Edmonton Oilers

[Axeman33]

this did not work out. sigh.

I am sure most who owned him, started him last night. Why wouldn't you.

It was a bad game all around, not just for Talbot.

[SeaDawg]

So, strong start to the season, and a big win last night against a hot team. St. Louis is a perennial powerhouse in the West, so winning that game is a good sign that the Oilers may be ready to officially take the next step and be a playoff team this season. Very exciting.

On another note, I'm pretty happy for Yakupov who seems to be adjusting well to his new team. It is obviously very early, but I think he might have a 20 goal, 20 assist season for the Blues, which would be a career high for him in both categories.

[LawMan]

So, strong start to the season, and a big win last night against a hot team. St. Louis is a perennial powerhouse in the West, so winning that game is a good sign that the Oilers may be ready to officially take the next step and be a playoff team this season. Very exciting.

On another note, I'm pretty happy for Yakupov who seems to be adjusting well to his new team. It is obviously very early, but I think he might have a 20 goal, 20 assist season for the Blues, which would be a career high for him in both categories.

Great start for the team, sure is nice to finally have a win over a legit playoff team. Lucic and McDavid looked unreal last night, Lucic was skating hard and showing off some sick hands. I wasn't a fan of the Russell signing but man has he looked good early on, he's calm and collected when he has the puck and rarely makes a terrible give away or panic icing play. If the Oilers could get some consistent secondary scoring from the 2nd and 3rd lines that would be great.

[Potatoeman]

Tyler Pitlick is up to 3 goals in 5 games despite playing on the 4th line and no PP time... Any upside there or is this just smoke from a small sample sized fire?

I have both Pouliot and Maroon and am debating on which to start this week... leaning towards Maroon since Pouliot seems to be in a rut right now (plus he was benched this week). Any insight on this situation?

[doulos]

Pitlick has shown some skill in the past but has just an horrific injury history. He's not likely to ever play in much of a bigger role than he is in currently and I wouldn't expect him to put up many points on a regular basis.

[Axeman33]

Nice!

https://twitter.com/EdmontonJack/sta...93261192105984

EDM 4-0 vs West, with all four W's in regulation time. 4th win in reg. against West team last year came March 16; the year before, March 25.

[PenguinHunter]

4th regulation win not until March against teams in West. I knew Edmonton did well against the East last year ... but I didn't know they struggled that much against the West.

[The Comish]

4-1 W vs Washington. Team looks a little different this year. Looking a little more like a team than a collection of talented individuals. A little more team toughness and a little goaltending. Adding legitimate, if not boring D in Russell and Larsson looks like it's helped the bottom line. Oh yeah, and Connor McDavid. Sure the team had some easy games against a struggling Calgary and Carolina, but getting wins against St. Louis and Washington will go a long way in the confidence department. Starting to turn that corner.

[doulos]

It's early yet, and they still have those moments where they get hemmed in their own zone longer than I would like, but having big bodies like Lucic, Maroon, Draisaitl, Kassian, sprinkled throughout the lineup has really made a difference. Sure helps that Talbot has been fantastic as well.

The team went 8-2 or whatever a few years ago and got blown out after that but it felt very different during that stretch at that time.

Typically Christmas is when I feel like I have a good idea as to where the team truly sits, but what a great start.

[deantime419]

I definitely have faith that this team is turning it around. Big test will be if they can tread water on the road now.

[doulos]

Improving the powerplay would help. McDavid with 0 powerplay shots so far this year. That likely won't stay the same!

[Rylant]

Agreed that it might be a little early to be planning a Stanley Cup Parade here. This 5 game road trip in early November is going to be a telling sign. I have heard that Taylor Hall was a real cancer in the dressing room, but of course that was just a rumour. No question, adding size in Kassian, Maroon and Lucic has really helped. Russell has brought a defensive element to the team that hasn't existed in a long time. Talbot is playing well right now, but is still really hit and miss for me. I agree with Doulos when he says that they can seem a little lost in their own zone at times.

Rylant

[Axeman33]

Lucic said when he came in, he wanted to bring a swagger to this team and so far, he's done just that. As it stands right now, abeit early, they are playing with something they haven't had in a very long time; confidence.

Right now, they are playing well but at some point they will have struggles. It's coming; we can expect it. How they bounce back from that will say a lot about this team this year.

[doulos]

Lucic said when he came in, he wanted to bring a swagger to this team and so far, he's done just that. As it stands right now, abeit early, they are playing with something they haven't had in a very long time; confidence.

Right now, they are playing well but at some point they will have struggles. It's coming; we can expect it. How they bounce back from that will say a lot about this team this year.

Lucic has certainly seemed to play his best against the better teams in the league, which is fantastic. I have not turned my tv (or internet stream) off in disgust yet this year, which is probably a new record after 7 games into a season, at least for the past decade.

[doulos]

Oilers had their chances against the Leafs but they will need to get the scoring from throughout the lineup on nights when an entire team is focused on shutting down McDavid. An absolute blatant hold by Kadri on McDavid on the winning goal which was let go, but it had been happening all night long. McDavid is going to need to learn how to play through that kind of play like Mario Lemiuex had to when he was in the league. Who can forget the goal against the Nordiques when he had a guy basically dragging behind him with his stick the entire time? That's what McDavid can expect and he'll need to figure out how to game the reffing system like a player like Kadri has already figured out. It seems so shortsighted to have the McDavids/Matthews/Laine types get hooked, grabbed, interfered etc, on a constant basis, instead of playing high skilled and exciting hockey. The longer I watch NHL hockey, the less I get excited by it these days. If McDavid didn't get drafted by the Oilers I do wonder if I'd have moved on from the team and to other interests.