At least the team’s mothers had a good time.
I don’t have a lot to say about yesterday’s game. Warren Foegele and Viktor Arvidsson were both productive against their former teams, though Foegele had more fun with two more points than Arvidsson. There looked to be a bit of controversy after LA’s Overtime goal when Stuart Skinner had a word with the officials. He tried signaling to the referee beside him that his mask was loose and needed to be tightened. If he wanted that attention, why not just force the mask off entirely? It didn’t look loosened when the goal was scored. Moving on may have given him more focus to make a save. Rewatch some Oilers games with Mike Smith in net and take notes on mask removal. You already like to mirror his stickhandling.
I normally dislike +/- as an individual stat, because not every goal against is solely one player’s fault. But Adam Henrique’s -4 rating was, how do I say this, not good. His drop-off in play from last season before his trade from a bottom feeder to now a Cup contender brings back memories of Milan Lucic. I think he’s still given 3rd line minutes because of the small sample size he had in the Cup Final. His 10 points thus far is still decent 4th line offense, that’s where he should only be right now. Unless my dream of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins being a consistent 3C in Edmonton comes true, management might be hunting for one of those just as much as a top 4 defenseman.
Let’s try to get two points today and hope the Kings lose their back-to-back match. The keys to the game are…
Edmonton Oilers Thoughts
No Fowl: Anaheim has a 3-3 record since trading long-time Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler on December 14th. Taking his place has been former Rangers captain Jacob Trouba. Fowler is a pretty good point producer. But against Trouba and Radko Gudas, prepare to feel some meanness instead.
#2 Duel: It’s the battle of the backups with Calvin Pickard in net against John Gibson, who has a 9-9-3 record all-time against the Oilers. Gibson’s status as a goalie seemed to be trending downward the last couple of years, and playing behind a draft lottery contender is also not much help. But he has looked good this season, with a .909 SV% in 12 games. It’s especially important for Pickard not to have an off night in comparison against the lowest-scoring team in the league.
Middle Ground: Getting back to the topic of centermen to end this one. Youngsters Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish, under veteran and former Oiler Ryan Strome, don’t have the same allure on paper as Anze Kopitar, Quinton Byfield, and Phillip Danault. But this afternoon should be a fairly edible treat. They have good wingers, and that’s even with Trevor Zegras on IR. This is where Henrique could use a bounce-back game. If Derek Ryan were to draw back in the lineup, seeing his name on the scoresheet wouldn’t hurt either.
ITR 43: It's Winning Time – Inside The Rink
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