Edmonton Oilers Have Devil Of A Good Time

Visibly better.

They actually were, those Edmonton Oilers, 2 nights after a really poor effort in Toronto. On this night, the Oilers were the best team on the ice for (almost) the entire 60 minutes. And a few of the players who should have hung their heads low after the Leafs game redeemed themselves. 9 Things:

9. Ben Scrivens rarely plays a low-event game, and he landed a couple double-axels behind his own net again tonight. But in the end, he gave the team a big save (with 4:30 left to play) when they needed it most.

8. Martin Marincin settled down and played a game more like the ones we saw last season. He wasn’t fantastic, but he doesn’t need to be. At this point in his career, “quiet games” can keep him in the NHL. Played that 2-on-1 well.

7. Matt Fraser is looking for a consistent game. He was poor in Toronto, but had 3 hits, 2 shots, and delivered a solid 14+ minutes on the 2nd line tonight. I’ve said it before: He can be a poor man’s Dustin Penner…and that ain’t bad.

6. Matt Hendricks can play for my team any day. He set the pace for the entire team, on the very first shift, and finished the night with 7 hits. Especially when a season has gone like this one, a guy who truly gives a damn like #23 is gold.

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5. I really, really like it when a coach spots a guy with jump who is doing the right things and keeps putting him out there. I’ll talk about Nail Yakupov in a minute, but Todd Nelson deserves a lot of credit for giving #10 “the push”.

4. Oscar Klefbom was well below average in Toronto, as was his partner Justin Schultz. But while frustrating, remember: Between them, they have just 226 NHL games! That will happen to young defencemen. They were much better against the Devils. 1st Pairing good? Ha! Well…perhaps not quite yet, hey?

3. Justin Schultz. I actually liked how the entire Oilers blue-line activated on this night (ok, except for that Mark Fayne pinch), but this is where young Schultz excels, when confident…which he is right now, for the first time in almost two years. I and others like to credit Todd Nelson with his turn-around, but at some point, you have to hand it to the player.

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Union and Blue

2. Nail Yakupov. Named the game’s first star, Yak did a lot of things right, but I especially liked seeing the kid sitting on the bench, a goal in his pocket, blood running down his jaw, and a smile on his face. That is what winners look like, folks. Like Schultz, Yakupov has turned it around since the coaching change.
Sensing a theme here?

1. Jordan Eberle. He is the Oilers best player right now. And for the first time in almost two seasons, Eberle is the best player on the first line. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Ted Purcell were also full credit for their performances tonight, but it was Eberle that set the pace. Known as a finisher (and quite a good one), he dished up two sublime assists to pace the attack. And yes…he has been much better since the new coach showed up.

As fun as this was, it will be a hard assignment on Long Island, against a very good Eastern Conference team, on back-to-back nights on the road, without Taylor Hall or Benoit Pouliot. Yikes.

But hey…that’s why they play the games.