When Jim Balsillie coined the phrase, make it seven, I had no idea the Oilers would do just that this season. Well, not that I was exactly surprised to see the Flames walk out of Rexall Place again with two points. It's been seven-straight losses and if you're still watching this garbage hockey, it's getting pretty hard to stomach. For me, it's a bit of a mixed-bag, part of me is just disgusted with watching this team lose, but it's also somewhat like watching a train wreck--you just can't take your eyes off of it. I keep consoling myself with the thoughts of a high draft pick, but that doesn't help watch games in the here and now.
Oh, if you're wondering, Shawn Horcoff is now 2nd last in the NHL based on his +/- stat. The only player currently worse by this metric is the 39-year-old, Rod Brind'Amor. Okay, so he's often playing the top opposition with dregs, but this is still a pretty ugly number. Shawn Horcoff picked up another minus two on the night playing along side JF Jacques.
One thing that I found interesting prior to the game was Pat Quinn's decision to bench Grebeshkov and play Strudwick. Sure, Grebeshkov's been struggling and his return to the lineup started this losing skid--not that it was necessarily his fault. On the other hand, Strudwick's been the culprit on plenty of goal-mouth goals all season. With his lack of foot speed and inability to protect the crease, he's pretty much finished. Tonight was no exception as Strudwick was the main culprit on Calgary's first two goals. On both occasions, he was beat inside by Rene Bourque. What's interesting is that Pat Quinn called him out for his (indirectly) during the post-game interview. Should he have been surprised?
The Oilers won 58% of the faceoff draws and outshot the Flames 35-23 yet lost by a score of 4-1. As well, the Flames had two goals disallowed, one was deflected by Curtis Glencross by a high-stick and the other went in after the whistle. I was surprised by the faceoff stats since the Oilers seemed to lose many of the draws on their 5 power play opportunities. Again, the power play went 0-5 which was only made worse following a short-handed goal giving Rene Bourque a natural hat trick.
Dustin Penner had moments during the third period, but has now gone three games without a point. In fact, he's only had one point in his past five games. Lubomir Visnovsky had a bad giveaway which lead to the shorthanded goal against. He didn't have a great night either. Ryan Potulny scored the lone goal for the Oilers with a redirect off a point shot from Strudwick. The Oilers have now scored just five goals in their past four games.
Following the previous Oilers losss against the Canucks in which Ethan Moreau lead the charge with another bad offensive zone penalty, he was rewarded for this with the fourth most time on ice of any Oilers forward (16:19) for this game. Prior to this game, he lead the team based on taking 1.5 penalties while drawing only .1 per sixty minutes (-1.4) [OilersNation]. As well, he had called out the team's penalty kill prior to this game. Tonight, he was on the ice for the lone short-handed goal against.
Here's the video:
Comments (3)
... written by Horpensky, December 29, 2009
The only thing keeping me hopeful for this team is watching Eberle lighting it up. I'm sooo glad he's not on this trainwreck of a team right now.
Ugh! It's getting hard to watch. But I will anyways.
Moreau is a dunce and needs to go. Then again... I've been saying it since last year. *shrugs shoulders* I love this team, yet I hate them. I'm so confused.
+0
... written by Jay-, December 29, 2009
@Horpensky - I agree that Eberle's play for Team Canada at the World Junior Championships makes this horrible season an easier pill to swallow. We also have the Olympics, of course, which also makes the lack of playoff hockey this season easier to take. I'm looking forward to Eberle on the Oilers next season. With a top five draft pick, they could have a lot of good pieces next year if they can free up some cap space.
@Smokin' Ray - Yeah, it's a confusing season for sure. At this point, the dive-for-five is probably best for this team, but it's hard to want them to lose. It just doesn't feel right even though it makes sense. I agree that Moreau needs to go. This year, he's the best guy to captain this team to a high draft pick, so maybe they can move him for a pick himself at the trade deadline.
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