The Edmonton Oilers capped off a lacklustre pre-season with a sleepy 4-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Friday night.
Will the Oiler now wake up fast to start the regular season on Wednesday against the Winnipeg Jets, or slam that snooze button for a few more games?
I’m not worried much worried, mainly because Edmonton’s line-up looks solid, with a number of incoming players showing they can help the team win.
In this match, I focused on Edmonton’s new players, plus Darnell Nurse, who is coming back from injury.
Here were the highlights:
Darnell Nurse. His defence pairing with Ty Emberson was inconsistent. Strong start with solid puck-moving and a hard power play point slapper on net. But a moment later he was caught puck-watching and gave up too much gap to Brock Boeser, who took a pass and ripped a shot off the post. Next a step slow again to shut down a Boeser slot tip that almost beat Stuart Skinner. With the Oilers down 3-0 and their eyes half open, Nurse tried to wake them up, charging across the ice to blast Kiefer Sherwood into the boards with a hellacious hit. He was caught flat-footed late in the game as Hughes rushed it on net.
Ty Emberson. More good than bad, but some bad. Looked sharp on his first shift, moving the puck well. He won an n-zone battle to send in Podkolzin for a shot in the first. Put a shot on net early in the second that Arvidsson almost cashed in off the rebound. He was a bit loose in the zone, giving up too much gap on his check Daniel Sprong, on two early third period Grade A shots.
Viktor Arvidsson. Looking good, already playing well. He set up Corey Perry at the side of the net on an early power play chance. He won the 4-on-4 face-off leading up to Evan Bouchard’s wide open slot wrist shot and Edmonton’s first goal. Almost jammed in a third period rebound as well.
Jeff Skinner. He and Leon Draisaitl failed to read the play on Vancouver’s second goal, both going to the puck carrier where Viktor Arvidsson already was. This left Carson Soucy wide open in the slot to pick his spot and score. Poor defensive awareness there all around. Skinner got off a nasty high slot shot on the power play in the second. A moment later he fanned on another shot, something we’ve seen a few times as Skinner’s timing is off for now.
Troy Stecher. Skittered about with the puck early on to good effect. He made a swell diagonal pass to set up Janmark in the high slot early in the second. Gave up a 2-on-1 rush in the third when he lost a n-zone battle.
Noah Philp. Another good game in just 10:05 of ice time. He’s lugging and moving the puck well. He gave away the puck early on in the d-zone, but quickly won it back. A moment later he got in fast on the forecheck, leading to a Vancouver turnover and an Oilers slot shot. Went hard to the net and almost put the puck in off a Podkolzin pass. He got beat to the net off the face-off by Quinn Hughes on a rush. He got off another wicked shot charging into the slot early in the third, almost burying a Connor Brown pass. Iffy on his face-offs this game, just four wins on 12 battles.
Vasili Podkolzin. He charged in and took the puck hard to the net for Edmonton’s first Grade A shot at even strength. Good burst of speed there. A few shifts later made a fine slot pass to Philp. On the PK, he misread the play as was slow to his man Danton Heinen, who passed to Arshdeep Bains for Vancouver’s third goal. Later had a good shift on the PK where he won and ragged the puck.
Staples on politics
Staples on politics
At the Cult of Hockey
STAPLES: Looks like Stecher has edged out Josh Brown in bottom pairing
Staples on politics
At the Cult of Hockey
STAPLES: Looks like Stecher has edged out Josh Brown in bottom pairing