THE BRIGHT SIDE

• Jesse Puljujarvi tied the game up at one apiece after he found himself a quiet spot in the Blues’ defensive coverage and teed off a one-timer that surprised Allen. A big shout out goes to Jujhar Khaira for the nifty little pass that set Puljujarvi up to blast off.
• I liked Darnell Nurse’s game again tonight. I find that he’s doing a good job of picking his spots to jump into the rush and his skating makes him hard to contain. Nurse had another big minute night, finishing with a team-high 28:42.
• I don’t know that he’s quite ready yet, but I’ve really liked the way that Caleb Jones has played over these last two games and I was pumped to see him get his first NHL point tonight. With each shift, he looks more and more comfortable out there and the way he uses his speed to get himself to the right spot is fun to watch.
• Cam Talbot was making his first start since the OT loss to Winnipeg and I was curious to see how he’d handle it. While a lot of people will probably talk about the tough angle goal that Perron scored, the reality is that Talbot kept his team in the game longer than they probably deserved to be. Had it not been for him then this one would have been out of reach long before it was, especially early. I know he’ll take heat in the comments section but I don’t believe Cam Talbot was the issue tonight as much as the team in front of him. Dadbot finished the night with 26 saves and a .897 save%.
• Some people might care that the Oilers outhit the Blues 34-21, but I don’t. I see that as them chasing the puck more often than not, but I figured I would include the numbers anyway.

THE FACE PALMERS

• David Perron opened the scoring (of course he did) with a ridiculous shot from a sharp angle that couldn’t have been placed any better, but probably shouldn’t have gone in. That said, I have a hard time blaming Talbot for this one considering how perfectly placed it was but I know people are going to jump on him for it anyway.
• Apparently, you don’t have to see the puck go in the net to have it count as a goal anymore. Absolutely ridiculous. As if a phantom goal give the Blues the lead wasn’t enough, it was credited to Patrick Maroon because of course it was.
• Vladimir Tarasenko put the Blues up by two goals after Jujhar Khaira got the boot for cross-checking Dunn in the head and putting the visitors on an extended PP. I don’t think I have to tell anyone here how annoying it was to have the Blues score on the powerplay after the Oilers looked so useless with their own but I’m going to mention it anyway as a means to vent.
• Even though they were down by two goals and spent 10 useless minutes with the man advantage, the Oilers decided to pull the goalie for an extra attacker. As you’d expect, Jaden Schwartz scored for the Blues.
• The powerplay was an absolute disaster tonight. In five opportunities, the Oilers didn’t come anywhere close to getting what could be considered a legitimate chance to score. In 10 minutes of powerplay time, the Oilers only got four shots on net and that is every shade of awful. The best thing you could say about the powerplay is that it provided an effective way to run time off the clock.
• Not to be left out, the penalty kill allowed another goal tonight and finished the night at 1/3. It was an all-around brutal night for the special teams.
• Getting outshot 30-23 when you’ve had 10 minutes with the man advantage is absolutely nauseating.
• Gross loss tonight and I am very unhappy about having to eat beets again. As always, you can join in the conversation over on my Twitter account.

SCORING SUMMARY

#GOODCONTENT

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