Heck of an effort by the boys tonight, @ben_scrivens was unreal but #Oilers drop 2-1 SO loss to Chicago. #EDMvsCHI pic.twitter.com/UNlWL613ZK
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 7, 2015The Edmonton Oilers gained an important point in the McEichel race o Friday night.The Oilers forced OT and then lost in the shootout in Chicago.
Derek Roy scored the only regulation goal for the Oilers.
"We battled all game long... We did a good job against a good hockey team." @Roy9ner | VIDEO > http://t.co/5NRWX0x0Bx pic.twitter.com/HBJh57eLwx
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 7, 2015Here are your up to date McEichel standings:
28th: Arizona 49 points 29th: Edmonton 47 points 30th place: 43 points
The Oilers fired 47 shots on Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford on Friday night. It was their second most shots on goal performance this season. They landed 52 shots in Buffalo earlier this season.
The Sabres play in Washington on Saturday night.
The Coyotes will play the Canadiens.
The Oilers are off until Sunday night when they play the Hurricanes.
***
The Sabres lost twice in Ottawa on Friday night.
The team blew a 2-0 lead and lost 3-2 to the Senators.
Off the ice, newly acquired goalie Chad Johnson will be lost for a while. He was scheduled to make his Buffalo debut in Ottawa on Friday night. However, he suffered a lower-body injury just hours before a 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators.
Johnson skated with his new teammates in the morning skate.
“Chad, unfortunately, hurt something lower body and he’ll be out for a while,… coach Ted Nolan said. “Not day-to-day, it’ll be for a while.…
“It possibly could be,… Nolan said. “We’ll get our doctors to look at him, and we’ll see what
Anders Lindback will be the starter from now on. He made 34 saves and said he’s ready to play Saturday in Washington.
The Sabres recalled Andrey Makarov from Rochester to play the role of the backup against the Senators. The 21-year-old joined the Sabres for the third time in his career. He has yet to appear in a game. He i 14-14-3 with a .899 save percentage and 3.04 GA with the Amerks this season.
Nolan said in his post game pressser that wasn’t sure if the Sabres would keep Makarov or send him back to Rochester and bring Matt Hackett to Buffalo.
Hackett needs to play in 7 games (over 30 minutes per game) this season in order to qualify as a restricted free agent this summer. If he fails to play in seven games, he will become UFA on July 1.
****
^^
Chad Johnson took the game day skate and was expected to make his Buffalo Sabres debut tonight in Kanata.
However, something strange happened on the way to the rink. Its been that type of season for teh Buffalo Sabres. Oy!
The team tweeted that Johnson has suffered an undisclosed lower body injury during today’s morning skate. He is now listed as doubtful for tonight's game.
Chad Johnson is doubtful for tonight's game due to a lower-body injury. #sabres #BUFvsOTT -CR
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) March 6, 2015
Tim Murray immediately called up Andrey Makarov from AHL Rochester.
I'm going with Anders Lindback getting the start tonight with Makarov getting the toque duty.
All of you tanking conspiracy theorists can knock it off right now. I can assure you that Tim Murray did not tell Ted Nolan to sit Johnson tonight.
The Sens need both points tonight. The Sabres don't need any points, thank you very much.