Going into this game I noted that the Edmonton Oilers would be in tough to come out of this game with a win. As it turns out that was the case tonight as the Oilers lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
First Period
Once again the Edmonton Oilers gave up the first goal in the game. Just like most games before though they were able to pull back to even before the end of the period. Unfortunately with 15 seconds left in the first Tampa was able to add another goal. Leaving the Oilers trailing 2-1 after the first period.
Second Period
The second period was a similar story to the first, just the goals were in a different order. Tampa scored twice, one even strength and one on the powerplay. The good news is in the last 5 minutes of the period the Edmonton Oilers owned the play and Hyman was able to pot one. Cutting the Tampa lead down to only 2.
Third Period
This was one of the best period the Edmonton Oilers have played in a long time in my opinion. They were all over the Tampa Bay Lightning for most of the 20 minutes. Connor McDavid took this game into his own hands. Woodcroft put him on a line with Draisaitl and Hyman to try and get the Oilers back in the game.
It worked, when McDavid went off on his own. He walked in over the blue line and took a quick shot beating Andrei Vasilevskiy. This was on of those moments that you realize that McDavid is the best player in the world and us as Oilers fans should be lucky to watch home everyday.
The Good Notes
- The Edmonton Oilers are able to compete with the top teams in the league.
- 100% on the powerplay, only 1 opportunity but 100% is still 100%
- Niemelainin could be the tough d-man we need in the playoffs, had 9 hits tonight. 4 more than any other player.
- Connor McDavid can still take over a game. Proof is in his 2 goals.
- An effortless 3 points for Leon Draisaitl
The Bad Notes
- Mike Smith needs to be better. I am unsure if he is the best goalie on the team anymore. He may not even be the second best the way he has been playing lately.
- Another game where the Edmonton Oilers are chasing the game.
- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a rough game, being -3 is never a good thing.
- It was a more funny than anything, but Yamamoto missing that wide open net when Nurse took out Vasilevskiy. Goes to show how snake bitten he is right now.
- The Oilers need to find a way to draw more penalties. This is just from playing hard and putting the other team in a bad position. The Tampa defence is pretty solid so it shows that it was harder to draw a penalty
On To The Next Game For The Edmonton Oilers
Like mentioned previously, I didn’t expect the Edmonton Oilers to win this game, but their effort was a good one. They made this game close till the very end. If Draisaitl’s shot was only a couple inches over that game likely goes into overtime.
This game has caused me to look forward to the next two games. Florida and Carolina are teams that are just as good as the Lightning. The fact that the Oilers were able to hang in with Tampa means they should be able to compete with the other two.
If the Oilers are able to get an average goaltending effort getting at least one win over the weekend should be something that shouldn’t come as a surprise. Moving forward this season this will likely be a common talking point, at least until either a trade is made or one of the current goalies take and hold onto the starting job.