Wow. I was going to put up an article after the game last night, but I couldn’t do it. I was so taken back and shocked at the final result, an Oilers shoot-out win, 5-4, when it seemed so, so unlikely.
I started writing towards the end of the second period and all through the intermission. It was a piece titled “Embarrassing” and was pretty much 800 words ripping apart the Oilers players, their compete level and their effort. It was going to be one of my more angry articles, and I made sure that each Oiler got their turn getting ripped on.
Then something weird happened. After 40 minutes of absolutely terrible hockey for the most part, the Edmonton Oilers woke up and dominated. They ran the show in the third period, storming back with goals by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Andrew Ference and David Perron to tie the game, which was probably the most unlikely thing I’ve seen in awhile.
Taylor Hall gave the Oilers a lead, and things looked, for the first time all season, really good in Edmonton. Then the Devils struck back, with Elias scoring short-handed with under a minute to play.
None of that mattered though, as Jordan Eberle and David Perron both went roof daddy to end the game in a shootout, which was pretty fitting after what was a wild, wild third period.
It was a game which was mostly frustrating. It left me pulling my hair out for the first 40 minutes and wondering how the Oilers could have taken a step backwards from last season. Let’s be honest, through two and a little more than a half games, the Oilers looked meh at best. That was pretty concerning.
Last night’s third period is just a small example of what this team can do when they are on. Few teams have the fire power to match-up with them and few defenses can contain that attack. The Oilers, for the first time since the first period of game one, brought a sense of urgency to the table.
They competed, they looked desperate, and they worked hard every shift. That’s the kind of hockey we expected under Dallas Eakins, and it finally showed last night, even if it was just for the third period and overtime.
The Oilers are off the snide, which is huge. They have that first win under their belt, which is huge. Dallas Eakins doesn’t have that hanging over his shoulder anymore, and the team can hopefully build off of it.
Let’s be honest, last night’s third period was one of the best we’ve seen the Oilers play in a long time. That’s the thing with this team, they have one of their worst games in a decade on Saturday and then look uninspired through 40 minutes last night before storming through the gates in the third to take the two points.
The hope is that last night’s third period proves to be the turning point for the Oilers, where they figure out what is expected from them and how they need to play to win. They have the talent, no one doubts that. It’s a matter of competing every single night, for 60 long minutes.
It was, as best described by Ron Burgundy, a glass case of emotions for Oilers fans last night. The end result was good, but there is still a lot of work to do.
If this team could only play 60 full minutes….man it would be something special. There’s a fine line between winning and losing in the NHL, and last night we saw the Oilers on both sides of that line. If they ever learn to play on the right side of that, things will turn around in Edmonton very, very quickly.
Oh what a night it was to be an Oilers fan, from anger to ecstasy, we’d have it no other way. Thursday night should be another fun adventure of emotion for Oilers fans. Buckle up, the roller coaster continues on.
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