CKA Forums :: Edmonton Oilers: 2015 /2016 season The Start of a New Era

Edmonton Oilers look for a win against the slumping Calgary Flames

BY ROBERT TYCHKOWSKI, EDMONTON SUN
FIRST POSTED: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2015 01:29 PM MDT | UPDATED: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2015 01:37 PM MDT
OIlers Flames

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The skate could be on the other foot tonight when the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames square off at Rexall Place.

Usually it’s the Oilers who are on their knees and struggling for answers, but this time it’s the slumping Flames who are facing the very real possibility that their season could be over before it even had a chance to start.

Calgary is a morbid 2-8-1 so far this season, having lost four in a row and nine of their last 10, while giving up a league worst 4.09 goals against per game.

Another loss to the Oilers, who are having problems of their own but are still 4-7 and feeling good after an upset win over the Montreal Canadiens, would push the Flames that much closer to the point of no return.

Which would be pretty cool from an Edmonton perspective.

“Last year was tough to see them make the playoffs, no doubt about it,” said Oilers winger Taylor Hall. “They’re our rival. You don’t want to root for teams to do bad, but we certainly want to do better than the Flames this year."

And beat them face to face.

“Head to head is a big thing for us," said Hall. "It’s home ice, it’s a Saturday night, we’d love to beat these guys.”

The Oilers were in the muck themselves a few days ago but gained a little traction with the four-goal comeback win over the Habs. What they do with that momentum remains to be seen.

“It was rewarding, it’s something that was special for us, but it’s also in the past,” said head coach Todd McLellan. “Tonight will be another test. We were on a three-game winning streak and we took our foot off the gas, patted them on the back a little bit and then weren’t ready to go (three straight losses).

“We’ll see if we’ve grown, we’ll see if we’ve made any type of progress as far as dealing with prosperity rather than adversity.”

The Flames will at their most desperate, though, which will make them a tough out.

“We’ve been in their situation, coming off some losses and looking for a win on the road,” said Oilers forward Mark Letestu. “We’re going to have to match their urgency and ride some of the momentum we’ve created.”

The Oilers beat Calgary 5-2 in their previous meeting.

“In that game against Calgary we did a great job managing the puck and that set up our whole game,” said Hall. “So we have to make sure we do that again tonight.”

Author:	Alta_redneck [ Tue Oct 13, 2015 7:26 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Edmonton Oilers: 2015 /2016 season The Start of a New Era
And finally, McDavid scores to tie it up, 2 - 2, game in Dallas after 2

Author:	Alta_redneck [ Tue Oct 13, 2015 10:11 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Edmonton Oilers: 2015 /2016 season The Start of a New Era
Nice goal tending display by Nilsson, 59 friggin shots, come on Oil, this is the new era.

Author:	Alta_redneck [ Sat Oct 17, 2015 3:58 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Edmonton Oilers: 2015 /2016 season The Start of a New Era
After losing their first 4 games and their home opener, the monkey has made an appearance, lose to the Flames tonight and that monkey jumps on someone's back and doubles in weight ovenight.

Author:	Alta_redneck [ Sat Oct 17, 2015 10:08 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Edmonton Oilers: 2015 /2016 season The Start of a New Era
That's better.

Author:	Alta_redneck [ Mon Oct 19, 2015 5:14 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Edmonton Oilers: 2015 /2016 season The Start of a New Era
Vancouver — There had been other measuring sticks for the Edmonton Oilers, but they had come after losses, which is why head coach Todd McLellan arrived in Vancouver curious to see what would unfold in Sunday’s game against the Canucks. He wanted to see how his team would respond after a win — a win that came less than 24 hours earlier in Calgary. “This is a big test for us,” he said. We’ve responded without wins. We’ve kept our heads fairly high. What do we do with a win?” What they did was register another win, a 2-1 overtime decision in Rogers Arena, courtesy of Lauri Korpikoski’s second goal of the season. The Oilers, now 2-4, had won just two of their previous 10 visits to Rogers Arena. And it started with Connor McDavid, who netted two goals in a three-point night in the 5-2 win over the Flames. Three minutes after the opening faceoff against the Canucks, he zipped up the left wing on a power play, slipped between Luca Sbisa and Jannik Hansen, and set up Nail Yakupov for the one-timer. Twelve minutes later, Matt Bartkowski, playing his 137th NHL game, scored his first goal, a long range wrist shot that otherwise spoiled a good first period by Anders Nilsson, who went on to finish with 33 saves — including a breakaway from Henrik Sedin. More notable was the wide open net that Daniel Sedin missed with the rebound. At the other end of the rink, Ryan Miller, who is now 12-1 in games against the Oilers, made 22 saves. KLINKHAMMER GETS CHANCE Rob Klinkhammer made the most of his chance when he was elevated to a line to play with Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. He finished with a game high six hits. “He responded well,” said McLellan. “I thought we needed a little more physicality on that line. More grind along the boards. Happy for him. He got an opportunity and took advantage of it.” BY THE NUMBERS – The Canucks’ power play was 0-for-2 and is now 1-for-20 on the season. The Oilers, meanwhile, are 3-for-20 with the man advantage. They’ve got goals in their last two games. – Vancouver owned the faceoff circle, winning 67 per cent of the draws. – Thirty seconds into three-on-three, each team had a scoring chance. – Vancouver (3-2-1) has yet to win on home ice. A BIG BRICK WALL In the two games Anders Nilsson has played, he’s seen 84 shots, turning away 80. Not a bad way to start. “Anders made save after save to give us an opportunity to win. When you play three (games) in four (nights), sometimes you need that,” said McLellan, who didn’t hesitate to use Nilsson in the game because of his work in Dallas. “They had a few shots early so I got into the game right away, then kept on going from there,” said the netminder. THE KID LINE Bo Horvat, Sven Baertschi and Jake Virtanen, who put away 10 points in a 5-2 pre-season win over the Oilers on Oct. 1, were reunited for Sunday’s meeting. “I just think we fed off of each other. The chemistry was there right away,” Horvat told the Vancouver Sun. “It just made the game a lot easier.” Baertschi was a healthy scratch in the Canucks’ 4-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Friday. The trio finished with a point.

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Author:	Alta_redneck [ Wed Oct 21, 2015 9:49 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Edmonton Oilers: 2015 /2016 season The Start of a New Era
Nice to get some goal tending, and when their getting the tending the rest of the team helps out, 24 blocked shots tonight. $1: EDMONTON — Connor McDavid and Teddy Purcell scored in the second period as the Edmonton Oilers won their third straight with a 3-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night. Mark Letestu opened the scoring for the Oilers (3-4-0) in the first while Nail Yakupov added a pair of assists. Edmonton snapped an eight-game losing streak against Detroit with the win. Tomas Tatar found the back of the net for Detroit (3-3-0), which lost its third in a row. Letestu helped the Oilers get on the board with a power-play goal at 12:32 of the first period. Yakupov made a perfect feed in front of the net and Letestu was able to direct the puck past Red Wings goaltender Petr Mrazek. It was Letestu’s first goal in an Edmonton uniform. The Oilers had 11 first period shots to Detroit's five on Edmonton starter Cam Talbot, who made a couple of huge glove saves on a late Red Wings power play. Edmonton went up 2-0 at 6:34 of the second period as Benoit Pouliot sent McDavid in on a breakaway and he beat Mrazek with a deke to score his fourth goal of the season. The Oilers extended the lead just 30 seconds later as the rebound from a Purcell shot went off Detroit defenceman Kyle Quincey and into the Red Wings net. Detroit cut into the lead seven minutes into the third as Tatar scored on a backhand shot off a rebound. Both teams return to action on Friday as the Oilers play the second game of a three-game homestand against the Washington Capitals. The Red Wings travel to Calgary to face the Flames.

Author:	Alta_redneck [ Wed Oct 28, 2015 10:03 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Edmonton Oilers: 2015 /2016 season The Start of a New Era
Peter Chiarelli looking for improvement in veteran defencemen, looks forward to when youngsters at their peak terry-jones BY TERRY JONES, EDMONTON SUN FIRST POSTED: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2015 05:46 PM MDT \| UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2015 06:51 PM MDT PeterChiarelli1029 Peter Chiarelli plans to give the Oilers 10 more games before he starts making moves. (Tom Braid, Edmonton Sun) Article Change text size for the storyPrint this story Report an error Related Stories Former Edmonton Oilers goalie says he takes nothing for granted Wild coach Mike Yeo sees similarities between Oilers centre Conner McDavid and other NHL elite players Oilers look to limit mistakes, feel improvement there despite being behind same point last season Oilers to get good look at defensive prospect Darnell Nurse Oilers defensive prospect Darnell Nurse looks to build on strong outing with team Oilers third-period lead evaporates as Wild score two in less than a minute Edmonton fraudster handed probabtion Topics Oilers After watching 10 games, new Edmonton Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli suggested he’s going to give the Edmonton Oilers 10 more before making any moves. “Out of the gate we’re missing Jordan Eberle which was big. And right now we’re putting Rob Klinkhammer and Justin Schultz on the injury reserved list, so we’ll have five guys on I.R. It’s tough to get a read when there are five guys of your group on I.R.,” he said in a candid interview with your correspondent Wednesday. Chiarelli is thrilled with Connor McDavid, surprised by Nail Yakupov, happy with his goalies, disappointed in the defence including two of his off-season acquisitions Andrej Sekera and Eric Gryba, not particularly impressed by the bottom two lines and telegraphed a trip to Bakersfield in the future of Anton Slepyshev. “I’m obviously disappointed in our record. In the 10-game segment I was hoping we’d be .500 and be sitting with 10 points. “From a compete perspective, we’ve been pretty good. When I see that and some structure I feel better than average. It would be nice to have a little better foundation of points at this time. “From the perspective of making progress, I think structurally we’re playing a lot better. I feel a lot of puck support in all the zones. But we’ve been making some significant mistakes that kind of stand out. Those are disappointing. “From a player perspective, there have been some guys who have played quite well and there have been some guys who have been sub-par.” Chiarelli says every time he watches prize pick McDavid he sees more. “Every shift he’s becoming more comfortable with the league and every other shift he’s making a really good play. We’re privileged to see him first hand. Smart. Fast. He could easily have twice the number of goals. And he’ll learn how to finish those off better as he gets stronger and grows in the league. Conner is as advertized. You look at him on the ice and every other shift you think he’s going to score.” There are talented players and then there are talented players who make the guys they play with better. “Conner has done that. But credit to them, too,” he said. Credit in particular to Yakupov. “I especially like Yakupov’s game. He’s played a smarter game and he’s doing a lot of the little things and you can just see his confidence is growing also. “I didn’t know him like Benoit Pouliot, who we had in Boston. I’d seen all the media out of Edmonton and I’d known there was a frustration surrounding him. But for me he’s improved since I’ve seen him here and when you get a shooter like that, he’s a valuable player. Shooters are very under-rated in this league. Not to just typecast him as a shooter, but he has a very good shot and he likes to shoot. And that’s important.” As for the third and fourth lines, they’ve been nothing to write home about. “Those bottom two lines have been just O.K. They have to be better. Slepychev probably needs, no, he does need, some seasoning. He’s up here for numbers right now. There are good things to his game that I’ve seen. “A guy like Matt Hendricks was playing real well until he was hurt. Even Klinkhammer, for what he brings, he brings it pretty good. “In this league, often those top two lines even out. It’s those bottom two that are very significant. We need the bottom two lines to be better.” When it comes to Cam Talbot and Ander Nilsson, the two goaltenders Chiarelli acquired, he’s likes their work. “I’ve been happy with them. I know Anders had the one tough game but for the most part, the body of work right from camp to this point has been good. And as I said earlier, those big mistakes … it’s usually those big mistakes that end up in the back of the net and are no real fault of our goalies.” He’s not in denial about his defence. “Our defence has been disappointing. It’s been a little bit disjointed. Oscar Klefbom missed a large part of camp, so he was a little bit behind. Now Schultz is hurt,” he said, refusing, as is his policy, to identify the mysterious injury or the length of time he’ll be out. “I thought Schultz had progressed pretty well and was playing an effective role. We have a bit of a disjointed defence. Sekera I know is going to be better because I’ve seen him be better and I know he can be better, too. “Gryba has been in and out. I’ve liked a lot of what he’s done but he’s been part of those big mistakes. He’s been playing pretty good minutes but you have to get rid of those big mistakes. I know it’s not from a lack of trying for him. His try and his effort are good.” So far so good with the kids. “Griffin Reinhart, to me, played a real good game in Vancouver and is a very smart player who is just starting to defend well. So I have to see him get up and running. “You saw Darnell Nurse play his first game Tuesday. He played an outstanding game. When we sent him down, we said ‘When we bring you up, we want to bring you up to stay.' There were some injuries so there are some exceptions. But he was outstanding last night. “If you get Reinhart, Nurse and Klefbom going to the full capacity, you are talking a significant improvement in your D core. “It’s an area we have to fix but it’s an area that may improve just out of evolution here. So that’s likely part of the 20-game, one quarter of the season evaluation.” Chiarelli, as you might expect with his recent appointment of coach Todd McLellan as head coach of the U-23 Team North America, is more than happy with the coaching staff. “They’ve been very good with their key points, with their structure. I talk about structure and support and that’s been very, very evident. They are very good teaching coaches and coaching coaches. The practices are very high tempo. I have been very happy with the coaching staff.” The GM also gives the fans a passing grade. “I think they can see how we’re playing,” he said. “But at the end of the day we’re in the business of winning and improving and I put equal importance on them because winning helps improving. “The attitude of the players has been good and that’s important. But I don’t like to lose and we have to make sure that we don’t. “It’s my job to make sure that we don’t and it’s Todd’s job to make sure that we don’t. “I have patience and I know that things will evolve with this group but on the flip side at the end of the day we’re in this business to win.” What does all that mean? I’d say it means that the next 10 games a pretty important starting tonight against the Montreal Canadiens. Follow me on Twitter.com/sunterryjones [email protected]

Author:	Alta_redneck [ Thu Oct 29, 2015 5:32 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Edmonton Oilers: 2015 /2016 season The Start of a New Era
Game Day Edmonton Oilers vs. Montreal Canadiens at Rexall Place. Puck drop at 7 p.m. Welcome back Leon Forward Leon Draisaitl will arrive in Edmonton from Bakersfield, Calif., about five hours before the Oilers face-off against the Montreal Canadiens Thursday night. He will play on the revolving right side with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Taylor Hall . Draisaitl had been playing centre for the American Hockey League’s Bakersfield Condors since he was sent down, but a series of Oilers injuries means he is getting a National Hockey League opportunity. It’s been a cattle call on right wing for the Oilers since Jordan Eberle separated his shoulder against Arizona Coyotes in the pre-season. The Oilers have tried Teddy Purcell, Matt Hendricks, Rob Klinkhammer (who hurt his leg in Minnesota) and farm team call-up Iiro Pakarinen with Nugent-Hopkins and Hall. Now it’s Draisaitl’s turn. “We wanted Leon down there more gaining experience but because of how deep we are injury-wise, he’s the next forward to come up and he’ll play with two very good players tonight,” coach Todd McLellan said Thursday morning. “This will be a good evaluation tool for Leon as it was for Darnell (Nurse) when we called him back and he played in Minnesota,” he said. “We’ll see how Leon handles the speed and pace of one of the best clubs in the league.” McLellan said the team’s decision to test Draisaitl on the wing during the Oilers exhibition season was a good choice. Sick Bay Klinkhammer is considered day-to-day for now but it didn’t look good as he hobbled off Tuesday. Eberle is on the long-term injured reserve list retroactive to his injury in the pre-season so the Oilers could manoeuvre their salary cap. They can use Eberle’s $6 million salary to bring up Draisaitl, who has a $3.4-million cap hit. Griffin Reinhart, on IR with a suspected shoulder problem, skated hard Thursday morning after being hurt in Vancouver 10 days ago. “I got hurt with 20 seconds to go that game and they also saw some old stuff (with the body part) to look at,” said Reinhart, who thinks he could play next game against Calgary Flames at Rexall Place. Winger Lauri Korpikoski, who took a shoulder to the head from Matt Dumba in Minnesota, but finished the game, didn’t skate. At forward, Matt Hendricks also had his first skate Thursday since stopping a shot on his ankle in Calgary on Oct. 17. “The shot got me right on the bone and split it open,” Hendricks said. Hendricks might be able to return next week when the Philadelphia Flyers are in town Nov. 3. The Oilers announced today that defenceman Justin Schultz is out two to four weeks with a back injury. “I don’t like using injuries as an excuse,” McLellan said. “The league doesn’t wait for injuries to heal. It smells blood and goes after those situations.” Oilers expected lineup Forwards Draisaitl–Nugent-Hopkins– Hall Pouliot–McDavid–Yakapov Lander–Pakarinen–Purcell Letestu–Slepyshev, 11th and 12th forwards Defence in Nurse-Klefbom Sekera-Fayne Davidson-Gryba Andrew Ference 7th D-man Goal Talbot “Dressing seven gives the coaches the opportunity for more effective ice-time. We’ll figure out which six guys play more,” said McLellan. “If you’re dressing six and one of the back-end guys is making the same mistakes over and over again you’re still apprehensive to put them at the end of the bench because that leaves you with just five 10 minutes into a game.” Canadiens expected lineupForwards Pacioretty-Plekanec-Gallagher Eller-Galchenyuk-Flynn Weise-Desharnais-Fleischmann Byron-Mitchell-Smith-Pelly Defence Markov-Subban Emelin-Petry Gilbert-Beaulieu Goal Price

Author:	Alta_redneck [ Thu Oct 29, 2015 8:48 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Edmonton Oilers: 2015 /2016 season The Start of a New Era
Maybe if the Habs played in the west they wouldn't have the record they do. 4 - 3 final Oil, after spotting them a 3 goal lead after one.

Author:	Alta_redneck [ Sat Oct 31, 2015 6:19 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Edmonton Oilers: 2015 /2016 season The Start of a New Era
$1: Edmonton Oilers look for a win against the slumping Calgary Flames BY ROBERT TYCHKOWSKI, EDMONTON SUN FIRST POSTED: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2015 01:29 PM MDT \| UPDATED: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2015 01:37 PM MDT OIlers Flames 0: 1297766481865_ORIGINAL.jpg [ 42.61 KiB \| Viewed 348 times ] The skate could be on the other foot tonight when the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames square off at Rexall Place. Usually it’s the Oilers who are on their knees and struggling for answers, but this time it’s the slumping Flames who are facing the very real possibility that their season could be over before it even had a chance to start. Calgary is a morbid 2-8-1 so far this season, having lost four in a row and nine of their last 10, while giving up a league worst 4.09 goals against per game. Another loss to the Oilers, who are having problems of their own but are still 4-7 and feeling good after an upset win over the Montreal Canadiens, would push the Flames that much closer to the point of no return. Which would be pretty cool from an Edmonton perspective. “Last year was tough to see them make the playoffs, no doubt about it,” said Oilers winger Taylor Hall. “They’re our rival. You don’t want to root for teams to do bad, but we certainly want to do better than the Flames this year." And beat them face to face. “Head to head is a big thing for us," said Hall. "It’s home ice, it’s a Saturday night, we’d love to beat these guys.” The Oilers were in the muck themselves a few days ago but gained a little traction with the four-goal comeback win over the Habs. What they do with that momentum remains to be seen. “It was rewarding, it’s something that was special for us, but it’s also in the past,” said head coach Todd McLellan. “Tonight will be another test. We were on a three-game winning streak and we took our foot off the gas, patted them on the back a little bit and then weren’t ready to go (three straight losses). “We’ll see if we’ve grown, we’ll see if we’ve made any type of progress as far as dealing with prosperity rather than adversity.” The Flames will at their most desperate, though, which will make them a tough out. “We’ve been in their situation, coming off some losses and looking for a win on the road,” said Oilers forward Mark Letestu. “We’re going to have to match their urgency and ride some of the momentum we’ve created.” The Oilers beat Calgary 5-2 in their previous meeting. “In that game against Calgary we did a great job managing the puck and that set up our whole game,” said Hall. “So we have to make sure we do that again tonight.” The way the Flames play last night against the Habs, leads me to believe they were looking ahead to this match up tonight.

Author:	Alta_redneck [ Tue Nov 03, 2015 8:11 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Edmonton Oilers: 2015 /2016 season The Start of a New Era
Oilers have close to $12M in salary of veteran defensmen either healthy scratches or In the AHL tonight. That savour Sekera should be added to that list, what a disappointment he is.

Author:	Alta_redneck [ Tue Nov 03, 2015 8:44 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Edmonton Oilers: 2015 /2016 season The Start of a New Era
McDavid shoulder injury ??? Gezzzzz looked like how Eberle got hurt.

Author:	Alta_redneck [ Tue Nov 03, 2015 9:19 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Edmonton Oilers: 2015 /2016 season The Start of a New Era
McDavid done for tonight and from what I saw, done for 6 weeks. I'm guessing broken collar bone.

Author:	Thanos [ Tue Nov 03, 2015 9:20 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Edmonton Oilers: 2015 /2016 season The Start of a New Era
Looked like a bad one with him slamming into the boards with two Flyers already on top of him. Could be a shoulder separation or collarbone damage.

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Author:	Alta_redneck [ Tue Nov 03, 2015 10:37 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Edmonton Oilers: 2015 /2016 season The Start of a New Era
Thanos Thanos: Looked like a bad one with him slamming into the boards with two Flyers already on top of him. Could be a shoulder separation or collarbone damage. Its officially an upper body, long term injury . Not part of the game plan.