Oilers Post-Game Randoms

Quite an interesting Saturday afternoon for the Edmonton Oilers. The highlight was a 3-1 win over the Ottawa Senators, snapping a five game losing streak for the Oilers. It certainly wasn’t pretty, but there were some good things and the team got the two points. Can’t really complain about that too much!

Let’s talk about the good in this game. Devan Dubnyk was terrific, and looked like the goalie who I tried defending over the summer. He stopped 35 of 36 shots, and the lone one that beat him was an odd goal by Chris Neil. Dubnyk stopped numerous good chances against and was very good on the PK. He played awesome today, and hopefully it signals the turnaround for him.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was great too, and was the best skater on the ice for Edmonton. He had two goals and an assist and was in on more than half of the Oilers scoring chances on the afternoon. He controlled the game when he was out on the ice, and played a great all around game today. That RNH shows up every game and the Oilers will be winning more than they lose.

The PK was really good today too, killing off all five Senator chances. It’s the first time this year that the Oiler PK has looked really good. They kept the shots to the outside for the most part, and Dubnyk was able to stop the in close chances. Really liked Eberle and RNH on the PK today too, and thought Gordon was good yet again.

Arcobello and Gordon were over 50% in the face-off circle this afternoon. Arcobello has been one of the best in the game in the circle this year, and as I mentioned in a previous article (http://www.theoilersrig.com/?p=1636) Arco has been tremendous for the Oilers this season.

The bad? Edmonton’s power-play was brutal today and went 0-for-6, generating only four shots. That simply is not good enough for a team with that kind of talent on their roster. For the Oilers, this is an area that needs to be improved badly, the power-play has cost them some chances to put games away in the early going, and today was almost another case of that.

The fourth line was terrible again. Luke Gazdic and Mike Brown simply can’t be playing together in the same game. Ryan Jones should get back in on Tuesday night, that’s the hope at least. Will Acton has struggled as well, and I’d imagine he goes back to the AHL when Gagner returns to the line-up. This line needs some serious work.

Lastly, the biggest negative from today was Taylor Hall’s injury. Hall took a nasty knee-on-knee hit from Ottawa defender Eric Gryba in the second period and did not return to the game. Hall was seen leaving the arena after the game without crutches or a boot, and was not favoring any leg. That said, he did have a noticeable limp.

Bob Stauffer indicated that Hall could miss some time, but that it is a “short-term” injury. A call-up could be on the way, and it has been speculated that Tyler Pitlick could possibly be coming up. Linus Omark, who has played very good as of late, could be another option for a short-term recall.

Hall is expected to be further evaluated this week.

For the Oilers it was ugly, but a win is a win. The team found a way to come out with two points, which is something they have struggled to do to this point. The team will head off to Montreal for a game against the Habs on Tuesday night, which will close out the six game road trip. It’s been a rough one so far, but a win on Tuesday would help save a little face on this trip.

Follow up on twitter @Alex_Thomas14!