Tyler Pitlick made his NHL debut last night and gave the Oilers exactly what they needed from an almost 22 year old former 2nd round pick.
The young man from Minneapolis played 11:58 by the time all was said and done. He got the puck deep, forechecked hard and took the the body effectively, highlighted with by a big hit on Gionta at 12:21 of the 3rd period. He also managed to stay competitive in the possession battle posting +9/-14 Corsi events on the evening. The imbalance in those numbers came mostly from a team wide poorly played 1st period, of which he was not the biggest offender.
One thing that must be made note of and trumpeted concerning his possession numbers is where the line of Gordon/Jones/Pitlick began their shifts on the ice. Respectively they started 83.3, 71.4 and 80.0% in the defensive zone. In their individual 10-13 minutes they didn’t start a single shift in the O-zone. No other line had more D-zone draws than O-Zone draws. Of anything to take away from this game it is that.
Not only was Tyler Pitlick playing in his first game of his NHL career, not only was that game being played in the most storied NHL city against the most storied team, Dallas Eakins saw fit to throw him to the wolves and give him not one faceoff in the offensive zone. That my friends is a great NHL debut for a guy who is going to earn his paycheck in the trenches doing the heavy lifting.
If you’re Pitlick you come away from this game with some confidence to build on. He ended up playing more than 4 other forwards, with 2 of those guys, Eager and Jones, having several years of NHL experience. He managed to keep his game simple and straight forward.
If you are Dallas Eakins you now have your first glimpse of someone who could become a valuable bottom 6 tool moving forward. You gave him a tough assignment, including more time against Gallagher/Eller/Galchenyuk than any other line, and he managed to keep things in front of him with a little help (I’m sure) from defensive forward demi-god, Boyd Gordon.
It is just his first game but it is nice to see a young guy come and and have initial success in a role he is suited for. Thursday will be a good opportunity against the Washington Capitals to build on it and make it hard for management to send him back down once everyone is healthy.
Work hard, do what is asked of you. Nice game Mr. Pitlick.
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