GDB -6.0 Wrap Up: Oilers erase three-goal deficit and close out 4-3 win

THINGS WORTH MENTIONING…

• Are you surprised that Brendan Perlini scored his fifth goal of the preseason? You’re not, are you? That’s because he could be the greatest hockey player to ever lace ’em up for this franchise.
• Jesse Puljujarvi is going to score a truckload of goals this season and I’d bet all of Gregor’s money on it too. Not only does he look bigger and faster, but he’s also working with a year of playing beside McDavid under his belt which can only help him take a step forward in round two.
• Watching Connor McDavid will always be worth my time. Preseason, offseason, paid plug for Adidas on this Instagram account… I’m down for it.
• I’ve written about the first line having the potential to be one of the league’s best a few times now, and the idea was further reinforced after watching them again here against the Flames. Hyman-McDavid-Puljujarvi is going to be magic.
• Leon Draisaitl looks like he wants to win a second Art Ross Trophy because he is looking dialed in. Outside of the fact that he scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, if his linemates can cash in on any of the many chances he’ll surely feed to them over the course of the season, then he will surely be among the league’s leaders in scoring once again.
• I know that a lot of us have written off Mikko Koskinen at this point but you can count me as someone that will be cheering for him to have a strong year in what will likely be his last as an Oiler. I’m not expecting Mikko to suddenly transform into a Vezina candidate like some kind of contract year miracle, but if he can hover around the league average then I think we’ll be alright. I also know that the “if” in that sentence is carrying a lot of weight.
• The Oilers powerplay is going to be a huge piece of this team’s success this year and it’s very nice to see the boys clicking with it already. Edmonton cashed in a pair of goals with the man advantage and I’d suggest that was the difference between winning and losing.
• I hope Dave Tippett gives Evan Bouchard the green light to shoot from the parking lot if he wants to because the kid has a cannon that will sneak up on some guys if they’re not paying attention.
• How weird is it to see Duncan Keith in an Edmonton Oilers jersey? That’s going to take a minute to get used to.
• I’m not going to put too much weight into preseason performance, but is anyone else nervous about what we’ve seen from Cody Ceci to this point? It seems like there’s a shit per night that makes me scratch my head and that has me hoping that he can settle in sooner than later because we’ll need him to be playing at his best.
• I need to hear Zack Kassian’s name more than once or twice on a broadcast. Right now, too much time is passing between shifts when he’s noticeable and that’s a problem we need to have solved right quick.
• I don’t really understand why Dave Tippett played McDavid with Draisaitl in the third period. We all know that duo clicks like no other, why not use this time taking swings at other stuff? Was the point to see if Hyman-Nuge can work together? Meh, whatever, maybe that’s just me nitpicking.
• The stream is always an adventure even though you’d think that we’d have this sorted out by this point.

SCORING SUMMARY