The Perfect Ending

For the players inside the Edmonton Oilers dressing room, that final buzzer could not have come soon enough. In a year in which many had pegged this team to at least show some marked improvement in the standings, they took yet another step backwards in putting together a simply disastrous 24-44-14 record. 

Addressing The Obvious

Despite coming out of the gate with a less than an impressive performance during the opening period of their game against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night at Rexall Place, the Edmonton Oilers were by far and away the better of the two teams. 

The Viktor Fasth Era begins

From the moment he took over as GM of the Edmonton Oilers, Craig MacTavish made it abundantly clear he wasn’t happy with his goaltending. After starting the 2013-14 campaign with Devan Dubnyk and Jason LaBarbera, the Oilers general manager decided to replace that duo with the trio of Ilya Bryzgalov, Ben Scrivens and most recently Viktor Fasth.

Bryz needs to be better

Let’s be honest here. the Edmonton Oilers and Ilya Bryzgalov were quite literally forced upon one another. While the two sides did have discussions surrounding the veteran netminder possibly joining the Oilers prior to the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, ultimately nothing came from those talks.

Costly mistake

Saturday night’s 4-3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers marked the midway point of the Edmonton Oilers 2013-14 campaign. Forty-one games are now in the books and the Oilers sit in the basement of the Western Conference with a 13-24-4 record, good enough for 29th spot in the NHL’s overall standings.

Where have these guys been this season?

In a season in which very little has gone right for the Edmonton Oilers, last night’s 4-2 loss to the Boston Bruins was about as close to a win as a team can get without actually earning any points in the standings.

Oilers mail in yet another home ice effort

Well that certainly didn't take long now did it. After limping their way through the first month of the 2013-14 NHL season, the Edmonton Oilers had to have been hoping for their fortunes to turn with the start of a new month on the horizon. Unfortunately it was more of the same on Saturday night at Rexall Place, as fans across Oil Country are left wondering if this group will ever be able to turn this thing around.

How many different ways can one team lose games?

Not sure how many different ways the Edmonton Oilers intend on losing games this season but they have to be running out of ways and we have yet to reach the end of the first month of their schedule. Despite another four goal performance from Dallas Eakins squad upfront, the Oilers still managed to allow five pucks into their own net, dropping a 5-4 decision to the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday afternoon.

For better or worse, Dubnyk is the Oilers #1 guy

After watching Edmonton Oilers netminder Devan Dubnyk become completely unglued against the Toronto Maple Leafs during last weekend's telecast of Hockey Night in Canada, one couldn't help but feel the time for change had finally arrived. Just five games into the season and the vast majority of Oilers fans had reached their boiling point with their guy between the pipes...and who could really blame them

Penguins extend Oilers losing skid to four straight

It was arguably the Edmonton Oilers most complete effort of the season. Outside of the opening ten minutes, Dallas Eakins' crew managed to hold their own against the mighty Pittsburgh Penguins but ultimately still fell short, dropping a hard fought 3-2 decision to Metropolitan Division leaders.

Dubnyk needs to sit for one more night

With a stat line that currently sits at 0-3-1 with a 5.43 GAA and .829 SV% one would think facing Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins wouldn't be high on Devan Dubnyk's wishlist. While head coach Dallas Eakins hasn't named his starting netminder for tonight's tilt with the  Metropolitan Division leaders, one would think he would be leaning towards going back to Jason LaBarbera.

Another Game + Another Iffy Goaltending Performance = Another Loss

A costly four minute stretch in the middle of period two and yet another awful goal against an Edmonton Oilers netminder, proved to be far too much for the Oilers to overcome. A three point night from Nicklas Backstrom and a two point effort from Alex Ovechkin, helped propel a struggling Washington Capitals side to a 4-2 win over Dallas Eakins' slumping side.

Dubnyk > Budaj...at least he better be

After struggling through the Edmonton Oilers opening two games, Devan Dubnyk was rightly given a seat at the end of the bench during Monday night’s game against the New Jersey Devils. While Jason LaBarbera picked up the “W” against the Devils, he looked just as shaky as Dubnyk had during his first two appearances of the season.

RNH doesn't miss a beat, leading Oilers to comeback win

Now that is more like it. After both the Edmonton Oilers and New Jersey Devils skated their way through a less than invigorating opening forty minutes during last night's tilt at Rexall Place, the Oilers decided to take their game to another level over the final fifteen minutes of play.

Another wasted trip out west

From the standpoint of a single game going as bad as one could imagine, last night's 6-2 pounding at the hands of the Vancouver Canucks was about as bad as it could get for the Edmonton Oilers. Starting with another poor performance from netminder Devan Dubnyk and finishing with what was arguably the worst game of Taylor Hall's NHL career, Edmonton were never really in this one.

2013-14 Preview: Dubnyk will need to carry the load early

The Edmonton Oilers will kickoff their 2013-14 schedule against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night at Rexall Place. After missing the playoffs for seven consecutive years, both the organization and its fan base are ready to see this team finally take a step forward and make their long awaited return to the post-season.

MacTavish starts reconstruction of Oilers roster

 

It started with the trading of captain Shawn Horcoff on Thursday evening and continued early Friday morning. Everyone was expecting Craig MacTavish to be busy on the opening day of unrestricted free agency and the Edmonton Oilers GM did not disappoint. The organization wasted little time in announcing a trio of the signings, veteran defenceman Andrew Ference, centre Boyd Gordon and goaltender Jason Labarbera.

Oilers should focus on finding a No. 2, not a starting netminder

There those who feel the Edmonton Oilers are set in goal with Devan Dubnyk as their starting netminder. There are others, myself included, who feel the twenty-seven year old has taken huge strides forward in recent years but still struggles to shut the door when necessary. Unfortunately for Dubnyk, his general manager appears to be part of group two, leading to speculation the Oilers might just be in the market for a new starting netminder.