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Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

Welcome to the Neno's Place!

Neno's Place Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality


Neno

I can be reached by phone or text 8am-7pm cst 972-768-9772 or, once joining the board I can be reached by a (PM) Private Message.

Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

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Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

Many Topics Including The Oldest Dinar Community. Copyright © 2006-2020


    Edmonton Oilers

    jedi17
    jedi17
    jedi17
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    Posts : 10738
    Join date : 2013-02-20
    • Post n°1

    Edmonton Oilers Empty Edmonton Oilers

    Post by jedi17 Thu 26 Jan 2017, 8:39 pm

    G51 Oilers vs Sharks: A Heavyweight Matchup
    January 26, 2017, 2:36 PM ET [92 Comments]
    Matt Henderson
    Edmonton Oilers Edm Edmonton Oilers Blogger • RSS • Archive • CONTACT
    Well that was pleasant! The Oilers stomped the Ducks 4-0 last night and when it was all said and done they turned their sights towards the game tonight and said “We came to win both games.” I said it yesterday and I’ll repeat it today. These Oilers are different than we are used to. These Oilers know they can win games and aren’t afraid to say that’s their goal.

    It’s a very different thing, to say you can beat anyone on any given night and to actually believe it in your heart. The Oilers are a good enough team that they can beat anybody in the league on any given night. They won’t win out every game, but there are no more games on the schedule that you can circle a month in advance and write an “L” beside. For fans of teams that have been good for a long time who might be reading this, if that thought seems like a weird thing to take note of, then good for you. In Edmonton it’s been years since we could say that.

    The San Jose Sharks are a scant 2 points up on the Oilers in the Pacific Division. Edmonton is still in 3rd place, but now it’s San Jose, Anaheim, Edmonton – 64, 63, 62 points in the standings. The Oilers and San Jose are heads and tails ahead of everyone in the Division in terms of goal differential as well. The big difference is that San Jose has a game in hand and 4 more wins on the season (Thanks Bettman Points!). 

    The Sharks are the best in the Pacific and on a 6 game winning streak. The Oilers are 6-0-1 in their last 7 games. Yes, the Oilers played last night. Yes, in prior years that meant the outcome of tonight’s game was almost certain. Not this time. That said, it’s going to be a battle. If the upstart Oilers can use last night’s momentum to start the game well then they stand a chance. If Brent Burns and the Sharks grind the Oilers out then it’s going to be a tough night.

    Statistically speaking, the Oilers and the Sharks are extremely similar with regards to their outcomes. 

    CF%
    Edm 13th 50.8%
    SJS 14th 50.4%

    FF%
    Edm 9th 51.2%
    SJS 8th 51.2%

    SF%
    Edm 9th 51.1%
    SJS 8th 51.4%

    The margin of difference between them 5v5 is extremely limited. On special teams, the Oilers have an advantage on the PP and the Sharks have it on the PK. All told, this is a heavyweight matchup in the Pacific Division. With the All-Star weekend giving these clubs an extended break afterwards, there’s no reason not to let it all out tonight. The Sportsnet crew effectively accused the Ducks of having 1 foot in Cabo last night. The Oilers look hungry. We’ll find out if they really are tonight.

    LINEUP

    Why mess with perfection?

    Maroon McDavid Draisaitl
    Pouliot RNH Eberle
    Lucic Caggiula Slepyshev
    Hendricks Letestu Kassian

    Klefbom Larsson
    Sekera Russell
    Davidson Benning

    Talbot
    Brossoit

    OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME

    1) Don’t Let The Wookie Win. The last time around it was Brent Burns who victimized the Oilers again. He plays roughly 25 minutes a night, shoots a ton, and the offense flows through him. In fact, he’s not just getting Norris trophy talk, he’s getting Hart trophy consideration. I don’t want to let my hand slip too much but I’ll say “maybe consider the 19 year old who leads the NHL in scoring and turned Edmonton into a playoff club”. Either way, the focus for the Oilers is to keep the puck away from Burns. He has 1 goal and 4 assists in just 2 games against the Oil. Edmonton needs to find a way to keep the play from making it to Burns and honestly I have no idea how to do that. 

    2) Rolling Lines. The Oilers had goals from 3 lines last night. Draisaitl picked up 2 goals, NUge and Kassian added the others. An Edmonton team with even 2 lines is dangerous. An Edmonton team with 3 lines rolling is scary. Zack Kassian has points in 5 straight games. Mark Letestu helps make the Oiler Power Play more dangerous (honestly). Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle both have 6 points in their last 6 games. And, McDavid is still McDavid. If Drake Caggiula could be a hair more productive then I’m afraid we would have to say that this Oiler team has a frighteningly balanced set of scoring. That’s huge because it finally looks like teams cannot just focus all their attention to 1 line. That was the biggest fear of having Draisaitl play with McDavid full-time. So far, so good. 

    3) What’s Up With Joe? Joe Thornton has been one of the best centers in the NHL since I was in High School. He’s 37 years old, plays 18+ minutes a night, and still has 31 points this season. But he’s also stopped shooting the puck. It’s not like he was a volume shooter last year, but he was still shooting the puck at a rate of 4.01 per 60 minutes 5v5 last year. This season he’s dropped down to 2.68 shots per 60 minutes 5v5. That’s low. That’s half the rate Pouliot shoots the puck and he’s Edmonton’s lowest volume shooter. Thornton has only 3 goals this year because his shot volume has plummeted. I have no idea what’s going on with him except to say that his passing will let him move the puck where it needs to go long after his legs prevent him from getting to good shooting areas. Are we witnessing the end of Thornton, even if he is still ultimately productive?
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