Edmonton Oilers Snake-bitten, Lose 3-2 To Bolts
The Edmonton Oilers have lost more than a few games over the past 9 years, where you return home afterwards, shake your head, and sigh “what in God’s name is WRONG with these guys”. Tonight, however, was one of those affairs where the really did deserve better than what fate handed them.
9 Things:
9. The D-pairing of Justin Schultz and Darnell Nurse were the Edmonton Oilers best D-pairing Friday. They were 1-2 in TOI, combined for 7 shots on net, and had some of the best possession metrics on the team.
8. If you think injuries have not hurt the Edmonton Oilers this year, check the line on Anton Lander, Iiro Pakarinen and Rob Klinkhammer from tonight: It isn’t pretty. Lander is still scoreless 41 games on.
7. Brad Hunt is making the most of his NHL stay. He was above 50% on possession in 13:55 of TOI, had a good shot on set, battled sufficiently versus the cycle in zone, and smartly moved pucks North for his teammates out of the Defensive zone.
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6. That was one of the better games that we have seen Ryan Nugent-Hopkins play in a while. He also had strong possession numbers, was above 50% in the face off circle, got the primarily assist on the Power Play goal, and seemed to move through the neutral zone with more peed than he has been, lately. Encouraging.
5. Victor Hedman is a terribly underrated NHL D-man. The Lightening rearguard had a goal and 2 assists, and a spectacular save at the other end, off Leon Draisaitl. He was the best Bolt skater by a country mile, Ben Bishop was the only teammate of his that also bothered to show up.
4. Pretty hard to fault Cam Talbot tonight. He handled the puck quite well in his own end (Tampa played dump & chase all night), and made all of the saves that I would have asked him to. The 3 that did get by him had no business doing so, as they all went in off Oilers players, in such a way that Talbot had no reasonable chance to stop it. Sigh.
3. I actually heard some fans blaming Taylor Hall, tonight, for that equalizer that went in off of him. Seriously, do you watch hockey on a regular basis? Good lord, it’s terrifying how some people with half an education can’t see that #4 busted his hump on the back-check as he covered for a teammate (Sekera). That it went in off him was pure, dumb luck. Period.
2. After playing really terrific hockey the last 20-some games, it was a bit of a shock for Andrej Sekera (a veteran) to make such a rookie error on that pinch in the 3rd Period that allowed the Bolts to pull even. It was his decision, and then his indecision, that allowed the odd-man rush heading the other way. The resulting Tampa goal off the Hall deflection evened the game at 2 apiece.
1. Sometimes, you just have to believe that what we are doing is correct, but that sometimes the end result is not what you had played for. On all 3 Tampa Bay goals, the defender was in the right place, doing the right thing: The 1st goal bounced lazily in off Brandon Davidson. The 2nd goal bounced off a hustling Taylor Hall and Inn. The 3rd was a wacky deflection off Darnell Nurse who was looking he other way as he prepared to box out his attacker. That is some tough puck luck. Guess the Hockey Gods didn’t see this one the Oilers way.
That Florida Panthers, victors of 11 straight games now, take their perilous winning streak into Rexall Place Sunday. Prediction? If the Edmonton Oilers score more than 3 goals, they win. If not…all bets are off.