To use a phrase from country singer Brad Paisley, they looked like a bunch of guys who caught all the fish and drank all the beer the night before.
After a day off spent fishing for sturgeon in beautiful British Columbia, the Edmonton Oilers took 10 penalties, was shorthanded eight times, gave up three clean fumbles (at least) and somehow came close to forcing overtime in a 5-4 loss to the Vancouver Canucks.
In their penultimate preseason game, played in Abbotsford, B.C., goaltender Stu Skinner stopped all the breakaways – two on Bo Horvat and one on Elias Pettersson. But Skinner couldn’t handle Pettersson on the power play, where he scored twice on a pair of trick snipes.
“Not a lot of pace. A special teams game for many. We have to be sharper,” said Zach Hyman, whose side took 40 minors in seven preseason games. much less sloppy when the regular season rolls around.
The results are much less intriguing than the battles, with a final home game against Seattle on Friday in Edmonton. There aren’t many position battles here, but two were affected by Wednesday night’s performances.
(The NHL hasn’t produced an official game sheet or a summary of the events of Wednesday’s game, so we’re going beyond the points, penalties and shots on goal.)
Markus Niemelainen vs. Philip Broberg
Niemelainen tries to steal the job of third pair left which was announced as Broberg’s to lose in this camp. The Finn has been better than the Swede so far, and on Wednesday he added two assists and a shot on goal to Broberg’s stat line of all zeros – except for being minus-1.
Look, it’s probably easier for Niemelainen to impress than Broberg, because the big Finn’s game is easier, and we want to see Broberg take the puck and skate with it. But Niemelainen has brought his physical game to the table in every appearance this pre-season, and he’s defended better than Broberg, in our opinion.
If he also starts beating Broberg, this battle is over.
His flaws usually come when Niemelainen has the puck on his stick, but he adapted well and played it safe. If he were to be paired with Tyson Barrie at the start of the regular season, it would be a nice safety valve for a young D-man.
This battle could come down to Friday’s game against Seattle. Neither is demanding the waivers go down, but even though his contract’s bonus structure may have Broberg here on opening night, that doesn’t mean he’ll have won the job.
Jesse Puljujarvi vs. Dylan Holloway
Yes, we know, one is a right winger, the other left-hander.
But we bet there’s only one Oilers Top 6 spot for these two players. With the Ryan Nugent-Hopkins third line between Warren Foegele and Ryan McLeod seemingly set, your guess is as good as mine where the loser of this battle is playing (or not playing) on opening night.
After seeing Holloway score a hat trick and four points in the previous game, we expected this to be Puljujarvi’s best effort of the preseason. It may be, but it tells you how little he accomplished this fall.
Puljujarvi was lukewarm at best, with zeros on the line Wednesday — no points, no shots — and continued his aversion to owning the puck for longer than the split second it takes to move it somewhere. In four preseason games, Puljujarvi managed six shots on goal and one assist.
A point playing against various collections of AHL players. It’s been a disappointing pre-season from all points of view.
Holloway was also useless on Wednesday, but had a pair of shots on goal and had far more chances than Puljujarvi. In his five preseason games, Holloway has four goals, six points and 17 shots on goal.
With one game remaining in the preseason, it’s hard not to say that this battle hasn’t been won by Holloway.
Mattias Janmark c. Expectations
You will never notice Janmark much. It’s not who he is.
Here in Edmonton, he’ll be a guy you mention when he’s killing penalties and playing a veteran fourth-line role. And in those games where the big boys just don’t have the strength, maybe he and Derek Ryan will score one of the 15-18 goals they will share this season.
On Wednesday, Janmark was loyal to the PK, played/played smart and correct more often than not, and simply practiced that veteran craft that guys like him bring to the table. With Janmark on the 4 line, you can keep young players in the minors longer and hang on to the slopes better.
I guess the fancy stat set won’t like Janmark much, but the Oilers coaching staff will.