Saturday, April 22, 2006
Oil Drips
I'm going to break with general consensus, here, and say that the Oil played a helluva lot better than the shot count would suggest.
In fact, for much of the game I was pretty happy with the way they played. It seems that most folks were pretty disgusted with the lack of demon forechecking "Oilers Hockey"; but I actually thought that Mac-T was pretty tricky starting the game in the trap. He mixed it up a bit too, starting the second period with some aggressive forechecking before sitting back again.
And you know what? It worked. For the first part of the game, Detroit didn't have a whole lot of quality opportunities, and the crowd was completely out of the game. When Edmonton was up 2-1, the boring style of play continued to work. Detroit was getting lots of shots, but not that many were truly dangerous. It was only when Detroit tied it up that the wheels fell off the bus a little bit.
Also, a few folks definitely looked a bit nervous--especially Torres and Horcoff.
Rollie, as predicted, was dynamite.
Tomorrow's game will say it all. The Oil have two choices. Come out pissed that they lost a game the could (should?) have won. Or come out questioning themselves and fritter away the playoff series.
Oh, and the CBC nonsense not only caused me mental anguish (where was the powerplay time clock), but when it cut away to the Calgary game in OT, I jumped up to flip on the radio, crunched my foot against my desk, and broke my pinky toe. It is purple and swollen today, and I have a distinct limp. Thanks a lot Hockey Night in Canada.
In fact, for much of the game I was pretty happy with the way they played. It seems that most folks were pretty disgusted with the lack of demon forechecking "Oilers Hockey"; but I actually thought that Mac-T was pretty tricky starting the game in the trap. He mixed it up a bit too, starting the second period with some aggressive forechecking before sitting back again.
And you know what? It worked. For the first part of the game, Detroit didn't have a whole lot of quality opportunities, and the crowd was completely out of the game. When Edmonton was up 2-1, the boring style of play continued to work. Detroit was getting lots of shots, but not that many were truly dangerous. It was only when Detroit tied it up that the wheels fell off the bus a little bit.
Also, a few folks definitely looked a bit nervous--especially Torres and Horcoff.
Rollie, as predicted, was dynamite.
Tomorrow's game will say it all. The Oil have two choices. Come out pissed that they lost a game the could (should?) have won. Or come out questioning themselves and fritter away the playoff series.
Oh, and the CBC nonsense not only caused me mental anguish (where was the powerplay time clock), but when it cut away to the Calgary game in OT, I jumped up to flip on the radio, crunched my foot against my desk, and broke my pinky toe. It is purple and swollen today, and I have a distinct limp. Thanks a lot Hockey Night in Canada.
# posted by sacamano @ 9:11 am 
Comments:
I watched the game and Oilers did what they needed to do. I do have issues with the non calls and odd calls by the referees. The Peca hit, MAB getting a double, Laraque interference, Devo slash, Hemsky knee. But the strange thing I saw last night is the Wing players yipping like crazy on the way to the box. Give them a 5 and shut em up. I hope they review the missed calls The NHL really sucks as I am in Calgary and they finally cut over to the Flames snooze fest instead of sticking with OT. The Flames need to pick it up as the Ducks are looking pretty good even without JS.
Actually, I don't think the general consenus has been established just yet. LT sees it the same way you do but the COI guy says the Oilers were outworked and outplayed and I tend to agree with him.
The only thing going for us is that Roloson certainly looks ready.
I only saw the OT - stupid Eastern feed but it was an odd one. The Wings' coverage is incredible and made the Oil look slow but I found that despite the difference in shots it was not a dominant performance by the Wings.
If Torres puts in that rebound or Murray gets to that puck in OT ...
I think they'll rue losing this one though - when you have a chance to win a game where you get outshot by a fair margin in your opponents' rink and you don't come away with the win - that hurts.
Hrudey said he felt Roloson looked truly relaxed for the first time since the trade. Let's hope tomorrow brings more of the same from him. With goaltending like that they're in every game.
I thought the Oilers played an excellent game yesterday and probably deserved a better fate...
As for the CBC...a pox on them.
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I watched the game and Oilers did what they needed to do. I do have issues with the non calls and odd calls by the referees. The Peca hit, MAB getting a double, Laraque interference, Devo slash, Hemsky knee. But the strange thing I saw last night is the Wing players yipping like crazy on the way to the box. Give them a 5 and shut em up. I hope they review the missed calls The NHL really sucks as I am in Calgary and they finally cut over to the Flames snooze fest instead of sticking with OT. The Flames need to pick it up as the Ducks are looking pretty good even without JS.
# posted by 
: April 22, 2006 10:12 am
: April 22, 2006 10:12 am Actually, I don't think the general consenus has been established just yet. LT sees it the same way you do but the COI guy says the Oilers were outworked and outplayed and I tend to agree with him.
The only thing going for us is that Roloson certainly looks ready.
I only saw the OT - stupid Eastern feed but it was an odd one. The Wings' coverage is incredible and made the Oil look slow but I found that despite the difference in shots it was not a dominant performance by the Wings.
If Torres puts in that rebound or Murray gets to that puck in OT ...
I think they'll rue losing this one though - when you have a chance to win a game where you get outshot by a fair margin in your opponents' rink and you don't come away with the win - that hurts.
Hrudey said he felt Roloson looked truly relaxed for the first time since the trade. Let's hope tomorrow brings more of the same from him. With goaltending like that they're in every game.
I thought the Oilers played an excellent game yesterday and probably deserved a better fate...
As for the CBC...a pox on them.
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