October 2011 – Power Play Goals And The Rhythm Of Youth

 In lieu of the 2012-13 NHL season, please enjoy a sporadic waltz down memory lane, featuring some of my favourite goals from 2011-12.  Now is the time to make yourself a moderately large bowl of popcorn and to pour yourself a beverage of your choice.  

We begin this series with five goals from October, 2011. 

In no particular order…

The Nuge is Huge. Photo courtesy Sportsnet

October 9th, 2011 – Last year’s home opener was a great game to be an Oilers fan.  The team won in a shootout against Pittsburgh, Ales Hemsky had the shootout winner, Devan Dubnyk turned in a solid performance against a solid Penguins squad, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had his first career goal in a season that saw him finish with 18.  The goal brought the game to a 1-1 score with five minutes remaining in the third.

Taylor Hall buries his first goal of the 2011-12 season. Photo courtesy Sportsnet

Want to know what was really good last year?  The power play.  The Oilers had a power play that hummed along quite nicely at a 20.6% success rate, good for third in the league.  See it in action as Taylor Hall delivers the groceries past Pekka Rinne  from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Shawn Horcoff en route to a 2-1 victory against the Predators on October 17th, 2011.

Corey Potter nets one against his former team. Photo courtesy Sportsnet

They were all hitting the net in October, and an unlikely source found the score sheet in an October 22nd game against the Rangers.  Corey Potter is your man on an assist from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle.  Potter’s blast gave the Oilers a 2-0 lead over the Rangers in the third. After the game, Rangers coach John Tortorella had a memorable presser.

Not Eberle’s first dog and pony show. Photo courtesy Sportsnet

Corey Potter finds his way onto the score sheet yet again.  The Capitals opened 2011-12 on a seven game winning streak and were looking for eight in Edmonton.  The Capitals couldn’t keep out of the penalty box.  Tomas Vokoun can’t control a shot from Corey Potter that ends up on the stick of Jordan Eberle who puts it in the back of the net.

Three points in his last four games with this goal. Photo courtesy Sportsnet

One more from the power play – Shawn Horcoff gets fed by RNH in front of St. Louis’ Jaroslav Halak and slips it behind the goal line to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead.  The Oilers would double up the Blues by a score of 4-2.

Today, Bill Daly said that there would be an NHL season.  He declined to say when.

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