GDB 31.0 Wrap Up: Thanks, Pat!

7 years ago

All the ladies say yes to Letestu! Final Score: 3-2 Oilers

Would you look at that. Right when the Oilers needed a win the Winnipeg Jets stroll into town and I was praising Gord at the sight of their logo on the schedule. So far this season, the Oilers have rolled through Winnipeg, taking both wins out of the 2-0-4, and I was hopeful that they could find a way to repeat their successes here at home. The team knows that they can beat the Jets, they’ve done it twice already, but to do that they were going to have to do a better job of limiting their mistakes than they have over the last week or so. While getting the pity points has been a nice consolation prize, the Oilers have been missing out on way too many wins for my liking.

Tonight’s game was another chance for the Oilers to take advantage of a team that played last night, a task that they’ve been failing to accomplish more often than not this year. Fortunately, they found a way to get it done this time around. The Jets got killed in Calgary last night and they were just asking to be beaten for the second straight game. But they sure didn’t make it easy. Not to mention, the Pacific Division has tightened right up and this win now puts the Oilers in sole possession of second place rather than see them slip further down the ladder. Although it may not have been the prettiest win, we’ll take it in the hopes of getting back on the right track. The Oilers were desperate to get back in the winning column and they needed a little bit of luck to get that done.

At the end of the night, the Oilers made fewer mistakes than the Jets and they ended up winning the hockey game. When games play out as evenly as tonight’s did, teams have to make sure to make the right choices consistently and anything less will result in goals on the board. That said, a big shout out goes to Patrick Laine for scoring the game-winner for the Oilers. We’ve heard lots about this kid’s shot but we all got a chance to see it tonight. I can see why Jets fans are so excited when this kid scores goals, and I was happy that the Oilers got a chance to feel some of that positive energy.

We wrap.

THE BRIGHT SIDE

Oscar Klefbom scored his fifth goal of the year by cashing in on a rebound that was likely an intentional passing play off of the goaltender by Tyler Pitlick.
I have no proof of this but I assume that Mark Letestu haunts the dreams of the Winnipeg Jets players. Letestu scored two more goals (one with ~~some~~ a lot of help from Patrick Laine) against the Jets and his legend only grows. He has six goals this year and five of them have come against the Jets. How crazy is that? Also, who knew that Mark Letestu would be the golden key to unlocking the power play? Letestu for Prime Minister!
Cam Talbot had another solid hockey game, made some big saves, and he gave his team a chance to win. Talbot has probably deserved a better fate in a few of his last starts but he won one for his team tonight, finishing with 31 saves and a .935 save%.
Connor McDavid still hasn’t hit three games without a point in his NHL career. It’s amazing. The captain added another assist to his league lead in the points department and I don’t think he’ll be looking back anytime soon.
Drake Caggiula keeps getting better and better as he gets more experience under his belt. He seems to have a knack for being in the right place at the right time, and if he can get a little bit of luck he could start filling the net while playing beside McDavid.
Solid night for both Andrej Sekera and Kris Russell with the pair both playing over 24 minutes (team highs). I know the Corsi crowd hated them again but they looked good to my eye.
Zack Kassian and Chris Thorburn decided to man dance in the second period and the fist kisses were exchanged as a result. Baggedmilk’s judging decision to Kassian for the lefts and the takedown. Check out the fight over at Zack Kassian’s fight card, courtesy of HockeyFights.com. Kassian had a great night, despite the disallowed goal. He was throwing his body around, fought for his team, and was all over the puck. More games like that please.
The penalty kill was solid again and continues to be a silver lining throughout this up and down season.
The Oilers got a big goal from their power play which gave them both the extra boost they needed to win the game as well as the sweep on the special teams advantage for the night.

THE FACE PALMERS

It sounds like a broken record but the Oilers gave up the first goal of the game again. Matt Benning tried to make a drop pass to no one at the Jets blue line and they ended up marching down the ice and scoring. It was the kind of giveaway that’s been killing the Oilers this year, and the repetition doesn’t seem to be slowing down at all.
Chris Thorburn scrapped with Zack Kassian and then went out and scored the Jets’ second goal. I guess he didn’t get enough punches in if he was still able to grip a stick and shoot like that. Too bad.
Zack Kassian had gone 20+ games without scoring a goal and he scored a big one tonight. Kassian got in alone and scored an absolute beauty only to have it called back on an offside review. How’s that for unlucky? That offside challenge rule is absolute garbage.
There is absolutely no consistency in the NHL with what is and what is not a penalty. Guys will get called for phantom slashing plays while blatant cross checks to the back go unnoticed. It’s embarrassing.
Speaking of calls, where were the concussion spotters after Wheeler went crashing into the boards? Looks like he could have bumped his melon, no? I understand the rule, and I agree with it, but the NHL needs some consistency with the execution.
We need to figure out a way to get the crowd a Rogers Place going. We may need to take this into our hands, Nation. The Oilers are showing crowd shots while every single team is doing what they can to get the people going. We may have to take that one on, people. We may need to inspire the Nation.

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
14:50	Winnipeg	Mathieu Perreault (2) ASST: Bryan Little (4), Jacob Trouba (4)	1-0

2ND PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
01:53	Edmonton	Oscar Klefbom (5) ASST: Tyler Pitlick (3), Patrick Maroon (6)	1-1
12:00	Winnipeg	Chris Thorburn (3) ASST: Marko Dano (6)	2-1

3RD PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
02:28	Edmonton	PPG – Mark Letestu (5) ASST: Connor McDavid (27), Milan Lucic (14)	2-2
11:21	Edmonton	Mark Letestu (6)	2-3

BEST OF THE TWEETS

MarkLetestu pic.twitter.com/5scUq0wtbr
— Mandeeeeez (@Mandeeeeez) December 12, 2016

Tweet at @OilersNation and @jsbmbaggedmilk for your chance to land in the Best of the Tweets. Talk to me, Twitter.

BRAND NEW NATION GEAR!

If you didn’t get down to West Edmonton Mall for our game day viewing party on Friday night you could have missed the launch of some brand new NationGear. Fortunately, our inventory reserves held up and we still have some brand new designs available just in time for Christmas. Check out what’s new in the land of Nation fashion at the top of the landing page at NationGear.ca.