THE BRIGHT SIDE

• How many of you were here for the McPoints? All of you? You’re Gord damned right you were. Connor opened the scoring with an incredible solo effort where he was able to use his speed to walk past (good guy) Sam Gagner and knock the puck past a helpless Markstrom. It shouldn’t have been a goal based on how the play was going, but the puck somehow ended up in the net because that’s what McDavid does. The Oilers may not have won but at least there was a McPoint on the pile.
• Cam Talbot was not very good in his last appearance against the Blue Jackets so you know that he wanted to have a better showing tonight in Vancouver and he did that. Despite the loss, Talbot was not the reason for it as he stopped 28 of 30 shots and finished with a .933 save%. You might argue that he was too aggressive on the game winner but I think that’s unfair considering how bad the initial giveaway was. To my eye, Dadbot was very good tonight.
• The Lucic-Strome-Puljujarvi line was good tonight and seemed to cause mayhem in the Canucks’ zone on nearly every shift.
• The Oilers have fallen off a cliff in the faceoff department lately but they were very good tonight, winning 61% of the draws.
• The Oilers were able to kill off the only penalty they took, keeping their run of fine work on the PK going.
• I’m going to try and do my part in changing Milan Lucic’s fortunes by including him in the bright side section of the wrap up. The big man had a decent night and had all kinds of chances that should have probably ended up in the net if he had any luck going for him.
• I like the way Pontus Aberg throws the puck at the net any time he gets a chance. He had four shots on net in under 14 minutes of ice time and that was tied for second among forwards. I like guys that shoot. We need more of that.

THE FACE PALMERS

• Sam Gagner got the Canucks on the board and tied the game at one apiece, making amends for the defensive gaffe on the McDavid goal in the first period. Gagner was in the right place at the right time and knocked a rebound attempt in past Talbot for his 10th goal of the year. The problem, at least in my opinion, was that the goal shouldn’t have counted because the play should have been blown down on an icing. You can tell me that Nurse lifting the guy’s stick negated the icing but I won’t buy it regardless of what the rule says.
• Derrick Pouliot put the Canucks up by a goal after the Oilers decided to lay down on their backs in their own end and hope for someone to rub their tummy. Basically what I’m saying is that the defensive coverage was gross and the resulting goal was embarrassing.
• Why couldn’t the Oilers hit the net tonight? There were plenty of good chances that got wasted because the boys would rip the puck way wide and it didn’t really matter how close to the net they were. What was going on there?
• Oh, and posts too. So many posts.
• Why can’t anyone other than Connor score a goal? Though, I guess I should give some credit to Markstrom.
• It’s that special time in the Wrap Up where we take a look at the power play. Excited? Of course you are:
  • PP went 0/2 on the night. Surprised? No you’re not, are you?
• The NHL site has the giveaways listed as 8-4 for the Oilers but I don’t buy it. Even if that number is true, many of those giveaways came in prime scoring locations and certainly contributed to the loss.
• There’s nothing worse than doing a #BeetCast at 11pm because of the Gord damned Canucks. I’m unhappy, soon to be eating another can of beets, and could use some company. As always, you can and should join in and follow along over on my Twitter.

SCORING SUMMARY

#GOODCONTENT

WRAP UP BROUGHT TO YOU BY JASPER TOURISM