It’s official. Two days between Oilers games is too much. They hit you a dose of McDavid on Wednesday and wont give you any more until Saturday? Come on, man! I’m dying here!
The Oilers play their second game of the season, first on the road, against a Canucks team that is just now opening their season. It was obviously the trade-off for playing preseason games in China this September. And it’s only fair, if you have to endure all that travel and time change, the league SHOULD give you a break.
Now, I don’t know if playing your first game after quite some time off against Connor McDavid is actually doing anyone any favors, but that’s not my problem. The Canucks are going to be excited to open their season and Edmonton should expect nothing less than their best effort.
The Oilers as a whole should be happy with their performance in game one, but there’s at least one person who will want to perform better tonight than he did on Wednesday. Kailer Yamamoto’s first game was a nervous affair in which his coach found it better to limit his minutes. It was the first time since main camp opened that Yamamoto looked lost.
Yamamoto played just 6:33 with no special teams time at all. He recorded goose eggs across the majority of his statistical categories and had the worst shot attempt share of all the forwards on the team with a 40% CF. The coaching staff and media has chalked that performance up to nerves and I’m fine with that explanation as well.
Now that he’s had his first taste, brief sip as it was, Yamamoto may find his typical confidence and swagger back tonight. Regardless, the Oilers have 9 games to work with here and it would be smart to use all nine to make a determination. There’s no need to jump to conclusions early. Puljujarvi can start his season in the AHL and get his mojo up to speed during this stretch if Yamamoto is destined for the WHL.
UPDATE
So...it turns out we won't be seeing if Yamamoto can bounce back at all. He will be a healthy scratch...Against the Canucks...
The thing with this decision is that if Yamamoto can't play against one of the teams projected to be the weakest in the division then when will he get to play? McLellan's rope looks pretty short right now. LINEUP
Assuming the same group is deployed against the Canucks, but I was very wrong. Yamo out, Pakarinen in.
Maroon McDavid Draisaitl Lucic RNH Kassian Caggiula Strome Jokinen Khaira Letestu Pakarinen
Klefbom Larsson Russell Benning Nurse Gryba
Talbot OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) Stop Me If You Can. Connor McDavid opened the season with a message to the rest of the league, “Try to catch me, if you can.… The Oiler Captain has the ability to outskate every defender in the NHL. He is an angle-breaking scoring chance machine. Stopping him will not be an individual effort. It has to be a coaching strategy that prevents McDavid from getting the puck in the neutral zone. Given that the Canuck forwards aren’t known for their defensive acumen – except for Sutter (lulz) – there will be significant pressure on the likes of *squints* Gudbranson and Edler to stop the wunderkind.
2) Klefbombs Away. In game one, Oscar Klefbom looked like a man who was ready to take his offensive game to another level. He was shooting at every possible opportunity against the Flames. In 22:30 of ice time, he had nine – NINE – shots on net and 15 attempts overall. At one point he unleashed a canon-shot that removed Smith’s helmet. He didn’t score or even pick up an assist, but he did set the tone for the season. If he can keep that going then the points will come. When the defense is shooting and actually getting pucks through, it creates a lot of chaos. Edmonton’s forwards create their own offense, adding this makes the offense extremely unpredictable.
3) Uncertainty In Net. The Canucks did some strange things for a team that is finally admitting that they arein a rebuild, but something that Oiler fans will find familiar is the questionable goaltending. Nothing says “I’m committed to this rebuild… like running Jacob Markstrom and Anders Nilsson in net. Markstrom has a career .906 save percentage in the NHL. Nilsson has a career .908 save percentage in the NHL. Sure. Nilsson had a good year last season as a backup in Buffalo. Good for him. Let’s say I’m not sold on his ability to stand up to the pressures of playing in Canada. Call it a hunch.
Puck drops tonight at 8PM Mountain Time on Hockey Night in Canada. Game On!
Follow me on Twitter @Archaeologuy