PS GDB #1 Oilers at Flames

I like that the Oilers have dressed 3 veteran blueliners. There are no battles to be one, and the defencemen are going to have the biggest adjustment to make in the rumoured new "offensive and aggressive" system. Getting them into games right off the bat will be good for them. I'd expect all of them (save Visnovsky) to have played at least one game by the time the 3rd pre-season game rolls around.

While it's important to give the young kids a look, getting the guys who are going to play this year into form early could make a huge difference.

Even Strength: The Oilers seem to be running a 1-2-2 with a defenceman pressuring on the weak side, forming almost a 1-3-1 when the puck moves towards the Oilers end. Should be interesting to see how that holds up against a team that really moves the puck well.

Power Play: One of my biggest complaints of the Oilers PP has been it's complete and utter reliance on Hemsky. When he is on the ice, every play must come off his stick. The issue ends up being that if he's not reading the lanes right, the Oilers PP ends up being completely useless. Against Calgary, the Oilers have used several players to set up chances and they've done it from both sides of the ice, instead of relying on Hemsky setting everything up from the LW half boards.

Penalty Kill: Not seeing too much different this year than last year. I think the biggest difference is the opposition PP. Not a single bonafide PP player is in the lineup for Calgary so it's really tough to critique their play. They are continuing to skate pressure out to the puck carrier, and against this Flames PP they've done a good job at getting into the lanes.

The Good: The players you figured should be making a difference have been. The vets that the Oilers have dressed have all played well. Horcoff has shown some good hustle and made a few good plays back checking. Gilbert has been the best player on the ice. Sully has shown his offensive instincts and has shown a knack for getting into the good areas. Comrie has been clever offensively and generated a few chances. Schremp is showing he can run a PP from Hemmer's opposite wing and has stayed tough at ES. Both goaltenders have played very well.

The Bad: Not too much to be mad at here, other than the excessive penalties. Plante got burned a bit on the breakaway goal (part of the problem when you go for a 3 on 3 on the PK), but he's played well aside from that, including some nice work on the PP. Chorney is a complete and utter chaos defender. He was the blueliner that got caught on the Flames goal, and he's had some nervous moments but he's recovered from all of them and has shown some good decision making on the PP.

All in all, not a surprising result. Oilers had a lot more quality in their line up and it showed on the scoreboard. Flames kept it close for a bit, but weren't much of a threat.