Away: Texas Stars (6-4-0); Last game: 4-2 Loss vs. Houston Home: Oklahoma City Barons (7-4-1); Last game: 3-1 Win vs. Peoria
Quick News and Notes -This is the first of 10 meetings between the two teams. -This is the first game back at home for the Barons after their 5 game road trip. -This is the first of an 8-game homestand. -The Barons went 4-1 on that road trip and are riding a 4 game win streak. -Jean-Francois Jacques will be making his debut. He is on a conditioning loan from the Oilers. -Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers will be suiting up for the first time with the Barons. Unknown whether he'll get the start in net tonight or not. -Jacques' number will be 27, while Deslauriers' will be 38. -Marquardt got his first pro goal, Omark got his 4th goal of the season, and Moran his 5th in the Barons game against the Rivermen. -Giroux continues to lead the team in points, with 12. Omark is next with 11, and Moran and Belle have 10. -Barons PP: 16th in the league - 12 for 76 (15.8%); Stars PP: 23rd in the league - 6 for 47 (12.8%) -Barons PK: T-2nd(with Syracuse) in the league - 52 for 56 (92.9%); Stars PK: 20th in the league - 30 for 37 (81.1%)
Players to watch OKC: JFJ making his debut tonight. He's a 6-4, 217 pound Left Winger. He'll be playing on the 3rd line with Kytnar and Hartikainen. We'll have to see how things go if JDD gets the start in net tonight. Since yesterday was his first day to practice though, I imagine they'll wait a game or two. TEX: C Travis Morin(23) leads the team in scoring with 8 points in 10 games. Behind him are LW Scott McColluch(12), with 5 points in 4 games, and C Mathieu Tousignant(40), with 5 points in 10 games.
Coming back home, hopefully the Barons are able to keep up the momentum from the road trip winning streak. First game against the Stars, and the Red River Rivalry, AHL style. The Stars play in Cedar Park, which is a suburb of Austin. The Barons won their preseason game against the Stars, but neither of the teams resemble much of what they were then. Tonight should be a good game. If you want to watch any of the videos that I took at practice yesterday, head here. The puck drop is at 7:05 CDT/6:05 MDT. The game will be broadcast on 96.1 KXY. As always, you can follow myself(@AHLBarons) and Scott(@OilFieldHockey) as we tweet during the game. TEXAS SUCKS!
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 - (0) DNP (Healthy scratch)
#4 TAYLOR HALL - (5)He didn't do a whole lot tonight. He took 2 shots and had a giveaway. Not a stand out night like he's been dishing out lately. I was starting to think that the physical play scares him a little.
#5 LADISLAV SMID - (6) He had 2 assists and really should have been +3, but he went off before the 3rd goal was scored even though he was awarded an assist on that play. Funny huh? He played 17:07 and he had 1 shot, 3 hits, 1 blocked shot, but tied for a team worst, 3 giveaways. His 3 hits led the team in that category. Just too bad about the giveaways.
#6 RYAN WHITNEY - (5) He was OK. While he did look less sloppy and a little more comfortable with the puck, I didn't think he was very good. He needs to assert himself more. Take charge of that back end. 2 shots, 1 hit (not enough), 3 blocked shots (tied for a team high) and 2 giveaways.
#10 SHAWN HORCOFF - (5) Horcoff was below average. In his 20 minutes in ice time, he only had 1 shot on goal. He was 6/8 for 43% on faceoffs. I hope Cappy can play better against the Wings on Friday. This line needs to chip in.
#13 ANDREW COGLIANO - (7)BEERS It seems like the line change was a good one. Penner seems to fire these guys up. Cogliano picked up 2 assists tonight and on top of that, he made plays. He was more than just a fast player. One of the great plays was the play to Brule for the one timer goal. Dekes a few guys and tosses Brule a beauty for a nice tine time goal. Even on the Penner goal, that was a result from Cogliano's hard work. Cogliano needed a game like this.
#14 JORDAN EBERLE - (5) Not a great game. He made some nice plays and looked OK, but he needed to play like he has been. While the line was decent on scoring chances, they failed to connect.
#16 COLIN FRASER - (6) Much, much better game. His penalty kill was great. He was 5/6 for 45% on faceoffs. He also blocked 3 shots and had a takeaway and a hit. All this in only 10:03 of ice time. His downside? The 2 giveaways.
#22 JF JACQUES - (0) DNP (Injured)
#26 KURTIS FOSTER - (3) He was not very good. He blew so many plays it was getting redundant. He did take 3 shots, but none found the back of the net.
#27 DUSTIN PENNER - (6) He scores on a nice wrap around on Luongo. That whole shift he was a force. He powered his way around there and after a nice hit by Cogliano, Pens scoops the puck and scores. His penalty shortly after that was really high and was unnecessary. Not sure what he was thinking with that?
#28 RYAN JONES - (6) He surprised the Oiler fans and himself with a dirty goal in the 3rd. It helped get the ball rolling and the 4th line made things happen. The 4th line was also on the ice for the fluke winner. So even though that sucked, this was a much different line than how they were a few games ago. He had 3 shots in 7:19 of ice time.
#33 STEVE MACINTYRE - (0) DNP (Healthy scratch)
#35 NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN -(5) The winning goal was a joke.It infuriates me to think about it. Maybe for that slit second he stopped watching the puck? A weak backhand trickles through the whole zone and past Khabi. Tough to go out that way. all game was was 50/50. 50% good. Made great reads and some big saves. But the other 50 was not that good. He was torched in the 1st for 2 goals. Sure the team sucked, but 2 out of the 3 he could have made the save, nevermind the winner. Ugh!
#40 DEVAN DUBNYK - (0) DNP (backup)
#43 JASON STRUDWICK - (4) Average Strudwick type of game. I have nothing to say about him other than I don't like him much as a player. Bring up Shawn Belle.
#46 ZACK STORTINI -(6) He played decent. He had some real good shifts. He picked up his first point of the season with an assist on the Jones goal. He also had a couple of hits and a shot.
#49 THEO PECKHAM - (4) Peckham was not all that great tonight. He was killed in chances and was -1. He didn't really play all that physical like he does, so he was largely ineffective. To be fair, he did play against the Sedins a lot.
#67 GILBERT BRULE - (7)BEERS Brule scores the 3rd and tying goal. Cogs make some nice moves and with a sweet pass to Brule, he scored a bomber. He has found that chemistry with Cogliano and Penner and they seem to be heading in a good direction. He was +2 with the goal and had 2 takeaways as well.
#77 TOM GILBERT - (4)Not his best game. He logged a ton of time (24:41) and fired 7 shots in total (only 1 hit the net) but his 3 giveaways are getting very common. He lost the puck on the Canucks blue line and had to take a penalty on the backcheck. I wasn't a fan of his tonight.
#83 ALES HEMSKY - (4)JEERS He was nailed all game. I started to feel sorry for him after a while. I'm a little surprised that none of his teammates sent a message back. He's the "best" player. I didn't see anyone engage Alberts. He was out chanced all game. Not his best. But he did try.
#89 SAM GAGNER - (4) JEERSHe was the same as Hemsky. He was 8/11 for 42% on the faceoffs. Also like Hemsky, he tried but came up short.
#91 MAGNUS PAAJARVI - (4) JEERS He was also part of the suck line. I'd expect a better game on Friday.
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The Edmonton Oilers have put Jeff Deslauriers on waivers today. Should he clear waivers by not being claimed by 11AM CDT tomorrow, he will be assigned to the Barons. If/When that happens, Brian Pitton will most likely be sent down to the Stockton Thunder(I say "most likely" only because I'm not in the know. You can pretty much expect it). Before this season, Deslauriers signed a 1 year contract worth 1.05 million, which is what he will continue to be paid in the AHL.
Deslauriers hasn't played any games for the Oilers this season. Last season, he played 48 games for the Oilers turning in a record of 16-28-7(3 SO losses) with a .901 Save % and a 3.26 GAA, and played 5 games for the Springfield Falcons turning in a 1-4-0 record with a .910 Save % and 2.73 GAA. In his 137 game AHL career, he has a 59-59-10 record and 4 shutouts(all in the 2006-07 season), and 2.84 GAA. He also played 10 games for the Oilers in the 2008-09 season with a 4-3-0 record, .901 Save % and 3.33 GAA.
This answers the question of the Oilers' backup goalie situation. It was debated whether Deslauriers or Devan Dubnyk would get the job, and Dubnyk has obviously won that. This brings up two new questions however. Colorado Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson on IR, and they could possibly put in a claim for Deslauriers. And if Deslauriers does clear waivers, who will be in net this Friday for the Barons? Interesting times lay ahead.
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