Tonight in Boston, the Oilers and Bruins will both spend time prior to the game remembering Colby Cave. Cave died April 11th, 2020 and because of the shortened 2020 season and the separated divisions in 2021, this is the first time that both teams are together and can honour their teammate. It will be a somber moment prior to a hockey game but I'm sure Colbs is looking on from above and smiling as he watches the two teams he played for face off against each other.
Now to the hockey talk.
The Oilers have played bad periods and had poor stretches throughout the season, as every team does. Against the Red Wings, the Oilers had their first bad game of the season. Aside from Stuart Skinner, everyone came out flat and stood back as the Wings took shots almost at will. Later in the game, Skinner would come out of his net on a bad play to allow an easy goal against but aside from that he was solid.
The loss hopefully gave the team a good reminder that they are not always going to be able to outscore their mistakes. Jesse Puljujarvi scored late in the second and McDavid scored in the first minute of the third period but after that the Red Wings held the Oil back. The damage done in the first two periods could not be overcome. Tonight the Edmonton Oilers need to have a far stronger effort from the moment the puck is dropped.
Injuries are starting to become a factor for this team. It was announced today that Mike Smith had a setback in practice and was sent back to Edmonton for evaluation. I'm hearing that it is a pulled groin and that it could be another two weeks from today until the netminder is able to return. This will likely mean that Stuart Skinner is going to get more starts with the next obvious one being Friday against the Sabres.
Devin Shore went out of a game with an injury last Friday and will be gone 4-6 weeks and now Zack Kassian is out, though the coach doesn't expect it to be as serious. This will give Tippett a chance to shuffle his lineups as it looks like Turris will draw in on the third line and Sceviour will get the bump up onto the fourth line.
Some of the shine is coming off of the Oilers third line. While they have some great moments that showcase their mix of physicality and skill, the Ryan, Foegele, and Kassian line have scored three goals while allowing six against at 5 on 5. The third line is still not doing the job that they need to; outscoring their matchups. I do think Ryan is best suited to be a fourth line centre and not a third line centre and I wonder if Holland tries to address this issue well before the trade deadline.
People have brought up on Twitter what the Oilers biggest needs are right now and here are mine in order of importance: #3 Centre, second pairing RD, second line RW, goalie. Depending on how long Smith is out and how well Koskinen plays could bump up the need for a goalie.
Last game for the Bruins, Taylor Hall sat for most of the third period as coach Bruce Cassidy did not like what he saw from his forward. Hall is a competitive player who is about to face the team that first drafted him and subsequently traded him. Expect Hall to be a motivated player tonight.
Tippett goes back to the separate lines of Draisaitl with Yamamoto and RNH and Hyman with McDavid and Puljujarvi. That remains the best combination for the Oilers. Random thought, if the third line continues to bleed chances against, does Tippett try and bump RNH down the lineup. When everyone is healthy the Oilers could run:
Hyman-McDavid-Puljujarvi Foegele-Draisaitl-Yamamoto Perlini-RNH-Kassian Shore-Ryan-Sceviour/Turris
Nugent-Hopkins would remain on the top unit PP but moving him to the third line could help to stop the bleeding against while I believe Foegele has shown he could be an excellent option for the Oilers second line. Ideally you would want someone better than Perlini on that third line but maybe come playoff time or late spring that could be a spot for Dylan Holloway.
Looking forward to the game tonight. Thanks for reading!