Over the last two seasons, the Oilers have a 28.6 success rate on the power play, almost five percent higher than Boston, St. Louis and Carolina at 23.8
While the Edmonton Oilers have Zack Kassian and Darnell Nurse to shoo the flies away from the stars, they really beat teams up on their power play with 107 goals in 127 games over the last two seasons—with Boston Bruins a distant second at 92.
The Oilers are up a goal before the first face-off. And they’re doing it, even though 10 teams including Arizona and Ottawa, have somehow drawn more than their 374 power plays. Yes, the Oilers have Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
Over the last two seasons, the Oilers have a 28.6 success rate on the power play, almost five percent higher than Boston, St. Louis and Carolina at 23.8.
Assistant coach Glen Gulutzan, who looks after the scariest power play, trotted out his new wrinkle first unit Monday at practice with free-agent signee Zach Hyman in the Alex Chiasson/James Neal role as the net-front. Chiasson is on a PTO in Vancouver, Neal on a tryout in St. Louis right now.
The guts of the power play remain — McDavid, Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Tyson Barrie on the point from the PP — along with the former Maple Leafs winger. The second unit, which might rotate in for the last 15-30 seconds, has Jesse Puljujarvi as big-body net-front, with Nurse on the blueline and Kailer Yamamoto in Nugent-Hopkins’ spot. Evan Bouchard may play with Nurse on the point. Maybe Kyle Turris as the other forward
“We know Hymes (Hyman) game (from Toronto). He’s going to get a lot of pucks back for us (after shots),” said Nugent-Hopkins, as the team prepares for the expansion Seattle Kraken Tuesday at Rogers Place. “His presence in front, his hard work … what he’s good at is entering the zone and holding onto the puck, too.”
“A good power play is a tool that can have an impact on a game. Say you’re up 2-1 and you score a third that way, that puts the hammer down,” said Oiler coach Dave Tippett. “We have structure there, but also we have some road hockey to it.”
With the NHL cracking down on cross-checking, and inevitably calling a raft of those penalties in the early going of the season, we’ll see if the Oilers get more calls.
Darnell Nurse is healthy and wealthy, signing that eight-year $74 million contract, which got everybody’s attention around the NHL, now he also has to catch the eye of the selectors for Canada’s Olympic team blueline.
“As a player, you want to compete for the Stanley Cup but as a kid watching those big moments in history at the Olympics … you hope one day you can be a part of that,” said the Edmonton Oilers defenceman, who finished seventh in Norris trophy voting in his breakout last season. “For me, that’s (Olympics) always going to be a thought in the back of my head but most importantly we have to take care of business here. If we don’t do that, those other dreams are out the window.”
The right side of the Canadian defence probably has two givens; Alex Pietrangelo and Dougie Hamilton (Jersey) amongst the four to be picked but the left is more wide-open with Shea Thedore, Pietrangelo’s Vegas teammate, Adam Pelech (Islanders), Jakob Chychrun (Arizona), Morgan Rielly (Leafs) and Thomas Chabot (Ottawa) all in the mix along with Nurse.
Nurse admits he’s been watching how three-time Cup champion and two-time Norris trophy winner Duncan Keith played the game since the Oilers No. 1 D-man was the horse on the Soo Greyhounds’ blue line, with current Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe behind the bench.
“I followed Duncan when I was in junior … he was the man. Every time you turned on TV, he was in the finals. I would watch Duncan going up and down the ice. He’s going to be a Hall of Famer some day but it’s not just what he does on the ice. You also see how he takes care of his body, how he comes to the rink prepared every night. He’s got things we can all pick from him,” said Nurse.
Keith will be on the ice Friday after finishing his two-week quarantine.
The unvaxxed Josh Archibald still isn’t a participant at Oiler practices, five days after he left quarantine. The fast, fourth-line aggressive winger who has been Oilers top penalty-killing forward, isn’t helping himself with his Covid stance. But there’s no message-sending from the team. Sources confirms he isn’t feeling right physically.
This ‘n that: The Oilers will salute the late Joey Moss Tuesday with a locker-room announcement at the Seattle game … Tippett worked for Seattle as a consultant, one of their first hires as they prepped for their expansion season, before coming to the Oilers in 2019. “I was there three years ago now, and I saw the work they were putting in. It’s going to be a fantastic franchise, there’s a ton of excitement in Seattle for that team. They’re doing everything right there,” said Tippett … Judging by the work of the big guns on the PP at practice Monday, McDavid and Draisaitl may both play against Kraken … Defenceman Kris Russell (neck issue) was back with the experienced Oiler group Monday.
NEW YORK – Toronto Blue Jays reliever Chad Green and Canadian slugger Tyler O’Neill of the Boston Red Sox were named finalists for the Major League Baseball Players’ Association’s American League comeback player award on Monday.
Chicago White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet was the other nominee.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. were named player of the year finalists.
The award winners, selected via player voting, will be named Saturday before Game 2 of the World Series.
Green, who missed most of the 2022 and ’23 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery, was a high-leverage option for the Blue Jays this past season and filled in at closer over the second half of the campaign.
The right-hander converted his first 16 save opportunities and finished the year with a 4-6 record, 17 saves and a 3.21 earned-run average over 53 appearances.
O’Neill, a native of Burnaby, B.C., also endured back-to-back injury-plagued seasons in ’22 and ’23.
After being traded to the Red Sox in the off-season, O’Neill set an MLB record by hitting a homer in his fifth straight Opening Day. He finished with 31 homers on the year and had an OPS of .847.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
NEW YORK – Florida Panthers centre Sam Reinhart was named NHL first star of the week on Monday after leading all players with nine points over four games last week.
Reinhart had four goals, five assists and a plus-seven rating to help the Stanley Cup champions post a 3-0-1 record on the week and move into first place in the Atlantic Division.
New York Rangers left-winger Artemi Panarin took the second star and Minnesota Wild goaltenderFilip Gustavsson was the third star.
Panarin had eight points (4-4) over three games.
Gustavsson became the 15th goalie in NHL history to score a goal and had a 1.00 goals-against average and .962 save percentage over a pair of victories.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Deshaun Watson won’t finish the season as Cleveland’s starting quarterback for the second straight year.
He’s injured again, and the Browns have new problems.
Watson ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the first half of Sunday’s loss to Cincinnati, collapsing as he began to run and leading some Browns fans to cheer while the divisive QB laid on the ground writhing in pain.
The team feared Watson’s year was over and tests done Monday confirmed the rupture. The Browns said Watson will have surgery and miss the rest of the season but “a full recovery is expected.”
Watson was injured on a noncontact play in the second quarter of Cleveland’s 21-14 loss to the Bengals and carted off the field in tears.
It’s the second significant injury in two seasons for Watson, who broke the glenoid (socket) bone in his throwing shoulder last year after just six starts.
The 29-year-old went down Sunday without being touched on a draw play late in the first half. His right leg buckled and Watson crumpled to the turf. TV replays showed his calf rippling, consistent with an Achilles injury.
He immediately put his hands on his helmet, clearly aware of the severity of an injury similar to the one Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers sustained last year.
As he was being assisted by the team’s medical staff and backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson grabbed a ball to begin warming up, there was some derisive cheers and boos from the stands in Huntington Bank Field.
Cleveland fans have been split over Watson, who has been accused of being sexually inappropriate with women.
The reaction didn’t sit well with several Watson’s teammates, including star end Myles Garrett, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, who was appalled by the fans’ behavior.
“We should be ashamed of ourselves as Browns and as fans to boo anyone and their downfall. To be season-altering, career-altering injury,” Garrett said. “Man’s not perfect. He doesn’t need to be. None of us are expected to be perfect. Can’t judge him for what he does off the field or on the field because I can’t throw stones for my glass house.
“Ultimately everyone’s human and they’re disappointed just like we are, but we have to be better than that as people. There’s levels to this. At the end of the day, it’s just a game and you don’t boo anybody being injured and you don’t celebrate anyone’s downfall.”
Backup quarterback Jameis Winston also admonished the uncomfortable celebration.
“I am very upset with the reaction to a man that has had the world against him for the past four years, and he put his body and life on the line for this city every single day,” he said. “The way I was raised, I will never pull on a man when he’s down, but I will be the person to lift him up.
“I know you love this game. When I first got here, I knew these were some amazing fans, but Deshaun was treated badly and now he has to overcome another obstacle. So I’m going to support him, I’m going to lift him up and I’m going to be there for him.”
The injury is yet another twist in Watson’s tumultuous time with the Browns.
Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks and five overall to Houston in 2022 to get him, with owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam approving the team giving Watson a fully guaranteed, five-year $230 million contract.
With a solid roster, the Browns were desperate to find a QB who could help them compete against the top AFC teams.
The Browns had moved on from Baker Mayfield despite drafting him No. 1 overall in 2018 and making the playoffs two seasons later.
But Watson has not played up to expectations — fans have been pushing for him to be benched this season — and Cleveland’s move to get him has been labeled an abject failure with the team still on the hook to pay him $46 million in each of the next two seasons.
Watson’s arrival in Cleveland also came amid accusations by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and harassment during massage therapy sessions while he played for the Texans. Two grand juries declined to indict him and he has settled civil lawsuits in all but one of the cases.
Watson was suspended by the NFL for his first 11 games and fined $5 million for violating the league’s personal conduct policy before he took his first snap with the Browns. The long layoff — he sat out the 2021 season in a contract dispute — led to struggles once he got on the field, and Watson made just six starts last season before hurting his shoulder.
Cleveland signed veteran Joe Flacco, who went 4-1 as a starter and led the Browns to the playoffs.
Before Watson got hurt this year, he didn’t play much better. He was one of the league’s lowest-rated passers for a Cleveland team that hasn’t scored 20 points in a game and is back in search of a franchise QB.
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