Nobody gave the Edmonton Oilers much of a chance on Tuesday night, and there wasn't much reason to. Losers of five of their previous six games, and racked by injuries to Taylor Hall, Sam Gagner and Ryan Smyth, among others, the Oilers were compared to a junior team by Montreal Canadiens forward Lars Eller prior to the final contest of their six-game road trip. However, the copper and blue saved their best for last, rebounding from an early deficit to secure an impressive 4-3 victory over the Canadiens.
The Oilers (3-6-1) have had their share of troubles through the first 10 games of the season, finding both victories and consistency hard to find. Things looked downright ugly once againt early on against the Canadiens, as disjointed play and turnovers in their own zone threatened to doom the Oilers once again. But down 2-0 after the first period and finding their backs firmly pinned against the wall, they finally started fighting back. It wasn't a moment too soon either, with the game (and possibly their season) on the line.
Unlike Saturday's victory over the Ottawa Senators, when the Oilers were hopelessly outplayed and outshot, and simply hung on to steal two points, Tuesday night's win was a complete team effort. It was the type of victory that could galvanize the Oilers and give them some long-awaited momentum as they return home to face the Washington Capitals at Rexall Place on Thursday night. For a team that's had so much go wrong this season, it was a relief to see hard work rewarded and things finally start to go right. Here's a rundown:
- Devan Dubnyk proved that Saturday's performance was no fluke, turning aside 29 of 31 shots before allowing a garbage tally with 1.4 seconds remaining. While a few of the team's early losses could have been pinned on Dubnyk, it was presumptuous to think that he had permanently lost the ability to provide reliable goaltending. Drafted in 2004, this is Dubnyk's 10th season in the Oilers organization and it was hard to imagine the team giving up on him after a handful of rough outings. It's nice to see him rewarding their patience, and he was stellar in the second and third periods, giving the team a chance to rally.
- If you caught the discussion during Sportsnet's first intermission you might have gotten the impression that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was at risk of being sent to Oklahoma City. Like many Oilers his first 20 minutes was shaky, but he pulled it together and lead the comeback charge with some slicky playmaking, most notably on the give-and-go play that was capped by Jeff Petry to put the Oilers ahead for good. RNH now has eight points through eight games, and his plus-minus keeps inching back toward respectability after a gruesome start to the season.
- Speaking of Petry, he lead the team in ice-time (23:44) and hits (6) on Tuesday night, and also finished the night with three blocked shots. He doesn't have the same name recognition as Justin Schultz or the experience of Andrew Ference, but Petry continues to provide reliable two-way play and he's quickly cementing himself as the Oilers' best defenseman. He's showing a lot more poise than a player with only 166 games of NHL experience, and made no mistake on his go-ahead goal midway through the third period.
- The Oilers' penalty kill is currently stumbling along at 72.2 percent, bad enough for 29th in the NHL, and allowed another power play tally on Tuesday night. The easiest way to avoid giving up power play goals is to stay out of the sin bin, and discipline was one of the biggest factors in the Oilers' comeback. Edmonton didn't give Montreal a single power play opportunity after the first intermission, and that kind of discipline will continue to be crucial as the team looks to string a few more wins together to close out the month.
- While the Oilers were able to avoid the penalty box, that doesn't mean they played a soft game. In fact, they finished with 32 hits (compared to 25 for Montreal) and many of them were the bone-rattling variety as the team seemed intent on finishing checks and punishing the Canadiens. That physical play continued right up to the final buzzer, and it was an encouraging sign to see the Oilers add a little insult to injury down the stretch. Edmonton has been too easy to play against on too many nights during the last, oh, 22 years or so, but they weren't on Tuesday.
- Another aspect of physicality came from the team's stronger defensive approach, particularly when it came to Montreal's zone entry. Go back and compare Saturday's game to Tuesday's and you'll see a huge difference in the Oilers' willingness to step up at the blueline and prevent easy, clean zone entries by the Canadiens. Let's hope that's a trend that continues, because it can make all the difference if teams are forced to resort to a chip-and-chase game, rather than simply skating into the Oilers' zone and pulling up at the blueline to distribute the puck.
- How could you not be impressed with Mark Arcobello and Ales Hemsky? I keep waiting for both players to either regress or fall off the map completely, but they continue to produce and show a surprising amount of grit and work ethic. Hemsky still has all the dangle, but he's balanced it with a finishing ability that we haven't seen in four or five seasons. And Arcobello is not only earning his NHL audition, he's making it harder for Eakins to bump him from a scoring line role when Gagner returns. I hope each player can maintain this high level of play, because it's adding some much-needed secondary scoring. And I could add Perron to this paragraph, because I'm legitimately in love with him, but I've praised him too much already.
- After a shaky start (sense a theme here?) I'm liking Eakins more and more with each passing day, and he's clearly settling into the role and getting to know his team better. I thought his comments Tuesday morning about Nail Yakupov's struggles were pitch-perfect, praising the player for his work ethic and desire, while stressing the need to adapt and adjust to NHL competition. It's hard to say what will become of Yakupov, who received only 15:54 of largely ineffective ice-time, but Eakins didn't add any more fuel to the fire surrounding the young Russian. Plus, his postgame comment that he "might as well have sent over a fruit basket and a bottle of wine" to Lars Eller? Pure gold.
- It was great to see Ryan Jones get his first goal of the season on a dirty, ugly, perfectly Jones-ian effort. His tally provided much-needed insurance, and made up for his horrible cross-ice panic attack directly onto the stick of Brendan Gallagher for the Habs' second goal. I'm not sure how much we'll see of Jones when (or if) the Oilers get back to full health, but you have to hope that goal can light a spark and he can keep building on it to become a mainstay in the Edmonton lineup. Yes, I suppose you could say I'm still a believer.
- The game was strange in a few different areas, including the lopsided faceoff dominance by the Canadiens (39-20) and blocked shots by the Oilers (30-18). Ultimately, it was incredibly satisfying to see Edmonton earn a victory, without relying on any chintzy goals or a heroic goaltending effort. It wasn't a complete 20 minutes, but the final 40 were as confident as we've seen the Oilers this season. The first 10 games of the season had a lot of forgettable moments, but on this Tuesday night we can wear our oil drops with a little more pride and optimism for the next 10.
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