At Random: Something More
3 years ago
Given results of recent seasons, it’s understandable if people put something of a mental asterisk beside what the Edmonton Oilers accomplished Thursday, establishing a team record with their ninth win of the season against the Ottawa Senators, this time with a 3-1 decision. An oddball schedule. Picking the bones of a young team that’s not there yet, etc. Let’s not get carried away.
Fair comment, but with the Oilers entering the final 15 games of this one-off 56-game season locked into a playoff spot in the North Division, it’s a refreshing change to see things coming together – to steal from radio play-by-play man Jack Michaels, “Down the stretch we come” – instead of falling apart. No need to apologize for beating the team in front of them. Nine times.
Whether it’s been @Connor McDavid and @Leon Draisaitl torching opponents one night, as has happened often, or the rest of the cast getting it done, as @Devin Shore and Kailer Yamamoto did last night, the Oilers packed for Calgary and a date with the Flames Saturday at 25-14-2 for 52 points. It’s no longer a question of if the Oilers will make the playoffs but where they finish. It’s not like that’s been a given since the 2006 Cup final.
@Mike Smith, the seemingly ageless 39-year-old stopper, held everything together for the team in front of him yet again. Smith put in a season-best 39-save performance, including a key stop on Brady Tkachuk that set the stage for Shore’s winner, to improve to his record to 14-3-2. I thought the grizzled masked man framed the big picture pretty well in his post-game interview.
WHAT HE SAID
Mar 17, 2021; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Edmonton Oilers goaltender Mike Smith (41) passes the puck against the Calgary Flames during the first period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
“We want to build something,” said Smith, who has shoved it to his critics sideways since his face-plant in the first game of the play-in series against the Chicago Blackhawks last season. “It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, we just want to be building. Putting ourselves in a position going into the playoffs where we’re playing our best hockey.
We’re doing the things it takes to push games along, get important wins . . . we’re not just here to get two points and move on. We’re building for something bigger than just another two points against an Ottawa Senators team that’s going to be a good team down the road. We’re building for something more.”
Something more this season will mean playoffs for just the second time – not counting the play-in round last season – since the roller-coaster ride that was the run to the 2006 Stanley Cup final. While it seems unlikely, something more could mean a move by GM Ken Holland to bolster the roster, as Kevin Lowe did with the additions of Sergei Samsonov and Dwayne Roloson at the deadline 15 years ago. Will Holland make a deal between now and Monday?
Not to put too fine a point on it because this is a different team in a different era, but it’s not difficult to see a lot of Roloson in Smith with the way he battles and scraps and ignores the age on his birth certificate. Roloson was a relatively young 36 when he took over the Oilers goal crease down the stretch and refused to let go until he was felled by a knee injury in the first game of the Cup final. The rest we know.
Along with McDavid and Draisaitl, Smith is going to have a big say in what constitutes something more the rest of the way. Last night, it was completing a sweep of the Senators – for the record, Smith is sitting at .922 on the season while Roloson was .905 for the Oilers in the stretch before going off for .927 in the playoffs. Is there a run like that in this team? Two rounds? Three? First things first, and that begins in Calgary tomorrow night.
WHILE I’M AT IT
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Being a sucker for underdogs, I’ve liked what we’ve seen from Shore, even before his winning goal on the tip of a @Caleb Jones shot last night. He’s looked like a real fit with @Jujhar Khaira and @Josh Archibald. Shore, 26, is a versatile player and a handy guy to have around. He’s produced 4-4-8 in just 27 games playing 10:24 a night since signing on as a free agent.
“Everybody is a different player and there are certain things you have to be doing to be successful and to help the team,” said Shore, who made stops in Dallas, Anaheim and Columbus before joining the Oilers. “I think the biggest thing is to enjoy the journey, both the ups and the downs. We’re very fortunate to play a sport for a living . . . some days it’s easier than others to do that, but it’s important to just enjoy the ride.”
So far so good. Shore is one of those depth players teams that get things done need.
Previously by Robin Brownlee
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