Final Score: Oilers 4 – Avalanche 1
Isn’t this just beautiful? Following an undeserved win on Thursday night in Denver, the Oilers responded with a significantly better effort for their second straight win. The result? A trip up to first place in the Pacific Division, tied with the Ducks and Sharks!
Simply remarkable. How did it shake down tonight? Well, it wasn’t perfect, but the Oilers got it done.
Following a very early goal by Benoit Pouliot in the 1st, it had looked like the Oilers were prime to carry on with their 3rd period success from Thursday and steamroll a weak and lowly opponent. In a surprising twist, that wasn’t the case. The Avalanche would almost immediately respond, taking advantage of a horrible line change to tie the game.
The Oilers would retake the lead in the first frame following a wicked snipe from Draisaitl, but they certainly didn’t speed down the track and leave the Avs in their dust. Following Drai’s snipe, the Avs would actually take it to Edmonton for much of the 30 minutes that lead to the 2nd intermission, generating a generous amount of zone time, and making Laurent Brossoit earn his stripes with some key stops throughout.
Judging from the Oilers Twitter community, more than a few fans were tight at the collar entering the 3rd, which isn’t really the feeling you want your team to generate in a game against the league’s worst. Thankfully, much like Thursday night, the final 20 minutes brought some chances, some goals, and overall, a much improved Oilers team.
On the forefront of that success was Drake Caggiula and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who each potted a goal to push the game completely out of reach. That 3rd period was good news for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who for the first couple of periods, along with his line mates Lucic and Eberle, had played rather poorly. It seemed like every time those 3 were stepping on the ice, the Oilers end plunged 10 feet into the ground, with the Avs dominating play.
On the opposite end of that trio, were the likes of Caggiula, Draisaitl, McDavid, and Kassian. To me, those 4 stood out as having really good games, especially Drake. I truly believe that tonight was the best game of the rookie’s career,and it was extremely evident that from start to finish he was engaged in all facets of the game. He would end the night with a pair of points.
McDavid and Draisaitl remained hot and continued their point streaks, while Zack Kassian picked up a helper to add to his 3 hits on the night. A special tip of the hat has to go to Patrick Maroon who left the game for a period of time following a nasty crosscheck to the midsection from Francois Beauchemin. Not only would Maroon return to the game but he would come back with force, stapling a few guys to the boards in the process. Warrior like performance for the big rig.
On the backend, Sekera continued his strong performance as of late with a pair of assists, while his partner added an apple of his own. I saw this pairing good for most of the night, and would say that by eye, they were the best pairing of the game. In fact, even despite the Avs getting too much zone time, I thought that the Oilers D found a way to keep things to the perimeter and clog the middle to limit the potential damage. It wasn’t a work of art, but the boys behind the blue line found a way to get it done.
Oscar Klefbom, despite a few moments of wobble, continues to be one helluva pillar on the backend.
Matt Benning left the game with an apparant right knee injury. Hopefully it was just a bad stinger and he is able to return soon.
Overall, the Oilers beat an opponent that they should have, and it has them situated at the top of the Pacific on March 25th. Wild Whyte Avenue nights sit on the horizon, folks. It is a lovely evening.
Oilers Players of the Game
Laurent Brossoit: 24 saves, .960 save percentage, 3rd win of the season, and a whole lots of relief in Edmonton regarding the backup goaltending position. Great night for #1.
L-BEAST! #COLvsEDM pic.twitter.com/VujMsvBWvr
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 26, 2017
Drake Caggiula: 1 goal, 1 assist, and was one of the drivers leading the Oilers to the win.
10 Takeaways
1. Benoit Pouliot scored his 8th goal of the season as he continues to salvage what was for the most part, a lost season. He has had a decent March, and I wonder if he isn’t a dark horse player for a breakout performance in the postseason.
2. Sadly, Leon Draisaitl’s multi-point game streak came to an end tonight, capping it at 6 games. He does, however, keep his point streak alive at 7 games.
3. In saying that, Leon’s snipe tonight was his 70th point of the season. The NHL Twitter account tweeted out that this is the first time that Edmonton has had 2 players get at least 70 points in a season since 05-06. What a year.
4. Laurent Brossoit, in my opinion, has shown more than enough evidence to suggest that he can be trusted to be a competent backup for this playoff run.
5. After the game against Boston 9 days ago, Todd McLellan emphasized the importance of an improved penalty kill. Since then, the Oilers have gone 5 straight games without giving up a goal while short handed.
6. The Oilers power play stayed hot again, with Edmonton going 2 for 4 on the man advantage tonight. The special teams is working itself out to be a nice little story to close the year.
7. Connor McDavid. 88 points.
8. I spoke earlier of Klefbom and his pillar like stature on the blue line. He once again played over 24 minutes tonight. Todd is not afraid to run the young Swede, and Klefbom rewarded him tonight with some strong play, following two less than stellar games.
9. Any sort of Edmonton win on Tuesday, and the Oilers will officially clinch their first playoff spot since 2006. Party on, comrades!
10. In saying that, some of these stores better stock the hell up on car flags! I can’t wait to see the Edmonton’s streets jolt to life with orange and blue.
Has anyone seen orange Oilers car flags anywhere? They seem to be sold out online ☹️
— Shannon Baerwald (@ShannonBaerwald) March 25, 2017
Oilers Highlights
Deflection perfection. 💯 #COLvsEDM pic.twitter.com/utAzyqVpI7
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 26, 2017
Schön! 🇩🇪 #COLvsEDM pic.twitter.com/PPwLM3mIbj
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 26, 2017
Caggiula with just the tip on the PP 3-1 #Oilers #COLvsEDM #hockeynight pic.twitter.com/8AxEpwKKbE
— abirdofparadise (@ubirdofparadise) March 26, 2017
REBOUND! #COLvsEDM pic.twitter.com/QZ2F3w06cO
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 26, 2017
Up Next: A Chance to Officially Clinch
Get the champagne ready ladies and gentlemen, as these boys will be roaring to go at Rogers come Tuesday night. With an official postseason spot on the line, this city should be electric.
I can’t wait.
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