzotto

Ference Petry
Klefbom Fayne
Hunt Schultz

Goldberg

OILERS KEYS TODAY THE GAME

1) Soft Landing. Lander will not only get to play higher in the order than the 4th line, but he will also get some time on the 2nd Unit PP. This is the advantage of the coach of your NHL team also being the coach of the AHL team where you were leading in scoring. Nelson trusts Lander offensively more than likely any other coach the guy has had at this level. That trust just might bring out the missing Offense from Lander. We hope.

2) Fixing The PP. Nelson's Power Plays in the AHL have been fantastic 3 years running. This year the Barons are 2nd in the AHL at 24.6%. Last year they were 3rd at 22.1%. The year before that they were 1st at 21.6%. Maybe when they were 1st you could say that was fuelled by Hall, RNH, Eberle, and Schultz, but it has been getting better every year and the Oilers haven't really had lights out AHL shooters on the farm. The new Coach has had a few practices now and we might start to see his influence on the Special Teams.

3) An Even Match. The Stars are an even match for the Oilers in many respects. They have similar numbers everywhere except Goal Scoring. The Stars have scored exactly 20 more goals than Edmonton has this year. The difference between them has effectively been that they have Seguin and the Oilers do not. Outside of that these teams can't buy a save and aren't overly effective defensively. The Stars, like the Oilers, are a beatable team. Nelson could get Win #1 tonight if he can convince somebody to make a bloody save.

Puck drops at 4:08 PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet West. Game On!

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