Edmonton Oilers Blow Lead In Regulation, Tire In O/T

The Edmonton Oilers should have won that game in Phoenix on Tuesday night. But in the final analysis, they really didn’t deserve to. On an evening when a few players had excellent games, a few too many more were passengers…and that caught up to the Oilers in the end.

9 Things:

9. Fun Fact: The Edmonton Oilers have now lost 16 consecutive hockey games, when NHL referee Francis Charron has been officiating. The skid dates back to the 20th of January, 2013.

8. Francis Charron was in no way to blame for the 3 bad penalties that the Edmonton Oilers took tonight: A Lazy hook by Rob Klinkhammer, a needless hold by Eric Gryba, and the overtime high-stick by Taylor Hall.

7. The Edmonton Oilers surrendered 3 power play goals Tuesday night (and a 4th goal was right at the tail end of one). The club clearly missed it’s very best penalty killer in Matt Hendricks, who’s sitting out that 3-game suspension.

More from Oilers News

6. Benoit Pouliot scored on a nice deflection on the power play, and had very good possession numbers. But to my eye, he was a passenger for most of the night, including a terrible job of defensive coverage in overtime that almost ended the game before it ultimately did.

5. Justin Schultz showed some really encouraging flashes tonight, that reminded us of how good he CAN be, on the attack, including a beautiful goal where he broke in from the point and nailed home a fantastic saucer pass by Leon Draisaitl. Lets hope it’s a sign that he is (finally) coming out of it.

4. Brandon Davidson was supposed to be in the AHL this season, so I try not to be too pissy when I point out his errors. After all, he has had a very solid season for the Edmonton Oilers. But that give-away in over-time was a rookie mistake at the worst possible time. All he had to do was eat the puck behind his own net and let the clock run harmlessly down. Instead, his panicked clearing effort was back IN his own net just scant seconds later.

3. Funny. All that talk before the game about how stone cold Leon Draisaitl had become. Yeah, just shy of a point a game really sucks. Well, to be fair, he WAS scoreless in 14 prior to Tuesday. But he snapped that skid when he charged 175 feet down the ice to stuff home a great set-up by Jordan Eberle. Then, he shot a wizard-like saucer pass across the slot to Justin Schultz, who had darted in from the blue-line…just like old times!

2. Given how much chemistry Draisaitl and Eberle showed up until that point, I was more than a little surprised that Todd McLellan chose to break them up in the 3rd Period. After that, honestly, I thought both lines were a little flat. I’m no NHL coach, McLellan must have seen something I didn’t, or just wanted to get Taylor Hall going, but I think he may have out-coached himself on that one. I admire McLellan and disagree with few of his decisions…but this one did leave my head shaking.

1. Those of you generous enough with your time to read these columns on a regular basis will know that I have a favorite saying: When their best players are better than your best players, you will not often win in the NHL. And indeed that script played out precisely that way on Tuesday night. Kudos to Max Domi on the hat trick, but I actually thought the best player on the ice tonight was Oliver Ekman-Larsson. The rearguard played a stunning 32:24, and had a goal and 3 assists. Meanwhile, on the other end of the ice Taylor Hall (who, in fairness, has carried this club on his back for much of the year) had his worst game of the season. The overtime penalty was really as much bad luck as bad management, but that Phoenix scored on the ensuing power play pretty much illustrated his frustrating off-night.

More from Oil On Whyte

A single point is better than a kick in the pants, I guess. But it’s a little disheartening to watch a team that was so in control of a game manage it SO badly (most of) the rest of the night. Losing that 2nd point hurts, against a divisional rival, leaving the Edmonton Oilers 6 back of Vancouver.

Do you know the way to San Jose? Todd McLellan sure should. I hope his new team shows up for 60 minutes against his old one. For his sake…and theirs.

The Oilers are not out of it…yet. But many more steps like this one, and they soon will be.

Home / Oilers News