Edmonton Oilers Survive Rocky Start, Triumph 2-1 In O/T

The Edmonton Oilers hung on for dear life, over the first 25 minutes of their game against the Calgary Flames on Saturday night. But then a shuffle of the lines and D-pairings seemed to trigger a shift in the momentum of the game that the Calgary Flames never fully recovered from. Make the final 2-1 Oilers.

9 Things:

9. So…how DID “Johnny Hockey” do tonight, anyway?

8. Nail Yakupov was about the only skater on the Edmonton Oilers that had anything going on, over the first 20 minutes of this game. He has real jump, and generated both the 1st and 3rd shots of the night. Yakupov finished with a Corsi of 97%, in over 14:00 TOI. At this rate, he’ll soon earn more. In fact, his coach telegraphed today a February 2nd reunion with Connor McDavid.

7. Darnell Nurse played a much different game Saturday, than he did in San Jose. As much success as Nurse had lugging the puck against the Sharks, there was also chaos in his game, and it was there to start this evening, too. But Nurse settled down in back half, and was dynamite against the cycle, finishing the night with 7 hits. His game seemed to turn around, when (of all people) Justin Schultz bailed him out of a tight spot early. You read that right!

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6. So let me get this straight: The Edmonton Oilers out-shoot the Calgary Flames, out-score the Calgary Flames, get 2 points to their 1 and win the damn game, but still…Hockey Night in Canada gives Calgary 2 off the 3 stars on the night, and snubs Talbot, who deserved 1st star and then some. The homer-ism displayed by these guys is really pathetic sometimes.

5. Eric Gryba has been roundly criticized for his play, at times, this season and rightfully so. But this evening was as good as Gryba has been as a member of the Edmonton Oilers, and probably as good as he is capable of playing. A tremendous amount of that is due to his time on the penalty kill (there was 10:00 of it, after all), where his reach and battle level made a real difference. 24:19 TOI.

4. Mark Fayne has really turned his game around. He and Andrej Sekera played “the toughs” Saturday night, and shut down the Calgary Flames big guns. To my eye, Fayne has increased the level of aggression in his game. That has translated into much tighter gap control, especially in his own zone. Until Oscar Klefbom comes back, this level of play from Faye promises to be huge…if he can sustain it.

3. Not all of my learned friends in the Oilogosphere are converts of the importance of face-offs that I am. Well, tonight, may I present Exhibit “A”. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was 71% in the face-off circle, and Mark Letestu 77%. Not only did that kind of possession rate help on the attack, it was key in the success the Edmonton Oilers enjoyed tonight on the penalty kill. Because of Letestu in particular, the Flames spent more time chasing the puck back into their own end, on the power play, than they did directing it at Cam Talbot. And I haven’t even mentioned the Taylor Hall face-off win that led directly to Mark Fayne‘s equalizer.

2. The entire rink could see it, but many of us said it out loud before the puck even dropped: The line combinations that Todd McLellan put together made little sense, and sure enough…half-way through the game, he shuffled not only his lines, but 2 of his 3 D-pairings as well. From that point on, the Edmonton Oilers possession statistics took off. Taylor Hall, who pressed to the point where he was back committing give-aways in the first 30, settled down once re-united with Leon Draisaitl and Teddy Purcell, who eventually would notch the shoot-out winner.

1. Respected Edmonton Journal writer Jim Matheson wrote just the other day that “The Edmonton Oilers probably need to see more of Cam Talbot before opening negotiations on a new deal”. Well, Peter Chiarelli got a real eyeful tonight. Talbot was spectacular, especially early, when his team couldn’t get the puck over their blue-line to save their souls. But that was o.k. in the end, as Talbot saved them for them. That he wasn’t named the game’s #1 Star is a joke. After all…he is the main reason why the game ended the way that it did, including a point-blank save off T.J. Brodie that should be on the hi-light reels for months. Cam Talbot is sure playing like a #1 goaltender. It’s my guess that he will soon be paid like one, also.

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On one hand, the Edmonton Oilers gave their divisional rival Flames a point, on Saturday night. But the win helps break the perceived “Hockey Night in Canada Curse”, for the club. And it helps them keep pace with the Pacific Division playoff race. In just 4 games, Connor McDavid returns, and it’s potentially a whole new world.

If the Edmonton Oilers can just manage a .500 record between now and then…we may have an exciting Spring in Edmonton, for the first time in a very long time, indeed.

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