It was fine showing of the Oilers with a nearly perfect game against the Utah Hockey Club. Right from the opening face-off to the final moments in the game, the Edmonton Oilers showed passion and hustle in front of 18 000+ fans at Roger’s Place. Calvin Pickard was outstanding stopping 29 out of 30 shots and made key saves when he had to. Utah HC is battling for a playoff spot and gave a good effort in trying to keep up with the Oilers. The Oilers showed their speed, the talent of their depth and excellent goaltending that was far better than what Utah offered.
For the third straight game, the Oilers produced a win and seemed to have their defensive skills back. They were making precision passes, putting themselves in good shooting lanes, played smarter hockey, showed passion for winning that was exemplified by the fight of Darnell Nurse vs Utah’s Jack McBain. They had many offensive rushes during the game even when at 10 seconds left in the first period. The goal at 4 seconds of the first period exemplified how they played versus Utah.
Depth play on offense and defense
The Oilers had efforts from all 4 lines and production from most of them. Players like Janmark had a great effort vs Utah with speed and amazing passes almost scoring on several drives. Perry looked very comfortable on a line with Brown and Draisaitl, Jeff Skinner seems to be making more of an effort to contribute to the offense, and the Nuge gave another great performance for the second straight game. The return of Hyman and Ekholm was instantly welcomed and translated into scoring. And that was just the offensive output.
On defense, I think most fans and the Oilers coaching staff are very pleased with the addition of Jake Walman, another Ekholm-like stabilizing force on the back end. Bouchard has been playing smarter hockey and reducing the number of giveaways while still continuing to contribute offensively. The Oilers defense kept Utah’s offense to the outside and out of shooting lanes to allow Pickard a chance to see the puck and make a save. It is only a three game sample, but the Oilers defense have kept the opponents to 1 goal a game over those three games and we all hope that continues.
Playoff Ready?
The playoffs are around the corner and more depth is coming once Evander Kane, and Trent Frederic heal up and have a chance to enter into the line up. The current roster finally has confidence in winning games and the additions of the injured players will set the Oilers up for their playoff run. At the Utah game my son did not see his favorite player, Leon Draisaitl, get his 50th goal but he did see 7 goals by his favorite team and is looking forward to the post-season. The game against the Winnipeg Jets and the 1.97 GAA goaltender, Connor Hellebuyck, will be a great test for the playoff readiness of the Edmonton Oilers.