"We were playing fine until the second goal. It was laid on a platter along the wall. Big problem." - Coach Eakins
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) January 3, 2014What did that guy just say? Did he say the Oilers were playing FINE up until the goal that Dubnyk let in from above the circles? The game went the other way when some unnamed player (Yakupov) turned the puck over on the wall did it? Yeah. OK. Gotcha.
I have firmly believed that the Oilers fired too many coaches in the past 6 years to fire another, thus Eakins should be safe for a long while, but he’s really testing my mettle right now. His vendetta against Yakupov is reaching Captain Ahab-like levels. Reason appears to be completely lost on him. The Oilers were outshot 17-7 in the first period, that didn’t happen because Yak lost the puck on the walls. It happened because this team is woefully under-prepared for games and built to scarcely handle AHL competition.
To say my confidence in Eakins has been shaken is a bit of an understatement. The Power Play is a wreck, the team is worse than last year when they ONLY played against Western Conference teams, and he has coached the life out of Yakupov. Granted, he cant help but be at the mercy of Devan Dubnyk’s weak glove hand and poor understanding of geometric shapes or angles, but something stinks right now and I don’t think it’s Nail Yakupov.
Dallas Eakins is in over his head and drowning out there. If Craig MacTavish wants his prized coaching acquisition to survive the Edmonton winter then he needs to back a truck of money up to Paul Maurice’s front door and beg him to help. I mean, on his knees and BEG him to help. This club is completely broken right now and the guy at the helm has lost the sun. The team is not even competitive against the Western Conference (6-14-3) and even worse against the top half of that group.
Want to see where the game really turned, despite what the Head Coach says otherwise? It’s right here.
That’s video of the Oilers’ top line getting completely dominated by Thornton, Pavelski, and Burns. That’s video of Taylor Hall skating right by the eventual goal scorer, Justin Schultz and Andrew Ference pathetically trying to move Thornton out from in front of the crease, and NOBODY thinking that Pavelski alone and wide open was a situation that needed correcting. THAT is where the game turned. Assuming you don’t count the opening faceoff, THAT was what marked the beginning of the end for the Oilers last night. Yak was nowhere to be seen, just like the effects of the Coaching Change that MacT made this past offseason.
At this rate I wonder how long before MacT ends up on the bench in some capacity.
NOW ABOUT THAT GAME TONIGHT
The best news the Oilers could have is that they play again tonight and can forget this mess in San Jose. Unfortunately they play against a Ducks team that is not only littered with ex Oilers who weren’t good enough to play for the venerated Edmonton squad (Cogliano, Penner, and Souray) but they also happen to be the hottest team in the NHL. Ryan Getzlaf is playing amazing hockey right now, Perry is being Perry, and Penner is the smart big bodied player with soft hands that he was when he was playing his best hockey in Edmonton. The team is well coached and expertly put together. *Sigh*
LINEUPS
Defenseman Brad Hunt has been called up but I expect the lineup will be the same except maybe that Yakupov will be bearing a cross all game based on Eakins’ reaction to last night’s game (in which Yak was in on the majority of scoring chances and indeed scored the team’s only goal). Outside of the skaters the only other thing is that we should expect Bryzgalov to play tonight in the 2nd half of this back-to-back. Will it matter? Well there were at least 2 terrible goals last night by Duby but the team was still overmatched. Bryzgalo should hopefully give the Oilers a better chance, but this is not going to be easy.
UPDATE 1: Jones and Arcobello are both back in tonight. Gagner will be moved to the wing for Arcobello, which might be a good thing for him to get used to. Eberle hurt his knee last night and wont be playing tonight. Hunt will be paired with Nick Schultz so Marincin is out.
UPDATE 2: Now apparently the tweet from Oilers Now about Gagner to wing has been retracted. What do I believe? I believe that my lines are a mess now.
Hall RNH Perron Yak Arcobello Gagner Smyth Gordon Hemsky Jones Lander Joensuu
Ferency J. Schultz Belov Petry Hunt N. Schultz
Bryzgalov
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) First Line Problems. One thing the coach did get right was that he said the Oilers aren’t deep enough for the 1st line to have an off night. Ever. They weren’t just off, they weren’t present at all. If nobody from Hall, Nugent-Hopkins, or Perron is playing well then the Oilers are done.
2) Big Game From Bryz. The Ducks are just as dominant, if not more so, than the Sharks. They create a high volume of shots by talented players and they limit the other team to less. That puts the onus on Bryzgalov’s shoulders…and blocker, and glove hand.
3) Another Big Night From Yak. Yes. From Yak. He, by my eye, was the Oilers’ best player last night. He was in on quality chances, scored the lone goal, and was almost even in chances for and against as counted by Jonathan Willis of the Journal’s Cult of Hockey. The Oilers need the 2nd line to keep things going.
Puck drops tonight at 8:08 PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet West. Game On!
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