Edmonton Oilers Let Another One Slip

Despite what you may have gathered by the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast, two teams actually faced off on Saturday night in Calgary. The Edmonton Oilers were the best team in the 1st Period, but ever so gradually, the Flames chipped away, until the dam broke in the 3rd. 9 Things:

9. Ben Scrivens was hung out to dry no less than 3 times on Saturday night, and the other one against him was a lucky one that banked off his own defenceman’s skate. Scrivens was otherwise excellent all night long. This loss is not on him in any way, shape or form…and Scrivens is making a defensible case for bringing him back next season.

8. I find it difficult to dump all over Keith Aulie, after all the guy was playing his first NHL game in a month. But he was exposed by the Flames speed all night long, and was quite simply out-classed. Practically every shift was an adventure. And when things are going bad for you, of course that puck will bank off your skate on the way in. Hello? OKC?

7. Derek Roy had a rough night, the first time since arriving in Edmonton that I thought he looked poor. That hooking penalty against him does not happen if he takes an extra step. And two neutral zone giveaways led directly to Flames goals. Roy is a veteran, and I expect he will come back. But if he is wanting to earn a new contract in Edmonton, that’s not how you do it.

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6. The Calgary Flames won 2-thirds of the face-offs. I chuckle at the people who dismiss the importance of draws. Nah, puck possession really is not important at all to a hockey team. I was watching the Edmonton Oilers getting schooled on the dot, early on, and thinking to myself “this could end badly”, and it did indeed.

5. Justin Schultz played a whale of a game for 2 periods. And it would be unfair to pin the 3rd Period melt-down on him, as he was not the principle victim on any of the 4 Calgary goals, but hey…he WAS -2. So there’s that. But seriously, there are real signs that Justin Schultz is coming back to life. And the pairing with Oscar Klefbom, who was also decent, works.

4. The Power Play was bad. The Flames may have had more possession time, during the PK, that the team with the man advantage. Losing Nikita Nikitin does not help the PP, but to be fair…the Oilers did not have enough possession time to make his absence the difference maker on Saturday night. The missed PP opportunity in the 2nd Period perhaps cost them the game.

3. I have no problem with the decision to play Keith Aulie on Saturday night, that is what your 7th Defenceman is for. But if the injury to Nikitin is long term, and I am hearing 6-7 weeks, then when you are 29th…you don’t give your journeyman all of that TOI. Now…now is the time to call up Martin Marincin. Even Brandon Davidson. But Marincin is surely “the one”.

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Eyes On Isles

2. Jordan Eberle. He was sublime on Saturday, easily the best Oiler on the night, and perhaps the best player on either team. Watching him absolutely undress the best defenceman in the NHL right now was a real treat. But it was not just the goal and assist (and a post to boot) that caught my eye…it was the intensity with which he played. That’s the best version of Eberle.

1. I tweeted out earlier in the day that the Flames game was a very good test of just how far this team has come, since Todd Nelson arrived on the scene. And after 2 periods, I was preparing to announce that the Edmonton Oilers had indeed turned the corner. But the 3rd Period showed irrefutably that they just are not there yet. More patience required, I’m afraid.

That should have been two points. But all of the little things that the Edmonton Oilers did so well in the 1st they let slowly slip away, and them wham…they imploded in a span of about 5 minutes. You don’t fix this overnight, and Saturday was hard lesson in that.

On to San Jose.