JR Ewing

It was all going as I thought it would: the Jets were absolutely punishing the Oilers in their own zone. McDavid scored the Oilers first goal, and then put up 3 more points in the 3rd before Nurse scored in OT. Wild stuff. Paul Maurice must be livid.

Back problems are brutal. I can't imagine trying to play defense at the NHL level like that.

To me, the only thing the Jets need is a bit more depth on the left side of their defense, which isn't as strong as the right. That's not the same as calling them bums (because they're not), but Morrow and Kulikov were absolutely caved by the Canes the other night, and a lot of those shots came from right in the home plate area. As you say, the Jets haven't really gotten going yet, and I think that could be the only saving grace for Edmonton. I think the mostly likely scenario is that the Oilers get absolutely run out of the building by Winnipeg. Such a good team.

Game 4 @ Winnipeg Prediction: We are going to see Paul Maurice's deep forward group forecheck the absolute hell out of a mediocre Edmonton defense that can't move the puck. Combined with the inability of EDM's forwards to help transition the puck out of their zone, I think we'll see a high amount of defensive-zone turnovers that lead to high quality chances against. The Oilers struggle terribly in this (important) part of the game and could very well get lit up like a pinball machine tonight.

While I definitely think that Spott is doing it bass ackwards, if he has Burns QB'ing and Karlsson shooting, it's probably even more fair to point out that The Big Shot From The Point is a pretty outdated way of producing on the PP anyway. Hell, even when Burns almost scored 30 goals and nearly reached double digits in PP goals, the Sharks had a bad PP. At it's best in the modern game, it seems like the teams who have guys with great point shots (San Jose, Nashville) are running middle of the pack on the PP. The best power-plays are using their forwards for most of the punch.

The DOPS obviously thought the hit wasn't ok. Two game suspension.

This team...... Just look at these two tweets from TSN's Ryan Rishaug: Followed by: [Hidden Content] It's like a keystone cops movie.

Alternate view of the play after the initial hit:

Through three games so far, a few things are very evident: -Connor McDavid is a marvelous hockey player. -Milan Lucic might bounce back to some degree, and get more points than last year, but neither his feet nor his hands can keep up in this league. On one Oilers PP, in New York, I counted 5 instances where the play simply died on his stick. -Leon Draisaitl is getting his points, but has time where he flies the zone in order to cheat for offense. It's one thing for wingers to do this a bit, but it's a whole other thing when your centre is blasting out of the zone before the puck is safely in control and/or out. These aren't the only issues, but are three that I'll bring up for now... Given that the coach has decided that Milan Lucic as 2LW is the hill he's willing to die, I think I would change the top 6 from: Nugent-Hopkins / McDavid / Rattie Lucic / Draisaitl / Yamamoto I would try: Rattie / McDavid / Draisaitl Lucic / Nugent-Hopkins / Puljujarvi -Line 1: We already know that McDavid and Draisaitl are golden together, and it gives Connor 2 players who can accept one-time passes. The impact of Leon cheating for offense is mitigated somewhat by his playing a position with less defensive responsibility. -Line 2: Nugent-Hopkins plays a 200' game, and brings more speed to off-set Lucic's lack of it. A complete lack of speed for Lucic is made a bit more of a problem when paired with 29, because Leon has big heavy legs and takes a few more steps to get up to speed. Puljujarvi should be playing with skill rather than Strome and Khaira. I *only* have Lucic on either of the first two lines because of Todd McLellan's insistence upon playing him there. I think he would be better served on line 3, but then again, I'm not an NHL coach, am I?

Yeah, I think he's safe. If what Friedman says is true, the same can't be said for Chia Pete, McLellan, K-Lowe, MacT, and perhaps several others.

@Brewin Flames I was impressed by Grzelcyk last night. Beautiful skater.

Elliote Friedman was on Calgary sports radio this morning, and was asked about Edmonton: [Hidden Content] “I honestly think guys - and they play tomorrow afternoon in New York - but I really do believe that one of the real tough places right now in the NHL is in Edmonton,” indicated Friedman. “They’re 0-2. McDavid has looked great and done spectacular things in both games and they can’t sustain it. “I just think the heat internally in that organization - I was just told this morning it’s a really tense place. I think everybody there is feeling it. I think that is clearly one of the - it’s going to be one of the hot areas in the league, and not in a good way. I think everybody there is really feeling the pressure.” Friedman was asked if “it’s closer than it’s ever been” concerning head coach Todd McLellan being on the hot seat. “I would just say this: I don’t there’s a person in that organization who feels secure,” noted Friedman. “Maybe Gretzky because, I mean, he’s Gretzky. But I don’t think there’s anybody in that organization who feels secure about what’s going on right now. “So I wouldn’t say one guy, I would say it’s probably just about everybody.”

I'm sure that only at the end, when he has limited choices, would Rick Nash dare to have anything to do with Canada other than to play for the national team.

Deployment and strategy seem to be serious issues. There are a lot of teams that are electing to sit highly priced veterans. Just off the top of my head, Shattenkirk in NY and Alzner in Montreal. Somebody please tell me why Lucic, who was sub-sub-replacement level for half a season last year, mediocre (or worse) in training camp, and awful 5v5 now for two regular season games, deserves to be in the top 6 or on the first unit PP, where there are 5 LH shots. He hasn’t been healthy scratched once during this time. It’s completely unacceptable. Why did the Oilers carry the puck into the offensive zone half as much as the Devils did? The league is becoming more possession driven, and TMac is asking for more dump-ins. Why would you do that when you have guys who can actually carry the puck? There are two young forwards, in Yamamoto and Puljujarvi, who look completely lost out there. One of them is playing with Lucic, and the other is looking up at Drake Caggiula’s ice-time, the only forward last year who could suppress the offence of the world’s best player. I haven’t seen a top 4 pick brought along the way JP has. I'm not saying that this team should be a cup contender. Of course not. But there is no reason to not ice your best lineup, to put talented young players (whose performance this organization’s future relies upon) in positions to succeed, and to incorporate philosophies that smart teams are using to win games. I just want this team to do things that make sense, but apparently even that is beyond the scope of reasonable.