*makes fart sounds with mouth* Final Score: 2-1 Canucks in OT
Greetings, citizens! I hope all of you had an excellent Christmas with your family, friends, or whoever agreed to spend time with you. Were you all spoiled with gifts according to your naughty/nice Corsi? Excellent. I’m happy to hear it. Despite my best attempts, my Christmas wish was not granted as once again the Oilers played McDavidless hockey against the heathens that are the Vancouver Canucks. 
From where I sit (pantless) there’s nothing more annoying than knowing that the Oilers are trailing the Canucks in the standings based solely on Vancouver’s ability to squeeze out loser points. The Canucks have fewer wins than the Oilers yet they have more points on the board than we do. Getting a win tonight was crucial to not only keeping pace with the rest of the Pacific Division, but also a step towards undoing the injustice of the Bettman points. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be.
The Oilers started off tonight’s game well, taking an early lead in the process, but had their play fall off a cliff in the second period. Vancouver pressed throughout the middle frame, tied the game, and probably should have led after the Oilers gave them seemingly endless opportunities to create offence. Whether it was screwing up easy breakouts or turning the puck over at the opposing blue line, the Oilers did not make this game easy on themselves. They lost because of mistakes and there were a lot to choose from.
This was a winnable game for Edmonton.
Wrap it up like Christmas leftovers.

THE BRIGHT SIDE

  • The Oilers had a fairly solid start tonight. I was wondering what they would be like after a few days off but they had legs and played with some jump off the start (outshot the Canucks 13-6 in the first).  
  • Mark Letestu walked into the slot and roofed his 4th goal of the season like he was some kind of offensive juggernaut. 
  • Matt Hendricks plays the game hard and it’s nice to see him get rewarded with an assist for his seemingly endless hard work. 
  • Darnell Nurse hasn’t played against the Sedins many times in his young career but he saw a lot of them tonight, and held his own for the most part. There were a few times Nurse’s decision making looked rushed as he gave away the puck on breakout attempts. 
  • Cam Talbot kept the Oilers in the game when they likely shouldn’t have been. That being said, I think even he would say he would like to have the overtime winner back. Talbot looks like he’s set to continue his run as the starter with another solid night. Talbot finished with 22 saves and a .917 save%.
  • We’re having a Boxing Week sale on all NationGear where you get 20% off just for using the promo code. Check out the graphic for details and head over to nationgear.ca to pick up all the gear that Santa neglected to bring for you. 
  • At least we got a point?

THE FACE PALMERS

  • Elliotte Friedman mentioned Edmonton as a possible landing destination for Zack Kassian. I don’t like it. I’ll never forget about what Kassian did to Sam Gagner and how he refused to answer the bell for it afterwards. It would feel too dirty. Dislike. Abort. 
  • Luke Gazdic made a bad play on the icing that got his line pinned in their own zone for an extended period of time. Rather than a quick bounce of the boards he sent it all the way and the team paid for it. 
  • Nikita Nikitin is an all world goat. Rather than walk the puck out of his own zone he makes a backhanded pass to nobody which results in zone time for the Canucks, and the Jannik Hansen goal. I’m dying to know what the Oilers would get for him apart from some kind of invoice. 
  • The power play was brutal again tonight. They couldn’t get anything done. They scored as much as I did in high school going 0/3 on the night.
  • Speaking of the power play, Justin Schultz seems to be doing his best to recreate the Belanger triangle while on the man advantage. Not to mention the fact that Jultz played 27:12 tonight. HOW DOES HE DESERVE THAT MUCH ICE?
  • It was a bad night for the Pouliot-Nuge-Eberle line. They were quiet all night, and often found themselves pinned in their own zone. 
  • How many turnovers did the Oilers have at their own blue line? 
  • The Gryba/Nikitin pairing gave me heartburn all night.
  • Markstrom stole this game for the Canucks. He made some huge saves when they needed them and the Oilers couldn’t beat him. He finished the night with 32 saves and a .970 save%.

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST PERIOD
12:55
EDM
Mark Letestu (4) Wrist shot – ASST: Lauri Korpikoski (3), Matt Hendricks (4)
1 – 0 EDM
2ND PERIOD
03:37
VAN
Jannik Hansen (11) Wrist shot – ASST: Henrik Sedin (24), Daniel Sedin (21)
1 – 1 Tie
3RD PERIOD
NONE
OT PERIOD
04:01
VAN
Jannik Hansen (12) Slapshot – ASST: Matt Bartkowski (7), Jacob Markstrom (1)
2 – 1 VAN

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