Edmonton Oilers Squeeze Out A Point In The Peg
The Edmonton Oilers are not a better team than the Winnipeg Jets, even when the Oilers lineup is healthy. So to skate out of Winnipeg Monday night with a point is a real positive. Yes, you want to win. But to win you first have to battle, and the Oilers did that. 9 Things;
9. I am reluctant to say that goaltending cost the Edmonton Oilers a point, on this night. After all, Winnipeg had 48 (!) shots on goal, and Fasth left the game in the shoot-out with an injury. But I would be remiss if I did not point out that the Tyler Myers goal should not have gone in. He is not Al MacInnis, after all.
8. I was more than a little miffed with Teddy Purcell, Monday night, a guy I typically have time for. But he was generally ineffective on the attack, and he was all but absent on the tying goal. He floated back into the zone and never did take a man. That’s not good enough in the NHL.
7. Oscar Klefbom did not play a perfect game, Monday, far from it. But he does bring an extra gear that none of the other defenders on the Edmonton Oilers possess, and skated miles tonight. I can handle a couple errors by Klefbom, if it spares me from watching Keith Aulie play even one more game.
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6. The Dustin Byfuglien hit on Luke Gazdic was clean. And Mark Fayne is no idiot. He knows, only too well, that he stuffed that pass up his teammates behind. I didn’t like that. But I DID like the response from every one of the Edmonton Oilers on the ice. The team needs more of that, going forward.
5. I find very little criticism in how Todd Nelson is handling this team. But having said that, don’t you think that Benoit Pouliot is a better fit on that first line than Ted Purcell? I guess Nelson wants more speed on the line with Anton Lander and Iiro Pakarinen? I would flip them.
4. I am sure glad that Craig MacTavish is not going to re-sign Jeff Petry. What a terrible pass by him to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on the 3rd Oilers goal. There is no place for that here. Seriously, though, who exactly is the General Manager planning on replacing this player with? Boy.
3. Derek Roy was flat out excellent. He picked up a bullet of a pass from Andrew Ference out of his skates and laid it right on the tape of a charging Nail Yakupov for the 1st Edmonton Oilers goal. Then, with 2:20 left, Roy saved a first-rate scoring chance with a spectacular back-check. I really think I’d sign him.
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2. The goaltending has been a concern all year long, when both Ben Scrivens and Viktor Fasth were at least healthy. But with Fasth down with what appears to be a significant injury and Scrivens fresh off the IR (the Oilers hope), the weight may end up on the shoulders of Richard Bachman for a couple games. I admire how Bachman competed in the shoot-out, after coming in cold. What a tough spot! A good depth signing.
1. Nail Yakupov has absolutely turned his season around, and in the process, perhaps even his young career. He scored two more hi-light reel goals in Winnipeg, and did a much better job of getting the puck safely up the boards in his own end than we have seen recently. Credit Todd Nelson for finding a voice that translated well in Nail’s head. Credit Craig MacTavish for finding Yakupov a real NHL center in Roy.
But most of all, credit Nail Yakupov for picking himself up by his skate laces and playing much, much better hockey. On Monday, he was the main reason the Edmonton Oilers got out of Winnipeg with a point.
Boston should be down-right owly after that sloppy loss to Calgary Monday night. Wednesday will be tough. Book it.