It’s been a topsy turvy starting month to the NHL season. The balance of power in the NHL is starting to shift and teams that were once considered powerhouses have fallen to the middle of the pact. A few thoughts on a few NHL teams.
The Calgary Flames have been a fun team to watch this season… as long as you only check them out in the third period. The Flames have entered the third period either behind or tied in the last 5 games, either pulling ahead or forcing overtime in the third period. Calgary is certainly getting scoring and lead the Pacific division with 52 goals. They are also tied with Vancouver in the division for allowing the most goals.
The Kings fired coach John Stevens in a move that surprised no one. The Kings have been awful in all sorts of ways to start the season. While it is difficult to completely fault Stevens (seriously the Kings roster is an absolute mess) something had to be done.
Show of hands who had the Islanders first in the Metro at this point? Both Greiss and Lehner are playing with a SV% over .920 is a huge reason the Tavaresless team is where they are.
This evening the Oilers play one team that while they are not playing terrible are certainly not meeting expectations. Maybe the Cup hangover does exist as the Capitals have lost their last 4 games going back to when Edmonton walked away with a 4-1 victory.
LINEUPS
OILERS RNH-McDavid-Caggiula Rieder-Draisaitl-Chiasson Lucic-Strome-Rattie Khaira-Brodziak-Kassian Klefbom-Larsson Nurse-Russell Gravel-Benning Talbot Rattie slots back into the lineup after being injured for the past two weeks. Caggiula remains on the top line because as of right now he is the most deserving. Caggiula has played well with McDavid and Nuge and has provided offense. Caggiula does not have to continue scoring at this pace to remain there but if he can be a positive force possession wise and provided secondary scoring I have no issues with him playing there. Chiasson continues to be the surprise signing of the off-season. If the Oilers could sign a second GM who was responsible for making big trades and Chiarelli was allowed to handle smaller UFA signings the Oilers might have a decent front office. Puljujarvi and Yamamoto are the odd men out tonight. Rattie needs to get back into the lineup and it doesn’t make sense to play Pulj or Yamamoto on the fourth line. The staff needs to send both players down and run with this lineup for awhile. CAPITALS Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Jaskin Stephenson-Backstrom-Oshie Burakovsky-Eller-Connolly Vrana-Boyd-Smith-Pelley Orlov-Niskanen Kempny-Carlsson Djoos-Bowey
Copley 4 KEYS TO VICTORY 1) Broken Record. The Oilers won their second against Chicago off of production from the fourth line and Khaira and Brodziak. The third line continues to be a positive force in possession but has yet to produce. At some point that needs to change. 2) Talbot Gets A Push. For the first time in his career with Edmonton Cam Talbot looks to have some real competition for games. Talbot’s play overall has been strong but Koskinen is currently holding a 3-0 record. The ability to give Talbot rest and prevent him from having to play 65+ games will go a long way when this team is playing in March. 3) They’re Back. Oscar Klefbom is back everyone. After returning to full health Oscar Klefbom continues to show that he absolutely has the ability to be a #1 defenceman. This season Klefbom is averaging over 25 minutes a game which was second only to Drew Doughty. Larsson has been no pushover either and has provided simple reliable play to match. 4) Having Said That… Nurse and Russell have been less spectacular as of late. Once again we are seeing the results of a pairing with Kris Russell get caved in terms of possession. This is who Kris Russell is. Nurse is not immune from guilt either and he needs to step up to match. This Oilers team could be great if they had another true right shot defender in the top four.
FILM OF THE DAY
Things are upside down, cats and dogs are friends, and nothing is as it seems. To honor such a strange world we are currently living in I decided to go with Inception, specifically this innovative fight scene.