THE BRIGHT SIDE

• The Oilers tied the game up at one apiece on a play that started with some strong board-work by both Josh Currie and Joseph Gambardella that resulted in a loose puck that sprung Kyle Brodziak for a clear chance on goal.
• Zack Kassian gave the Oilers their first lead of the night after he found himself as the business end of a perfectly executed 2-on-1 with Connor McDavid that left the goalie with absolutely no chance. The goal was Kassian’s 14th of the year which ties his career high in goals, something he last accomplished back in 2013-14 with the Vancouver Canucks. The guy has been rolling since Hitchcock bumped him up with Connor and it’s been fun to watch him take advantage of the opportunity.
• Connor McDavid scored his 37th goal of the year after Leon Draisaitl fed him a perfect saucer pass that set him up with all the time and space he needed to strip the goaltender down to his undies and spank his bum. Hell of a goal for the captain. I’ve always got time for McPoints, and want it to be known that I’m grateful for each and every one of them.
• Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored the Oilers’ fourth goal and set a new career-high with his 25th goal of the season after Leon Draisaitl set him up with a wonderful opportunity from the slot. From there, Nuge ripped a wrister through Korpisalo’s arm and body, nailing the coffin shut in the process.
• Leon Draisaitl lazily put up another three points tonight, including some absolutely beautiful passes to set up McDavid and RNH. What a guy.
• Joseph Gambardella picked up an assist on Brodziak’s first period goal which resulted in his first ever NHL point, and for that reason, we speak his name.
• Mikko Koskinen got yet another start tonight and I was very interested to see how he’d do given the fact that he got an early hook on Tuesday night in St. Louis. Much to our collective delight, Koskinen was rock solid tonight despite not being overly busy. In the end, he made the saves he needed to make and it gave the Oilers the confidence they needed to get the job done. Koskinen finished with 18 saves and a .947 save%.
• Can we talk about how nice it’s been to have Andrej Sekera back in the lineup? The guy’s poise with the puck has been so very missed and I forgot how much I appreciated the little things he does.
• The Oilers did a very nice job of keeping the Blue Jackets from getting shots on goal tonight. Despite their own struggles with getting pucks on net, you’ve gotta respect the fact that the Oilers only allowed 19 shots on net tonight.
• Do I love the Oilers winning 55% of the faceoffs tonight? Yes. Yes, I do.
• Torts’ press conference should be fun.
• There shall be booze! As always, you can join in on the #BoozeNotBeets win cast conversation over on my Twitter account.

THE FACE PALMERS

• David Savard opened the scoring for Columbus midway through the second period after he found his way to the slot just in time to perfectly deflect a hard pass from Nutivaara past Koskinen and into the net. Considering the game had so few shots at that point, it was anyone’s guess who would crack the code first.
• The NHL site had the Oilers with 14 giveaways tonight (Columbus had eight) but I think that number is a little bit high.
• How was there only one penalty called all game? It’s not that I’m complaining, we all know the Oilers’ PK has been suspect over the years, I just find that to be a strange stat.
• I still can’t believe that Bob Nicholson thought it was a good idea to throw Tobias Rieder under the bus in front of a bunch of season ticket holders. Yeah, I know he apologized, but there’s no way that this kind of crap doesn’t affect what’s going on in the dressing room. For a team that loves to talk about character as much as the Oilers do, it’s pretty shocking how often they make themselves look like they don’t know what the words means. That said, Rieder may never score again.

SCORING SUMMARY

#GOODCONTENT