Edmonton Oilers Rise To The Occasion In Montreal
By Kurt Leavins
These “Oklahoma City Barons” are really on quite a roll, right now.
A number of Edmonton Oilers who toiled for Todd Nelson for a majority of this NHL season played huge roles in a come-from-behind effort that the club very much deserved to win, Thursday night, over the Montreal Canadians. Where was this team in November, you ask? We’ll get into that. 9 Things:
9. The only real negative I will talk about tonight is Viktor Fasth. If a true #1 goaltender was in net for the Edmonton Oilers, Thursday night, this game surely would not have gotten to overtime. The 1st and 3rd goals whizzed by him from medium range while he was on his knees. To be fair, he did make a big save late to keep in within 1. But…
8. All players tend to show well when first acquired, but then often level off. I had begun to wonder if that was going to be the Rob Klinkhammer story in Edmonton before tonight. His fore-check and ultimate net-front screen on the Matt Hendricks goal has me back thinking that he would be a solid signing for next year.
7. Can we please, please stop it with the “see, Taylor Hall was the problem” silliness? Good lord, people, get a grip. When healthy, Taylor Hall is one of the best Left Wingers in the game, and a leader in the Edmonton Oilers dressing room. If you genuinely think he was “the issue”, then you are one of the reasons why we can’t have nice things.
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6. Huh? What?? Oh, sorry. You know, I had a deep, profound thought for Point #6, but then out of the corner of my eye, I caught those hideous retro-Kings jerseys and just could not look away. I kept searching for Juha Widing, Bob Berry and Mike Corrigan. Then Barry Melrose walks onto the ice? I thought perhaps I’d had a stroke.
5. After the Islanders game, I proclaimed Jordan Eberle as the Edmonton Oilers best (active) player right now. But as good as Eberle was again on Thursday, his buddy Nuge was even better. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has developed a doggedness about him which enhances his skill. Too bad he’s a 3rd Line Center, hey Kelly Hrudy?
4. Nail Yakupov is still no Doug Jarvis in his own zone, but on the other side of the puck, this kid has come alive. For the second time in 3 games, he suffered an injury. But instead of that slowing him up, it seemed to light a fire under him. He won the game 2 starts ago, and that rush in OT tonight set up the winner.
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3. Hmmm, let’s see. Decisions, decisions. Anton Lander. Will Acton. Lander. Acton. Well, Craig, I’ve thought it over, and if it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll keep Acton. After all, center in the National Hockey League really isn’t, like, an important position. Yeah. Will Acton. That’s the ticket. Good talk, Craig. And don’t worry…I’m “on it”.
2. A lot of people laughed derisively when Craig MacTavish referred to Oscar Klefbom and Justin Schultz as a “top-pairing D-Unit”. I have to admit, I also wondered at the effusiveness of his statement. But Klefbom-Schultz tallied 28 and 26 minutes TOI against the Canadiens, Thursday night, and the results were obvious. Hmmm.
1. How much longer do you think Craig MacTavish goes before he offers Todd Nelson the head coaching job? I don’t necessarily disagree that the club should interview the best candidates possible. But at this level of sport, the difference between a good coach and a bad coach is not that much. And if you get players to play for you, well…that’s a pretty significant accomplishment. The Resume of Todd Nelson, at the very least, needs to star at the top of the pile on the GM’s desk.
If you toss out that terrible display in Toronto last Saturday, this team has played very, very well on this road trip…probably the best hockey we’ve seen from the Copper & Blue all season.
Is that faint praise, considering how this year has gone? Sure. But it doesn’t change the fact that this coach, with these players, has really turned it around.
On to Ottawa, which with the way the Edmonton Oilers are playing right now, could be a very interesting affair.