THE BRIGHT SIDE

• Connor McDavid opened the scoring with his 39th goal of the year, a snipe that beat Gibson cleanly between his arm and body. After last night’s two-goal performance against the Kings, which landed him atop of the NHL scoring race, I really wanted to see Connor McDavid keep the hammer down and start to pull away from Nikita Kucherov, and he did that tonight with three more McPoints to give him 99 on the year. With the Art Ross Trophy in sight, the captain looks like a man possessed with his sole purpose being to make it happen.
• Ty Rattie continued his hot streak as he added the Oilers second goal to the board on the power play after deflecting Matt Benning’s point shot in past Gibson. The play, as you’d expect, started with Connor McDavid setting up Benning on a tee, allowing him to blast a clapper towards Gibson that Rattie was able to get his stick on.
• I’m always amazed when Leon Draisaitl is able to smash a puck home from that horrible angle near the goal line in the corner. He scored yet again from his bad-angle office in the corner after Ethan Bear was able to set him up for a clapper from his wheelhouse for his 24th of the year.
• I really appreciate Ethan Bear’s offensive instincts and so I was pumped for the guy when he scored his first NHL goal in the third period off of a beautiful set up by Connor McDavid. On almost every shift, the guy makes plays that other players may not even see, and if the Oilers can do this thing right then they could have a real beauty here. I hope the slow play is on the agenda because rushing him into too much responsibility won’t do anyone any favours.
• Add more points to the McNuge pile. Those two guys have the skills to make magic together and it’s been fun watching their budding chemistry grow.
• Jujhar Khaira got himself another assist as he continues to be one of the brightest stories from an otherwise dreary season.
• The Oilers went 1/4 on the power play which you wouldn’t normally think is all that great of an accomplishment, but when it comes to our boys in orange we’re happy to get any special teams goals we can get.
• As per recent tradition, the Oilers were also solid on the penalty kill, answering the bell on both chances they faced.

THE FACE PALMERS

• Josh Manson tied the game at one apiece on a wrister that beat Talbot high only 19 seconds after Connor McDavid opened the scoring. Mason hadn’t played the last couple games for the Ducks due to injury and he made an immediate impact in his first game back in the lineup.
• Adam Henrique got the Ducks’ second goal of the game after he was able to deflect the Marcus Petterson point shot into the net past Talbot from in close. Dadbot had no chance on the shot as it changed directions sharply only a few free from the front of his crease.
• When Corey Perry scored to tie the game up at three were you even close to being surprised? You weren’t, were you? Of course not. Kris Russell got caught, the Ducks capitalized, and all of a sudden the Oilers’ two-goal lead no longer existed. Even after Ethan Bear scored the go-ahead goal late in the third, you just had the feeling that Ducks would find a way to come back again and that’s exactly what happened. Perry added his second of the game after throwing the puck at the net from a bad angle and getting the friendly bounce he needed to tie the game.
• Ethan Bear put the Oilers up by a goal with just over seven minutes left to play and even then they couldn’t manage to shut the door in their own end. Adam Henrique tied the game up late, forcing an overtime that should not have even been necessary.
• In the bonus period, the Oilers barely had a chance to touch the puck as Hampus Lindholm closed things out after some sloppy defensive coverage led to a game winning shot on net. After Darnell Nurse swung and missed at the loose puck, Linholm had a clear lane for a shot and the win and he made no mistake of getting the job done.
• Why is it that Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler, both punchable human beings in their own way, can get away with so much clutching, grabbing and slashing on such a regular basis? When do the Oilers, Connor McDavid specifically, start getting some of that veteran love?
• Cam Talbot got himself back-to-back starts after Al Montoya suffered from an illness that kept him from being able to play. Unfortunately, Talbot could have probably used the help as he allowed five goals on 38 shots with some of which being shots that he would likely love to have back.
• The NHL site had the giveaways listed at 17-15 for the Ducks but I don’t really buy that. For me, I found that the Oilers gave up the puck at some of the worst possible times and that should probably count for more than one tally mark on the total, in my opinion.
• There is nothing lower than doing a #BeetCast because of the Anaheim Ducks. Full stop. I’m unhappy, my Sunday night is ruined, and I can really use some company to help me get through this latest round of beet-related suffering. As always, you can join in and follow along over on my Twitter.
• The Oilers started off the year making great strides in the faceoff department, but lately that run of improvement as apparently hit the wall. They won only 47% of the draws tonight and that’s not nearly good enough.

SCORING SUMMARY

#GOODCONTENT

NATION 10TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY

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