Edmonton Oilers Outplay Canucks, Slide 4-3 in Shoot-Out

In some ways, the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 shoot-out loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Game 82 of the NHL season was a microcosm of their entire year: They played “well enough” to win, but alas…did not. And so, for the final time this season…

9 Things:

9. Patrick Maroon, who along with 18 or 19 other Edmonton Oilers, had a quiet 1st, but then really caught fire after that…ending up with a goal, 4 shots and 2 hits in 17:08 TOI. I dunno about you, but I’m pretty excited to see this guy with 14 and 97, after real good Summer.

8. I thought this was one of the better games that Darnell Nurse has had in a while. He nudged into positive territory in Corsi, with a heavy workload (20:13), and scored his 3rd goal of the season. Some think Nurse should have spent more time in the AHL this year. Well, fact is, with injuries, that’s a moot point.

7. It’ll be interesting to see if the Edmonton Oilers retain Adam Pardy or Eric Gryba? Pardy was good his 1st 6 games, then got injured. Tonight, he struggled, and was directly responsible for 2 goals, one on the pass to Taylor Hall (who had fallen), and another when he completely missed the read on Jannik Hansen.

6. Andrej Sekera was the Edmonton Oilers best defenceman on the night. He posted a sparkling 66% Corsi, got 5 shots through (rare, for “The Shin-pad Assassin”), and played the most TOI of any Oiler, at 25:33. Sekera is not the #1 D-man this team so desperately needs. But on most nights, this year, he was the club’s best.

5. The Edmonton Oilers hit the 70-point mark in 2015-16, for the 1st time since 2011-12. I know, that rings hollow after 10 years without a playoff berth. But the 70-point plateau, along with a good improvement in goals-against, are real progressions for this franchise, as they prepare to christen Roger’s Place.

4. Taylor Hall pushed the river in a serious way over the final 40 minutes, after a quiet 1st. He ended up at 70% Corsi, and had a pretty assist in 16:01 TOI. But he did not participate in the shoot-out. Why? I’d lean toward the fact that Hall took a slashing penalty (albeit a ticky-tack call) with 6 seconds left in regulation.

3. Nail Yakupov looked very good tonight, and in fact I thought that line with Leon Draisaitl and Lauri Korpikoski was the Edmonton Oilers best. Yakupov posted a 60% Corsi, registering 2 assists and was +1 in 16:09 of TOI. Was it his last game in Oilers silks? If so, it was a good one. I personally hope the Russian is back, but it seems unlikely.

2. Cam Tabot showed, yet again tonight, why he has claimed the #1 job in goals for the Edmonton Oilers. While he did let one in tonight that he normally stops (sure, Jordan Oesterle tipped it a bit, but still), he still came up big late, and despite the being ice generally tilted in the Edmonton Oilers favor, Talbot was the #1 reason why the game got to Overtime. One thing Peter Chiarell does NOT have to shop for, over the Summer, is a 1G.

1. Even though the Edmonton Oilers struggled over the 1st 20 minutes, they dominated possession over the final 40, ending up with a lopsided edge on the shot-clock…38 registered on the Vancouver net in all. I maintain that a shoot-out is a crappy way to end a hockey game, win or lose. But hey…them’s the rules. Tonight, Jacob Markstrom was (marginally) one save better than Cam Talbot in the “show-down”. But in a game where the Edmonton Oilers could have rolled over, they did not, coming back from deficits 3 times over regulation.

So…that’s it. To state the blindingly obvious, this wasn’t the season that most of us hoped for. But it’s the best I’ve felt about the roster at Game 82 in 5 years, and with a successful Summer, this group should have the horses to compete for a playoff spot in 20117.

My columns will continue, weekly, through the off-season. But thank you kindly for following my work, and Oil on Whyte, over the duration of the season. There are many choices out there in Oil Country. I appreciate you stopping on my columns, and commenting on them when you did.

Enjoy the Stanley Cup playoffs, & we’ll see you in the Fall.