Oilers Postgame: Pulling Up Lame

The Oilers entered tonight’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning riding a very solid 3 game win streak, with an excellent opportunity to extend that streak to 4. Over the past 3 games, a lot has been clicking for the Oilers, with bounces going their way, chemistry bubbling strongly, and wins piling together. Even off the ice, some of the injured Oilers like Nurse, Russell (in the lineup tonight) and Khaira were starting to regain their health. And in the standings, with the Ducks and Kings struggling, the Oilers hopes for the playoffs had almost been solidified, sitting currently at somewhere around 99% according to some sources.

It would appear as though everything was comin’ up Oilers;however, the question would be, could that string of good play, solid luck, and great fortune continue tonight in Tampa? With Laurent Brossoit starting in net, the Oilers would sure hope so. Let’s take a look and see.

1st Period

• On the first forecheck of the game for the Oilers, Milan Lucic lowered the boom on a Lightning defenceman that sent him into the boards and onto the ice hard. That is the exact type of force needed from #27 shift in and shift out for the rest of this stretch drive.
• Unfortunately, pretty even play throughout the first 5 minutes would still result in a Lightning goal. Brandon Davidson would break his steak on a shot attempt, which immediately launched Tampa on an odd man rush which they would capitalize on. Perhaps the only criticism is that Benning could have been more aggressive to limit the pass, but tough to blame a guy on a 2 on 1. 1-0 Lightning.
• Almost immediately following the goal, the Oilers would get a Power Play thinks to a Victor Hedman penalty. The Power Play looked decent, generating a couple good chances, but there was no dice on a goal.
• One thing that was very apparent, even early on? How good Jonathan Drouin is. Wow. Crazy to think that there was so much drama surrounding this player’s ability last year.
• Final shots in the period were 12-7 for Tampa. Brossoit looked solid, only beaten by one that he was hung out to dry on.

What started as an even period, became increasingly uneven in favour of the Lightning as the frame went on. The Oilers appeared inadequate to handle the speed and pressure of Tampa, while at the same time failing to produce any genuine secondary chances off of their shots. There was a lot to work on if they were going to walk away with a victory.

2nd Period

• Oh boy, that was an ugly start to the period. Kris Russell, fresh in the lineup after an extended lay off, made a poor turnover right in front of his net, and Ondrej Palat, the goal scorer in the 1st, would capitalize to make it 2-0 Tampa Bay. Russell had to make a lot simpler play in front of the net on that one.
• Early into the 2nd and McLellan had reunited Leon Draisaitl with McDavid and Maroon. The coach was clearly looking for something, anything, to ignite the offence.
• Iiro the Hero! 10 minutes into the second and Pakarinen, on a wicked wrester from the slot, makes the game 2-1. Larsson and Klefbom pick up the assist on the play, which was a very quick transition off of a face-off win in the neutral zone.
• With 4 minutes remaining in the 2nd, Adam Larsson came up huge with a pair of excellent defensive plays on Jonathan Drouin. Him and Klefbom looked very good to that point in the game… Russell and Benning, not so much.
• The Oilers would close the period with a successful penalty kill, shots after 40 were 22-16 Tampa (10-9 Tampa in the period).
• It should be noted that Nugent-Hopkins had a fantastic defensive period.

That was definitely a better period for the Oilers, with the play being a bit more even and Edmonton actually finding the back of the net. Unfortunately, due to a very costly error, the Oilers were still chasing the game going into the 3rd.

Through 40, Brossoit had stopped everything he had a chance on and looked like he was prime to give Edmonton an opportunity to even the game up. The Oilers would need to depend on at least one of their big guns to come up big in the 3rd and make it happen.

3rd Period

• Another brutal start to the period for the Oilers. Nikita Kucherov, swooping the zone, fired a very nice shot past Brossoit to make it 3-1 Lightning. The Oilers were not at all aggressive enough on Kucherov’s entry into the zone and it cost them. An argument can definitely be made that Brossoit needed to stop that puck as well.
• Good lord, is there anything worse than goal challenges? The Oilers would have made the game 3-2, but because Leon Draisaitl’s skate was an inch (an inch!!!!) over the blue line, it gets wiped off the board. I hate these reviews even when they go in favour of the Oilers, and it is even worse when it goes against them. Do any fans like these challenges? In this case, the goal came a minute after the supposed offside… a minute. Does it make any sense at all to wipe a goal off the board for that? The NHL needs to fix this stupid rule, asap.
• It was a pretty quiet period, aside from the called-off goal, with only 3 shots being generated by either team, 8 minutes in.
• The period continued in a quiet way for the Oilers with very little being generated in their comeback bid. 5 shots through 15 minutes of 3rd period play is not nearly good enough.
• It was also in the 3rd that Adam Larsson exited with what was being reported as a possible foot injury. Awful news and hopefully just a short term problem, because anything long term could prove to be disastrous for this squad.
• The Oilers would fail to generate anything else, giving up an empty netter, and only forcing 5 shots in the entire final frame to close the evening with a loss. Sad game.

Final Score: Lightning 4 – Oilers 1

That was an ugly game. Perhaps gross is the better word, because everything about tonight’s tilt just felt… bleh. From the opening Tampa Bay goal, where Brandon Davidson’s broken stick lead to the odd man rush, you could just sort of feel that tonight would not be Edmonton’s night. And it sure as heck wasn’t.

From pillar to post, the Tampa Bay Lightning were the superior team. Palat, Kucherov, Drouin, and an assortment of others routinely flustered Edmonton with an abundance of energy, physicality, and skill that translated into a dominating force on the forecheck, and a suffocating force on the back check. The Oilers simply had no answer, no response, no pulse in the fight. 5 shots in the 3rd period for the visitors is a clear highlight of that.

What was wrong with the Oilers? Yes, luck was not at all on their side and that probably did help to deflate their spirits. In addition to the stick break, the Oilers had a goal waved off which seemed to stifle any momentum they were garnering in the 3rd.

But this game was decided by much more than luck. Much of the team was just not very good. The forwards failed to pose any sort of real threat on Ben Bishop. Failed zone entries, poor passing decisions, missed shots, and an inability to effectively break out of their own zone effectively insured that Tampa would have very little difficulty defending their leads. In fact, aside from a couple of their bottom 6 forwards like Kassian and Pakarinen who seemed to provide solid forechecking for most of the night, I am at a loss to find any of their top-end forwards that had a good game. None of them seemed to click, and it translated to a bunch of minuses for the top 6.

On the back end, the only pairing that stood out in a good way happened to be Klefbom and Larsson. Larsson had his share of beautiful defensive plays, while also generating a fair amount of shot attempts on net. He was carving out a very nice evening before he exited in the 3rd. Say a prayer to any Lord in the land that he is not out long term. He is a massive piece of this D core. Klefbom was also effective defensively and should have had a goal on the night.

Remember when your team used to score and you would feel genuinely excited and happy without restraint? I sure do. How does scoring feel now? Like a waiting game to see if it is okay with the NHL to celebrate. The Coach’s Challenge has been a truly brutal implementation into the game and has legitimately limited the fun of scoring for fans on numerous occasions over ridiculous situations like tonight. An offside, by what was only an inch, a minute before a goal, should in no way eliminate that goal, and yet… here we are. This must be addressed in the offseason because right now it is reflecting on the league in a horrible manner. No one likes it, move on and get rid of it. Thank you.

Anyways, getting back to where we were before the NHL’s restriction on fun drove me into a blind rage, the rest of the D was not pretty. Sekera had some good moments but his pairing with Russell struggled for much of the night. Kris, who had just returned from injury this evening, was very evidently rusty and just ineffective all night. As for the kids on the 3rd pair, Davidson was a victim of unluckiness, and Benning exemplified a chaotic rookie game, which is rather unusual for the player.

Tonight, Benning seemed to let sustained offensive pressure rattle him and it really threw off his effectiveness. I’d bank on the rookie learning from tonight and adjusting going forward.

Brossoit ended the evening with a .889 save percentage. I personally would only hold the 3rd goal against him, but an argument could be made that he should have stopped the second one as well. I feel he needs one more game before a true decision on his future can be made. He certainly wasn’t awful this evening, though.

Oilers Player of the Game

There is only one real player that deserves it tonight and that is Oscar Klefbom. He played well all night with his partner Larsson, totalling 1 assist on the night, with 3 shots on goal. He really should have had a goal, but you know… see above. Oscar played over 26 minutes again tonight and is routinely showcasing some of the finest hockey in his young career lately.

Up Next: Another Night in Florida

The Oilers were poor tonight, but thankfully, they won’t have to wait long to try and make up for it. The issue? They have to try and redeem themselves against a scorching hot Florida Panthers team.

Edmonton is a good team this year ad have been making statements all the way since October. A good game tomorrow, on the second half of a back-to-back, against a great opponent, would be a big statement. Can they do it? Well, we know they will have their starting goaltender in net to try, they just may not have their top right-handed defenceman. That could pose a problem.