GAIZ…THE LOSING STREAK IS OVER!
This was pretty much a must win game for the Oilers, and while it costed them dearly in the form of two right wingers going down with injuries (Kassian and Puljujarvi), the team played a resilient game and found a way to come out with 2 points. That is a huge victory for a club that stormed out of the gate and then found itself in a slump to start a tough eastern road trip. These are the kinds of victories that would have been unheard of in past seasons, when we’d often see the Oilers take a 4, 5, or even 10 game losing streak.
The Oilers beat the Islanders in the shootout after a very challenging game, and it’s a huge win for them as they play the first game of a back to back and face Detroit tomorrow.
Here’s how I saw the game, and a few of my favorite tweets:
1st period:
-NY would score early. The game wasn’t even 30 seconds old and Nick Leddy would pot one off a bad defensive turnover in the Oilers end. Kassian would completely miss his man on the play and everyone was probably thinking “here we go again” (I know I was).
Oilers needs to get off to a good start here… Never mind
— Rob Tychkowski (@Sun_Tychkowski) November 5, 2016
#herecomestheoilers pic.twitter.com/uISjJBz1Sb
— D McManus (@mcmanus17) November 5, 2016
-Shortly after, Brock Nelson would get a breakaway opportunity and almost power a shot through the five hole, but Talbot would manage to put the pads together quickly enough to bail his team out (something he’d continue to do for the rest of the game).
-McDavid would start buzzing after that but couldn’t get anything out of the Islanders for his efforts. NY did a nice job of limiting his chances and keeping him to the outside. McDavid is probably the best player in the world, but he’s much less effective when he’s kept to the perimeter. He seemed to be fighting the puck tonight, and I have to question how much of that was due to the ice conditions at Barclays Center, which seemed to be particularly awful.
-Nuge’s line would follow up with some sustained pressure in the offensive zone. The line shakeup seemed to have paid dividends, and although RNH didn’t score, his line looked excellent for extended periods of time throughout the entire game.
-Shane Prince would tally for the Islanders in short order off a bad bounce that careened off of Matt Bennings skate and straight to the wrong stick
#Oilers pic.twitter.com/f6NNdKMxs6
— Avry’s Sports Show (@Avry) November 5, 2016
-At this point, Oilers fans were ready to call it a night. I’ll admit, I wasn’t feeling very optimistic either:
— Kjell Iverson (@KjellIverson) November 5, 2016
-MATT BENNING TO THE RESCUE! Benning would fire the puck on net with 11:38 left to play on an innocent looking play, and Old Man Lucic was there to tip it home. The Oilers were down, but not out:
Deflection perfection. ? #EDMvsNYI pic.twitter.com/QmJGh0Sp5i
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 5, 2016
-The 4th line would put some pressure on the Islanders as the frame wore on. I particularly liked Letestu, who was a machine on the PK all night and had his chances in the offensive zone at even strength as well.
-Jesse Puljujarvi would take a bad hit from Dennis Seidenberg with 9:05 left to go. It wasn’t a particularly dirty hit in my view. Jesse tried to beat two Islanders and ended up getting sandwiched between them. Unfortunately for Oilers fans, Seidenberg made knee to knee contact with Puljujarvi, and he’d limp off the ice and wouldn’t return to the game:
If Puljujarvi is injured long term in his 10th game it will be classic Oilers
— Matt Henderson (@Archaeologuy) November 5, 2016
-The Oilers would at least get a powerplay out of the deal, and make the Islanders pay. Draisaitl would tally to notch it up at 2 a piece:
Neon Leon squares it up! #Oilers pic.twitter.com/OcYOhZRVdN
— OilersNation.com (@OilersNation) November 5, 2016
Everything is ok now. #ThanksOilers pic.twitter.com/EDf4hDyiyG
— The Oil Refinery (@lowemustgo) November 5, 2016
— Jeanshorts (@JSBMjeanshorts) November 5, 2016
-The Islanders would come back to pepper the Oilers with shots, but Talbot stood strong. With 6:40 left in the frame the Oilers were being outshot 9-4 but managed to hold the fort
2nd Period:
-It was announced early in the 2nd that Kassian, Puljujarvi, and Hamonic would all sit out the 2nd period (and subsequently miss the rest of the game). This was an extremely physical affair and 3 players getting injured in 1 period says it all. Both clubs were riled up over the injuries and it would affect the play for the rest of the game.
-NY would get a powerplay early in the period as Maroon wiped out Boychuk behind the Islanders net, but the Oilers would kill off the penalty with great individual efforts from both Letestu and Lander
-The Islanders would continue to outshoot the Oilers for most of the period. Cam Talbot came up huge again, and if it wasn’t for him this game could have ended very differently. He had some huge stops through the first half of the 2nd.
-Darnell Nurse played particularly well in the 2nd, moving the puck well, generating shots, skating the puck out of danger, and making sound defensive plays. I know I probably sound like a broken record to some, but Oilers fans should be extremely excited about this guy. He’s just getting better and better, and he would do exactly that in this game.
-Cizikas would bury one for the Islanders with 8:42 left to play in the second off of a rebound generated by a nice rush by the Islanders. Nobody was particularly out of position on the play by my eye, and Talbot had little chance on the shot as it was wired high corner after the initial save was made.
-The Oilers would end up with another powerplay goal shortly after as Tavares went off for holding. Lucic would tally for the Oilers on a somewhat messy goal, but nobody is going to complain about it. It’s nice to see the PP clicking for a change:
Another #Oilers PPG! #EDMvsNYI pic.twitter.com/0sQ9lsjwYZ
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 6, 2016
-The game would take an ugly turn late in the 2nd as both teams were throwing hits, jabs, cross checks, and mucking it up along the boards. The Oilers looked completely gassed in the dying minutes of the period, but I had to admire them for hanging in there despite being down 2 forwards.
3rd Period:
-The third would start with more physical play as the Islanders and Oilers would rough each other up along the boards in the Oilers end. The Isles put up all kinds of pressure on the visiting team with some sustained O-zone pressure as the Oilers seemed to be having trouble getting the puck out of their own end through the first 4 minutes of the period.
-The Oilers wouldn’t register a shot on the Islanders until the 15:00 mark of the period
-Darnell Nurse would continue his strong play, generating shots, jumping up in the play, and playing sound defensively. He and Gryba played well by my eye and they seemed to be rewarded with some heavy minutes as the game progressed. They were the story of the Oilers blueline tonight.
-Draisaitl and McDavid would start buzzing near the halfway mark of the frame but couldn’t seem to get the bounces, and were held off the scoresheet for the rest of the game
-Nurse would go off for a high stick that bounced of Prince’s helmet with 10:17 left to go. I’m not sure how Prince didn’t get called for embellishment on the play, as he gave an oscar worthy performance selling it, but the Oilers would yet again kill the penalty off.
-GRYBA SMASH:
Get outta here. #EDMvsNYI pic.twitter.com/s0KOiZ6H0Q
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 6, 2016
-The Oilers would again look completely out of gas in the final 5 minutes of the game. I had to admire them for limiting the Islanders as much as they did while double shifting forwards to make up for the absence of Kassian and Puljujarvi. The Islanders would get a glorious scoring chance with about 4 minutes left to go, but the puck wouldn’t make it to the net as it bounced off a number of bodies in front of Talbot (who was down and out).
-The Oilers would make it out of the 3rd with the game tied at 3 goals a piece, and earn a Bettman Point.
OT:
OT WAS COMPLETELY INSANE. Seriously. This was me trying to make game notes during OT:
-Basically, Both teams would trade chances through the extra frame. The story of overtime was definitely the Goalies for both squads, as each team had grade A scoring chances. Eberle and McDavid stick out with a 2 on 1 that just somehow didn’t go their way, with Tavares barely missing a golden opportunity the other way. I thought I was going to have a heart attack, but unfortunately I lived.
-The game would go to a shootout!
SHOOTOUT:
-Look, I like the shootout. I know a lot of people hate it, and that’s ok. But shootouts are fun, and if you hate them you’re probably boring at parties.
-TEST TUBE WINS IT!
Random Thoughts:
-I really like Jordan Eberle tonight. He was engaged, making plays at both ends of the ice, and picked up an assist. He was very close to burying a goal or two and in on a number of chances.
-Gryba and Nurse were dynamite. They played an extremely physical game and weren’t taking crap from anyone. Nurse in particular was dynamic with his ability to skate the puck out, jump up offensively, make outlet passes, and handle himself in his own end. Fantastic game for him.
-Letestu had a great game. While he scored the game winner in the shootout, his play on the PK and at even strength was excellent.
-Cam Talbot continues to be one of the biggest stories of the season for the Oilers. He is dialed in, and giving his team a chance to win every night. I doubt he will play tomorrow against Detroit, so it will be interesting to see how the team responds without him.
-The Oilers REALLY should have picked PA Parenteau up on waivers when they had the chance. This is a team that was already thin on the right wing, and with Kassian and Puljujarvi going down tonight, a player like Parenteau would really come in handy. It’s inexcusable that the Oilers chose to pass on the waiver options that were available to them.
-WE WIN!
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