It looks more and more like the Edmonton Oilers will not make the postseason in 2013. However, there is a still a mathematical chance after their impressive 4-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night.
The Oilers played a complete hockey game Friday night at the Pepsi Center in Denver. Jordan Eberle scored one goal and two assists, while Justin Schultz and Magnus Paajarvi had multi-point games.
The Oilers are now eight points back of the Columbus Blue Jackets with five games to go in the season. The next game on their schedule will be Sunday night against the Anaheim Ducks (Sportsnet, 6:00 p.m.). It is basically simple. Their remaining five games, of which four are at home, are mandatory for the Oilers to win.
Ryan Whitney will have veteran company in the press box tonight as the Edmonton Oilers take on the Dallas Stars at Edmonton’s Rexall Place.
On Tuesday the Oilers announced that veteran winger Ryan Smyth would be a healthy scratch. Oilers’ Head Coach Ralph Krueger has decided to bench Smyth after taking three minor penalties in the Oilers’ 3-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday.
So far this season, Smyth has only registered only one goal and one assist and is a -3 in 12 games. Whitney, will be sitting out his third game in the last week. He was surprised of the benching after the Oilers were out shot 40-14 without him in the lineup against a Blue Jackets’ team that is among the worst teams in the NHL.
I admit. Over the last couple of years I have sometimes been hard on Edmonton Oilers’ goaltender Devan Dubnyk.
I have blamed him for a few of the Oilers losses along the way. But it should be pointed out that I have had minimal criticism toward him this season.
That is because Dubnyk has become the Oilers’ best player. Last night in Columbus, Dubnyk made 39 saves in a 3-1 win over the Blue Jackets, in a game where Edmonton was outshot 40-14. Yikes!
Oilers General Manager Steve Tambellini needs to also be commended for staying patient with Dubnyk instead of listening to well-educated bloggers like me who insisted he be traded for the Oilers to win.
The Oklahoma City Barons are back on even turns against the Toronto Marlies in the Calder Cup playoffs of the American Hockey League.
Friday night in Oklahoma City, Mark Acrobello and Philippe Cornet each scored a goal and an assist as the Barons defeated the Marlies 5-1 to tie the Western Conference Final 1-1.
Magnus Paajarvi, Bryan Rodney and Bryan Helmer each notched two assists. Paajarvi was also a +3.
Goaltender Yann Danis made 27 saves on 28 shots.
This could be a very important time in the coaching career of Barons’ head coach Todd Nelson. According to John Shannon of Rogers Sportsnet, Nelson is becoming a legitimate candidate the Oilrs are considering as their next head coach.
The clubs also were very physical. A total of 87 minutes in penalties occurred stemming from an altercation with 2:07 left in the third period. The series now shifts to Toronto on Monday afternoon.
In the Eastern Final, Norfolk beat St. John’s 3-1 Saturday to take a 2-0 lead in their series.
For the second time on Saturday, a Green scored the game winning goal.
Last night, Josh Green followed up Mike Green’s game winner for the Washington Capitals, with a game winning goal of his own as the Oklahoma City Barons, the top minor-league affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers, defeated the San Antonio Rampage 5-4 in overtime.
The Western Conference Semi-Final series is now tied 1-1. The Rampage are the AHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers.
Several Barons had multi-point games. Green and Magnus Paajarvi each scored a goal and an assist, while defencemen Bryan Rodney and Dylan Yeo and right winger Tyler Pitlick each had two assists. Defenceman Alex Plante was also strong as he was a +3.
This week on 15MOF we discuss the latest news surrounding Oilers forward Taylor Hall, as well as another story that has left the team a bit red in the face. Also on the show – we discuss whether the Toronto Maple Leafs will be the next NHL team to fire a GM and we look at the latest “bounty” news from the NFL.
In the GABBYs: the Norfolk Admirals, Jamie Moyer, Sidney Crosby, Colin Clark, Reebok & March Madness. The Punchline this week is Beach Volleyball!
The Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames came away with victories during CBC’s annual Hockey Day in Canada.
For the Flames, it was a big 3-2 shootout win over the Vancouver Canucks.
Jarome Iginla scored the shootout winner past an angry Roberto Luongo, to keep the Flames within two points of the Phoenix Coyotes for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Mike Cammalleri and Roman Horak scored for the Flames in regulation, and Olli Jokinen also scored for the Flames in the shootout.
Before the game, the Flames honoured goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff, who won his 300th career game Wednesday night in San Jose.
With the win, the Flames improve to 26-22-8 and will next play the Toronto Maple Leafs next on Tuesday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
The Oilers also won their game Saturday after regulation. Taylor Hall scored at the 17 second mark of overtime as Edmonton beat Ottawa 4-3. This was one of Nikolai Khabibulin’s best games all season. Khabibulin made 39 saves for his first win since December 22.
Ales Hemsky also played very well. He showed great stickhandling skills and recorded assists on goals by Shawn Horcoff and Magnus Paajarvi. Ben Eager also scored for the Oilers.
Even though the Edmonton Oilers haven’t played since Saturday, there has been significant news about the franchise over the last 48 hours.
First, the Oilers no longer have Gilbert Brule on their roster. Brule, who had been playing with the Oklahoma City Barons of the American Hockey League, was claimed on re-entry waivers by the Phoenix Coyotes. Brule had scored eight goals and 18 assists for the Barons this season.
The Oilers have also signed defenceman Corey Potter to a two year contract extension. Potter has three goals and 11 assists so far this season, despite missing 12 games with a sprained ankle earlier in the season.
The news though is not good for leading scorer Jordan Eberle who will miss two to three weeks with a sprained right knee he suffered in Dallas on Saturday. With the changes in the lineup, the Oilers have recalled Ryan O’Marra and Magnus Paajarvi from Oklahoma City.
Like Eberle, Nugent-Hopkins will be back around the All-Star Break at the end of the month.
The Edmonton Oilers have traded forward Andrew Cogliano to the Anaheim Ducks for a second round pick in the 2013 National Hockey League Entry Draft.
Cogliano scored 11 goals and 24 assists for an Oiler team that struggled mightily in the Western Conference standings.
Known for his speed and endurance, Cogliano did not miss one game in his first four years as an Edmonton Oiler. It is just too bad he seemed to take many nights off while playing in Edmonton, even though statistically he was registered as having played a game.
Cogliano was the Oilers’ first round pick, 25th overall in the 2005 National Hockey League Entry Draft, but seemed to be passed on the depth chart in recent years by Sam Gagner, Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and Magnus Paajarvi.
This is also not the first time that Cogliano was involved in trade rumors. He, and Dustin Penner were heavily rumored to be traded for Dany Heatley two years ago.
Well, I wasn’t watching the Oilers/Canucks game tonight from Rexall because I watching the Canada/Scotland round robin curling game at the World Men’s Curling Championship in Regina.
Devan Dubnyk came up big with 26 saves, while Ryan Jones and Magnus Paajarvi scored as the Oilers beat the Canucks 2-0.
It is good to see the Oilers having a solid performance again after knocking off the Canucks Saturday night in Vancouver.
But don’t look too much into these last two games. The Canucks have already won the President’s Trophy and just don’t have much to play for this week. That said, it may not be the way you want to be playing heading into the postseason.
Wednesday’s game in Calgary has significant more meaning for the Flames. Calgary is in desperate need of a win with only two games to go. Calgary’s other game is at home Saturday versus Vancouver. The Flames are currently two points back of Anaheim and Chicago for a postseason berth. But they’re tied with Dallas for ninth with 91 points. The Ducks, Blackhawks and Stars all have a game in hand.
The Calgary Flames are a very lucky franchise. Saturday night they came all the way back to beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-4 in a shootout after being down 4-1 in the third period.
I agree with Edmonton Oilers’ head coach Tom Renney who was pleased with the Oilers’ effort. For fifty minutes, the Oilers carried the play, and Renney should be delighted with the play of Teemu Hartikainen, Linus Omark, Ryan O’Marra and Magnus Paajarvi. They held their own and played at a high level. The Flames were lucky to beat the Edmonton/Oklahoma City Boilers. (Oarons just doesn’t make any sense!)
In curling, I’ll tell you again, if Amber Holland had Jennifer Jones’ front end, Canada would have won the Women’s World Curling Championship easily this past week. I would take Dawn Askin and Jill Officer over Heather Kalenchuk and Tammi Schneider any day. Team Canada simply could not make a shot in the tenth end of the Gold medal game against Sweden’s Anette Norberg, and at the end of the day, it cost them significantly.
Finally in March Madness, Connecticut, Butler, Virginia Commonwealth and Kentucky are off to the final four next weekend in Houston. We have two NCAA basketball powerhouses in UConn and Kentucky, and two schools that many basketball fans will cheer for because of their underdog, small school status!
First off, I would like to congratulate our captain John Short.
He has made the bold prediction for weeks that the Edmonton Eskimos will make the playoffs.
Well, there is only three weeks left in the 2010 CFL’s Regular Season, and the Eskimos, at 5-10 are currently in a playoff spot.
Can they hold off Winnipeg and British Columbia? Time will tell, but if the season was over today, the Eskimos would be punching their ticket for Regina in a Western semi-final showdown with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Whenever a guy comes in and starts sweeping his broom wildly in all directions at once, you’re entitled to wonder what he’s up to.
I went through exactly that when Kevin Lowe kicked himself out of the messy kitchen that he had created as general manager and left Steve Tambellini, new title and all, with the job of cleaning up the mess.
It looks more and more like the Edmonton Oilers will not make the postseason in 2013. However, there is a still a mathematical chance after their impressive 4-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night.
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