The Day After: Ah, so that’s a full 60 minutes
By Zach Laing
3 years agoWelcome to the day after where we dive into what’s happening with the Oilers the day after a game.
In what was their most complete game of the season, the Edmonton Oilers walked out of the Canadian Tire Center last night two points richer. It came at the hands of a 3-1 Oilers victory over the Ottawa Senators, the first of two games in two nights.
The big boost for the club appeared to be with Mike Smith drawing in for his first game of the season and credit where it’s due, he looked like a stud last night. He only let one goal slip past him in an odd own goal by Adam Larsson that he really had no chance on.
Besides that, Smith fought for pucks, battled head and looked like he hasn’t missed a beat heading into the Oilers’ 13th game of the season. But in front of him is where the Oilers really made their hay. Edmonton played about as tight of a game as they have all season genuinely giving a full 60 minutes, despite a first-period onslaught by the Senators.
“We had the mindset to play a full game,” said Oilers head coach Dave Tippett. ” I thought the first period was alright, but I thought we got better as the game went on as we were looking for.
“We were solid throughout the lineup and we got a win. We got a couple bumps and bruises as we go along (but) everyone was involved in it so it felt like a good team win.”
For Tippett and his Edmonton Oilers, it’s exactly the kind of game he’s looking for.
“We want to be a hard-working team,” he said. “We’ve done it in spurts. When you get chasing the game, you get out of sync a little bit.
“You’re taking risks to get back in the game. Tonight was solid all the way through — we stayed with it shift by shift. That’s what we’re looking for from our group. We were behind early, but we weren’t chasing the game. The work ethic was there, the details in how we wanted to play was there, and we found a way to win. It’s a good team win.”
The Oilers will look to build that momentum moving forward tonight with another 5 p.m. puck drop against the Senators.
Backhanders…
- Zack Kassian, who was called out by head coach Dave Tippett earlier yesterday after some media members asked the bench boss about the player’s lack of PIM, left the game after his second shift of the game and didn’t return. He got into a fight on his first shift, and his second lasted 31 seconds. Tippett had no update on his status after the game.
- Jujhar Khaira had another real solid game after getting into a scrap of his own early in the first. That’s two in a row for a player who’s needed to find some consistency on a night-to-night basis. Great to see from him.
- Coming into tonight’s game, the Oilers are fourth in the North Division and in a playoff spot whether you look at points, or points percentage. Let’s hope they can keep it up.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.
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