Edmonton Oilers Storm Back To Halt Habs 4-3
The kids are all right.
Pete Townshend could have written those lyrics about The Edmonton Oilers, on Thursday night, as the kids who will need to shoulder the weight of this franchise over the years to come did their jobs when it mattered the most. In the end, one of the worst teams in the NHL over the past 9 years mounted an unlikely comeback, from 3-nothing after one to 4-3 after 3. And they did it against the team with the best record in the NHL, and against the best goaltender in the world.
Is that any good…or what??
9 Things:
9. The start. Its too easy to say the Edmonton Oilers had a bad 1st Period. They actually out-played the Montreal Canadians over the first 10 minutes. But the Habs capitalized on a nice power play goal that seemed to shake the young Oilers. The possession stats traded places, and it looked as if the route was on.
8. If I am Anton Lander, I’m worried for my job. For the 2nd consecutive night, he failed to pick up the trailer, this time on the 3rd Montreal goal. He spent a lot of time on the pine after that. And the kid who will be his main competition for that job, Leon Draisaitl, flat out-played him the rest off the night.
7. I had no singular blame attached to Cam Talbot on any of the 3 goals that he allowed on the night. And the 5-alarm save that he made, late in the 3rd Period off Max Pacioretty, is the kind that you need your goaltender to make if you are to have a chance to win games like this one (a track meet). It’s what set Grant Fuhr apart from the rest.
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6. There were bigger stars on the night than him. But after much was made about how the Edmonton Oilers needed more, something, anything out of their 3rd line, Teddy Purcell…the whipping boy of so many Oilers fans…stepped up and delivered his best game of the season by far. He led all Oilers skaters in Corsi, on the night, and had no role in the 2 goals scored while he was on the ice.
5. With perhaps the Calgary game being the exception, this was the best that the Edmonton Oilers blue-line, as a unit, has played all season. The young kids, Darnell Nurse, Brandon Davidson and Oscar Klefbom, led the team. But it was easily the best games of the year for Andrej Sekera and Andrew Ference as well.
4. When Jordan Eberle returns, which is a mere 10 days away now, the opposition will have a hell of a decision to make. Because Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins showed how well they can play with a “real” offensive threat on their flank tonight. Yet they continue to be the Edmonton Oilers 2nd best line. Lordy.
3. The point streak extends to 7 games for Nail Yakupov, who continues to show strong signs that he is coming of age. He was robbed on one brilliant feed from Connor McDavid in front. But then, he did the hard work along the boards in his own end (yeah, that’s right), which allowed 97 to spring Benoit Pouliot with a deft tip for the tying goal. Man, is this line exciting.
2. Connor McDavid. On any other night, Connor McDavid is the 1st star of this hockey game. He ended the night with 2 assists, but he could have had 5. My favorite moment was actually not on a play where he earned a point. He had just finished torching P.K. Subban on a 1-on-1. After the fact, Subban rubbed McDavid’s face in the ice and had a few words for him. Well, P.K….talk is cheap. Great players feed off that kind of stuff, and McDavid replied in the best way possible. God, I love watching this kid play.
1. Leon Draisaitl. The kid woke up at 3 in the morning, caught a red-eye out of Bakersfield, had a 2-hour lay-over in the airport in Phoenix, arrived mid-day in Edmonton, where he choked down some hotel food, and then went straight to the rink, where (after a tentative first period, and a after talking-to from Taylor Hall) he proceeded to light up Carey Price, with 2 goals. Draisaitl gives his team a much-need win and boost, and ensures that the best goaltender of this generation will retire winless at Rexall Place. A pretty o.k. day’s work, and a MUCH deserved first star at Rexall Place.
But none of those 9 things were my favorite moment of the night. My favorite moment didn’t happen, at all, as thousands of dejected Montreal Canadians fans filed out of Rexall Place without singing that damned song.
Yep. The Kids. They’re. All. Right.