Edmonton Oilers Slip 3-2 In O/T To Vancouver
By Kurt Leavins
Sure, they lost 3-2 in O/T, but the Edmonton Oilers put on a display far superior to the one we saw at Rexall Place on Thursday night. Lots of things to like on this evening, in what was the team’s best game of the pre-season (against the best competition). And after all of the hand-wringing after Thursday, that’s a serious relief. 9 Things:
9. The Teddy Purcell haters will rake me over the coals for saying this, but he made 2 very smart passes that led directly to Edmonton Oilers goals. Instead of bitching about this player, and everything that he ISN’T, you may try embracing what he DOES do well, which is see the ice and handle the puck…like he did tonight.
8. Cam Talbot was very good tonight. All of you that were rushing for the nearest ledge on Thursday night can feel a LOT better now that Talbot has demonsrated the ability to be a starting goaltender. Neither goal was on him, and only once did he not control the rebound. The real decision now is who will back him up.
7. Nail Yakupov has gotten better as the pre-season competition has gotten tougher. That is exactly what you want to see. He was dangerous in the Canucks zone, narrowly missing on a beautiful cross-ice feed by Leon Draisaitl. But just as notably, he twice came back into his own zone and broke up plays. He may just be “getting it”.
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6. Until the final 2 minutes, Brandon Davidson had had a whale of a game and had clearly out-played Griffin Reinhart in the battle for spots on the blue-line. Then, the Sedins beat him behind his own net, forcing a give-away that led directly to the tying goal. Now, he is not the 1st NHL D-man to have that happen to them, but…
5. If both Eric Gryba and Griffin Reinhart make the team, I am not at all sure that you can play them on the same pairing. A number of times tonight their relative lack of foot-speed was exposed, and with Gryba challenged to make a crisp head-man pass the job of clearing the zone fell to Reinhart…who was just too soft on his stick.
4. Anton Slepyshev should make the team. Period. In fact tonight, he was the best player on his line. Both Connor McDavid and Taylor Hall had their moments, but Slepyshev was the player who showed up every shift, on both sides of the puck. You can tell the kid has a couple years of pro under his belt. He was very good…again.
3. Justin Schultz was the Edmonton Oilers best defenceman again tonight. The difference in him is obvious and consistent: He is playing with way more intensity. That means moving the puck up faster, recovering from his pinches quicker, and putting his shoulder into attackers quicker. I’m really encouraged by his play.
2. We all saw the battle drills that Todd McLellan put his troops though on Friday, and clearly the message got through. The Edmonton Oilers won three times as many puck battles tonight as they did Thursday. The boards & bumpers were battle zones, and more often than not…the Edmonton Oilers came away with the puck against the bigger team. That is more than just a little bit encouraging.
1. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was flat-out terrific tonight. The best player on the ice for either team, he was stubborn with his stick on Defence, drove the play on Offence, set up a spectacular goal by Benoit Pouliot, and then drilled home one of his own on a nifty feed by Purcell. He was also strong on the dot. Nugent-Hopkins will be key to the Edmonton Oilers success this year. As more and more teams focus on McDavid, Nugen-Hopkins will find himself with more room…like he did tonight.
Thus end-eth the pre-season. A couple hard decisions to make for the coaching staff now. I strongly suspect a goaltender will get moved, either down or out, and one skater has to go, too. I had Davidson ticketed for Bakersfield until tonight. Now, I’m not so sure…although I still think he’s the odd man out. Although I wonder about Rob Klinkhammer. His skills on this team are not unique and I think he’d clear waivers.
Hmmm. We shall see.