Oilers Postgame: The Dog Days Are Over!

As the Oilers prepped for their game today in Glendale, a noticeable tension could be sensed throughout the online Oilers community. After roughly five years of complete dominance by the Coyotes, Oilers’ fans really wanted to win this game, especially after coming off a two game win streak.

With pressure pushing down to Arizona from the cold Alberta Capital, could the Oilers deliver a much needed win?

Let us see.

1st Period

• Excellent seeing Ryan Nugent-Hopins, Patrick Maroon, and Leon Draisaitl get the start tonight after such an impressive debut for this trio last game. Good to see Coach Todd recognize and reward that success.
• Puljujärvi showcased some rust early in the game, which is to be completely expected after playing as infrequently as Jesse has.
• Mark Letestu… wow! He follows up a great scoring chance off of a gorgeous deke (seriously gorgeous) with a solid one timer to beat Mike Smith for his 7th of the season. Both Kassian and Hendricks provided the necessary ground work on the forecheck to make that goal happen. You have to like seeing this line get rewarded for their recent streak of good play.
• I do hope that some day soon delay of game penalties are introduced for failed challenges. The challenge on Letestu’s goal wasn’t as terrible or manufactured as some others we have seen, but it certainly kills whatever momentum and energy that comes from scoring a goal.
• One of the most welcome surprises this season has to be Lucic’s increased power play production. His 10th of the season wasn’t pretty, but it keeps the Oilers power play, Leon Draisaitl, and Mark Letestu buzzing along.

That was about as good of a road period as one can expect. Two goals, one of them being on the power play, disciplined hockey the other way, limited scoring chances against, and steady goaltending. After that period, the Oilers certainly set themselves up nicely for the remaining two periods.

2nd Period

• Blistering hot start to the period to carry on the momentum of the first, which was punctuated with a Matt Hendricks goal (his first of the season) and an almost-goal by Zack Kassian. Beautiful.
• Don’t you just love when this team plays well enough at five on five that it looks like they are on a power play?
• Eberle looks to have woken up, finally. Could be very bad news for opposing teams if he starts to find the score sheet.
• Zack Kassian and Mark Letestu: High Scoring Chance Machines, apparently.
• Benoit Pouliot gets an offensive zone penalty and the sun rises in the east. Despite this one actually being a relatively weak call, it did cost the Oilers a goal against. Not sure how much further Pouliot can crawl into the dog house he is already in.
• McDavid got hauled down without the puck on a play that resembled more of a high school wrestling match than a hockey play. And, you guessed it, no penalty.
• Part of the reason why Draisaitl was such a dreamy draft pick was due to his incredible passing ability in junior. His recent streak of excellent play is due in large part to consistently emulating that passing skill, only now at the NHL level.
• The Oilers received a penalty on a shift where the Coyotes clearly had too many men on the ice. That will surely quiet the debate about the quality of NHL refereeing… *adjusts collar*.

Although not as quite as good as the first, the Oilers still managed to win the scoring chance battle for much of the period despite taking a couple of minor penalties. Eberle, Kassian and a few others received some very good looks, and with a bit more puck luck the Oilers easily could have added to their lead. Can this please be how Oilers hockey in Arizona looks for the foreseeable future?

3rd Period

• Little bit of a scare with Maroon limping off the ice after the first shift of the period. He was on the ice only a couple of minutes after, so thankfully it was nothing serious.
• Pretty rough hit placed by Eric Gryba on Jakob Chychrun, which highlighted a tough night for the Coyotes’ rookie who had earlier been tagged pretty hard by Matt Hendricks.
• Gryba’s ejection from the game as a result of that hit was highly questionable, however, as the play was clearly an accidental hit to the head. Todd McLellan was more than justified for his anger at the referee’s decision.
• Thankfully, the Coyotes were unable to convert on both of their power plays that followed the ejection, and the Oilers were able to sustain their 3-1 lead. Clutch penalty killing at key times has been a common feature for the Oil this season.
• After a rather mundane, uneventful third period, that was quite the brawl to end the game. Excitement in Arizona… rare but welcome!
• Kassian was having absolutely none of that hit to Hendricks, even if it appeared clean (will need to watch again to see if it was truly dirty), and dealt with not one, but two Coyotes’ players in the aftermath. It’s moments like this that have won him over massively with the fans and his teammates.
• The Coyotes’ final goal didn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things thanks to very little time remaining on the clock; however, if there had been more time remaining, the questionable penalties would have definitely been more of an issue.

Final Score: Oilers 3 – Coyotes 2

Postgame Thoughts

Much will be said about the non-calls and bad calls made by the referees tonight, and rightfully so as the decision making made by the stripes tonight was borderline amateur, but the bottom line is that for the first time since 2011, the Oilers have won a regulation game in Arizona. Party time!

The trio of Letestu, Kassian, and Hendricks really put their stamp on this game from start to finish with a couple of even strength goals, a heavy heaping of physical play, and Letestu contributing on the power play, yet again.

Combine that with more than sufficient play by most everyone else on the ice and the Oilers were able to put together a terrific road game against a team that had for so long been their master.

Cam Talbot was excellent again tonight, chalking up a .931 save percentage. His play continues to inspire confidence for the team.

Player of the Game

Mark Letestu takes the honour, chipping in with a goal, two assists, and a presence that was felt all over the ice. Excellent game.

Up Next: A Trip to San Jose

The Oilers will head to San Jose on Friday to face off against a very good Sharks team, riding what is now a three game win streak. Typically, the Oilers head into California in December limping, weak, and already out of the playoff hunt. 2016 has brought quite the different fortune for this club and the Oilers will be looking for a hard fought win that would really send them home happy for Christmas. After a win in Glendale, this team should have the momentum to do just that.