By Racki, December 19, 2009 9:37 am

GDT - Edmonton Oilers vs. Washington Capitals

PRE-GAME RANT

Here we go… the 2nd best team in the East vs. the 3rd worst team in the West (hurts to hear, doesn’t it?). Not what the Oilers needed on their recent home losing streak (of only 2 games, mind you). The Oilers are coming off a loss to the Kings on Tuesday and a 6-3 beating at the hands of the Predators on Thursday. The Capitals, meanwhile, lost to the Canucks last night, allowing the Devils to bump them out of the top spot in the NHL. The Capitals have only won 2 of their last 5, including a loss against the Laffs, so they are human. There is a remote possibility of an Oilers win tonight.

I’m going to have to guess that almost everyone is predicting a bad loss for the Oilers tonight. Our only hope is that the Canucks softened them up enough last night. However, sometimes teams come up biggest when all odds are against them. Last year the Oilers won 5-2, as the Oilers homepage tells me… on an Erik Cole hat trick. The game winner was scored by none other than Gilbert Brule.

I read a story by Don Cherry in his book “Don Cherry’s Hockey Stories and Stuff” – a very casually written archive of events from the days of yore when he was playing and coaching. He said that there were times as a Coach where he would sit his starter (Gary Cheevers) and put his back up (Gillie Gilbert) in, in games where he “knew” his team would lose. He actually didn’t get along with Gilbert at all (which might have accounted for him having no problems with destroying any ego Gilbert could have possibly had). Cherry’s son looked back in the records a few years ago and discovered that Gillie Gilbert actually set a record at one point of 17 straight wins (obviously with several other games between where Cheevers started), all the while with Cherry feeding him the hardest games, so that was pretty remarkable. Anyways, I doubt will see Dubnyk tonight. But wouldn’t it be a great story if Quinn played Doobie and he came in and stole the game?

Great story, yes. However, my brain is telling me that no matter who is in net, it will be 8-3 Capitals. The heart says 6-4 Oilers though, just based on last year’s win.

PROJECTED LINE-UPS

TEAM COMPARISON

	STATS
35	GP	34
21	W	15
8	L	15
6	OT	4
48	P	34
0.686	P%	0.5
3.51	G/G	2.91
2.74	GA/G	3.09
23.6	PP%	19.8
78.4	PK%	78.3
31.9	S/G	28.2
29.8	SA/G	32.3
51.7	FO%	46.9

GAME NOTES

- Moreau wasn’t at practice yesterday. Skating as a forward was Jason Strudwick. Moreau has been sick lately, so it’s possible that he’ll miss tonights game and Strudwick will play in his place.
- I have a feeling the lines will be blended up again tonight like they were in the 3rd on Thursday.. so there is a good chance that what I’ve got posted (Thursday’s original lines) will change.

53 Responses to “GDT – Edmonton Oilers 2, Washington Capitals 4 – Dec 19, 2009 @ 8:00 PM – CBC – Game 35”

1. Horpensky says:

   December 20, 2009 at 11:26 am   (Quote)

   Ovie’s first goal was out of pure determination after Bruce Boudreau gave him a kick in the pants during the 2nd intermission. It’s really similar to a Stortini goal. The second goal was pure skill. Unfortunately for us, we got guys with determination but no skill, and we got guys with skill and no determination.

   Btw whoever was in net for the Captials, I believe that was his first win.
2. Racki says:

   December 20, 2009 at 11:50 am   (Quote)

   First win of the season, yes, but NHL career, no.
3. Steve-O says:

   December 20, 2009 at 12:28 pm   (Quote)

   Bostonoiler: Well we played pretty good the 1st and 2nd period………The 3rd period was just horrible. We looked like the Oilers in that frame. Sloppy sloppy play. Maybe its time to shut it down and wait till next year…..Get a good pick this year and build. We have a young core right now at both positions. We could be a cup contender in 2-3 years if we do things the right way. We tank the year and get Taylor Hall. Ok now I’m about to playarmchair GM hereTambi makes a move at the deadline, shipping out Moreau to an eastern contender.To Bos:
   MoreauTo EDM:
   Bruins 2nd round pick this seasonOk this gives us a 2nd round pick, and by the Oilers drafting the past few years it should turn out goodAT THE DRAFT: Tambi goes and takes Hall 1st overall. Giving the Oil another gifted forward that is young. Then he trades off O’Sullivan and Staios in a package deal for another defenderTo MTL:
   O’Sullivan
   StaiosTo EDM:
   O’Byrne
   3rd rounderThey have to let Pisani walk, Strudwick is gone too. I think sadly we will hang onto Khabibulin even though JDD is the way to go. DD is out due to contract issues and is sent off in a trade.To Tampa:
   DubynkTo EDM:
   4th rounder in lets say 2010 hereOk, now assuming with the cap space we were able to get out here, that Gagner and Cogliano each get 4 year deals, while Brule gets 3, Stone and Potulny get 1, Grebs gets 1 and JDD gets 2On July 1st: Tambi does the right thing and does nothing. We already moved the vets minus Horcs and signed our core up. I think a few guys will be signed to AHL contracts to help out on the farmNext years lineup:Penner-Gagner-Hemsky (These guys were good when together this season)
   Eberle-Brule-Hall (Just a great line skill wise, should put up pts)
   Coglano-Horcoff-Stone (Stone plays the body,cogs and horcs do it up)
   Stortini/JFJ-Potulny-Nilsson (Nilsson and Pots with the offense, Storts/JFJ with the body presence)Souray-Gilbert (One ‘young’ guy one vet. Gilbert plays good with Souray)
   Smid-Vishnovsky (See above, oh and Smid is a great young dman)
   O’Byrne-Grebeskov (Two young guys here, love this pairing)
   Peckham
   Khabibulin
   JDD
   (In net it WILL be a time share between these guys)Ok, thats just my take on a rebuild. I think it would work out for this team in the long run and make us a cup contender. Blast me or praise me if you want. After tonight’s collapse I think that its time for Tambi to just rebuild the right way.

   just two things. 1) If you’re going to rebuild then you get rid of all vets that you can (khabibulin and horcoff can’t go anywhere) so the icetime can go to the young players…that includes visnovsky and souray and 2) some of those trades are pie in the sky type deals. moreau for a 2nd won’t happen, the trade to montreal won’t happen for cap reasons and the drafting of hall is a HUGE unknown.

   just my thoughts
4. gr8one says:

   December 20, 2009 at 3:15 pm   (Quote)

   Bostonoiler:
   Why? Because OV is a star……In the NHL its all about the teams with Stars winning. Hence why our Oilers aren’t winning. Liker I said above good game until the 3rd, then just horse shit. OV’s 1st goal was bullshit, His 2nd was just unreal.

   No, the fact that Ovie is the best hockey player in the world is a huge deal of course, but not only do we not have any one close to Ovie’s calibre, they also have Backstrom, Semin, Green, Fleischman, Laich, Knuble, and then you throw in the the likes of Fehr, Steckel, both their Morrison’s, Alzner, Pothier and Poti as fantastic role players, the team is just stacked, anyone that thinks otherwise is an idiot.

   As far as the NHL being all about winning with stars…uh, duh…

   of course it’s that way, name me one era of ANY sport that the wining teams don’t have the star power? however, having those superstars does not necessarily make a team good., you refer to Atlanta(Kovalchuk), Tampa Bay(Vinny), Carolina(Staal) as examples there.