GDB 40.0: Hattrick Maroon

7 years ago

Sometimes it’s nice to steal one. Final Score: 4-3 Oilers

If the Oilers were going to get themselves back into the win column they sure as hell were going to have to put in a better effort than they did two nights ago in Columbus. Although, now that I’ve said that I’m not sure that they could have come out worse than they did on Tuesday. Anyway, in tonight’s game, Edmonton got the start they were looking for after Pat Maroon opened the scoring by being in the right place at the right time and cashing in a beautiful feed from Connor McDavid. Unfortunately, that first goal seemed to give the Oilers a cue to take their foot off the gas, allowing Boston to get back in it and almost takeover the game outright.

As the game progressed through the second period, both teams had settled into their game plans and the opportunities to create chances (sort of) balanced out a little bit. The obvious difference drew from the fact that the Bruins are a much more experienced hockey team. Even though they’re not the same Bruins they once were, they still don’t seem to make the same kind of sloppy mistakes that always seem to cause headaches for the Oilers. For the first two periods, the Bruins made better choices with the puck than Edmonton, and they were able to hang onto the puck and generate offense as a result. The Oilers would have clean looks at exiting the zone but they couldn’t put six-foot passes together in order to make it happen. That didn’t seem to happen for Boston.

Despite the mistakes and being outshot for 40 minutes, the Oilers went into the third period with the game tied and a chance to win. Lloyd Christmas once showed me how having a chance can be all the hope you need. As we saw tonight, it’s funny what can happen when you give an NHL team a chance. After struggling, at times, to produce ~~quality~~ any scoring chances throughout the first two periods the Oilers popped two in the first half of the third period. They would need both of those goals to keep the Bruins at bay. Impressively, the Oilers never looked back after stealing the lead and they found a way to close out a win that didn’t seem like to happen just a period or so before the final buzzer.

Sometimes it’s nice to steal one.

Like chicken, we wrap.

THE BRIGHT SIDE

I love Patrick Maroon and I don’t care who knows it. The big man set a career-high in goals (12th, 13th, 14th) tonight and he did it with style. Maroon scored three big goals, one in each period, and propelled the Oilers to this win. If that wasn’t enough As always, you can see all of Maroon’s fights on his fight page over at HockeyFights.com. Basically what I’m telling you is that Pat Maroon was hot fire tonight. Fin.
Speaking of Maroon, I was happy to see him back alongside McDavid. From the first day that he got here he’s always seemed to know where to be to play with Connor, and I hope he never leaves his wing again.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was rewarded with a goal (his eighth) after driving to the front of the net as he scored by having Matt Benning bank the puck in off of his tummy. Nugey was reported to have an ouchie but we covered it with a smiling sun bandaid and he was good to go. Jokes aside, it was nice to see Nuge driving to the net and getting greasy in the crease. They can’t all be goals off the rush and RNH was willing to take the garbage out and sweep the porch in tonight’s hockey game.
Two McPoints tonight! I don’t know how many times Connor has set up linemates in a perfect area to score only to have them whiff or miss the net entirely. Although he’d never say so it must have been nice for Connor to have someone beside him in Maroon that usually seems to find a way to cash in on his chances.
As we’ve come to expect lately, Cam Talbot was great again. When the Oilers’ play fell through the Earth’s crust and into the fiery pits of bubbling magma below us Talbot was there to bail them out and keep them in the game. Talbot finished the night with 33 saves and a .917 save%.
I know it’s not a great stat but Adam Larsson was +2 tonight in 22:14 of ice. He was a quiet rock back there even though he only played the third most minutes.
The penalty killers did a great job tonight, especially at the end of the game. Even though the Bruins scored on the 5-on-3 advantage they weren’t able to get another despite having PP time left on the clock. The PK killed off 2/3 tonight and none were more important than in the final minutes.
Thanks Tuuka Rask for being really mediocre tonight!

THE FACE PALMERS

Tough luck on Boston’s first goal by Colin Miller. The puck bounced back behind Talbot and he caught it just as the biscuit had crossed the line by millimeters. If we didn’t have high def cameras then I’m not sure that we would have been able to see it cross the line. Where were the 90s when we needed them?
Patrice Bergeron scored in the second period. As much as that’s a problem it wasn’t THE problem. Bergeron had 45 minutes to walk in alone and roof a perfect shot from the slot and there was absolutely no one around him.
I am not a fan of the Oilers still using the Steve Staios’ breakout from the early 2000s. They will win draws cleanly back in their zone and the only play the D ever come up with is to rim it around the boards.
I guess the refs were mandated to call Prison Rules for tonight’s game. I honestly couldn’t tell you how many missed calls there were but there were plenty of them, and I say that for both teams.
It’s hard to knock the power play considering they only had one opportunity. Frankly, that’s more of an indictment of how shitacular the reffing was. Either way, the Oilers didn’t score on the power play. Now you know.
The Oilers got roasted in the faceoff circle tonight, winning only 41% of the draws.
Jesse Puljujarvi only played 3:27 tonight so my question to you is HOW IS THAT HELPING HIS DEVELOPMENT?
The Oilers were up by two goals and down by a man late in the third period. Benoit Pouliot felt like that was too easy. Taking a tripping penalty and putting the team down by two was much better.
If not for the score, Gregor would have nailed his GDB predictions perfectly. Ridiculous. Don’t worry, Nation, I plan on tracking him down and stealing his tears. We will find the source of his power.

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
01:08	Edmonton	Patrick Maroon (12) ASST: Connor McDavid (30), Leon Draisaitl (20)	1-0
07:16	Boston	Colin Miller (3) ASST: Austin Czarnik (7), Torey Krug (21)	1-1

2ND PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
10:43	Boston	Patrice Bergeron (8) ASST: David Pastrnak (8), Kevan Miller (1)	1-2
13:09	Edmonton	Patrick Maroon (13) ASST: Eric Gryba (2), Connor McDavid (31)	2-2

3RD PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
00:14	Edmonton	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (8) ASST: Matthew Benning (7)	3-2
09:02	Edmonton	Patrick Maroon (14)	4-2
17:04	Boston	PPG – David Krejci (9) ASST: Patrice Bergeron (6), Brad Marchand (22)	4-3

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