Edmonton Oilers Lose Duck Hunt 5-3

The Edmonton Oilers performance Tuesday night, versus a very good NHL team, was really quite good. The 5-3 score looks far worse than it actually was, given that the Anaheim Ducks scored 2 empty net goals. The shots for the night ended 31-27, and Leon Draisaitl had the tying goal on his stick in the dying seconds.

Sadly, the Ducks DID ultimately triumph, and the reasons were few but all-too-familiar to Oilers fans.

9 Things:

9. While not a major factor in the game, Anton Lander returned to the lineup and acquitted himself pretty well. He was position-ally sound and did some good
work on the cycle in the opposing end. Was solid on the penalty kill, above-average on draws. All in all, I think he earned another game.

8. A couple of years down the road, we will look back at this game and be glad that Connor McDavid experienced it, because he will be the better for it. This game had a playoff grit to it, and as a result McDavid did not have a lot of free space. This IS the NHL, Connor. And while I’m confident you will grow and adapt, that will happen in part because of tonight’s learning experience.

7. Funny, how so many people talked about the “soft” play of Jordan Eberle right after his injury. Now, for 2 consecutive games, he has been the best player on a line that includes Connor McDavid. Eberle has been playing with rare-before seen aggressiveness, and ended up with an assist, 4 shots and 2 hits (!) in 17:22 TOI. He has definitely hit his stride again.

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6. The NHL should save the tape from that game and use it to show how NOT to officiate a hockey game. There were obvious missed calls all over the ice, a few real head-scratchers (several on Taylor Hall, alone), and one long and tedious delay as the Zebras took their time getting the call on the first Anaheim goal utterly and completely wrong…

5. One, how did the whistle not go? Where was the replay showing the puck free, prior to David Perron plowing into Cam Talbot? Two, how WAS that not goaltender interference? The puck did not go in until after Perron contacted Talbot. Three, what a great way to zone 17,000 people out of hockey game. Congratulations, Gary.

4. The D-core really didn’t play too bad tonight, again against very good, physical opposition, and without their most physical member, Eric Gryba, for almost 2 full periods. Darnell Nurse had a terrific possession game in 21:51 of TOI, with 3 Hits, 2 Shots and an Even +/- on the night. Brandon Davidson was excellent. Andrej
Seeker battled hard and moved the puck well.

3. Nail Yakupov may frustrate me for different reasons than he frustrates you. Outside of one shift, tonight, Yakupov was quite good, to the point McLellan moved him into the Top 6. But that one shift that was not “quite good” was “quite horrific”. The play started with a failure to clear the blue line, and ended with losing his man on the way to the net, and a Ducks goal. One step forward…

2. The frustration Todd McLellan showed on the bench when Benoit Pouliot took the 2nd of two bone-headed penalties on the night was telling. He might have drilled his pencil right through his notebook, he was so angry. Pouliot appropriately spent most of the rest of the night on the bench. As much as the player brings, he all too often gives it right back with unintelligent plays like that.

1. Taylor Hall and Leon Draisaitl were named the #2 and #3 stars of the game, in that order, on the night. They were terrific. Hall always skates miles, but tonight he was a fast train on a set of tracks headed toward the net, and was rewarded with a goal from the blue paint. Draisaitl had WAY more jump, scored a goal, often pushed the play, and a significant chunk of his 22:10 TOI was against the Ryan
Getzlaf trio. Both of these players have the right combination of speed and
brawn to play a playoff-type game and succeed…at least to an extent.

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And as for the few who would take Hall to task for the turn-over on the empty net goal, I would urge you to take the game as a whole, and appreciate the fact that when down one, the goalie on the bench and time running out, you DO take chances. Its desperation time and you have nothing to lose. Its how the game is played. Same for Draisaitl, in the fading seconds. If you want to pick on mistakes, rewind the PVR to earlier in the game.

Honestly, while I’m frustrated with a couple of errors (mental ones, when it comes right down to it), the Edmonton Oilers played a very successful game, physically, against a legit Stanley Cup Contender. So I’m not “disappointed”.

I will be, however, if this same effort is not present Thursday night, against an inferior Minnesota Wild club. After all, that is what this season has now become:

A lesson on how to win and/or not lose.

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