One day after the Edmonton Oilers played a lackluster third period in a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars Tuesday night, it is time to possibly shift the blame to head coach Ralph Krueger.
I know Ryan Whitney and Ryan Smyth have not played up to Krueger’s expectations this season and Krueger has the right to hold his players accountable.
However, is Whitney and Smyth any worse than Ben Eager, Corey Potter and Mark Fistric?
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.
The Edmonton Oilers are two games above the .500 mark in the Western Conference standings of the National Hockey League.
On Wednesday night, the Oilers improved to 4-2 with a 2-1 overtime win over the Phoenix Coyotes.
Trailing 1-0 late in the game, Nick Johnson tied the score with 19 seconds left in the third period on the powerplay after Sam Gagner took a questionable penalty of interference. It appeared that Gagner unintentionally collided with Coyotes’ veteran star Shane Doan, but the referees didn’t see it that way.
The Oilers then won it in overtime on a Nail Yakupov overtime winner on the powerplay after Antoine Vermette high-sticked Jordan Eberle.
Patrice Bergeron (Wikimedia Commons)
For the first time since 2007, Team Canada has won the Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland.
On Monday, Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins, Ryan Smyth of the Edmonton Oilers and John Tavares of the New York Islanders were instrumental for Team Canada in a commanding 7-2 victory over the host HC Davos in the championship final.
Smyth, also known as Captain Canada and Tavares each scored twice, while Bergeron had a goal and three assists.
Smyth’s first goal of the game, at 9:07 of the first period was shorthanded and the game winning goal. Bergeron received the lone assist with brilliant stickhandling. Tavares
Other Canadian goal scorers were Jason Spezza of the Ottawa Senators and defenceman Derrick Walser.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Fanny Schertzer, Wikimedia Commons)
Ok. There is no National Hockey League at the moment and there won’t be unless something drastic happens in negotiations over the next three weeks.
But during the Christmas season, there are two exciting hockey tournaments–the World Junior Hockey Championships in Ufa, Russia and the Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland. In each tournament, the Edmonton Oilers will have a strong presence on Team Canada.
At the World Juniors, Canada will be lead by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who will be captaining the squad. Nugent-Hopkins had 18 goals and 34 assists in 62 games with the Oilers last year and was a finalist for the Calder Trophy.
Ryan Smyth (Wikimedia Commons)
The Edmonton Oilers have decided to take a chance on Ryan Smyth for two more seasons.
On Sunday, the opening day of NHL free agency, the Oilers re-signed Smyth to a two year deal worth $4.5 million. Smyth had 19 goals and 27 assists in 82 games this season.
Expect to see Smyth play more of a checking and leadership role for the Oilers, now that they have a ton of scoring up front. However I would still like to see him have significant minutes on the powerplay as he continues to be an intimidating presence in front of the net.
The Oilers also re-signed enforcer Darcy Hordichuk to a one year deal worth $850,000.
There were a few significant signings on Sunday as well. Ray Whitney signed a 2 year deal worth $9 million with Dallas from Phoenix. Whitney, a native of Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, recorded 77 points last season despite being 40 years of age.
It is nice to see the Edmonton Oilers show up to play hockey that reminds fans of the 1980′s once in a while.
On Tuesday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, they saw just that. Jordan Eberle and Sam Gagner each notched a goal and two assists as Edmonton defeated Calgary 6-1.
The Oilers completely dominated the second period, outshooting Calgary 17-4 and 4-0 on the scoreboard. Other Oiler goal scorers were Ales Hemsky, Eric Belanger, Taylor Hall and Ryan Smyth. One could make the argument that Tuesday’s game was the Oilers most complete effort of the entire season.
If the Flames end up missing the playoffs, they can circle February 21 on their calendar as the major reason why. The Flames also got no help from the out of town scoreboard as Phoenix defeated Los Angeles 5-4 in overtime.
Calgary is currently one point back of the Kings for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Two significant streaks also came to an end. It was the first time in ten games the Oilers beat the Flames and the first time in nine games the Flames lost in regulation.
I
t isn’t many times when the 29th ranked team beats the top ranked team in professional sports. There aren’t many times when I predict the 29th ranked team to beat the top ranked team and it actually happens!
But today is a day where I can blow my own horn. Yesterday I successfully blogged that the Edmonton Oilers would beat the Detroit Red Wings. They did just that last night by a score of 5-4.
The main reason I predicted the Oilers is because I haven’t been impressed with the play of Ty Conklin who struggled mightily last night by giving up three goals in the first period. I remember the days Oiler fans winced often when Conklin was in net and now it is the Red Wings’ time to wince.
Sam Gagner continued his outstanding scoring touch with three points (two goals and one assist). Jordan Eberle also scored two goals and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored the shootout winner. Ryan Smyth, Ryan Whitney and Ales Hemsky all added two assists.
I was hoping to praise the play of Oilers goaltender Devan Dubnyk, who is 4-0-1 in his last five starts. But in actuality, I felt he was a little shaky at times. Don’t forget Dubnyk has won his last two games despite giving up eight goals. That just doesn’t happen often in today’s NHL. I also realized what TSN’s Darren Pang commented on earlier in the week, and that is Dubnyk’s number one weakness is his lateral movement– something I agree that he needs to improve.
The Oilers now go on a three game road trip that starts Monday in Toronto.
Taylor Hall (Wikimedia Commons)
For the second time this season the Edmonton Oilers have defeated an elite team in the National Hockey League–the Chicago Blackhawks.
Taylor Hall and Ryan Smyth each scored a goal and an assist as the Oilers won their first game on their seven game road trip with a 4-3 victory.
The Oilers also got offense from unexpected players. Both defenceman Andy Sutton and enforcer Ben Eager got on the scoresheet. Sutton scored his second of the season, while Eager, who rebounded after a terrible game against the New York Islanders on Saturday, scored the game winner.
Devan Dubnyk also probably had his best game in over a month, as he stopped 39 Chicago shots in the win.
The win came at a price however, as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins injured his shoulder in the first period and Tom Gilbert injured his knee in the second period.
But even though the Oilers won, they still have a large hill to climb in order to make the playoffs. They are still nine points back of the Los Angeles Kings for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Edmonton next plays Buffalo on Tuesday night.
Ryan Jones (Wikimedia Commons)
Ryan Jones recorded his first career hat trick Friday night as the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-3.
Down 2-1 heading into the third period, the Oilers scored five third period goals to get back into the Western Conference playoff race. At 29 points, the Oilers are tied for seventh place with the San Jose Sharks, Phoenix Coyotes and the Vancouver Canucks.
Other Oilers with multi-point games were Ales Hemsky (one goal and one assist), while Tom Gilbert, Shawn Horcoff and Ryan Smyth all had two assists each.
Jones was very lucky in the first period not to get a high sticking penalty on Blue Jackets’ defenceman James Wisniewski. The veteran American defenceman lost his tooth and had significant blood on his upper lip.
Another area of tonight’s game I was very impressed with was Darcy Hordichuk, who took on Jared Boll, one of the toughest players in the NHL and knocked him down.
The Oilers now host the Calgary Flames tomorrow night.
The 99th Grey Cup gets under way tomorrow at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver with a game between the B.C. Lions and Winnipeg Blue Bombers (TSN, 4:30pm).
The Lions are trying to become the first team since 1994 to win the Grey Cup on home soil. But they will have a lot of Edmonton Eskimo fans cheering against them after head coach Wally Buono’s ridiculous comment last week of “I hate Edmonton.”
The Lions have the Grey Cup MVP in Travis Lulay, while the Blue Bombers’ have the league’s top defensive player in Jovon Johnson.
There have been some interesting storylines heading into the Grey Cup. Blue Bombers’ defensive end Odelle Willis tweeted this past week how he wanted to go home to American Thanksgiving rather than practicing on Thursday, and said “a couple of more days and I’m out of this hoe.”
Also, hall of famers, Angelo Mosca and Joe Kapp got into a fight at an alumni luncheon in Vancouver after the two discussed a play in 1963 when Mosca’s hit knocked Lions’ running back Willie Fleming out of the game.
Getting back to the Blue Bombers and Lions, the Blue Bombers beat the Lions twice this year, 25-20 on July 28 in Winnipeg and 30-17 on August 13 in Vancouver.
Here are the other events I’ll be watching this weekend:
The Edmonton Oilers horrendous losing streak in Minnesota is finally over.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored twice as the Oilers defeated the Wild 5-2. The Oilers had a 17 game losing streak in Minnesota dating back to January 6, 2007.
Captain Canada Ryan Smyth also continued his remarkable play by scoring a goal and an assist. Other Oilers with multi-point games were Shawn Horcoff and Taylor Hall who each had a goal and an assist and Jordan Eberle with two assists.
One of the most remarkable statistics when analyzing the box score was that Dany Heatley, the player that didn’t want to come to Edmonton a couple of years ago was a poor -3.
The Oilers were significantly more disciplined than the Wild on Friday. Wild enforcer Brad Staubitz took eight first period penalties, four for roughing, two for interference and two for cross-checking, so no wonder he only got 4:54 of ice time from head coach Mike Yeo.
With the win, the Oilers improve to 12-8-2, and are tied with the Saint Louis Blues and Los Angeles Kings for sixth place in the Western Conference.
The Blues, meanwhile shutout the Flames 2-0, so the Flames are now nine points back of a playoff spot.
For the second time this season, the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Nashville Predators.
On Tuesday, they not just defeated Nashville, they dominated them. In a very impressive road game after losing 4-1 to the Dallas Stars just the night before, the Oilers got off to a fast start by scoring three first period goals en route to a commanding 6-2 victory.
You know it’s a good night when the opposition coach decides to make a goaltending change, something Barry Trotz decided to do after Jordan Eberle made the score 3-0. Out went Pekka Rinne and in came Anders Lindback.
Eberle led all Oilers in scoring with three points (two goals and one assist). Shaun Horcoff (two goals), Ales Hemsky (one goal and one assist), Ryan Smyth, Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (two assists) also had multi-point games. The other Oiler goal scorer was defenceman Jeff Petry.
Devan Dubnyk made 30 saves for his first win since October 28 against the Colorado Avalanche.
With the win, the Oilers improve to 11-8-2 and back into a tie for fifth place in the Western Conference with the Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars. The Oilers next play Friday afternoon against the Minnesota Wild.
Is it a correct assessment early in the season to say that the Edmonton Oilers are a much better hockey team than their southern provincial rivals in Calgary?
So far, it sure likes that is a genuine correct statement.
The Edmonton Oilers rebounded after a tough loss Saturday in Phoenix with a dominant 3-1 victory Tuesday in Montreal.
In a gritty effort, the Oilers came away with two points despite being out shot 29-13. After a scoreless first period, the Oilers’ penalty killing went to work as they killed off four Montreal power plays and even had the opportunity to put the puck past Carey Price via the services on Ryan Jones who recorded a shorthanded marker.
Tom Gilbert scored the game winning goal with 3:32 left, and Ryan Smyth followed with an empty netter. With the win, the Oilers improve to 9-3-2.
The Flames meanwhile lost 3-0 to Minnesota and fell to 6-6-1. Wild goaltender Nicklas Backstrom made 41 saves in recording the shutout.
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