Oilers Postgame: Well, That Was Fun!

Final Score: Oilers 7 – Stars 1

Whew! I think that the Edmonton Oiler community as whole really needed that win. For the team, tonight’s game surely wasn’t do or die, but I think for the fans’ mental health, it may have been.

After the disappointing, nightmare of a 3rd period on Sunday, tonight’s game felt like immediate karma and relief. Instead of having horrifying deflections slip by Talbot leading to a gut-wrenching loss, it was the Oilers utilizing hard work, favourable bounces, and opportunism to get a massive momentum changing win.

Tonight’s game wasn’t one brought on the back of good luck either, with the Oilers being pretty much just as dominating as the scoreboard would lead you to believe. That will make the boys in blue and orange feel pretty good too.

As far as overall evaluation, there really isn’t too much to say negatively. Positive happenings dominated the 60 minutes and with it came a few standout performances.

On the front end, the top line looked to regain a bit of their form with the line combing for 5 points on the night. In a rarity, McDavid was the lone man of the trio with only a single goal. The second line of Nugent-Hopkins, Eberle, and Lucic has been a consistently improving force over the past couple weeks, and tonight was no exception. 4 points for that line, and a big monkey off the back goal for Nugent-Hopkins.

As far as the bottom 6 goes, tonight’s effort from the 3rd line was a damn good one. Kassian remained, as he has for the last few, one of the best Oilers on the ice; while his line mates, Benoit Pouliot and David Desharnais each hit the scoresheet with goals.

On the backend, Darnell Nurse was the top of the class with a goal, 3 shots on net, 2 hits, and an overall rating of plus 4 to show for his efforts. He lead all 6 defencemen with over 21 minutes of ice.

Cam Talbot was his usual reliable self, with 22 saves and a .957 save percentage.

Oilers Player of the Game

He has arguably deserved it in at least a couple of the last few games, but he gets the honour tonight. On an evening when almost all of the Oilers played well, Zack Kassian stood out as the one who did the best.

2 assists, 3 hits, 14 minutes of ice time, and an exhausting performance with an impact felt all over the ice.

It is seriously hard not to love this player.

10 Takeaways

1. The first period was a great response following an awful 3rd period just a couple nights ago. The Oilers needed to be urgent to win and they made sure they were in the first 20.

2. Great to see Pouliot get back in. Here is hoping he can find even more with his new line mates.

3. See Below:

https://twitter.com/NHLbyMatty/status/841827596673282048
4. The play that featured the Nurse goal and Benning hit was by far the most bad ass sequence of the year.

5. Desharnais’s goal again came as a result of him getting right up close with the blue paint. That is a tendency that a few other Oilers could benefit from duplicating more often.

6. Slepyshev needs to stay in the lineup. He contributes way too much to be sitting in the press box.

7. 7 goals, 7 different goal scorers. That should help boost a bit of confidence around the room.

8. The Oilers didn’t just win on the scoreboard, but they did on the shot clock as well. Final shots were 29-23. The faceoffs, however, were less encouraging. The Oilers once again fell below 40% in the game, winning only 38% of the draws.

9. Patrick Kane, with his 3 point evening, took the scoring lead from Connor McDavid before the game. Connor wasn’t going to let that last though, and with his 3rd period goal, he tied the race back up at 76.

10. If that was the last time we see Hemsky play on Edmonton ice, cheers to him and a fine career. He was a great Oilers and was a big factor in the Oilers 2006 Stanley Cup run.

Oilers Highlights

FIRST BLOOD! #DALvsEDM pic.twitter.com/2qTFWnWjKR

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 15, 2017

Pou with a perfect wrister & Klef with a bomb as the #Oilers lead the Dallas Stars 2-0 through 20 mins. #DALvsEDM pic.twitter.com/5Isb9Eqceq

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 15, 2017

BENNING SMASH! 💪 #DALvsEDM pic.twitter.com/pw7np1iMgq

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 15, 2017

Doesn't get much prettier. #DALvsEDM pic.twitter.com/wS801PadqB

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 15, 2017

Up Next: The Big Bad Bruins

Next up the Bruins pay a visit to town and they also find themselves jockeying for playoff position. They will be motivated, the Oilers will be revved up and ready to go after a big win, and it should be a game filled with a tremendous amount of energy.