Even Strength Goals Vault Edmonton To 5-1 Victory Over Stars

Jeff Petry threw one on net.  It found twine.  Scoring good.  Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Oilers scored four even strength goals on Thursday en route to a 5-1 victory over the Stars.

And it was good, real good.

• Two Oiler goals had absolutely no right going in the net.  Call them ‘bad goals’, fine.  Early in the first, Sam Gagner was in the corner and threw it on net in front of Ryan Jones.  Puck looks to have bounced right off of an unsuspecting Kari Lehtonen and in the net.  In the second period, Jeff Petry scored a similar goal.  He’s in the corner and he whips it on net.  Puck goes off of Trevor Daley’s stick and behind Lehtonen.  Was Kari Lehtonen exhibiting signs of rust in his first game back off the injured reserve?  Maybe.  Shoot the puck and strange things happen.
• While Lehtonen may have been struggling to get back in his groove, Oilers goaltender Devan Dubnyk looked pretty good in his first start in a week.  Dubnyk turned aside 33 of 34 Dallas shots, yielding just one late third period goal to Jaromir Jagr.  When the Oilers score five goals, yielding one isn’t the nail-biter we’re used to.  No one went to overtime, and no one in a Stars uniform scored on a sixty foot wrist shot.  Funny how that all works.
• EVEN STRENGTH GOALS – KIND OF A BIG DEAL.  The big story is that the team had four even strength goals for the first time since what seemed like the 1800s.  By the time Ales Hemsky scored a power play goal early in the third period, the team already had three even strength goals on the backs of Sam Gagner, Justin Schultz and Jeff Petry.  Heck, Ben Eager scored an even strength goal in the third.  Goals are good.  Please embrace them.
• UNRELATED – BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG
• FACE FULL OF BUTT - Some concern for Ladislav Smid when he absorbed the hit from Dallas’ Brendan Morrow.

“MMMMMMFFFMMFMMFFMMMMMMMMMMMF” is what I’d expect Ladislav Smid to say after this collision.

• Smid went off with speculation that he may have re-aggravated a neck injury.  This put the Oilers at four defencemen after Corey Potter was boarded by Eric Nystrom.  Potter went off with a head injury.  Smid returned to the game, while Potter will be a game time decision tonight in St. Louis.

Let the even strength goals continue to flow like chocolate from a giant fountain.  Oilers are in St. Louis tonight.

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