Penner and Team Consistency

Here's another mind bender, I know Penner has played better as of late, but why can't this guy play the way did against Anaheim every night? I mean I know he's not going to bag 2 a night, but play with some purpose on a nightly basis. Show that you've got a pulse! Maybe he was fired up to play his former team, i don't know but he's a pro hockey player and he shouldn't need special circumstances to bring out his A game.

The success of this team hangs in the balance of their best players who have been streaky this year. Hemsky has been playing better and looks to me as though he's going to be a factor in our last few games. He is game breaker and I believe he's a guy that will come through in the clutch. But guys like Penner and Horcoff have got to check their "baggage" at the arena door on game days and come to work with a mind set that THEY need to be the teams best players. The new guys Kotalik and O'Sullivan too, they need to be the guys, but I'll cut them some slack as they are still adjusting to a new team and a new coaching system that sees them playing with new line mates every game if not every few shifts! But that's for another post.

Technorati Tags: penner, horcoff, hemsky, kotalik, o'sullivan, oilers, playoffs,

Game Review, @ Anaheim - Mar 27 2009

Oilers beat the Ducks 5-3 in Anaheim and move into 7th spot in the Western Conference.

Wow, what the hell was that last night? I listened to the game over the internet radio broadcast on 630 Ched. Rod Philips and Bob Staufer being my eyes for this barn burner. According to "rockin'" Rod the officiating was pretty bad, but I take everything he says with a grain of salt. However I heard the same from many other sources too so maybe there is some truth to it. Shots on goal were 54-20 in favor of the Ducks. That's right 54 shots on Dwayne Roloson. I heard another stat on the post game show with Dan Tencer that the Ducks directed 93 shots towards Roloson including blocked and missed shots. The Oilers special teams and more specifically the play of Dwayne Roloson won this game for the Oilers. The Oilers went 1/4 on the PP with Penner scoring a nice one in close and the Ducks went 1/9 on the PP putting 24 shots on goal during over 16 minutes of PP time throughout the game. That's right, the Ducks had more shots on goal on their 9 PP's alone than the Oilers did the entire game.

2 quick goals in the 1st from Penner and Pisani only 37 seconds apart and again 2 quickies in the 2nd, this time only 9 seconds apart from Penner and Brodziak turned out to be enough. Kotalik added the empty netter late in the 3rd.

We probably had no business winning this one based on the stats, but I give Rollie and the PK a lot of credit for gutting out this win at a crucial stage of the season, playing a team we're battling for a playoff spot with. And don't forget about getting some timely goals. When we went up 2-0 early in the 1st, I figured all we had to do was keep the foot on the gas and we'll roll to a nice 4-1 win. When the Ducks tied it up at 2 early in the 2nd I figured oh crap, we're done. But then we scored 2 quick ones for the 3rd time in the last 2 games. But man, that 3rd period was tense. I'm glad we won, but I wish we could have been a bit more disciplined and not have had to rely so heavily on our already over worked goalie.

Technorati Tags: oilers, ducks, pisani, penner, kotalik, brodziak,

Game Review, @ Phoenix - Mar 26 2009

Oilers drop one in the desert, fall to 8th in the West, and to the Coyotes? Are you serious?

This time of year, especially when the Oilers aren't "out of it" I don't like to miss games. Last nights match between the Oilers and Phoenix was a game that I'm glad I missed. I had the live scoreboard on for updates after the first period but that was it.

1-0 Phoenix after 1. Ok, fine. We'll crank it up in the second and at least head into the 3rd tied, is what I thought. Next time I check the score it's 3 buzz for Phoenix. I could feel my blood pressure rising but because I wasn't watching or listening to the game I decided to not let it get me down and ruin my evening. We get 2 quickies in the 3rd only to tease me enough that I return to my computer every few minutes for an update only to be completely let down in the end.

Phoenix has nothing to play for, they are NOT a playoff team and they are bordering on even being an NHL team. Not to say we should take them for granted or that I don't think they have the ability to get hot and beat good teams, but my point is simply that the Oilers are supposed to be a playoff team. They have had more than a few opportunities in recent weeks to take a strangle hold of a playoff spot. Fine, they weren't going to win the division, and likely not even catch 2nd place, but all they had to do was beat Phoenix last night, or get 2 points vs Colorado last Saturday, or beat the depleted Wild or even beat a very cold Nashville team in February when they had a chance. The Oilers are playing as though they have a playoff spot locked in place. Bottom line is they have had chance after chance to lock up a playoff spot in the West and haven't. They now sit in 9th, even in games played with most of the teams they're battling with, and will need help from the out of town scoreboard if they make it.

Playoffs aren't made or lost in the last 20 games, but come on. When you NEED 2 points this badly and you can't knock off the Coyotes I question if this team even deserves to make the dance. Yes I'm frustrated today, and a win tonight in Anaheim may lift my spirits back to where they should be, but for now I am very disgusted. I couldn't even bring myself to listen to the post game comments. I don't want to hear the excuses. A loss against Detroit like on Tuesday was tough to swallow since we went into the 3rd up 1-0 and had a chance to beat one of the best teams in the league, but ultimately I can go to sleep knowing that we held our own against a tough team. A loss against the Coyotes at this point in the season with playoffs on the line? Unacceptable. I don't care what the excuses are, or who's to blame. This is a game this team should have been able to win, yet they didn't.

Technorati Tags: oilers, coyotes, hemsky, kotalik, loss