Final Score: Oilers 7 – Avalanche 4
Being a University student, I am well aware of the procrastination method. It involves taking your sweet time to get started on the paper, and ultimately waiting until the final night before you even get started. After a frantic last ditch effort to get it all done, somehow, someway, the thing gets written. And sometimes, that paper turns out to be better than expected. Maybe even, pretty good.
Tonight, we witnessed the Oilers version of this method. After 40 minutes of some of the worst hockey this team has played all year, if not the worst hockey this team has played all year, the Oilers, spurred on by Laurent Brossoit in net, and a shuffling of the lines, found a way to get things done.
Now really, did anyone at all expect the final score to end up 7-4 after that 2nd period? I know I didn’t, I had a file stocked full of fail gifs that I was going to cram into this article. Player of the game probably wasn’t even going to be a thing.
But alas, I, and I know most of you, had forgotten that this current Colorado team is a lot like the 2010-2014 Oilers: awful, terrible, and more than capable of blowing any lead possible. That is bad news for the Avs but excellent news for Edmonton, as that horr-awful (thanks Shaq) play, lead to the Oilers winning a game that they had absolutely not deserved to win. After last night’s disaster, we will take whatever we can get.
So what else lead to the win, other than the Avalanche folding like a K-Mart lawn chair? Well, credit where credit is due, this team did find a way to collectively respond in the 3rd. A big reason why the Avalanche did collapse in the 3rd was due to the Oilers stepping it up big time, and planting them with 15 shots on net, with only 6 against. In saying that, the Avs did only have 5 shots in the 2nd, but in contrast, the final frame saw a lot better puck management, and much better positioning.
After 40 minutes of lost puck battles, missed assignments, and catastrophic brain cramps, Todd McLellan’s message finally got through, and the team in the 3rd resembled the squad that we have seen for much of the year.
Additionally, the lines got put in a blender after the 1st, and that lead to 4 goals (not going to include the empty netters). Those 4 would be enough to power this team back to win it. The winner came on a superb passing play by huge and Draisaitl, where Caggiula, with some slick mitts, potted the winner.
GO-AHEAD GOAL! #EDMvsCOL pic.twitter.com/ViZBSX6V8Y
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 24, 2017
Last but not least, after a second straight uninspiring start by Talbot, Laurent Brossoit once again stepped in and provided perfect relief. He only faced 6 shots, but he made a jaw-dropping save in the 3rd while things were tied, that surely propelled the Oilers to the victory. The sample size is small, but these are great signs for the backup netminder.
Overall, the Oilers found a way to win this game and the 2 points are still 2 points. It’s like crouching yourself on a metal pole, but finding a way to win a lawsuit against the owner of that metal pole… what a terrible analogy.
A much better effort on Saturday night will be a very welcome sight.
Oilers Players of the Game
1. Jordan Eberle: 3 point game with 2 goals (1 empty-netter) and an assist. Eberle contributed on the two tying goals, getting a helper on Lucic’s 18th of the season in the 2nd, and scoring the 4th Oilers goal of the game in the 3rd. This was a really good recovery for Jordan after a lacklustre effort last night.
TIE GAME AGAIN! #EDMvsCOL pic.twitter.com/8C8efbuu26
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 24, 2017
2. Andrej Sekera: 3 points for the veteran defenceman, with his goal coming as a result of a rather unorthodox scenario where he was in front of the net. Had a blunder here or there, but the positives outweighed the negatives, and with his over 20 minutes of ice time, he was a big key to an Oilers win.
It starts with one. #EDMvsCOL pic.twitter.com/xA2ffWWhYz
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 24, 2017
3. Drake Caggiula: Hard to leave a guy out who not only had a 2 point night but also scored the winner. Great mitts for the rookie. he deserved his promotion to the top 6 tonight, that is for sure.
10 Takeaways
1. The re-arrangement of the lines paid immediate dividends when Lucic, who was bumped up to the top line in the 2nd, found the back of the net less than a minute in. Are him and Eberle going to stay up there for Saturday?
2. Part of the reason why Lucic was moved up was due to a disastrous period of play by Maroon in the 1st. McLellan, showed that no one is safe from discipline, making sure that Maroon, who has 25 goals on the year, rode the pine.
https://twitter.com/NHLbyMatty/status/845098855683248129
3. Calgary lost! Remember just a couple weeks ago when they had all the luck? Feels good to get a little bit coming the Oilers way. Now just cross your fingers that our prairie friends to the east can finish off the Kings before the night’s end.
4. Adam Larsson and Oscar Klefbom had a rare poor night. Their play, especially in the first, left a lot to be desired, with a lot of missed coverage, and way to generous zone entries given up in large doses. It goes to show how important these 2 are on the team when they are playing well.
5. After 2 periods, McDavid was held pointless, a minus 2, and having just a really quiet night. Thankfully, McDavid is McDavid and turned a rough start into yet another multi-point evening with 2 assists.
6. To continue on the Connor theme, he now has 61 assists on the season. A few sources on Twitter tweeted the neat fact that McDavid is the first Oiler to record 60 helpers since Doug Weight in 00-01 (65).
7. And lastly, McDavid continues his point streak, as it now sits at 6 games. With 8 games remaining, Connor leads the NHL scoring race with 87. Crosby sits in second with 81.
8, 9, 10:
EDM has won 40 games for 1st time since 2007-08. Draisaitl 13 pts last 6 games, McDavid 12. Brossoit earns 2nd NHL win on 24th b-day.
— Jack Michaels (@EdmontonJack) March 24, 2017
Up Next: Hockey Night in Canada
With a rematch against the Avalanche. Just imagine the score if this team decides to put forth a whole 60 minutes of effort!
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