Yesterday’s postgame article was on the shorter end, so I figured it is probably worth while to delve a little further into the victory. Despite the Oilers not playing their best game, there is still plenty to takeaway from the win, and a lot to consider (and be excited about) going forward.
So with that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the biggest takeaways from the Oilers 2-1 win over the Ducks in game 2.
10 Takeaways
1. We talked last night about how good Cam Talbot was, and deservedly so. His play was out-of-this-world, with a number of his saves finding their way onto the Sportscentre highlight package. But really, Talbot has been terrific all playoffs long. He currently has a 6-2 record, is sitting on a 2.03 GAA, and has an overall save % of .934. He has been nothing short of remarkable. Here are a couple charts that further illustrate his dominance.
https://twitter.com/CrowdScoutSprts/status/858346379046920192
2. The Oilers didn’t have their usual quality of attack last night, but if one forward was extremely noticeable, it was Connor McDavid. He was flying out there, with the Ducks only response being to clutch, grab, and claw him down. He played over 23 minutes, and deserved at least a point for his efforts, but the biggest relief is his health… he looked pretty healthy to me last night. That is some good news going forward.
Connor McDavid is gooooood. pic.twitter.com/ZjAaRywtMy
— Cristiano Simonetta (@CMS_74_) April 29, 2017
3. Zack Kassian needs to spend portions of his offseason apologizing to the hockey gods, because at this point, he has to be cursed. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Seriously, how many goals of his have been called back this year? It has to be some sort of record. Oh, and by the way, I would like to congratulate John Gibson on his Academy Award performance on the play.
Zack Kassian thought he had put the Oilers up 2-0 but an interference penalty pulls it back off the scoreboard. pic.twitter.com/iGZoePuPWD
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 29, 2017
4. This is your daily reminder that Peter Chiarelli said he was going to build a team to compete against the West, and it only took him a year to do it. Damn impressive.
After going 23-59-18 vs the West 2014-16 the @EdmontonOilers are now 39-13-6 vs West this season (regular season and play-offs)
— Bob Stauffer (@Bob_Stauffer) April 29, 2017
5. The Oilers second goal of the night, and the eventual game winner was a plus for a couple of different reasons. Obviously it won them the game, so let’s just get that out of the way. The main things that I took away from it, however, were the players that it rewarded. Patrick Maroon has been better after a really quiet round against the Sharks, and seeing him pot one, after nabbing 2 assists on Wednesday, continues to suggest the awakening of his game.
Additionally, Nuge and Ebs picked up a helper on the play, and they definitely deserve to be rewarded for their strong efforts this postseason. And lastly, it was a power play goal, so anything to keep that special teams aspect hot, is incredibly welcome against a porous Ducks’PK.
6. Taling about the Oilers PK, how clutch was it in the 3rd period? With only around 10 minutes left in the game, and the Ducks pressing like mad men to tie it up, Kris Russell took a penalty for holding the stick. It wasn’t a very great feeling in Edmonton, with many collars tightened, and eyes winced as we watched.
Thankfully, the Oilers came up with a very big kill. Anaheim only managed 3 shots on the man advantage, with only 1 of the “dangerous” variety. Those 2 minutes went a long way into deciding the outcome.
7. Interesting fun fact, according to NHL.com, the Ducks had yet to lose 2 games in a row, in regulation, since the first 2 games of the season. Crazy.
8. I will say, I was pretty surprised that the game wasn’t near as nasty as I had expected. Following the entirety of the evening on Wednesday, plus the dust-up at the end, I was really thinking that we would have seen even more penalties dished out. It would seem as though the Ducks players were told to tone it down a bit, in an effort to avoid the sin bin.
It “worked”… for one less penalty on the night; although, their overall gameplay was much improved from game 1. With that in mind, I have to wonder what the approach will be for Anaheim in game 3. Will we see it get seriously nasty once more, or do we see a ta bit more restraint?
9. And to close things off, things are looking good…
The #Oilers have taken a 2-0 lead in 14 best-of-seven series in their history prior to tonight. They've yet to lose a series after doing so
— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) April 29, 2017
10. Really good…
Oilers opened the season at 30:1 to win the Stanley Cup, entered playoffs at 12:1, and are now at 3:1 to win Cup. Definite Cinderella story. pic.twitter.com/TV6h1E6WzR
— RG3 (@rascalgas) April 29, 2017
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