THE BRIGHT SIDE

• Connor McDavid opened the scoring early in the first period with his team-leading 12th goal after he deflected Matt Benning’s point shot past Fleury and into the net.
• Alex Chia’s son must have heard us talking about stripping his The Answer title belt away on Friday’s podcast because he’s coming roaring back with two big goals in his last two games. Chiasson scored the Oilers second goal tonight on the power play after ending up as the business end of a beautiful passing playing with Nuge and Draisaitl.
• Leon Draisaitl scored a really nice goal in the third period that should have made us all happier than it probably did. Draisaitl pulled off a beautiful little toe drag snipe for his 12th of the year, but by the time he scored the game was effectively over.
• Oilers went 53% in the faceoff circle which is cool, I guess.
• I really liked the Oilers powerplay that ended up in Chiasson’s first period goal. They moved the puck well, generated plenty of chances, and finished things off with a beautiful goal. More of that, please.
• The game is over now.
• The boys at Nation HQ are doing Movember and are looking for donations and people to join their team. If you’re interested in either you can click here.

THE FACE PALMERS

• William Karlsson tied the game at one apiece after deflecting Shea Theodore’s point shot past Talbot and into the net. In a lot of ways, this goal was very similar to the one that Connor scored at the beginning of the period and I’m not sure there was much Talbot could have done to prevent it.
• Cody Eakin tied the game up at two with a shorthanded marker after he picked up the puck in the neutral zone and snapped a shot past Talbot and in. Sloppy passing by the Oilers resulted in a shorthanded goal against because they love to make things harder for themselves whenever possible.
• Only seconds after Eakin tied the game up at two, Max Pacioretty threw the puck towards the front of the net and had it bounce in off Matt Benning to give Vegas their first lead of the game.
• Less than a minute after Pacioretty’s goal, Jonathan Marchessault added to the onslaught after he beat Talbot with a wrist shot to the stick side. The puck did go through Garrison’s legs on its way into the net so there was a screen there, but that’s a save that Talbot has to make. Vegas scored three goals in just over two minutes to start the second period and completely sucked the life out of the building. Just gross. Marchessault added another goal less than a minute into the third period, effectively nailing the coffin shut and ending any hope of a comeback.
• Reilly Smith added insult to injury with the Knights’ sixth goal of the night.
• Cam Talbot needed to have a good start tonight after losing his last four games but he did not get it. He struggled to control his rebounds, he couldn’t make saves that he should stop every time, and the Golden Knights effectively had a point night because he couldn’t close the door. Brutal night for Talbot as he finished with 25 saves and a .806 save%.
• Five. Straight. Goals.
• The NHL site had the Oilers with 19 giveaways but I feel like that’s a little bit light. They did not manage the puck very well at all and it resulted in all kinds of unnecessary possession time for the Golden Knights.
• Make it two goals in the last 66 games for Milan Lucic. There are deserts that think this drought is getting ridiculous. I don’t know what the big man needs, but I’m thinking we may need to consult a witchdoctor of some kind.
• #FireTheMall

SCORING SUMMARY

#GOODCONTENT

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