Away: Oklahoma City Barons (3-4-1); Last game: 5-2 Loss vs. Toronto Home: Hamilton Bulldogs (2-1-2); Last game: 4-3 SO Loss vs. Manitoba
Quick News and Notes -This is the first of two meetings between the two teams. -The Barons will be playing their third game in three days, while the Bulldogs had yesterday off. -This is the second game of five on the Barons road trip. -Liam Reddox and Linus Omark scored the two Barons goals yesterday. -Reddox is riding a 4 game goal scoring streak and a 5 game point scoring streak with 6 points(4G, 2A) in those games. -Omark is riding a 5 game point scoring streak as well with 7 points(3G, 4A) in those games. -No one on the Barons has above a 0 rating in +/-. Brad Moran is the only player to have played all 8 games and have a 0 rating. -The Barons outscored their opponents 15-5 during their win streak. They have been outscored 9-3 in their last two losses. -The Barons have been outscored 19-6 in their losses. -The Barons are 8 for 48 on the PP(16.7%), and 36 for 38 on the PK(94.7%). -The Barons have killed off their last 31 PKs. -The Bulldogs are 7 for 21 on the PP(33.3%), and 22 for 27 on the PK(81.5%).
Players to watch OKC: Reddox and Omark have been the only two producing for the Barons. Hartikainen has been trying, but hasn't been able to put any points on the board. HAM: Defensemen Yannick Weber(7) leads the Bulldogs with 9 points(5G, 4A) in 5 games. Center Ben Maxwell(19) is second with 8 points(3G, 5A).
After having a game on Friday night, leaving at 4 AM yesterday, catching a couple flights, and then getting stuck in traffic in Toronto, you could tell the Barons were tired. Hopefully with a little more rest, the Barons are able to get back in the groove today. The Barons get a couple nights off after today's game before they take on the Wolves on Wednesday. The game will be shown on CBC in Canada and on the NHL Network in the US. Puck drop is at 1PM EDT/Noon CDT. The game will also be broadcast on 96.1 KXY if you're unable to be by a television, or aren't able to get NHL Network or CBC (like me). If you're in the OKC area, there will be a watch party at the Buffalo Wild Wings at I-40 and Sooner Rd, which is where I will be. As always, you can follow myself(@AHLBarons) and Scott(@OilFieldHockey) as we tweet during the game.
The Cult of Hockey Grading System: 10perfect 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 - (2)JEERS He was caught on a long shift and was burned on the Sharks 2nd goal. He was also the main culprit on the Sharks 4th goal and his penalty was the cause of the 5th goal. He also had 4 giveaways. Terrible game for Vandermeer.
#4 TAYLOR HALL - (4)Hall did very little but a couple of shots and some blazing rushes. Sure wasn't the same Taylor Hall as last game. One would have to expect that anyways. He finished -1 and only had 2 shots. Curious note, he won his only faceoff.
#5 LADISLAV SMID - (4) Not a good game by any stretch. He had 2 blocked shots and was -1. Smid has been better this year.
#6 RYAN WHITNEY - (5) Like every other Oilers game, he led the team in ice time. He had an assist and actually finished a +1. His passes are very accurate and he sure can play.
#10 SHAWN HORCOFF - (5) Horcoff had an assist on the Eberle goal and had an average game. He was 5/11 for 31% on faceoffs. His wingers need to support him better. He finished -1.
#13 ANDREW COGLIANO - (3) He was hammered pretty hard and we really never noticed him after that. Maybe that hurt him? He had 3 shots and was a terrible 38% on faceoffs.
#14 JORDAN EBERLE - (6) BEERS Another beautiful short handed goal. Other than the goal, he didn't so a whole lot. He did make some nice passes so he wasn't completely useless. He deserves a 5, but that goal was so sweet.
#16 COLIN FRASER - (3) He played minimal and didn't contribute to the game. When he was on the ice, he didn't suck.
#22 JF JACQUES - (0) DNP (Injured)
#26 KURTIS FOSTER - (5) He was one of the better Oilers defencemen. Does that say much? He played 20:13 and he had a team high, 5 shots on net.
#27 DUSTIN PENNER - (3)JEERS For a game that could have used a big guy presence from the Oilers side, Penner was invisible. Did that misconduct last game play a head game with him? It was like he didn't even care to be on the ice. He had 3 shots and finished -1.
#28 RYAN JONES - (3) He had little fpr me to write about. He did not do much.
#33 STEVE MACINTYRE - (0) DNP (Healthy scratch)
#35 NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN - (3)He sucked. How come he didn't get pulled? Why is he playing every game when we have 3 goalies?
#38 JEFF DESLAURIERS - (0) DNP (Healthy scratch)
#40 DEVAN DUBNYK - (0) DNP (Healthy scratch)
#43 JASON STRUDWICK - (2)JEERS Wow! His first game this season and he pulls out a stinker. maybe he's best suited as a coach? He was -2 and combined with Vandermeer, the two worst Oilers tonight.
#46 ZACK STORTINI -(4) He had a fight with Mayers and did OK. Other than that, didn't do much.
#49 THEO PECKHAM - (0) DNP (Injured)
#67 GILBERT BRULE - (3) Brule did nothing. Sure he had some flashes of speed, but he just couldn't create anything. Two penalties and 2 shots.
#77 TOM GILBERT - (5) He had a quiet game. He played 24:14 and had 3 blocked shots. One of the few Oilers I didn't swear at (much).
#83 ALES HEMSKY - (5) He danged and tried hard to make something happen. Both himself and Gagner really tried to take this game and run with it. But they cam up short. Way short.
#89 SAM GAGNER - (5) His game was OK. He created some chances and looked comfortable with the puck. He went 6/8 for 43% on faceoffs.
#91 MAGNUS PAAJARVI - (4) Quiet. He didn't do a whole lot (like the rest if the team). His only stat was 1 blocked shot.
Jim Vandermeer - Just when the Sharks score to make it 4-1, Vandermeer took a needless and pointless slashing penalty. Guess what? Sharks scored almost instantly once the PP started. If coming back from 4-1 wasn't hard enough, that made it 5-1.
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.
Away: Oklahoma City Barons (3-3-1); Last game, 4-1 Loss vs. San Antonio Home: Toronto Marlies (1-3-0); Last game, 3-1 Loss vs. Binghamton
Quick News and Notes -This is the first of two meetings between the teams. -This will be the first road trip of the season for the Barons. They play their next 5 games on the road. -After tonight's game, the Barons travel to Hamilton for their televised game at Noon CDT. -Liam Reddox is riding a three game goal scoring streak. He's the only Baron that scored in yesterday's game against San Antonio. -Liam Reddox is fourth in the league in shots with 33. -Brian Pitton is going to get the start today. In his first game against Houston, he stopped 29 of 31 shots. -The Barons are 0-2-1 when out-shooting the opponent. -The Barons are 7 for 41 on the PP(17.1%), and 30 for 32 on the PK(93.8%). -The Barons streak of consecutive penalties killed is at 25. -The Marlies are 1 for 15 on the PP(6.7%), and 15 for 17 on the PK(88.2%).
Players to watch OKC: Reddox has been the only player that's consistently trying to do something. Not once can I say I've seen him playing lackadaisical. Giroux, Moran, and Belle continue to lead the team with 7 points. TOR: Brayden Irwin(10) and Nazem Kadri(13), both rookies, lead the Marlies with 3 points. Luca Caputi(#17, @Lputi17 on Twitter) has 2 points.
Last night sucked. The team looked flat and uninterested. Like I said, Reddox was the only one that I saw trying to do something everytime he was on the ice. Harski was getting some big hits as well last night. Today, we turn our heads north for the first time this season, the first of a 5 game road trip. Hopefully they're able to make some adjustments and look like the team they were last weekend. The puck drop is at 4 CDT/3 MDT. Today's game will be on KTOK and on AHL Live. As always, you can follow myself(@AHLBarons) and Scott(@OilFieldHockey) on Twitter as we tweet about the game.
Like the saying goes, third time's the charm. Stockton Thunders first game of the season against the Ontario Reign was a 6-3 loss. Game 2, the Thunder played the Reign and lost 5-4 in sudden death overtime.
Tonight, the third game of the season, the Thunder again played the Reign and this time came away with a 3-1 win for their first victory of the season.
All four goals scored in the game came on the power-play.
In the 1st period, the first of Thunders power-play goals was from Chris Lawrence (assisted by Aaron Clarke and Anthony Aiello). Chris D'Alvise (with assists from Jason Pitton and Fraser Clair) scored on a 5 on 3 power-play. In the 3rd period, Aaron Clarke scored a goal (assists from Chris Lawrence and Jim McKenzie) on the power-play.
Jon Francisco, with assists from David Walker and Jeff Corey, got the only goal for Ontario.
The Thunder looked great out there. Crisp passing, stronger defense, confident goaltending, and the guys laid some really nice hard hits on the Reign who were tripping all over themselves tonight. Goalie Tyson Sexsmith had 24 saves for the Thunder.
The best thing about this win? The Thunder played a complete game. It never felt like they were backing off or slowing down. Even until the final minute of the period as they were on a penalty kill, the team kept hustling to try to eke out one last goal into an empty net. It didn't happen but who cares, they played their best and earned the win.
The three stars of the game were all from the Stockton Thunder
Tyson Sexsmith
Aaron Clarke
Chris Lawrence
Next home games will be on November 5th and 6th, which will be the "Thunder Goes Pink" games versus the Bakersfield Condors.
Two Guys & Hockey Talk NHL News (CLICK PIC FOR LINK)
The Faithful Followers
Oilers Jambalaya is in no way, shape or form associated with the Edmonton Oilers or the Bakersfield Condors. This is a fans blog for fans. We happen to love those teams, so we write about them.
