IT’S ELECTION DAY IN THE U.S! AREN’T YOU GUYS SO SAD THAT YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO TALK ABOUT THE ELECTION IN A MONTH OR TWO!? I know I am.
In all seriousness though, it was also “Crosby Vs McDavid”, and although the good guys lost, McDavid won. The media did it’s job to hype this game, and Gord bless them for doing so. Jesse Puljujarvi would draw back into the lineup tonight after a scary hit took him out 2 games ago, and Cam Talbot would get another start.
Here’s the game as I saw it, with a few of my favorite tweets:
1st Period:
-A bad cross ice pass by Lucic right at the Penguins blue line by Milan Lucic would be intercepted and send the Penguins on a breakaway early. Conor Sheary would make the opportunity count, and yet again the Oilers would start the game behind the 8-ball:
Sheary’s goal gives him six points (2G-4A) in six games. Both of his goals have come at home. pic.twitter.com/Q6XkqcuXZX
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) November 9, 2016
-The Pens would continue to mount attack after attack through the opening 5 minutes of the first, but the Oilers would do a decent enough job of keeping Pittsburgh’s opportunities largely to the outside. The pace to the game was insane as the period progressed, with both teams trading chances and coughing up turnovers (a theme that would persist throughout the evening).
if the oilers wanna slow this one up a bit, i’m game
— Jeff Chapman (@NewWaveOil) November 9, 2016
-Shots were even at 3 a piece after 5
-Kris Letang would go off for hooking with 13:39 left to play. The Oilers attempted to set up and moved the puck around well enough until it was baubled near the slot and Oscar Klefbom made an Olympic level effort to keep it in at the blueline. He’d lose his edge and lucky for him, Nuge would be there to bail him out or it easily could have been a shorthanded breakaway for the penguins:
Love that Klef-fort. ? #EDMvsPIT pic.twitter.com/ngvihu67FT
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 9, 2016
-The Oilers would fail to tally with the man advantage. Eric Gryba would go off shortly after for “interference”. I’m not going to lie, I thought it was a BS call as a shot was directed on the Oilers net and Gryba simply cleared the crease as the puck approached. I could see how it could be called interference except for the fact these kinds of plays are rarely ever called. It’s called “clearing the net”, and defensemen get away with it all the time. The NHL really needs to get it’s act together when it comes to consistency on issues like these. There’s too much grey area as it stands now.
-The Oilers would successfully kill off the penalty, and then the refs would miss calls against the Pens later in the frame. Maybe I’m just being a homer but I could have sworn I saw at least 2 other missed calls against Pittsburgh after the Gryba penalty.
-Lucic seemed to be struggling early. Aside from his giveaway that led to the first goal against, he was fumbling the puck and turning it over through most of the first. Everyone has their off days, and this was not one of the best for Looch.
Lucic a giveaway waiting to happen tonight. I love the big guy, but this has been his worst period as an Oiler.
— Ryan (@rKrawcH) November 9, 2016
-Connor McDavid would be Connor McDavid. He’d set up Eberle on a beautiful 2 on 1 opportunity to tie the game with 5:33 left so that I could gloat over all the Eberle haters:
What a pass! What a finish! ? #EDMvsPIT pic.twitter.com/9k4A2Q9s5P
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 9, 2016
RETURN OF THE #SQUEEE
— The Oil City Saint (@dprime_) November 9, 2016
Eberle almost floated out of the arena there as that giant monkey finally dislodged itself from his back!
— Jeanshorts (@JSBMjeanshorts) November 9, 2016
-Benning would straight up get murdered behind the trapezoid in the Oilers end with just under 4 minutes left to play in the 1st. I’m no zebra, but I’m pretty sure this should be a penalty?
¯_(ツ)_/¯
@rfraser1974 pic.twitter.com/lSjRLhbtCo
— Stephanie (@myregularface) November 9, 2016
-Nurse would have an excellent period by my eye (something that would continue for the next 2 periods). Oilers fans are lucky to have this guy and he’s just getting warmed up. He moves the puck, he skates it out of trouble, he’s physical, and he can chip in offensively. I totally told you so.
-Maroon would light the lamp (and the hopes of Oilers fans) with 2:42 left to play in the frame off of yet another beautiful play by Connor McDavid:
Sensational setup. #EDMvsPIT pic.twitter.com/v2qshvml5J
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 9, 2016
McDavid 2 Crosby 0
— Trin Potratz (@PotratzHockey) November 9, 2016
-Benning would make a nice move to play the body against Crosby late in the period, but apparently defense is now illegal in the NHL, unless it’s clutch and grab on McDavid. I know I probably sound salty right now, but the officiating really was terrible in the 1st period.
-Darnell Nurse and Benoit Pouliot would get a glorious 2 on 1 short handed chance, but Pouliot would elect to shoot and Fleury would swallow up the puck with his pads. I think Pouliot was trying to generate a rebound for Nurse to bury, which is kind of funny given how Pouliot would finish the game.
-The Oilers would kill off the first minute of the penalty, leaving Pittsburgh with 1 minute left in the bank to start the 2nd.
2nd Period:
-Pittsburgh would do a nice job of getting set up on the powerplay early. I’m not sure what’s up with teams being unable to score on the PP after carrying one over into a new period, but they came EXTREMELY close and if it wasn’t for Cam Talbot and a beautiful clearing play by Klefbom in front of the net, it would have been 2-2. Thankfully the Oilers pulled a horseshoe out of their collective asses and managed to kill this one off.
-The Pens would pour on the pressure after failing to score on the PP but the Oilers would weather the storm. Shortly after, McDavid would magically produce another 2 on 1 (I think he was in on at least 5 of them tonight) but fail to capitalize.
-At this point the game just became an insane fleury (HA! Sorry) of chances for each team, with the Penguins and Oilers trading chances at either end. Some of the most entertaining hockey I’ve seen so far this season.
-Eberle would tally again with this beauty:
MAKE IT 2️⃣ FOR 1️⃣4️⃣! #EDMvsPIT pic.twitter.com/Ok48To0Z6q
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 9, 2016
-Both teams would continue to trade chances, with each preying on turnovers by the other. I have to hand it to the Oilers here. They looked like they were having issues with the Penguins speed but ended up going toe to toe with them through most of the 2nd.
-Talbot would make multiple YUGE saves (HA!) and keep the Oilers in the game. Eberle would get yet another chance with 11:40 left. The Maroon McDavid Eberle line was the best one on the ice tonight, and they were a threat all game. I can’t count how many scoring chances they were in on (ask some stats nerd).
-Larsson had a big period by my eye and was making calm plays to relieve the pressure as the Penguins began to pour it on as the 2nd progressed
-Hagelin would score for the Penguins as the frenetic pace would end up with Pittsburgh burying one after a glorious chance the other way. Draisaitl would lose his man out front and Hagelin would make no mistake:
This goal gives Hagelin four points (1G-3A) over his last 2 games. pic.twitter.com/4tsUHWqAQK
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) November 9, 2016
-The Oilers would respond with pressure (with the RNH line generating some great puck cycles in the offensive zone) but wouldn’t be able to score for the remainder of the period. Cam Talbot would stand on his head to keep the Oilers in the game.
3rd Period:
-The McDavid line would come out FLYING within the first 30 seconds but come up empty
-The Penguins would reply with chances of their own but the Oilers defence would do a nice job of keeping the Penguins offensive zone time to a minimum, mitigating the pressure by timing their clears nicely with line changes.
-Evgeni Malkin would tie the game up off a fluky bounce that would end up directly on his stick and in the back of Talbot’s net with 14:27 to go in the 3rd:
This goal extends Malkin’s home point streak to four games (3G-3A). pic.twitter.com/Zj4X7kdeFU
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) November 9, 2016
-With 12:40 left to play, Benning would make a seemingly innocent cross ice pass to D-partner Andrej Sekera, who apparently failed to notify his partner he intended to change. Sekera would recover at the last moment, but it was a horrible giveaway that was almost converted into a breakaway by the Penguins. I’ll chalk that up to Benning’s inexperience, but there needs to be better communication between these two. Can we have Davidson back yet?
THATS YOUR THIRD BLUNDER HEMSKY I SWEAR TO GOD
— Wanye (@WanyeGretz) November 9, 2016
-Talbot would come up with another huge save with 11:30 left to go against U.S Presidential Front Runner Phil Kessel:
Talbot is NOT voting Phil. #EDMvsPIT pic.twitter.com/RbqmX3AAxI
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 9, 2016
-Nurse would continue his strong play in the 3rd. The thing I liked about his play the most is how he changes it when McDavid is on the ice. He knows that all he needs to do is create a neutral zone chance for McDavid, and Connor will do the rest.
-The Oilers would do a nice job of limiting the Penguins chances as the period approached the last 5 minutes until Maroon would take a penalty with 5:20 left to play in the game. I found it significant that Nurse and Gryba would start the PK as the faceoff occurred in the Oilers end, and they would do a good job as the Oilers would start to kill off yet another Pittsburgh powerplay.
-The Penguins would negate their own penalty with a too many men call, ending up with a brief period of 4 on 4 before leaving the Oilers with 45 seconds of powerplay time. The Oilers moved the puck well but couldn’t seem to get shots to the net, except for a nice opportunity from the point by Klefbom.
-The Penguins would tally the game winner with 1:42 left to go and break the hearts of Oilers fans everywhere. More specifically, Benoit Pouliot would try to stop Sheary in tight and basically score on himself.
Random Thoughts:
-I was as heartbroken as any other Oilers fan to see that goal go in so late in the game, and I know everyone is tired of “moral victories”, but this was a fantastic game and the Oilers were in it until the very end.
-Nurse continues to be a beast. As the Oilers pulled the goalie to try to tie it up in the dying seconds of the 3rd, he was rewarded with time patrolling the offensive blueline, and he deserved it.
-Lucic needs to forget this game ever happened. Not a good one for him.
-Nuge continues to impress on the defensive side of the puck. I don’t care if he doesn’t top 60 points as long as he continues his solid play at both ends of the ice. He’s getting his chances.
-MCDAVID IS BETTER THAN CROSBY (Yeah, I said it).
-TAYLOR HALL IS BETTER THAN BENOIT POULIOT (Yeah, I said that too).
-I really like how much Klefbom is shooting. He had some defensive lapses today, but he’s getting the puck off quickly from the blueline, and that’s something the Oilers desperately need.
-Cam Talbot is the real deal. Easily Chiarelli’s best trade to date.
-Puljujarvi was involved all game, and it doesn’t look like he’s under any physical duress (which is great news for Oiler fans).
-The 4th line was quiet tonight, other than Pitlick (who continues to impress).
-Benning needs to sit a game, imo.
-Despite dropping this one, Oilers fans should be optimistic about this season. Believe me, things could be MUCH worse and the team hung in there with the reigning cup champs in the last game of a 5 game road swing. There are good reasons for optimism here.
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