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Oilers Beat Kings; Refs

January 25, 2013, 12:48 AM ET [270 Comments]
Richard Cloutier
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Did you just see that? What an absolutely ridiculous game.

As much as I'm going to point out how terrible the refs were tonight, they were bad for both teams. The WAY the Ryan Nugent-Hopkins goal was called back was just as stupid as the penalty call itself.

But in truth, a decent hockey game occurred, despite the ref's attempts to make it terrible. Both teams were treated poorly...So the message here is more directed to the NHL than the Oilers or Kings. Seriously. Call real penalties only and let the players decide the game from now on.

As for the game itself, there was so much good to talk about. Where to start?

Nail Yakupov: Is there anyone left who still thinks we should have drafted Ryan Murray over him? Didn't this so. His goal was play-of-the-year in quality, and he was dangerous every time he was near the puck. His goal celebrations make me think he's the Robin Williams of the NHL. Complete spaz.

Justin Schultz: Two points on two Oilers goals. We're at a point-per-game for rookie Schultz, who might just be as good as I've been hyping him to be.

Hall, Eberle and Nuge: The first line looked like the first line tonight. Jonathan Quick played out of his mind, and I love how the Kings defense plays around him...But The Kids were brilliant with the puck when they had it.

Sam Gagner: Clutch OT goal. Gagner gets plenty of chops during a season - Too small, not good enough, we should trade him, etc. He unfairly paid a price on the Nuge goal that was called back, but he made it up with the OT winner. He deserves more praise than he receives.

Mark Fistric: Managed to get onto the Oilers roster, and made the most of his opportunity. He's big and mean. The Oilers need him. Sorry Corey Potter.

Ladislav Smid: Received 23 minutes of penalties in the 1st period and didn't do anything wrong. He and Petry are one of the best all-around defensive pairings the Oilers have had in a long, long time.

Devan Dubnyk: Huge bounce-back from Dubnyk, who was beaten up by everyone after the Sharks game. Looked confident and extremely solid throughout the evening.


It's hard for me to be too critical of anyone on either team, because this game was far too weird to seriously analyze. If you're an Oilers fan, what you take away from this is, our 2012/2013 team possesses a ridiculous level of skill, great potential, and will provide us an emotional roller-coaster game after game. We might not be a cup contender yet, but there's no more interesting and entertaining team in hockey than the Edmonton Oilers.
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