RDOilerfan wrote on Wed, 20 October 2021 07:35

Not a work of art but they won. 3-0 is exactly the start they would have wanted so I will take it any way they can get it. They are finding ways to win while not playing their best which I am choosing to see as a bit of a positive because it means in my opinion, if they play better, they should win easier. Good teams find ways to win even when they aren't at their best. Barrie looks like he did to start off last year. Sputtering but he found his game so I hope that's the same this year. Kassian looks like a different player, the guy from a few years ago. I am loving that 3rd line. Foggele is great. Bouchard is looking GREAT!! 3 games only but he's looking like the dman I'd hoped they would be getting when they drafted him. Almost killed the goal with his shot. Yamo, I am not sure what they should do. This isn't just 3 games this season, this goes back into last year where his playoffs were lousy and he scored 1 goal in 26 games. Sloppy play especially by the forwards but it can be cleaned up. I thought they should have started Koskinen. I get why he went with Smith because he was playing so well but I didn't think Smith was at his best. I don't think there was a "bad goal" but a couple where I thought a save was needed.

I think this is just who Barrie is. He's just not that good of a defender, and he's looked bad on a few goals so it's been more obvious. I honestly think that if Smith stops that 4th goal, people are probably not as down on Barrie, even though he still would have been walked by Steel.

There's a reason that, in an off-season where teams were handing out $9M contracts to defencemen like candy, Barrie only signed for $4.5M despite leading all defencemen in points last year.

Oilers Goal Differential
17/18: 234 GF / 263 GA (-29)
18/19: 232 GF / 274 GA (-42)
19/20 (82 game pace): 257 GF / 254 GA (+3) in 64 games
2021 (82 game pace):269 GF / 235 GA (+34) after 38 games