Markus Niemelainen vs. Vincent Desharnais

Kudos to Jack Campbell who has vastly improved his play in the New Year, and certainly makes Holland’s gamble on him look much better than it was in the first half of the season.

As always, the goalies look better because the team’s overall defensive play has also improved, but Campbell has done plenty on his own as well.

Although Campbell’s season totals still don’t look good, it’s worth noting that since the calendar turned over his save percentage has gone up by nine points from .878 to .887 and his GAA has gone down 31 points from a high of 3.65 earlier in the year to a lower 3.34 now.

Campbell is certainly peaking at the right time – unless he completely implodes before the end of the season he’ll be critical to any success the Oilers have in the playoffs.