Edmonton Oilers Storm Back, Ultimately Fall Short
By Kurt Leavins
The Edmonton Oilers quite simply dug too deep of a hole for themselves to dig out of and at the same time hope that the high-octane Penguins would stay silent the rest of the night. But even though the evening started bad and ended with a loss, we did witness some positives along the way.
And when you are 29th, positives are…well…positive. 9 Things:
9. Obviously, the start was brutal. The Edmonton Oilers did not have what I would have marked as a “good shift” until 13 minutes into the 1st Period. Against the Penguins, that is just not going to get it done.
8. The Derek Roy, Nail Yakupov and Teddy Purcell line was dangerous for much of the night. Roy and Yakupov continue to demonstrate chemistry, and Purcell is in the role he’s appropriate for: Complementary forward.
7. The Oscar Klefbom is a work in progress. On one shift, Klefbom single-handedly broke up a cycle, and beat 3 Penguins as he safely cleared the zone. But still, he ended up Minus 2. Why? Because a 22 year old D-man is playing almost every shift against Crosby or Malkin.
6. Martin Marincin had trouble with his gaps again tonight. On the one Penguins goal, his failure to close that gap led to a shot on goal which, due to Andrew Ference not taking his man and Ben Scrivens juggling the rebound, ended up in the net. Teams like the Penguins capitalize on those mistakes.
5. Tonight was a “Tale of Two Nuge’s”. The Edmonton Oilers #1 Center really struggled in the first period. The short-handed goal against was on Nuge, who didn’t back off when Justin Schultz tried to hold the line. But Nugent-Hopkins rebounded in the back-half, with 2 assists.
4. Taylor Hall is back skating, and soon, one of these other wingers will get farmed out. To my eye, Matt Fraser is out-playing Ryan Hamilton and will probably stick. I admire how intelligently Hamilton plays, but he simply lacks the skill to have a full-time NHL job.
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3. Craig MacTavish surely can see that getting a starting goaltender is Job #1 this summer. Ben Scrivens was largely pulled in an effort to change momentum, and you could say it worked. But both he and Richard Bachman each gave up fat rebounds that ended up in the back of the net.
2. Derek Roy showed again tonight that he would be a good signing for next year. He played 19 minutes, made up of dangerous offensive zone time and effective defensive play. He just never quits, shift-to-shift. That inclination and a skill set that is still considerable, this late in his career, is in short supply on this club. The right term (1 year) and the right price ($1.5m) would be the right thing to do.
1. Matt Hendricks face looked like an Easter ham by the end of the night. But it was that gritty performance that picked a sad-looking bunch of Edmonton Oilers by their hockey socks, when they were down 3-0, and pointed them in the right direction. Hendricks is a heart and soul guy who gives you everything that he has, every night. His teammates should be buying, tonight.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: With the Edmonton Oilers roster in the state that it is, you don’t expect much against power-house teams. So when you get a gritty, battle-back performance like we saw on Thursday, it’s a good sign.
If “good signs” are not enough for you, I understand. Wins matter, I’ve said that myself. But Wins will matter next year, more. And what we see over the final 15 games of the season is vital in the building of next year’s team.
On to Columbus.