Oilers vs Red Wings Video Highlights

Here are the video highlights. Penner scores and Peckham scores.

Final score; 6-2 for the Wings.

Recap will be posted soon.

Edmonton Oilers vs Detroit Red Wings / A LIVE TweetCast

Welcome to the LIVE TweetCast of the Edmonton Oilers vs the Detroit Red Wings.

This LIVE TweetCast is brought to you br OilersJambalaya.com and OilFieldHockey.com.

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Edmonton Oilers (4-7-2) at Detroit Red Wings (9-3-1)

Lest We Forget...

On this day we remember those who have lost their lives, and those who are willing to, so we can live free. I thank them for giving up everything that they lived for, so I can continue to live for everything that I have.

Lest We Forget...

Call Me Crazy / The Oilers Penalty Kill System

Watching the Oilers Penalty Kill this season so far, has been painful. They are employing a style that I can't say I like. To describe it, it's almost a rotating box that goes from a square to a diamond and back again depending on where the puck is at the time. They seem to chase the puck and player rather than hunkering down and protecting the slot. It's a mix of B and C. (See below)


Picture from http://www.hockeyschoolonline.com/game_theory_penaltykill.htm

I am a straight up box kind of guy. The 1/4 split method (see pictures below) is my preference. Maintain your position and force them to shoot from the outside, while you take your chances and clear the front of the net. Is it the best style? Debatable. But it is a style that I prefer and judging the way things are going right now, it's worth a try.

Right now, the Oilers are chasing the puck. They move to where the puck is. That's not a good thing. The opposing team is pulling the Oilers towards the puck carrier -- by either passing back and forth on the blue line or by just holding the puck and drawing them that way -- while the other side of the rink and/or the guys down low are setting up for one timers and open lanes.

The Oilers are focusing way too much on the puck and not enough behind/around themselves. I believe they should focus more on where the players are located and protect the slot and the front of the net. Much easier to do when your not looking like a bunch of TimBits chasing the puck all over the ice.

The following pictures are here to help me describe what I am talking about.

The Setup. Oilers (blue circles) are more spaced out here to start like they do now,
but they are maintaining the splitting the ice in 1/4 ice positioning rule.
No crossovers. Once the puck moves lower, so should the Oilers.

On the initial setup of the penalty kill, the Oilers should employ the 1/4 rule. Each player takes the 1/4 part of the zone and claim it as your own with no crossing over. (see below)

1/4 Ice Positioning

Now I'm not talking about playing a complete passive/closed box style either. More like a collapsing box when pressured down low, but able to come out far enough out to stop the close range shots.

The key to it working right? Mean and alert defencemen that can hack and whack. You also need forwards that don't get suckered into following/chasing the puck.

Areas of protection

I really do think that the Oilers should try something like this. How many times in the last few games have they been burned on the inside of the box due to puck chasing on the outside, rather than holding their ground?

The other main key to making this penalty kill better, is blocking shots. Not enough shots are blocked in a game by the Oilers. The successful teams block those shots that sneak in. They get pieces of pucks enough to deflect them away. The Oilers need more of that and they shouldn't be so shy. Earn that cash.

So there you have it. I say give it a try.

I won't even get into why Gagner, Hemsky, Strudwick and Gilbert shouldn't be on the PK, cause that's a whole other topic.

-Written by Smokin' Ray-

I Can't Believe I Watched The Whole Game / 7-1 Ass Whopping / A Game Recap

BEERS & JEERS GAME RECAP

Welcome to another fine Edmonton Oilers Beers & Jeers Game Recap.

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FINAL SCORE

EDMONTON OILERS - 1

CAROLINA HURRICANES - 7

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TONIGHT'S STARTING LINES

Hall/Gagner/Hemsky
Penner/Cogliano/Eberle
Penner/Brule/Jones
MacIntyre/Fraser/Stortini

Whitney/Peckham
Smid/Foster
Gilbert/Strudwick

Khabibulin/Dubnyk

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VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS



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TWEETCAST REPLAY LINK

Click Here To View The TweetCast Replay

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BEERS & JEERS PLAYER GRADES

The Cult of Hockey Grading System:
10 perfect game,  9 extraordinary,  8 great,  7 good,  6 above average,
5 average,  4 below average,  3 poor,  2 terrible,  1 deserves to be in minors.

#2 JAMES VANDERMEER - (0) DNP (Healthy scratch)

#4 TAYLOR HALL - (3) JEERS Brutal. He only played 8:47 and had nothing to show for it but a lousy missed shot. He was benched after banging his stick on the glass in frustration. Lesson learned? He had the lowest time on the ice next to MacIntyre.

#5 LADISLAV SMID - (5) He had 1 blocked shot, 4 hits and a giveaway in his 18:09 of ice time.

#6 RYAN WHITNEY - (5) He assisted on the Penner goal and was -1. He did OK on the penalty kill but was burned twice 5 on 5.

#10 SHAWN HORCOFF - (0) DNP (Injured)

#13 ANDREW COGLIANO - (6) BEERS He was sticked in the mouth and had to get stitched up. He played hard after that. He had 2 shots, 2 hits and a takeaway. He was on the ice for the Penner goal and finished the night +1. He went 4/5 for 44% on faceoffs.

#14 JORDAN EBERLE - (4) Not a great night for Mr. Consistent. He was benched with Hall in the 3rd. He had 2 shots and 2 takeaways.

#16 COLIN FRASER - (5) He seen a lot of ice with some of his teammates benched. He played 15:00 and looked OK. I thought he did a lot of things well. His faceoffs sucked. Team worst 5/8 for 38%.

#22 JF JACQUES - (0) DNP (conditioning with the OKC Barons)

#26 KURTIS FOSTER - (5) I did like Foster for the most part. He was very involved in the game. He took 8 shots with 2 reaching the net. He picked up an assist on the Penner goal and ended the night +1.

#27 DUSTIN PENNER - (4) His penalty 57 seconds in starts the tailspin. They scored on that PP. Not the best way to help your team start off on the right foot. He scores the Oilers only goal. Right place at the right time. For a big guy, he could pound guys with checks, but he doesn't.

#28 RYAN JONES - (5) He had a whopping 3:21 minutes of PP time tonight. He had 2 shots and 2 hits. His overall ice time? A personal season high 15:46.

#33 STEVE MACINTYRE - (2) JEERS He played 2:17 and managed to take a dumb penalty. He was trying to stir up some emotion, he puts (can't remember) in a headlock and flops him to the ground. 2 minutes for roughing. He did register 1 hit.

#35 NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN - (1) JEERS Worst. Performance. Ever. (5 goals against. 2 in the first 1:15)

#40 DEVAN DUBNYK - (5) In relief of Khabi, he did OK. He let in 2 goals but made some decent saves. I see no reason why Dubnyk isn't getting more games. He deserves a chance to play.

#43 JASON STRUDWICK - (4) Oy! He made me cringe every time the Canes came into the Oilers zone and Strudwick was there. While he wasn't a 2, it doesn't get much better than a 4. He didn't even have a hit. Isn't he supposed to be the physical part of the team?

#46 ZACK STORTINI - (4) He didn't really do anything out there. Much like Strudwick, when your team is down by a few goals like tonight, crush someone. That's what you get paid for. In his 11:00 minutes of ice time, Renney managed to give him 1:32 of PP time.

#49 THEO PECKHAM - (6) BEERS He played 20:23 and had 12 minutes in penalties (2 for roughing and a game misconduct with about 4 minutes left in the 3rd). He tried his ass of and he threw 6 hits and blocked 4 shots. He did make some errors, but he was a hard guy to play against. My favorite defender tonight.

#67 GILBERT BRULE - (4) Brule had the best faceoff percentage for both teams. He went 9/3 for 75%. How is he not a full time center? He finished -2 and had 3 shots.

#77 TOM GILBERT - (3) JEERS He was brutal. He was on the ice for 5 of the Canes' goals. He had a giveaway that resulted in a goal. He finished -3 and it's clear that Strudwick isn't his match made in heaven. He did try and be better by throwing 4 hits and blocking 3 shots, but it just wasn't a great night for Gilbert.

#83 ALES HEMSKY - (4) JEERS He did nothing. When the chips were down, he gave up. Why is he n the PK? He barely back checks 5 on 5, how is going to do it well a man down? He was on the ice for 2 PP goals against. While he was better than his linemates, that isn't saying much at all. Booooo to you Hemmer!

#89 SAM GAGNER - (3) JEERS He couldn't do anything right. He was a team worst -4 (he was on for every 5 on 5 goal against) and blew so many covers it was getting frustrating to watch. He had 2 shots and a hit while playing 17:24. Worst game I have ever seen him play.

#91 MAGNUS PAAJARVI - (3) JEERS Part of the crap the bed gang. Paajarvi had a team worst 3 giveaways and he finished -2. He did have 2 hits and 2 shots, but not much else.

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EVENT SUMMARY

GAME SUMMARY

FACEOFF REPORT

SHOT REPORT

mc79hockey Scoring Chances *coming soon*

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BAD TIMING PENALTY (what is a Bad Timing Penalty?)

Dustin Penner - The penalty to start the game killed the Oilers right off the hop. This game could have been different if that penalty was never taken and the first goal of the game wasn't scored so quick.

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Thank you for reading OilersJambalaya.com and OilFieldHockey.com. We are trying to change the way you look at the Edmonton Oilers... one reader at a time.

Special thanks to David Staples of Cult Of Hockey - Edmonton Journal for allowing us to use his grading system.

-Written by Smokin' Ray of OilersJambalaya.com-