I don’t know how else to describe last night’s game other than “Satisfying…. It had some appeal for everyone. The Oilers clawed back from behind, took a lead, there were some fisticuffs, the big 3 were on fire, Gene threw out some April Fools stuff, and ultimately it ended in a way that kept the club in solid Draft position. Like I said, at this point in the season, it was satisfying on several levels.
I know it’s completely sick, but when the Oilers took the lead I was struck with the overwhelming feeling that I was not prepared for Edmonton to climb in the standings and endanger their Draft position. I thought I had convinced myself this year was the year where I didn’t care and I just wanted wins but 76 games into it all I was proven to have just been kidding myself. I really DO care where the Oilers Draft this year and winning can happen some other time because there’s light at the end of this tunnel and his name is Ekblad.
Look, it’s a race to 29th between Edmonton and Florida and those Floridians think they can squeeze their way into 2nd last place right at the end of the year. To that I say “Bah Humbug…. I didn’t suffer through 4 months of Dubnyk starting games just so I can have a team that was gift-wrapped Luongo at the deadline weasel their way past me to get a leg up on the only thing that can ease my suffering. I feel like I’ve been in line since October and someone is trying to bud in front right before I get to the Cashier. OH NO YOU DIDN’T, FLORIDA!
NUGE
I tease about Ryan Nugent-Hopkins all the time. Often it’s about his boyish looks and some might take that to mean I don’t respect the Nuge. Those who would think that are dead wrong. I love the way RNH thinks and plays the game. He has a combination of vision, hands, and skating ability that are unreal and, right now, under appreciated in the league.
It’s hard to argue about the Nuge’s offense with someone from the outside who thinks a former 1st Overall should be providing better numbers already because they might not be aware of his injury history or see his defensive game. Last night, however, was an example of what Nugent-Hopkins can do when he’s on his game. He was around the puck so much that he was picking up points on plays where he didn’t even touch the puck and he was doing it against sublime opposition.
The Hall RNH Eberle line was able to saw off the Thornton line in terms of possession and in yesterday’s game that was in large part to the way the Nuge played. It’s just 1 game but if it’s any indication of what a healthy and confident RNH is capable of then there is plenty of reason to be excited about his future.
LINEUPS
It’s the 2nd game of a back to back so I think we can finally expect to see Fasth play and the rest of the lineup to remain intact. Sometimes our perceptions of a player prevent us from acknowledging when they had a good game. For me, that happened last night with Fraser. I still see him as a lumbering defenseman who causes more grief than he’s worth but he finished the night with a 75% Corsi rating. He was on the ice for just 3 shot attempts against and 9 for the Oil. That’s an excellent night for a pairing that saw its fair share of Couture and Marleau. Probably a blip on the Radar, but worth mentioning.
Hall RNH Eberle Lander Gagner Perron Smyth Gordon Hendricks Pitlick Acton Larsen
Klefbom Schultz Marincin Petry Belov Fraser
Fasth
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) The Kids Lead. The Oilers with all the injuries they have need the top line of Hall, RNH, and Eberle to play the way they did in San Jose. They don’t need to necessarily combine for 10 points again but if they can keep the Ducks in their own zone then that’s half the battle.
2) Fasth Rebounds. In a series of unfortunate events Fasth went from giving 5 goals on 16 shots to hurting his neck in practice and being out for a while. Last night Scrivens was abused again for 5 goals and the Oilers need outstanding goaltending if they want to win (which I have second thoughts about anyway). He’s going to play against his former team. There’s lots of motivation for him.
3) Puck Luck. The Ducks have been getting a lot of it this year with a PDO of 1025 (2nd in the NHL). They’ve been getting solid goaltending and proficient scoring above NHL norms. That combined with a middling Corsi rating is part of the reason why a lot of stats junkies don’t like the Ducks. But, they’ve been getting the puck luck and others haven’t. Tonight the Oil need it on their side.
Puck drops tonight at 8PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet. Game On!
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