Oilers Look: Games 33-37

The Oilers followed up a solid 5 game road trip with a disasterous home stretch. They lost all the traction they gained by losing 5 games in a row (4 in a row at home).

Games 28-32:

• Team Record: 5-0-0


• Shots For - Shots Against (Diff): 170 - 162 (+8)


• Scoring Chances For - Against (Diff): 115 - 117 (-2)


• Goals For - Goals Against (Diff): 16 - 10 (+6)


• Team Shooting %: 9.41


• Team Save %: 93.8

Games 33-37:

• Team Record: 0-5-0


• Shots For - Shots Against (Diff): 139 - 148 (-9)


• Scoring Chances For - Against (Diff): 97 - 93 (+4)


• Goals For - Goals Against (Diff): 10 - 23 (-13)


• Team Shooting %: 7.19


• Team Save %: 84.5

As good as JDD was on the 5 game winning streak, he was simply awful (as was Dubnyk) in this stretch. An .845 sv% is what you'd expect if you called up a tier 2 junior goaltender for a 5 game stretch. The shooting % fell through the floor as well, registering the lowest total of any of the game samples I've analyzed this year.

It was a shame too, because aside from the Washington game (where they were brutally out-chanced 30-19), the Oilers held their own as a team quite well. Take out that game and they out chance their opposition 78-63 (+15). With those kinds of numbers on a regular basis, you'd expect a team to win a lot more hockey games.

There is not much going right for this team. As bad as I thought this team would be, I didn't think 15th in the conference was possible. The team on the whole seems to have gotten to the point where they have gotten competitve on the ice in terms of generating chances, but their percentages are just killing them. They are playing like a 10th place team but getting sunk by some awful goaltending and some terrible puck luck on offence.

At this point in time, there's nothing much to do other than hope it continues and the Oilers get a top 2 pick. There's very little hope for much else at this point.

Sorry Burrows, No one Cares...

http://communities.canada.com/theprovince/blogs/whitetowel/archive/2010/01/12/alex-burrows-accuses-nhl-ref-of-having-a-personal-vendetta.aspx

At least anyone who isn't a Nucks fan and is tired of watching your antics. Not only are you dirty, but you dive and are an out right fucking coward. It's about time your bullshit caught up with you.

Don't like Phantom calls? You seem to draw enough of them and are quite happy to do so.

And I don't buy for a second that he told you that he'd "get you back". Sorry, but your reputation as a dishonest player makes it very unlikely that I'd believe anything you say. I have no doubt he talked to and probably brought up the incident from before.

But I have a feeling that "I'm going to get you tonight" was closer to "you've lost all benefit of the doubt with me".

It's the same thing that happened to guys like Avery and Tyson Nash. Eventually, when you play that type of game, the refs stop looking at the other guy and start looking at you, because you were always the one who started it.

Oilers Look: Games 28-32

One of the more impressive stretches for the Oilers so far this year. 5-0 road trip (a couple involving some good teams), and they hung in every game with the exception of the trip finale (where they struggled for 2 periods before coming on strong).

Games 23-27:

• Team Record: 1-3-1


• Shots For - Shots Against (Diff): 142 - 167 (-15)


• Scoring Chances For - Against (Diff): 97 - 117 (-20)


• Goals For - Goals Against (Diff): 14 - 19 (-5)


• Team Shooting %: 9.85


• Team Save %: 88.6

Games 28-32:

• Team Record: 5-0-0


• Shots For - Shots Against (Diff): 170 - 162 (+8)


• Scoring Chances For - Against (Diff): 115 - 117 (-2)


• Goals For - Goals Against (Diff): 16 - 10 (+6)


• Team Shooting %: 9.41


• Team Save %: 93.8

Can't argue with going 5-0 on five straight games on the road. The numbers don't bear out a 5-0 stretch, but 2 of them came on the shootout so 3-0-2 (8 points in 5 games pre shootout) is pretty close to full value. Add in the shootout wins and voila.

Oilers benefited from some fantastic goaltending by JDD. He's really had a good stretch since his awful game against Vancouver, and he's a big reason why the Oilers did as well as they did.

Even though they lost out on the scoring chance battle in this stretch, it was close. And unlike early on (when they got badly out chanced), they aren't relying on 3-4 goals on 16 or 17 chances. They got 3 on 22 vs Tampa, 2 on 19 vs Florida, 2 on 26 vs Dallas and 4 on 26 vs Detroit. The one odd game was the last game where they potted 5 on 22 against St. Louis, but you can take those when they are the exception rather than the rule.

The only disconcerting thing was that they still gave up a lot of scoring chances. You can't expect your goaltender to roll with a save percentage near 94%. If they can start to curb those a bit, they can find themselves on a few more stretches where they are above .500 (this was just the 2nd stretch all year where they did it).

Simple Breakout (Rec League)

Like most of you, I still like to play some rec hockey (though for me it's ball hockey now instead of ice). Our team is mostly guys in their late-20's and early-30's and we are routinely pretty competetive in our lower tier division (don't blow anyone away, but we usually compete for the championship).

Lately though, we've been running into these younger teams who transition from ice hockey. Most of them in their early 20's, lots of wheels, lots of good individual skill, that sort of thing. Most of these teams send in a rather disorganized 2 man forecheck, but because of the overall team speed it was causing us problems. We don't practice, so we needed something we could pick up fairly easily on. Nothing too complicated, but enough to breakdown and expose the forecheck and aggressiveness.

Most of these teams attack in waves. First group goes in and presses, and the next group follows up with immediate pressure if the ball gets past the first group. Our goal was to sort of expose that by quickly chipping past each wave. The one benefit our team has is that we aren't lazy, we run hard, we don't stand around too much and we all get back.

We needed something that was not only easy for us to pick up on, but also something that wasn't too easy for the other team to read and pick up on.

This play can be reversed to either side, but we'll look at the right side only. When the puck is at the right D, the RW will circle down a bit, then cut across the rink. the C then goes outside the blueline and circles back down to where the RW was. The pass goes from the RD to the C. As that happens, the LW goes to the RW wall between the blueline and centre for a chip from the C. As this is happening, the RW cuts up the middle of the rink, then can either accept the pass from the LW in the middle, or continue over to the RW wall (just outside centre) for another chip pass by the LW. The centre follows up by jumping back into the play. In ballhockey this play is more of a chip out, dump and change (due to the redline becoming the blueline when you get possession). In ice hockey you can use this as possession breakout.

Oilers Look: Games 23-27

Things went from bad to worse for the Oilers. Hemsky is now out for the season and the Oilers finish another stretch below .500

Games 18-22:

• Team Record: 1-2-2


• Shots For - Shots Against (Diff): 157 - 141 (+16)


• Scoring Chances For - Against (Diff): 112 - 108 (+4)


• Goals For - Goals Against (Diff): 14 - 15 (-1)


• Team Shooting %: 8.92


• Team Save %: 89.4

Games 23-27:

• Team Record: 1-3-1


• Shots For - Shots Against (Diff): 142 - 167 (-15)


• Scoring Chances For - Against (Diff): 97 - 117 (-20)


• Goals For - Goals Against (Diff): 14 - 19 (-5)


• Team Shooting %: 9.85


• Team Save %: 88.6

Solid games against a very good San Jose team, as well as a surprising Coyotes team weren't enough to save this stretch either. The San Jose game really hurt, because it was a game they should have won based on the numbers. San Jose just caught the bounces when they needed them and got it to a shootout where they picked up the extra point.

They scored early and often against Phoenix (which is a bit of a theme for this club against the Yotes), and coasted to an easy win.

Those games were sandwiched by a pair of lousy outings for Deslauriers. He looked bad against Chicago and even worse against Vancouver. His performance has been all over the map this year. He's struggled badly on shots up high, but manages to keep almost everything on the ice out of the net (no matter how open things seem).

If They Start Playing Like They Did Earlier...

We'd be in pretty much the same situation.

Despite the pleas from fans to revert back to the scoring at will team from before, I just don't think it's going to happen. Early on, this team wasn't generating scoring chances, but they were scoring goals.

This team never really was playing good, they were just getting a lot of bounces for them. I don't just mean bounces where it goes off a body and in, but even a bounce where a good defenceman misplays a puck and you get a good scoring chance out of it or a breakdown happens and the puck goes to an open guy.

Those situations benefitted the Oilers greatly in the first 10 games of the season, and some have mistaken that for playing well. They really weren't, but wins and goals change the perception for a lot of people. They were playing more physical, but that really hasn't translated at all into their time of possession or ability to generate shots or scoring chances.

The most worrisome part is that this team hasn't shown it can get any better in this regard as players return. They've been just as bad with Souray in the lineup as they were without him. They are just as bad with their injured regulars returning as they were with them all out.

They have yet to throw more than 1 line together that can consistantly out chance their opposition (whatever line Penner is on seems to do the trick), and the coaching staff refuses to hard match that one line.

So sure, they can start playing like they did earlier, but I'd argue they have been!

Oilers Look: Games 18-22

A win in game 22 wasn't enough to salvage this stretch. It was the 3rd in a row where the Oilers failed to be above .500 since their hot start to the year.

Games 12-17:

• Team Record: 2-4-0


• Shots For - Shots Against (Diff): 160 - 218 (-58)


• Scoring Chances For - Against (Diff): 102 - 146 (-42)


• Goals For - Goals Against (Diff): 13 - 20 (-7)


• Team Shooting %: 8.13


• Team Save %: 91.7

Games 18-22:

• Team Record: 1-2-2


• Shots For - Shots Against (Diff): 157 - 141 (+16)


• Scoring Chances For - Against (Diff): 112 - 108 (+4)


• Goals For - Goals Against (Diff): 14 - 15 (-1)


• Team Shooting %: 8.92


• Team Save %: 89.4

The Oilers had a rather unfortunate stretch here. They played better both by the math and by the eye, but the results just weren't there. This time around though, the puck luck is going to the other team and the Oilers are left to stumble around at post game interviews trying to answer "why?".

Well, the answer is simple really... other teams got good goaltending and cashed in on their chances. Pretty tough to argue that when the Oilers on multiple occasions this year scored 4+ goals on 20 or fewer shots. If the Oilers can start pulling a few more of these stretches together (with a higher conversion and better stopping rate), they can hang with the playoff teams in the west.