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 Adam
Messages: 7757
Registered: August 2005
Location: Edmonton, AB
6 Cups
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So the one positive in the last two games is that the Oilers overall outplayed the opposition for the most part, and outshot them badly in both games. That said, the breakdowns right now are pretty huge. How many breakaways did Jarry face last night? Yes, he should have had a couple of those goals, but we can't keep giving away golden opportunities again and again.
I think it's good to see some frustration from the players about where they're at. The break comes at the perfect time now. I do think that the Oilers have built the team so that it's completely reliant on the top players stepping up. Some of the comments from Derek Ryan were interesting as well, and highlighted some of the frustrations for those not on the top line.
The feeling is that any O-zone draw, any icing, any TV timeout means that the big lines are coming back out and the depth are on the bench. I think that makes a lot of sense, given that you're trying to win games and you get in to a chicken and egg thing when these guys aren't scoring goals and aren't getting much offensive push. Hard to justify giving any of those opportunities to them when they don't score on them.
It would be interesting to compare to the Sedin era Canucks, who were very focused on O-zone starts, etc. for the twins. Did they also have issues with depth contributions?
I do think if there's a bunch of guys who don't really feel they are anything beyond a replaceable cog just killing time that that could create tensions and issues.
It will be interesting to see what happens the next two weeks. I have read a couple places suggesting something is likely to change during that period of time related to the coaching staff.
"Thinking that a bad team's best players are the reason the team is bad is the "Tambellini re-signing Lennart Petrell" of sports opinions." @Woodguy55
#FireBobbyNicks
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