On Friday night, the Oilers and Canucks played their last pre-season game of what felt like a never-ending schedule. Finally, after what felt like months or even years, we’re through what I’d argue are the two most boring weeks of the NHL season, and the next time we get together will be when the show gets going for real.
Now that the pre-season is behind us and the countdown to the season opener is on, the roster moves that come over the next few days will be fascinating to watch. Even though there aren’t many jobs up for grabs, Kris Knoblauch still has a few key decisions regarding who starts at 4C and what the right side of the defence will look like. Even as boring as these games have been, the coaching staff makes their roster decisions based on them, ultimately shaping how the next few weeks will play out.
Seeing as the Oilers didn’t once look like world-beaters at any point over these past two weeks, I wonder if or how that changes what Knoblauch and Co. are thinking. Even though the results have been poor, a guy like Noah Philp still makes a positive impact when he’s on the ice, and I wonder if that carries more weight on nights when they lose. Either way, I hope these lacklustre efforts we’ve seen are nothing more than the team easing their way into things because it’s still annoying to see them lose if the outcome means jack-squat
That said, the Oilers went 6-1-1 in the preseason and ended up having a horrible start, so there’s no point in guessing how the boys will fare until they actually dig into their year. Thankfully, we’ve only got a few more days to wait until that happens, and I’m hoping that playing for keeps will get our boys to up their urgency levels and play the way we know they can. At the very least, I hope these at-bats knocked off enough rust to avoid putting themselves in a hole again. All I know for sure is that we’ll need a whole lot more than we got during the pre-season if the Oilers are going to make that happen.
OTHER THINGS WORTH MENTIONING
- Quinn Hughes opened the scoring (1-0) with a blast from the high slot that made its way through traffic and past Skinner on the glove-hand side. Shots + Traffic = Goals. It’s a tale as old as time.
- Carson Soucy extended Vancouver’s lead (2-0) near the end of the first period, and the way that building celebrated was honestly hilarious. Those fans are still out in the jungle fighting a war that’s long over, and while their excitement made me laugh more than a few times, I do appreciate the passion.
- Arshdeep Bains put the Canucks up by a third goal (3-0) after he was the business end of a pretty passing play in the Oilers’ zone that carved up the coverage like a knife through butter. Bains was wide open on the right side of the ice, and when the puck finally got to him, he had an open cage to shoot at.
- Evan Bouchard got the Oilers on the board (3-1) after a clean faceoff win by Viktor Arvidsson put the puck on dad’s stick with a clear lane to pick his spot. With all the time in the world and the puck on his stick, Bouchard snapped a quick wrister upstairs over Silov’s glove that was virtually unstoppable.
- Jake DeBrusk sealed the deal for Vancouver with an empty-netter (4-1) with just under two minutes to go.
- Viktor Arvidsson played probably his best game of the pre-season, and it was almost unlucky that he wasn’t able to find the back of the net given how many chances he was in on. Over and above the assist he got on Bouchard’s goal, Arvidsson
- Stuart Skinner has been a slow starter the last couple of seasons, and I wonder if we’re going to get another chapter in that story here in October. That’s not to say that he’s been horrible or anything, but I’d bet that he’d be the first to say he looks rusty, and I think that was certainly the case in Friday’s start against Vancouver. Skinner finished the night with 22 saves and an .880 save%.
- Sticking with Skinners, Jeff has been very quiet in every game he’s played so far, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping for a better first impression. Pre-season stats don’t matter, but a few goals really would have gone a long way to warming everyone up to what he can do.
- Seeing McDavid and Draisaitl put together in a pre-season game was annoying, and I know it probably shouldn’t be. But if the plan is for Skinner and Arvidsson to build some chemistry with Draisaitl as their pivot, separating them just because the team was down didn’t make much sense to me.
- I will build a statue of Noah Philp in my own yard at Baggedmilk Manor if I have to. I do love me a good 4C battle, and I’m enjoying the way he’s fighting for a job. In 10:05 of TOI, Philp threw a couple of pucks on a net while playing at even strength and one the PK.
- Looking at the special teams, the Oilers couldn’t get anything done on their four power play chances, while also giving one goal on three shorthanded situations.
- If the pre-season did give us a bright side, it had to be that I’m able to give you eight bonus faceoff stats. That’s why I’m thrilled to report that the Oilers won 55.4% of the faceoffs.
- I found it enjoyable how hard Canucks fans were celebrating goals even though it’s only the pre-season. It’s fun to know how rent free the Oilers live in Vancouver, and that makes me happy.
