The Oilers blew it last night and as much as I will point to key plays and particular players, the reality is that everybody who wasn’t part of McDavid’s line played a questionable game at best. Perhaps it was nerves or the inexperience of playing games that even matter this late into the season, but the Oilers looked completely disjointed. Even when the bounces went their way, it was usually part of a broken play.
The lone bright spot in that game, for me, was that in the biggest game of the year – even while his teammates folded like cheap lawn furniture – Connor McDavid elevated his game and beat the checking game that Ryan Kesler had played against him all year. That really is positive news, because ultimately the Oilers finished the game 4-3 when their starting goaltender was awful, their defense handled the puck like it was a live grenade all night, their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th lines were either invisible or actively sucking, and they didn’t ice their best possible lineup (Benning needed a rest, I guess).
That 2nd period was the Trump Presidency of NHL periods. It was worse than expected, probably treasonous, and way too orange. After coming out in the first period and dropping 15 shots on the Ducks and allowing only 6, McLellan’s squad could only muster 6 shots in the 2nd frame and allowed the Ducks to rack up 20 shots and chase their goaltender.
Sadder still was that the Oilers had Power Play opportunities in that period and STILL only found a way to direct 6 on net. They only had 4 shot attempts 5v5 in the 2nd frame. Four! ATTEMPTS! In total, Power Plays included, the Ducks out attempted the Oilers in the 2nd 36-11. That’s not acceptable. At least in the 3rd the Oilers performed better, but by that time the Ducks were just trying to lock down the win.
No comment.
Ok. I can’t not comment. What on Earth was Kris Russell trying to do there? On the entry he allows the puck carrier total access to the Oiler zone by being at least 15 feet away from ANY Duck player. After Rakell is already well inside the zone he decides to challenge him, but does it in the Jultziest way imaginable. As Rakell cuts to the middle, Russell’s teammates cut off all the possible passing lanes leaving just the puck carrier as the only dangerous player left in the play. And still – STILL – Russell manages to find himself facing the wrong direction TWICE as Rakell flips him around like he’s a cat chasing a laser pointer.
But the worst part of this is that getting mad at Russell is like getting mad at the Sun for rising in the East. It’s McLellan who opted to play him during the 4v4 when he should have known better. Maybe he felt backed into a corner because he sat Benning in the pressbox because of those damned sideburns and the other options on the right side were Gryba or Larsson and Larsson was going to have to play the next shift anyway.
***
In news I was expecting to hear but was quietly hoping I wouldn’t. There is a report out that
Anton Lander will sign in the KHL after the season is over. The report indicates that Lander will sign with Ak Bars of the Kontinental Hockey League and become one of the highest paid import players in the league.
Anton Lander has 22-24-46 in just 31 AHL games this year. He is clearly too good to be playing the prime years of his career in the AHL, making AHL money. The way I see it, I think Anton Lander could probably be playing in the NHL today as a 3C or 4C depending on the club. I really believe that. It’s just that it hasn’t happened yet and teams are more willing to give their own developed players a chance.
Anton Lander was rushed to the NHL too quickly, he wasn’t ready for it, and that painted the way the team has looked at him for a long time. He’s had stretches (Nelson era) where he looked like a real, honest-to-goodness NHL player. He’s had stretches of extreme silence in the offensive zone and when those hit it feels like all he’s ever done is underperform.
In the NHL, this year, Anton Lander has a 1.77 P/60 while 5v5 and a positive Corsi For relative to teammates. He also has a 56% faceoff percentage. He was just fine as far as bottom 6 forwards were concerned. In fact, he was maybe even bordering on good. The problem for him is that Letestu has shown that he can do more, at least in the eyes of the coaching staff. Desharnais was brought in to be the 3C. And, Caggiula is a Chiarelli signing. Lander doesn’t have anyone in the Oilers to go to bat for him, even as he dominates the AHL.
If I were him, you’re darn rights I would start to think about maximizing my career earnings at this point. He’s 25 years old. He’ll be 26 in a month. He has 5 more years if he’s lucky to earn really good money and set himself and his family up for a comfortable life. He’s still an RFA so if he goes to Europe, I believe the Oilers will still be owed a contract year from him if he wants to return to the NHL ever. It would be similar to when Radulov had to return to the Preds for that playoff run before becoming a free agent.
So if he goes to the KHL and crushes it and the Oilers want to revisit the possibility of him playing in the NHL again, I think they will have that chance. Otherwise, this is a player who was too good for the AHL but missing something that would make him a surefire NHLer. If he can find a home in Europe then good for him.
LINEUP
As the 2nd half of a back-to-back we get very little information about who would start or any lineup changes. It’s 50/50 who starts in net.
Maroon McDavid Draisaitl
Lucic RNH Eberle
Pouliot Desharnais Kassian
Hendricks (?) Letestu Slepyshev
Klefbom Larsson
Sekera Russell
Nurse Benning (?)
Talbot
Brossoit
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) Disjointed. No matter what the Oilers were trying to do, they looked like at least one person was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Breakouts were sloppy, odd-man rushes were bizarrely executed, and a general sense of cohesion was missing. There isn’t a lot of time between the games to dwell on the mistakes, but they need to be addressed tonight. It’s not that Colorado will make you pay for a bad game, because they probably wont. It’s that what happened in Anaheim was an embarrassment and the club needs to atone. We need to see breakouts that look like they’ve been practiced before. We need to see neutral zone play that isn’t just “Jesus Take The Wheel”.
2) The Worst. The Colorado Avalanche are the worst team in the NHL. They just are. It’s not even a close race. They have 20 fewer points than Arizona in 29th place. They are a -98 in goal differential. That’s worse than any Oiler team during the Gory Years. This team is just plain garbage. It’s not even controversial to say that. We can see why Patrick Roy abandoned ship on the life boats before fully boarding all the women and children. Matt Duchene might hit 20 goals. Nate MacKinnon might cross 50 points. They have a 5v5 Goals For percentage of 36.8%. It’s not the worst ever in the fancy stats era, but it’s damned close. Playing a club like this, it should be a prime way for the Oilers to get back into the W column and move on. If they drop this game they should be ashamed of themselves.
3) McRace. I mentioned it yesterday, I’ll do it again today because it’s still true. The plan for the Oilers flows through McDavid. He is everything. If he’s going, and we know he will be, then the Oilers are a dangerous team. He can score at any moment. He can find ways to score on plays that nobody else can even see. The defense is really starting to understand where to find him with the puck. If he’s going tonight then the Avalanche are going to get used and abused. Their no-name defense is ill-equipped to handle him. It could be another big night for McDavid. They don’t have many games left, but if wants to cross the 100 point plateau it’s these next two games against the Avalanche that might do it for him.
Puck drops tonight at 7PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet West. Game On!
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