Edmonton Oilers Take 2 From Florida Panthers in Shoot Out

Unlike their previous engagement, the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers came out with an entertaining effort in what turned out to be a shoot out win for Viktor Fasth and friends. The Oilers opened up the score and were generally good on defence. Even with Roberto Luongo getting his groove on, the copper and blue kept coming and never threw the towel. The match was fairly even with 34 and 37 shots for both Oilers and Panthers and zero power play damage on either side.

Why We Keep Watching

• Viktor Fasth was solid, of the two goals, one was a wicked slap shot where the goalie fell victim to the Aquiles’ tendon of the butterfly style(top of the net exposed) and the second one was a defensive miscue that left a Panther all by his lonesome right by the post. This is only his third win in 15 starts this season, all on the road. The more he plays between now and trade deadline, and the more he wins, the better it will be for both Fasth and the Oilers.
• Jordan Eberle‘s goal was a thing of beauty, vintage Ebs all the way. It was funny how Luongo jumped right after like a little kid having a tantrum.
• Matt Hendricks scored a shortie on Luongo. That’s always a good day’s work.
• The stat sheet says the Panthers only had 2 giveaways but, for once, it looked the it was the Oilers who were being gifted 2 on 1’s in bunches.
• The penalty killers for the visitors did a great job negating that last minute power play by Florida. They stepped up big time and the team ended up rewarded with a well deserved win.
• Nail Yakupov scored the lonely shut out goal and I think everyone feels very good about that.

Why We Cringe When We Watch:

• Jeff Petry is not the best defenceman of the Edmonton Oilers, he is the least awful. There was one play where instead of neutralizing an attacker against the boards, did not and the play ended up in a shot on goal. He just doesn’t seem to think the game beyond what’s in front of him.
• Then there was the second goal, Petry was completely unaware there was a guy behind him on the opposite post and decided to go where there was no one to defend, screening Fasth and leaving the aforementioned Panther to his own devices.
• There was a play where Lander drove the net and ended up laying in front of the Panthers’ goal only to take abuse from one of them. What really ticked me off was A) Lander needs to grow a pair, he just laid there and took it, and B) it took forever for the Oilers to come to his teammate’s aid, and even then they just kind of skated by.
• Not so much cringe worthy, but worrisome, Taylor Hall and Nail Yakupov are suffering. They had probably the most breakaways they’ve had in a game all season, if not ever, and they did not cash in on any. They either shot square at the goalie or sent a bullet of a pass that missed their mate. These two are clearly holding the stick a little too tight. There is such a thing as trying too hard. Hall was literally trying so hard he was breaking the opponents sticks.

I believe this is the 10th game since Craig MacTavish took the training wheels off of Todd Nelson. During this time the Oilers have a record of 4-2-4, grabbing 10 out of 20 points available and effectively playing .500 hockey. Not only that, but 2 of the wins have been against western opponents( L.A. and Chicago). Also on this stretch the moribund power play has been kick started and gone 6 goals on 27 penalties drawn, good for a healthy success rate of 22%.

The improvements are due in part to the influx of new personnel and the typical boost after a change in coaching mid season, but due credit to Todd Nelson for jumping into a tough situation and getting some good things out of it.

Right now the Oilers have moved up one spot in the standings, with the Buffalo Sabres determined to get a crack at the first two overall Draft picks this summer (10 losses in a row). This is bad news for the Dishonor for Connor/Crack for Jack camp, and a tip of the hat by the ELPH(Exit Last Place Hockey) supporters.

The Edmonton Oilers will be back in action on Tuesday at 5 pm when they face Alex Ovechkin to close out their 4 game road trip at the Capital of the Western World. After that it’s back home and a 6 day rest during the NHL All-Star break which will feature our own Ryan Nugent-Hopkins along with other NHL superstars plus Zemgus Girgensons.