The Oilers took on the ArizonA Coyotes tonight. It was the first game back after a long road trip, and the Oilers of years past would have lost the game before it even began. Tonight, well…..

VICTORY!!!!!!

First Period

• Good energy to start, but it doesn’t last.
• Kassian can’t buy a goal if he tries
• Remenda talking about how offence starts on defence – if only
• Max Domi strips the puck from Maroon and almost scores!
• “Maybe he thought Kris Russell would be there” – said Drew Remenda and no one else
• Connor to Drake to Wedgewood’s glove
• I want commentators to stop saying “rubs him out”
• Ryan Strome almost scored a beauty but then he didn’t.
• Russell had the puck and wasn’t starfish shaped
• Arizona gets some pressure in the Oilers zone. Cam stops it. Next faceoff, it’s in the net. Christian Fischer (who is a real NHL player) scores a goal.
• Maroon got tripped up by Max Domi and there was no call but there probably should have been, even though there’s no consistency in NHL officiating.
• Joe Battaglia of Wetaskiwin has a 1/1000000000 chance of winning the Score and Win
• Shot of the bench. I’m surprised Remenda didn’t name anyone standing on it.
• The Oilers are looking…..mediocre at the halfway point.
• I’m already annoyed with all the Ryan/Dylan Strome stuff.
• Oilers are pinned in their end and it ain’t pretty folks.
• OEL is a good hockey player.
• 7:33 left. Oilers are getting worked in their own end.
• RNH is over 50% in the circle this season. They should trade him while his value is high.
• Penalties! Chaos in the crease! (Keller off for hooking.)
• The WOO needs to go.
• Lucic is on the power play and it’s…not good. Neither is the power play.
• ZACK KASSIAN PAID SOMEONE AND HAS A GOAL NOW!
• Remenda talks about how Mark Spector is going to be happy about that goal and I can’t think of anything I want less.
• The period ends as it started, not with bang but a whimper. 1-1

Second Period

• Peter Chiarelli was on with Gene Principe in the intermission, saying a bunch of nothing.
• I accidentally fast forwarded through the first 4 minutes of the second and didn’t bother going back.
• Kassian almost got another goal.
• Dylan Strome has a lack of facial hair and it’s real ratty.
• Cam Talbot loses the puck in a flurry but somehow manages to keep the puck out of the net.
• Remenda did the thing where he counts things onscreen. It was great.
• Back to back icings, and Slepyshev crashes into Hjalmarsson
• Darnell Nurse looks less like a baby giraffe on the ice.
• Sportsnet still doing the hard sell on how many hits Adam Larsson has.
• Lucic wasn’t fast enough to get the puck. Shocker.
• A Coyote fell down and somehow got a penalty and I just don’t understand anymore.
• Leon and Connor are reunited for 4-on-4 and so far it’s nothing doing.
• Halfway. Feels like nothing’s happened this period.
• My feed went all wonky and I missed about 2 minutes. Sorry.
• Kevin and Drew talking about how Wedgewood got traded on a game day and only had to switch dressing rooms. Yeesh.
• I don’t even know what’s happening anymore because my video feed is behind the audio and it’s very confusing to watch.
• Talking about heavy hockey makes my eye twitch. The Oilers might lead the league in hits but they do not lead the league in anything that matters so it’s a dumb stat.
• Lucic kind of turned the puck over. Shocker.
• Remenda called Ryan Strome Dylan. Everyone drink!
• Oilers on the power play. It isn’t successful.
• Arizona has a decent PK, all things considered.
• Hjalmarsson is out for the night; that’s quite the loss for Arizona.
• Arizona brings some pressure down low and along the boards, but the Oilers clear the zone.
• Oilers take a penalty. “One of those Strome boys is headed to the box.” *eyeroll*
• Ryan Strome should be ashamed of himself because Arizona goes ahead on the PP. Oliver Ekman-Larsson scores.
• 2-1 to end the period

Third Period

• Connor McDavid centres a line with Milan Lucic and Mike Cammalleri and what is this, the upside down?
• Since I’m watching on tape delay and my phone hasn’t told me, I know that with 7 minutes left in the third it’s still 2-1.
• Quinn talking about the Oilers stringing together two good shifts. ELPH, here we come!
• Oilers have a tiny bit more jump  this period, but the Coyotes are matching.
• Kris Russell deflects a puck back to Cam Talbot, and it’s a good thing he was paying attention.
• On the plus side, Tobias Rieder hasn’t scored yet.
• I haven’t written anything for 4 minutes of playing time and it doesn’t matter, because nothing happens.
• Oilers back to the power play. Nothing doing.
• It’s starting to look like maybe the Coyotes are a little better than their record would indicate, or the Oilers are worse.
• Lucic lumbers up the ice and it is painful to watch.
• Matt Benning scores. With 5:35 left. See the absence of points to discuss? That’s how boring this game is. The crowd at Rogers would agree.
• My tape delay is over, just as Kevin Quinn explains how another goal will break the tie.
• Arizona makes a good push but can’t finish. The Oilers get the puck down into the Coyotes zone, but Kassian loses the puck and nothing happens.
• Connor turned on the jets and travelled at hyperspeed, and that’s quite the thing to behold.
• Clayton Keller is, as my dad would say, a shifty little beggar.
• 1 minute left. Still tied because no one has scored that goal Quinn was talking about.
• McDavid gets the puck on the wing with about 2 seconds left and he’s so fast he almost got the shot off before the buzzer.

OVERTIME

• Connor, Leon, Darnell out there. Yeesh.
• Cam Talbot makes a heck of a save of Perlini. Puck goes down to the other end, Nurse loses it and Perlini tries again. almost beats Cam for the win.
• Rieder rings one off the bar, Oilers get it back and Drai shoots a blank
• Domi blocked a shot without starfishing. I didn’t know you could do that.
• Arizona gets ANOTHER 2-on-1, and the Oilers are on their heels a bit.
• 3-on-3 is fun and fast.
• Draisaitl can backcheck, which is good because he hasn’t done much else this game.
• Dvorak rings one off the bar, against Russell.
• Keller fires one at Talbot and he makes the save for a reprieve.
• RNH gets a goal and the Oilers win. I hope he enjoys his last skate at Rogers Place.

The Takeaway

This Arizona team isn’t that good and the Oilers BARELY beat them. Say what you want about chemistry and whatever, but this Oiler team needs about 8 more wins like this. Toronto is in town on Thursday, and they head to Calgary on Saturday and those games could turn out to be huge for the Oil down the line.

They’re still 10-13-2, and that’s not good enough.