The curse continues to be in effect. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is out 6-8 weeks with a serious hand injury after blocking a shot in the game against Florida.
RNH bent down (because reasons) to block the shot and he took it off his hand. He isn’t the first NHL forward to block a shot that way, he wont be the last, but anyone who does it puts themselves at risk of a hand injury. I cant say I like that he tried to block the shot the way he did but I’m not going to rip him for it. He put his body on the line to preserve the lead and his gamble didn’t play out in his favour.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has been Edmonton’s top Center option almost since the moment he stepped onto the team’s roster as an 18 year old. Even as Draisaitl has been playing with Taylor Hall, Nugent-Hopkins has remained the pivot with the most ice-time per game by roughly a minute. He kills penalties, is a regular on the PP, and takes on the toughest assignments.
As Edmonton’s best 2-way player there has always been a lot of pressure on the Nuge not just to produce offensively, but to compensate for the team’s woeful defense. This is a burden he has carried at an age where most players are just breaking into the NHL or offensive players are just figuring out how to play in their own end. Up until this year he has been praised for his work in that regard.
However, even though he was on pace for just 3 points less than he was a year ago, the narrative has taken a turn for RNH. Now the player that is tied with Anze Kopitar in takeaways (208) since his arrival in the NHL is actual “Soft… and “Easy to play against…. He’s found his name in trade speculation (that the GM has called “creative…) for the first time in his career.
Well, we’re going to find out what life without Nuge is like for this team. The next 3 games will be without McDavid and Nuge. Those will be tough. After that should be a glimpse into life the way the mouth-breathers want it. Sans Nuge and with a 19 year old and a 20 year old taking the bulk of the duties down the middle. I’ve seen this movie before though. They don’t all live Happily Ever After.
LINEUP
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is out long term with a suspected broken hand. Could be 6 weeks or so before we see him again. The center position now goes Draisaitl, Letestu, Lander, Hendricks. Commence panicking.
Hall-Draisaitl-Purcell Pouliot-Hendricks-Eberle Yakupov-Letestu-Kassian Gazdic-Lander-Pakarinen
Sekera-Fayne Nurse-Gryba Davidson-Schultz
Nilsson
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) #PrayForNuge. The Oilers have been crippled by injury down the middle. The McDavid injury was enough to seriously wound Edmonton’s chances of seriously contending for a playoff spot. The Nuge injury on top of that puts the team in the precarious position of playing Draisaitl and Letestu as the team’s top 2 centers. Below them are going to Hendricks (a winger) and Lander (scratched in favor of Gazdic yesterday). The weight of the team’s offensive expectations from the middle are going to be squarely on the broad shoulders of Leon Draisaitl, who started the year in the AHL and came up initially as a winger. This is the mother of all tests for Neon Leon.
2) Wing and a Prayer. Given how pathetic the Oilers are down the middle right now, the team will need to rely on its strength down the wings. If they have anything right now it’s some talented players down the wings. Down the Left side the Oilers have Hall, Pouliot, and Yakupov. Down the right they have Purcell, Eberle, and Kassian. That has to be enough, even with an extremely depleted center position. Yakupov has shown a lot of jump since his return. Hall looked All-World yesterday, Eberle is always capable of converting on his scoring chances. This area of strength hasn’t translated into many wins before, but they have nothing left to fall back on.
3) Hedman. I don’t care if Hedman is the only member of the lightning I ever talk about, because he deserves to be talked about. On my list of top 5 defensemen in the NHL, Hedman breaks into the top 3. I mean that with all of my heart. He slots in ahead of Doughty for me. Even when he gets recognized for his work he never seems to get enough, by my estimation. Hedman is 8th in 5v5 scoring by defenseman on a per 60 minute basis with 1.19 P/60 (min 500 mins). He is 5th in individual shot attempts per 60 minutes with 13.13 iCorsi/60 mins. Hedman is 5th in raw Corsi For percentage with 56.6%. He’s 4th in CF% relative to his teammates. He also leads the Lightning in takeaways. In short, he’s a stud and I love everything about him. He’s the guy the Oilers really need to be worried about.
Puck drops tonight at 5:30PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet West. Get Better, Connor (and Nuge, and Klefbom)!
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