GDB 2.0 Wrap Up: Undefeated in the Tippett era, Oilers win it 6-5 over LA Kings

4 years ago

That was emotional. Final Score: 6-5 Oilers

Hasn’t it felt like weeks have gone by since the Oilers opened up their season on Wednesday night? I know it’s only been a couple of days, but, at least to me, so much has happened in that time that it’s felt like a lot longer. As I mentioned in this morning’s GDB, this game was the first without Adam Larsson and that meant a lot of pressure was being placed on some inexperienced defenceman to fill the void, so I was very curious to see how that was going to go. Even though the Kings aren’t really expected to do a whole lot this season, that doesn’t mean that the Oilers would be able to treat them lightly. In fact, I’d argue that our boys have had an issue with playing down to their competition over the past couple of seasons, so tonight’s contest was a good opportunity to see if they could put the boots to a team that they should probably beat on most nights.

Considering all of the shade that I’ve been throwing at the Kings all day, my biggest want for tonight was a quick start and maybe even an early goal to set the tone. On the flip side, my biggest fear was, obviously, that the Oilers went full Oilers, dropping trou’ and laying a turd on centre ice, which is a sight we’ve seen on Saturday nights more often than I’d care to remember. So when Connor McDavid was able to score in the opening moments of the hockey game, I thought my concerns of embarrassment had been squashed and that we’d be all set for a night of fun. That was, of course, until the universe decided that our sanity needed to be tested with some strange goaltending errors and costly goals against. With those gaffs out of the way, I assumed we would get back to dummying the Kings as anticipated, but this LA team kept finding ways to produce chances and get pucks into the back of the net.

The good news is that the Oilers we able to match all of the offence the visitors were able to produce, and it allowed them to bail out their goaltender on a night when he needed some help. When was the last time we were able to say that?

The wrap.

THE BRIGHT SIDE

As if he was answering my prayers, Connor McDavid opened the scoring in the opening moments of the hockey game with one of the weirder goals you’ll ever see, but one that was caused by the Kings’ inability to handle his speed. Yeah, it was weird but it was the kind of goal that only Connor can score because defencemen really don’t know how to handle him. Need more? How about finishing with another four-point night on the pile? To say that the captain was electric tonight would be selling him so short.
It only took two games for James Neal to score his first goal as an Oiler and he got it by being in the right place at the time time to bang home a loose puck at the side of the net. Neal wasn’t done there, though. He picked up a second goal in the third period to give the Oilers a 6-5 lead after he, once again, was able to bang home a loose puck near the crease. For a guy that had a tough last season in Calgary, you absolutely know that he wanted to get one early in the year to start building some confidence and to get a pair in one night can only be positive.
Zack Kassian got his second goal of the season on the back of a ridiculous play by Connor McDavid that made Drew Doughty look like a complete turd. McDavid gave him a little shimmy-shake in the corner before feeding the puck to Draisaitl who, in turn, set Kassian up with a tap-in. To put it lightly, that was a hell of a sequence.
How about Joakim Nygard picking up his first NHL goal on a sneaky little play off the draw. When the linesman dropped the puck, Gaetan Haas pushed it forward, snuck behind the defenceman, and slipped the puck out front to a waiting Nygard who was ready for the tap-in.
Darnell Nurse scored the Oilers’ fifth goal of the night after an absolutely ridiculous zone entry and dangle from Tomas Jurco created an odd-man rush high in the zone. From there, Nurse picked up the pass from Jurco in the high slot and ripped a wrister past Quick to tie the game yet again.
Oscar Klefbom was a horse tonight as he played a team-high 26:33 and led all defenceman with three assists. Great night for #77.
I don’t know what else I can say about Leon Draisaitl that hasn’t already been said, but the guy has developed into an absolute warlord for this team and my body is ready for it. Again tonight, Leon was one of the Oilers’ best players by a wide margin and it’s been a lot of fun to spend the past two games watching pick right up where he left off back in April.
With Adam Larsson out, Ethan Bear was tasked with eating up a lot of minutes against the Kings (and likely going forward) and I thought he did a very nice job of handling the added responsibility. For a kid that nobody expected to make the team before training camp started, he’s done a very well at settling in and doing his job effectively.
Yuuuuge shout out to Joel Persson on his NHL debut! I thought he played well alongside Klefbom and it was clear that the guy knows how to move the puck. I hope that as he gets comfortable, his offensive instincts will be unleashed a little bit more, but you can tell he has some touch in his game.
After absolutely killing it in his Oilers debut, Mike Smith got another start between the pipes and I was very intrigued to see how he’d do in round two. Unfortunately, the answer to that question is complicated. I mean, to say that he had a tough first period would be an understatement, but, to his credit, Smith was able to settle down a bit and make the saves he needed to get the win. That said, you’re not going to like his stats a whole lot as he allowed five goals on 32 shots which equals a .844 save%.
Shout out to Jonathan Quick. We needed his help tonight and we got it, and for that, I thank him.

THE FACE PALMERS

Dustin Brown tied the game at one apiece after sinking the puck in a wide open net when Mike Smith got caught out of position. For the past couple of days, we’ve all been praising Smith’s puck moving ability but knew that he would eventually get caught with a bad one. Who knew it would happen this quickly? lol
Only minutes after tying the game at one, the Kings briefly took a 2-1 lead after Mike Smith got caught out of his crease for a second straight time. While Trevor Lewis got credit with the goal, the goaltender should get some love for the setup.
As if the Hockey Gords hate us, Anze Kopitar was able to restore the Kings lead (3-2) just over four minutes after Neal tied things up. Kopitar was able to battle his way to the front of the net, gain position, and slip the puck through Smith’s arm and body.
Michael Amadio gave the Kings a 4-3 lead after he was able to slip Colby Cave in the defensive zone and beat him to the puck on the left side of the net. Amadio’s quick shot beat Smith low to the blocker side, and, all of a sudden, the Kings were up in the third despite being generally outplayed.
After getting into some penalty trouble in the third period, Drew Doughty was able to score the Kings’ fifth goal of the night with a blast from the point that made its way through traffic and past Mike Smith.
Oilers took five penalties tonight and that is way too many. I know they only allowed a single PP goal against but that’s certainly not a habit they want to get into.
Getting outshot 32-31 by the Kings isn’t a great look, but I’m just being nitpicky.

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
00:53	Edmonton	Connor McDavid (2) ASST: Leon Draisaitl (3), Oscar Klefbom (1)	0-1
04:13	Los Angeles	Dustin Brown (1) ASST: Anze Kopitar (1)	1-1
09:05	Los Angeles	Trevor Lewis (1) ASST: Kyle Clifford (1)	2-1
10:23	Edmonton	PPG – James Neal (1) ASST: Connor McDavid (1), Oscar Klefbom (2)	2-2
14:49	Los Angeles	Anze Kopitar (1) ASST: Dustin Brown (1), Ben Hutton (1)	3-2

2ND PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
04:51	Edmonton	Zack Kassian (2) ASST: Leon Draisaitl (4), Connor McDavid (2)	3-3

3RD PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
03:26	Los Angeles	Michael Amadio (1) ASST: Kyle Clifford (2), Trevor Lewis (1)	4-3
05:24	Edmonton	Joakim Nygard (1) ASST: Gaetan Haas (1)	4-4
08:19	Los Angeles	PPG – Drew Doughty (1) ASST: Ilya Kovalchuk (1), Anze Kopitar (2)	5-4
10:10	Edmonton	Darnell Nurse (1) ASST: Tomas Jurco (1)	5-5
13:28	Edmonton	PPG – James Neal (2) ASST: Connor McDavid (3), Oscar Klefbom (3)	5-6

#GOODCONTENT

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THE SEASON LAUNCH PARTY

If you’ve ever been to one of our events, you’ll already know that your ticket to the event will not only guarantee you memories that last a lifetime, a swag bag that will help power to your through life, but it also helps us raise money for a local charity all at the same time. This time around, we wanted to make the event as accessible as possible so that we can pack the Brewhouse and kick off the season with as many Nation citizens as we get in the building. And since the party starts so early on a Saturday, the Brewhouse is able to offer an all-ages event, meaning this is the perfect event to bring your kids to.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Where: The Canadian Brewhouse – Lewis Estates (1320 Webber Greens Dr NW)
When: Saturday, October 12th, with doors opening at 10 AM and the hockey game starting at 11 AM
How much: Tickets are $15 each with net proceeds going directly to the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation.
The bag: Exclusive Season Opener Party tee, Brewhouse GC, Oodle Noodle GC, stickers, and a ticket to enter all of the draws and raffles
How: Tickets are available here.

Source: NHL, Official Game Page, 10/05/2019 – 10:45 pm MT

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