

THE BRIGHT SIDE

- Cam Talbot was lights out tonight and it allowed the Oilers to stay in the for way longer than they probably deserved to be. Dadbot got peppered by shots and the Oilers would never have gotten this game to overtime. Talbot finished the night with 28 saves and a .903 save%.
- The Oilers needed a big goal, and it was the captain that gave it to them. Connor came charging down the ice and threw the puck on net, getting a friendly deflection off of a Sharks defender for his 13th goal of the year. McDavid follow the goal up with a big assist on Patty Maroon’s tying goal later on in the third period.
- Patrick Maroon just seems to know where to be when he’s playing with Connor McDavid. Maroon scored a huge goal (his 10th) in the third period to tie the game up shortly after the Sharks took the lead. If I’m Todd McLellan (and I could be), I wouldn’t separate those two for the rest of the year. Bonus points to Maroon for the amazing cellies anytime he scores.
- If Matty Hendricks is playing his final games as an Oiler he sure as hell doesn’t want to go down quietly. Hendo scrapped a gigantor in Brendan Dillon and hung in there admirably. As always, you can check out Matt Hendricks’ complete fight card over at HockeyFights.com.
- Not to be outdone, Zack Kassian scrapped for the sixth time this season. Kassian has been angry over the past few games, and you just knew he was going to fight after Hendricks stepped in for him in the first period. As always, you can check out this fight on Kassian’s fight page over at HockeyFights.com.
- The Oilers PK was busy tonight against a very good Sharks power play, and they were solid on 3/4 chances. The PK was especially good when Kassian took the double minor in the second period.
- It’s December 23rd and the Oilers are in a playoff position. Merry Christmas.
THE FACE PALMERS

- You may be asking yourself why there is a Ford Escape in the Bright Side section of this Wrap Up. Well, the tireless SUV in the picture above is actually Chris the Intern’s Escape. His lovely fiance went out to jump in their vehicle to go to work and when she got there the passenger side rear wheel was gone. I want to apologize here, publicly to Chris for laughing when he told me. The story was ridiculous and I couldn’t help it.
- Slow start for the Oilers tonight, and the Sharks were able to generate a few odd-man rushes for some excellent offensive chances. They were lucky that Talbot was ready to play or things could have been worse.
- Zack Kassian took a bad double-minor in the second period. He got one for roughing which was questionable, and then doubled down with a cross-checking penalty as the cherry on top. Fortunately for Kassian the Oilers were able to kill off both penalties, but he didn’t see the ice again after he was out of the box.
- Oscar Klefbom had a brutal pinch on Kevin Labanc’s third period goal. Sexbomb got lost in the neutral zone and the Sharks came in on a clean 2-on-1 and made no mistake of burying the chance. Fortunately, the lead didn’t last long.
- Lucic was not good in the OT period and I was surprised McLellan put him out with Connor. The cherry on the sundae was when Looch and Connor flew the zone in OT allowing Labanc to walk in alone for the winner. Kass played only 6:41 tonight and that’s only because of that double minor.
- Taylor Beck played 4:12 tonight. Why was he put in the lineup instead of Puljujarvi exactly?
- Anyone else think that it’s time to recall Lander and send Caggiula down to Bakersfield? Can’t just be me.
- The power play was awful tonight and really didn’t get anything going in any of the six chances they had. The PP could have been the hero tonight but the reality was that they, at best, killed 12 minutes off the clock. Not good enough, especially when you consider how strong the PP has been recently.
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST PERIOD
TIME | TEAM | DETAILS | SCORE |
---|---|---|---|
No Scoring |
2ND PERIOD
TIME | TEAM | DETAILS | SCORE |
---|---|---|---|
00:31 | PPG – Joe Pavelski (12) ASST: Brent Burns (18), Joe Thornton (21) | 0-1 |
3RD PERIOD
OT PERIOD
TIME | TEAM | DETAILS | SCORE |
---|---|---|---|
03:22 | Kevin Labanc (6) ASST: Logan Couture (11), Brent Burns (19) | 2-3 |
BEST OF THE TWEETS
@tiertwofan @OilersNation beat me to it ? pic.twitter.com/ycwsylCpBO
— Ross Murray (@ERemurray24) December 24, 2016
Kassian’s worst attribute: he can fly off the handle and do crazy shit
Kassian’s best attribute: he can fly off the handle and do crazy shit
— Higgs-Distortion (@Higgsdistortion) December 22, 2016
@OilersNation It looked like he threw a piece of steel wool up against the window.
— Ryan (@IAmByks) December 24, 2016
Can’t wait to hear explanation how two clearly separate calls against SJ for hooking up McDavid morphed into just one. That’s brutal.
— Robin Brownlee (@Robin_Brownlee) December 24, 2016
@jsbmbaggedmilk to be fair the SN guys assumed the oilers fans had all fallen asleep after that crap 2 periods.
— mike sinclair (@MeekerBeastman) December 24, 2016
@OilersNation no no no, his spirit and confidence must be broken 1st
— OilLeak (@OilLeak26) December 24, 2016
When the Oil make the playoffs by like 6 points nights like tonight add up believe that
— Wanye (@WanyeGretz) December 24, 2016
NATIONGEAR BOXING DAY SALE
