30 seconds into the game against the Ducks the Oilers were already losing. It could have signaled another "Here we go again" game from an Edmonton squad that had been pumped for goals in several of its last few games but something happened right away. Matt Hendricks, just 30 seconds later, started a fight with Daniel Winnik for the sole purpose of getting his team engaged again.

After the fight he motioned back to the Oilers bench for what can only be interpreted as a message to "Wake Up!" From that point on, despite being badly outplayed, I thought the Oilers believed they still had a chance to win the game. Now a lot of my contemporaries have no time for the idea of "Momentum" and that's because, in my opinion, they all look at it the wrong way.

There have been several attempts to quantify the effects of momentum on the game of hockey and every attempt comes back with the same results. After a fight or big hit there doesnt really seem to be any lasting or noticeable effect on the game. I'm not going to argue that. But we hear about Momentum all the time from analysts and ex-players so I'm not prepared to tell people something that has been reported over and over again doesnt exist.

My own take is that Momentum is very real, but it is completely psychological. It is a feeling fueled by events that occur in the game but any attempt to track it is doomed to fail because this is something that is experienced, not enacted, on the ice.

Did the Oilers win because Hendricks fought someone 64 seconds into the game? No, they won because Scrivens stood on his head again. But that fight a minute into the game may have prevented them from giving up on the idea that winning was even a possibility. The impact of that fight was psychological.

LINEUPS

Eakins went with the Hall RNH Eberle combo again and it actually worked quite well from a possession standpoint against the Ducks. That trio was close to even in shot attempts for and against but the rest of the team was demolished by them. I dont know if that's an argument for keeping them together or splitting them up so the 2nd line isnt getting hemmed in their own zone.

Ryan Jones tore his PCL and is out for the rest of the season. Larsen will be taking his place. Fasth is apparently over his neck injury but he might be given a little more time before he gets back into the game.

Hall RNH Eberle
Lander Gagner Perron
Hendricks Gordon Pitlick
Gazdic Smyth Larsen

Klefbom Schultz
Marincin Petry
Belov Ference

Scrivens

OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME

1) Another Big Game From The Goalie. The Rangers average the 2nd most shots per game in the NHL and the Oilers give them up like candy on Halloween. It isnt a great match on paper.

2) Focus on Defense. We are 75 games into this mess, I'm not expecting them to suddenly learn how to play well under Eakins but the shot clock and the Corsi numbers are out of control. The Oilers have the skill to score, but for the love of all that is good they need to figure out how to stop getting destroyed in possession.

3) Keep Playing For Each Other. Hendricks epitomizes this concept and since its all we have left it's a key to this game. All year we've harped on the Oilers for not giving a squirt about each other when it's time to be physical, but that IS changing. Perry took a shot WELL after the whistle and none other than Hall shows up to punch him in the face. Keep it up boys!

Puck drops at 6:08PM Mountain Time on TSN. Game On!

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