The Oilers played one and a half very dominant periods against the Flames, managed to break even for the second half of the second period and utterly collapsed in the third to a 4-2 loss.
The beginning of the game was fun to watch. It was 80's Battle of Alberta. Both teams played fast and aggressive and there were a number of fights and cheap shots taken by both teams. Edmonton had the score advantage but Todd McLellan decided to keep trying to win the physical game while Bill Peters decided to have his team play hockey instead.
Here were the lines that McLellan ended up rolling for most of the game
Milan Lucic threw some hits when things got physical and Kassian took 16 minutes of penalties against Calgary...McLellan rewarded both players with top 6 ice-time to counter the play of Tkachuk. Matthew Tkachuk was doing Tkachuk things, hitting, being a pest, and turtling the moment things got too rough. While I may not be able to stand Tkachuk; he is good at what he does and is a top 6 player.... netiher Lucic nor Kassian are. McLellan downgraded his top 6 more than usual and the Flames killed the Oilers at 5 on 5.
Cooper Marody who McLellan kept heralding as an NHL centre....the player that supposedly was supposed to replace Ryan Strome played 3.25 at even strength. Ryan Spooner was invisible in his Oilers debut and was on the ice for both of the Flames even strength goals.
The Oilers lack the talent to ice a competitive top 6, they have a coach who will put players like Lucic on the ice in the final minute of the game, and a GM who continues to downgrade the roster around the best player in the league. Yeah, I'm mad.
-Purely guessing on these line combinations...hopefully McLellan at least has the sense to realize the abominations he crafted last night did not work.
1) Second Chance. Last nights game is done. The team needs to move on and focus on earning some points against Pacific teams.
2) Seriously Why Lucic. The new assistant coaches that were hired need to put Todd into a room and have an intervention. Lucic is not capable right now of providing the team with anything more than goon status. Keep him away from the team's best players and certainly do not put him on the ice when you need a goal.
3) Add 3rd Line Centre to the List I Guess. Maybe tonight Cooper Marody will get to play more than 3 minutes? It seems Chiarelli felt he could trade Strome because he felt Marody or maybe Khaira could take that spot... I mean clearly Peter Chiarelli wouldn't make a rash decision that hurts the team more than it helps....right?
4) Talbot's Turn. Mikko Koskinen played a fairly solid game against the Flames but to of Calgary's goals were a direct result of him giving up massive rebounds. Koskinen got the Calgary game because so far he has outplayed Talbot. If Talbot wants to secure his starter position he needs to have a good game tonight.
FILM OF THE DAY
I guess I'm picking Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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