Pretty indicative of the play so far. Both teams wildly swinging with their eyes closed.
Hey you two, take a rest tonight. We've seen enough of you for now.
I'm ok with it if the Flames decide to play a little dirty tonight.
Seems appropriate.
Can't wait to hear the announcers drool over McDavid all night.
As bad as these two teams have been so far, don't forget it's still the Oilers.
1-3 to start the year. Not good, not good at all. First loss to Vancouver was abysmal, just no excuse. Came back the next game and played just well enough to beat the Canucks, so, better I guess. Losing to the Blues? Sort of expected I guess when you consider how they've fared against them over the last couple of years. Losing to the Jets at their home opener? Well I think the Jets are going to be one of the best in the league this year, and they've been really good so far to start this year. The Flames were in it the entire way and a late ugly goal cost them the game.
Can they be better? Absolutely. Will they though? Hard to say for sure. I see signs of it now and then, but I don't get the sense that it's going to happen immediately. It might take until the 10 game mark to get everyone up to speed and on the same page. There was a more consistent effort last night compared to previous games, but there were still stretches where they were hemmed in their own zone. Offensively, there's been little to no cohesion, which is concerning when you realize that the offense was the thing that carried this team last year. Is it regression? Possibly, but at this point, this is more than just a "correction". It's more like an over-correction.
The only silver lining so far is that the Oilers are still bad despite the addition of McDavid. It's comforting to know that the luck of landing a player of McDavid's talent isn't enough to overcome years of bad habits and poor development. The one thing that should be good for the Oilers, the offense, has been atrocious so far, scoring just 1.25 GF/G, ranking 27th. Despite all their weapons, the power play is 25th at 7.1%. All of this is a small sample size, so no absolutions can be taken from it, but they have really struggled offensively despite all the talent they possess.
Let's face it, both teams have been bad to start, and nobody should be gloating or expecting any dominance tonight. If the Flames lose this game (and they very well could) it could be the last winnable game for a bit. Capitals, Red Wings, Rangers, and Islanders are next for the Flames, and all are formidable opponents even if the Flames were playing at their best. This isn't a "must-win" game, but it really, really is an important game for the Flames. They need this win, if for no other reason to build some confidence heading into a tough stretch of games. If they lose to an 0-4 team, it could really set them back for a while.
Lines are just a guess for the Flames. Do not take this as gospel.
Flames
Gaudreau-Monahan-Hudler
Bennett-Backlund-Frolik
Ferland-Granlund-Jones
Bollig-Stajan-Jooris
Giordano-Hamilton
Russell-Wideman
Kulak-Engelland
Ortio
Oilers
Hall-Nugent-Hopkins-Hendricks
Pouliot-McDavid-Yakupov
Korpikoski-Lander-Purcell
Gazdic-Letestu-Slepyshev
Klefbom-Schultz
Sekera-Fayne
Reinhart-Gryba
Talbot
p.s. Edmonton is no good.
Go Flames Go!!!!!!