Following a relaxing All Star break for all Oilers except McDavid, who was busy living it up in Los Angeles, Edmonton would look to get back into the thick of things and begin a home stretch on a season in which playoffs are very likely.
To start the long stretch home, the Oilers would first have to take on the class of the West in the Minnesota Wild. The Wild, who had beaten the Oilers in the two team’s previous encounters, were coming into the evening sitting at a record of 8-2 in their last 10. The Oilers would come in countering with their own great record of 7-2-1 in their previous 10.
Could the Oilers find a way to capitalize on the Wild and their backup goaltender, Darcy Kuemper, or would Minnesota prove to much to handle one more time? Let’s take a look and see.
1st Period
- In the early goings, the only thing to show in the game was a few scoring chances either way. Quite the different tone of a game vs the Wild as opposed to year’s past. Both goalies, Talbot and Kuemper, looked sharp early with some big stops.
- 14 minutes in, and following a series of hesitant, poor clear out attempts, the Minnesota Wild would find the back of the net. As a result of the poor shift by the Oilers (3rd line + Sekera & Russell), the Oilers would really have to fight through the rest of the game to win. The Wild are deadly when scoring first, 1-0 Minnesota.
- As the game teetered further past the halfway mark, the Wild slowly gained more and more control of the game. Their clean execution, ability to generate pressure, and play surprisingly fast really highlight why they are a top 3 team in the league.
- To highlight just a horrible period for Sekera and Russell, the Wild scored with just 3.6 seconds left in the frame. This followed a poor battle for the puck in the corner by Russell and a very quizzical play by Sekera where he just completely lost his man. 2-0 Wild.
I still don’t understand this team’s inability to start games with a level of execution that matches how they finish games. Talbot has usually been able to bail them out in other games where they have started slow, but tonight against a very good Wild team, the Oilers wouldn’t be as lucky.
The Oilers would have a monumental task at had in order to come back from being down 2-0.
2nd Period
- The Oilers had an excellent chance early to cut the lead in half with a Power Play, but managed only 1 shot on the man advantage.
- And the failure to capitalize would cost Edmonton, as yet another failure to clear zone lead to another goal. On this one, not only did the Oilers fail to get the puck out of their end, but they couldn’t even manage to get back into their proper positions afterwards. 3-0 Wild.
- Following that goal, the Oilers did respond at least a little better, stringing together a few good shifts and compiling a 7-2 lead in shots for the period. Paired with this was a a bit of line bending by McLellan (Maroona dn Pouliot switching spots).
- Well, maybe the spur of good play could be a spark. Anton Slepyshev, one of the few Oilers who had been moving his feet all game, got rewarded with a deflection off a point shot from Adam Larsson. Klefbom would pick up the 2nd assist and it was 3-1 Wild. **Edit: The goal was changed in the 3rd period to Adam Larsson. Still a solid forecheck by Slepyshev and a great seeing eye shot by Larsson**
Beauty deflection by Slepy. #MINvsEDM pic.twitter.com/TuHbZkZ7Gd
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) February 1, 2017
- Well… maybe not. Kris Russell, who to that point had had a bad night, escalated his evening to bowling-shoe ugly after a poor giveaway, leading directly to a Minnesota goal. That goal coming right after his inability to keep the puck in following some good o-zone pressure by the Oilers. Talbot pulled, 4-1 Wild.
- The Oilers did find a way to get one back late in the period, with a Power Play marker by Leon Draisaitl. His 20th goal, assisted by Lucic and Sekera, got the Oilers within 2. 4-2 Wild.
- The period would finish with the score 4-2 Minnesota, and a shot clock reading 29-21 for Edmonton.
That was a strange period. The Oilers definitely played better than the 1st period, but due to a couple break downs where Talbot was unable to save them, Minnesota pulled out 2 goals in the period. Thankfully, the Oilers were able to score 2 themselves to at least keep them in contention going into the 3rd.
Most of the time against this Wild team, a 2 goal lead going into the 3rd is an automatic death sentence. But with a backup goalie in net, the Oilers still stood a chance.
3rd Period
- How unfortunate… following an early Power Play by the Oilers in the first 5 minutes, the Wild would score immediately following the kill to increase their lead. That one falls heavily on Brossoit… not pretty and jet a crippling goal to give up. 5-2 Wild.
- Halfway through the 3rd and the Wild were sawing off the game rather well. Very little was being generated for the Oilers and the shots were actually evening up with Minnesota generating more as the night went on.
- It looked like the Wild had scored with about 3 minutes left in the game, but due to the puck being batted into the net, the goal wouldn’t count. The goal being called back really didn’t change anything other than preventing the score form looking a bit more one sided.
- Not much else could be said for this one, with the Wild walking out of town with their 3 goal win. Fonal shots were 43-35 Oilers.
Final Score: Wild 5 – Oilers 2
Postgame Thoughts
It’s simple really… the Wild came out of the break ready to perform at a level that they have been at all year long. Their forecheck was heavy, they defended well, they skated very hard, showed a ton of passion when battling for the puck, and ultimately, looked like a team geared to win.
The Oilers, on the other hand, showed up in the early going slower, hesitant, and sloppy. Sure, the team did get better as the night went on, and not every Oiler was poor, but for the bulk of the game, many Oilers’ players were taking their turns in the sloppiness department. A couple of those players unfortunately spent much of their night making critical mistakes. That is why a team that had 30 more shot attempts than the other still found a way to lose. Poor goaltending and costly mistakes. Recipe for a loss, every time.
The main culprit, who had what was easily his worst game as an Oiler, would be Kris Russell, who really struggled with turnovers, puck movement, battles, and coverages. I am sure he will go home tonight and do everything in his power to erase the memory of tonight’s game.
In response to some Twitter controversy that spilled as a result of Russell’s poor night, I will just say this. Everyone has bad nights on the ice. Tonight, Russell had a horrible one. Unfortunately for Russell, he isn’t a forward, and similar to a goalie, when you have a bad night, everyone in the audience takes note. Due to the nature of the job, bad nights can turn into horrendous nights in just a few shifts. The thing to keep in mind is that these players are people too. Piling on with extreme nastiness is just a silly course of action. If you can’t picture yourself saying it to a player’s face, why say it?
Not only that, but these guys are players for our favourite team. When they have a bad night, maybe instead of wanting to slam their heads on the ice, we acknowledge the poor play, analyze it, show a little understanding, and hope for a strong rebound game. It’s hockey, I am sure most of us can understand what comments, in this community, cross the line. As for how we treat others in the community, if people have opinions on players and teams that aren’t malicious, there is no reason to put them down for it. We are definitely better than that.
Anyways, that was a strange game. The Oilers outshot and outchanced (I think, double check that though) the Wild and the game still ended 6-2. Bad mistakes and poor goaltending will do that to a team.
Kudos to the likes of Slepyshev and Larsson who stood out the most on their respective ends of the ice for being good. Larsson scored himself a goal and Slepyshev hustled his but off all night.
If the Oilers can replicate the good portions of tonight, and eliminate the mistakes, they will find some real success later on this week. Sharpen up boys!
Oilers Player of the Game
This one goes to Anton Slepyshev. He hustled hard, picked up an assist, had 2 shots on goals and 3 shits, all in just under 11 minutes of ice time. He was by far the most noticeable (in a good way) Oiler on the ice.
Up Next: A Trip to Nashville
The Oilers head to Nashville next on Thursday night to kick off the first half of a back-to-back. the Oilers last game against the Preds was also sloppy, but they managed to get it into overtime before losing. They will look to improve upon that effort, as well as tonight’s, in a game which once again, will feature 2 of the Western Conference’s better teams.
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