Edmonton Oilers

[MXHockey]

Bring on the Cup!

[doulos]

What a strange game. Oilers played down to Carolina for sure, but the shot totals were a bit misleading.

Hall was absolutely incredible tonight - wow!

[metaldude26]

What a strange game. Oilers played down to Carolina for sure, but the shot totals were a bit misleading.

Hall was absolutely incredible tonight - wow!

That sauce he drizzled to Eberle was, **** me.

[rainydrinkwater]

This win streak couldn't have come at a better time for the oilers. I'm sure tensions are not as high around the club or fir it's fans as they were at the beginning of this week.

#extendeakins

[doulos]

4 in a row! Oilers were not the best team on the ice tonight, and they needed to capitalize on all of the powerplay time they had. Also thought the game was very poorly officiated overall, with lots of missed calls that could have gone the Habs way, and a few missed ones for the Oilers as well. But FOUR IN A ROW!

[metaldude26]

Smoke and mirrors! I'll take it. Better than abject failure. Maybe we can Maple Leaf our way into a state of irrational confidence and exuberance.

[doulos]

I wouldn't say it's THAT bad. The fourth line was stupid good tonight, the penalty kill was great, and they had great goaltending. I hate Eberle still. Yakupov scores and has become my favorite Oiler.,

[MXHockey]

Wow - Price or Rask get a shutout, it's another day.

Scrivens gets one and the media go on about it forever LOL.


This four game win streak has been fun though!

[joeb323]

I think all Oilers fans are feeling some uneasy optimism right now. Beating the hottest team in the league is no easy feat, so credit to them even if they were outplayed overall in that game. Now if they can just beat some of the teams in the west, they might have something.

I'm enjoying the ride while it lasts because I know that a 4 game losing streak is just as easy. They do look much improved since the start of the season though. Amazing goaltending, better team defense, and scoring depth from different lines. Is this happiness that I feel what it's like when fans of winning teams watch their team play?

[SeaDawg]

yeah, you are right, joeb

You can't argue with the results (it's been a long time since the Oilers have won 4 in a row), but if they are ever going to win 4 in a row, it is while facing 4 Eastern Conference teams at home. We all know the East is a weaker division and even though Tampa and Montreal are good teams, they were probably tired from the travel (and Tampa was likely demoralized after losing Hedman the night before).

Again, wins are wins, but until the team can string together some wins against tougher competition, like Anaheim, Chicago, LA, St. Louis, San Jose, Minnesota, Dallas, and Colorado, I'm not getting too excited (and I know none of us are). The West is just so tough. I just listed 8 teams that will likely be in the playoffs, and didn't even mention the team that is first overall right now (Nashville).

Anyway, it is a process and little victories (even against Eastern Conference teams) will help build some confidence for this young team. Tonight's a big game for them. I'm not expecting a win, but if they can at least play competitively and give themselves a chance to win, I will be happy.

[doulos]

Montreal vs the West:

Win vs Colorado
Win vs Calgary
Loss vs Oilers

Tampa Bay vs the West:

Win vs Vancouver
Loss vs Edmonton
Win vs Calgary
Win vs Winnipeg
Loss vs Minnesota
Win vs Arizona

Washington vs the West:

Loss vs San Jose
Loss vs Edmonton
Win vs Calgary
Loss vs Vancouver

Washington has certainly struggled against the West, but Montreal and Tampa Bay have only lost 3 games against the West, with 2 of those coming from the Oilers.

The East is not as strong as the West, but at the top end, those teams are solid enough to hold their own and feast on the bottom dwellers of the Western Conference. The Oilers just hammered home a four game win streak right through a couple of those stronger teams.

They should be given a little credit for what they did as far as I am concerned. Not 'PLAYOFF TEAM!!!!!' credit, but 'Hey that was some solid play' type credit.

[joeb323]

I'm not expecting a win, but if they can at least play competitively and give themselves a chance to win, I will be happy.

That's been my mindset for the last couple seasons as well. I know they are still not good enough to make the playoffs, but as a fan all I want to see when I turn on the game is to see a team competing hard and having a chance. If they lose but put out a good effort, I'm okay with that. But when they look like they did against LA earlier this year, it's hard to stay happy.

[SeaDawg]

Montreal vs the West:

Win vs Colorado
Win vs Calgary
Loss vs Oilers

Tampa Bay vs the West:

Win vs Vancouver
Loss vs Edmonton
Win vs Calgary
Win vs Winnipeg
Loss vs Minnesota
Win vs Arizona

Washington vs the West:

Loss vs San Jose
Loss vs Edmonton
Win vs Calgary
Loss vs Vancouver

Washington has certainly struggled against the West, but Montreal and Tampa Bay have only lost 3 games against the West, with 2 of those coming from the Oilers.

The East is not as strong as the West, but at the top end, those teams are solid enough to hold their own and feast on the bottom dwellers of the Western Conference. The Oilers just hammered home a four game win streak right through a couple of those stronger teams.

They should be given a little credit for what they did as far as I am concerned. Not 'PLAYOFF TEAM!!!!!' credit, but 'Hey that was some solid play' type credit.

Interesting...but doesn't really change much for me. Like I said, 4 wins are impressive, regardless of the competition. I'm just saying that until they start holding their own against teams in their own division/conference, they have a LONG WAY to go to becoming respectable.

I think joeb said to best in that we can be "cautiously optimistic", but just like we shouldn't have been burning our jerseys after the first four loses of the season (against the West), we shouldn't be getting too excited about four wins (which I know none of us are).

Let me put it this way, if Edmonton had beaten Anaheim, LA, St. Louis and Colorado instead of the 4 teams they did, I would be getting excited.

[ross10019]

Interesting...but doesn't really change much for me. Like I said, 4 wins are impressive, regardless of the competition. I'm just saying that until they start holding their own against teams in their own division/conference, they have a LONG WAY to go to becoming respectable.

I think joeb said to best in that we can be "cautiously optimistic", but just like we shouldn't have been burning our jerseys after the first four loses of the season (against the West), we shouldn't be getting too excited about four wins (which I know none of us are).

Let me put it this way, if Edmonton had beaten Anaheim, LA, St. Louis and Colorado instead of the 4 teams they did, I would be getting excited.

I think Montreal and Tampa can compete against the big gun western teams too. Last year, Montreal beat the Hawks, Ducks (2x), Wild (2x), Avs, narrowly lost to the Hawks, Kings, Sharks, Avs and Blues, then blown out by the Kings, Sharks and Blues. And they're somewhat improved this year.

And when all is said and done, when the real games start in April, these Eastern teams only have to play one final series against the Western juggernaut. In a 7-game series, with Price between the pipes, I'd say 40% chance that the Habs can take out the Kings, Hawks, Blues or Ducks, especially as those teams are often beat up badly by the time they reach the final.

[SeaDawg]

I think Montreal and Tampa can compete against the big gun western teams too. Last year, Montreal beat the Hawks, Ducks (2x), Wild (2x), Avs, narrowly lost to the Hawks, Kings, Sharks, Avs and Blues, then blown out by the Kings, Sharks and Blues. And they're somewhat improved this year.

And when all is said and done, when the real games start in April, these Eastern teams only have to play one final series against the Western juggernaut. In a 7-game series, with Price between the pipes, I'd say 40% chance that the Habs can take out the Kings, Hawks, Blues or Ducks, especially as those teams are often beat up badly by the time they reach the final.

Nothing I said was meant to be a slight against Montreal or even Tampa...both are good teams. My point was only that Edmonton has to learn to stand up and compete with the big boys of the West. I'd like to see Edmonton go into LA or Anaheim's arena and beat one of them 3-0. I don't know if it is psychological, but Edmonton hasn't been able to play well against those teams. I also think it has to do with the style of hockey that Montreal and Tampa play. They aren't "heavy" teams like St. Louis, LA, etc.