Edmonton Oilers: 2 Game Winning Streak Continues in Preseason
By Warsame A
The winning streak continues for the Edmonton Oilers as they knocked off the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 in their second preseason game.
The Edmonton Oilers won their second straight game of the preseason. This performance against the Vancouver Canucks this early in the schedule doesn’t mean anything in the long run, but a few players did shine out of that game. That’s the biggest takeaway after the Oilers beat the Canucks 4-2 last night.
This team didn’t have their stars on the ice, but the supporting cast did their job, and some even excelled at it. The effort was the theme that had plagued the Oilers last season but last night showed they have tons of it. It was an eye-opener to see the team playing with some energy and not relying on their stars to win them the game.
The two players that stood out from this game was Ty Rattie and Cam Talbot. Ty Rattie looked like a man on a mission: and that is to be locked in as a first-line winger by opening night. Scoring two goals for the night is impressive, but he’ll need to be more consistent for the rest of the preseason.
He needs to show the coaching staff and especially Connor McDavid that he won’t be a liability playing alongside him. If Rattie can keep this up, the line of Nugent-Hopkins, McDavid, and Rattie looks promising.
As for Cam Talbot, he looked sensational against the Vancouver Canucks last night. He was 22 of 23 for the game, and he looked like the goalie that was revered by the league a few years ago. It didn’t help last season that he had a slump, but blame also has to be shifted to his defensemen as well.
They didn’t do an excellent job of helping out Talbot and left him out to dry on numerous occasions. As long as they don’t mess up on their end, Talbot will be more than prepared to save as many shots as he can.
The Edmonton Oilers will have an interesting test this Thursday against the Winnipeg Jets. If the Oilers can knock off the Western Conference powerhouse with the same effort they have displayed the past few games; the sky is the limit for this organization.