Garon-teed Victory

Going into tonight's game, the media out there had some concerns with the Oil and they had a right to be. The Oilers were losing too many face-offs, had too many shots against, and looked terrible in their own zone. As the 1st period ended tonight, it was looking like the same trend was happening. The Oilers were losing important draws, the Oilers D was scrambling a little, and Garon was headed towards saving 30+ shots again....but wait that is just it people! Garon stopped 33 shots. We need not complain about anything else...for a few more games anyway. Garon is looking to me anyway, like his true self of 2007-2008. He is 2 games into being the Oilers #1 again and in my opinion has won the Oil both games so far. This is a good thing - we can work on the rest. If Garon can play that way night in and night out then Edmonton is half way there. They can work on the faceoffs and towards the end of the 2nd period tonight I saw some good defensive play. I also saw a great system that they have started with the forward coming down the middle during the back-check. Instead of following the play, MacT has the 3rd forward coming down the middle. Nilsson and Gagner both broke up the offensive play that way tonight and stopped some great scoring chances.

So that is the good stuff here people. The Oilers, so far, are in good shape and have a good system going here. Here are a few more positive aspects to their game that will add to wins in future games:

- Horcoff and Hemsky are supposed to be point-a-game players and so far they are. Horcoff has not skipped a beat from last year. He is looking outstanding. He protects the puck so well. For sure in the top 5 for 2-way forwards in the NHL right now.

- Gagner, Cogs, Nilsson cycle the puck very well. They are almost there in terms of getting it just right. Teams are going to have trouble with the speed and cycle down low which will lead to goals and will draw penalties.

- Visnovsky is the man. That's it, that's all. He is Edmonton's best D-man by far, he can log huge minutes, (he had 23 mins tonight and Souray had 25 - a great defensive pair) and he will score a lot for the team on the PP this year. If he stays healthy the Oilers will have success with him.

...So tomorrow if you hear the media saying that they are worried about the shots against or the faceoff percentage, do not pay any attention. Garon is standing on his head, the leaders are leading, and the boys are listening to the coaches and playing the system.

Lastly, I think it is time for a prediction. I will give it now and then run it down for you in a future post - The Oilers will finish 3rd in the west this year.

...talk later,

Pete