GDB 44.0 Wrap Up: Oilers @ Coyotes

8 years ago

At this point I’m just putting my head down and waiting for McDavid to come back. Final Score: 4-3 Coyotes in OT

How does it make any sense that the Oilers have been so historically bad against the Coyotes? It doesn’t. I mean, I know the Oilers have been bad but it’s not like the Coyotes have exactly been world beaters either. This morning, Jason Gregor told us that the Coyotes are 16-0-4 in their last 20 meetings against the Oilers, and that stat is mind blowing. It’s the Coyotes. They’re not winning Stanley Cups, or even playoff series. How can this team be running the show around here? Then it hit me.

The Coyotes could quite possibly be the most boring team in the NHL, or maybe even in sports. Much like what they do to the people watching, they lull the other team to sleep with their Gord awful trap style of play. After the other team finds themselves nodding off into sleep, the Coyotes pounce like the garbage dogs they are. To beat the Arizona Coyotes you would have to be patient, figure out how to stay awake, and minimize the number of turnovers offered up mid-slumber. To make this happen, the Oilers would have to play a solid road game, and the trainers would need a healthy of supply of smelling salts to keep the players awake.

For the first 40 minutes, I thought the Oilers followed my recipe for desert success quite nicely. They were patient with the puck, scored on the power play, and were generating more than they were giving up. Really, the Oilers didn’t give up very much to anyone that wasn’t named Max Domi. The problem, of course, was that they gave to Max Domi was his first career hat trick and that it all happened in the last 30 minutes of the game. Most disconcerting about tonight was that it was another instance of the Oilers coughing up a third period lead, and losing the game. The loser point they got seems fitting.

Wrap it up.

THE BRIGHT SIDE

Another game closer to McDavid. The Oilers lost again so I’m expecting the Oilers to release some new footage of him doing something awesome at practice.

Welcome back to the scoresheet Big Sexy 2.0! Draisaitl scored his 10th goal of the season on a beautiful play by Jordan Eberle to get him the puck. This was Draisaitl’s first goal since December 9th, and he was pumped to get it. He wasn’t finished with a goal as he followed that up with a gorgeous pass to set Justin Schultz up for a power play goal.

That pass tho…. pic.twitter.com/gdT9ClINkK
— OilersNation (@OilersNation) January 13, 2016

Credit when credit is due: Justin Schultz scored a beautiful goal tonight (his third) after Leon Draisaitl set him up on a tee, and had an assist on Pouliot’s goal in the third. Schultz has been playing much better over the past four or five games, and he’s doing it at the perfect time. Trade deadline is just around the corner…

Benoit Pouliot scored another goal on a tip-in for the second time in a week. He has great hand-eye coordination and should be a mainstay in front of the net, on the power play. He had two points on the night.

Three assists for Jordan Eberle.

They scored a power play goal? THEY SCORED TWICE ON THE POWER PLAY GOAL!

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THE FACE PALMERS

The Oilers coughed up two goal leads on two separate occasions. Worst of which was the 3-1 lead they had early in the third period.
Another loss to a divisional opponent.
The Coyotes play an incredibly boring brand of hockey. They sit back. They wait. Attack when possible. Zzzzz…
The Oilers dressed seven defenseman over playing Luke Gazdic tonight. When he has been playing it’s only been for a few minutes and he hasn’t fought anyone. Waivers is coming, right? I mean, when McDavid comes back and Klefbom comes back… Luke Gazdic has a very tough job but if he’s not playing, and he’s not fighting, where does he fit?
Max Domi hadn’t scored in ages. Luckily for him there is nothing on this planet that the Oilers seem to love more than breaking a guy out of his slump. One goal? No problem. Two? Sure, can do. First career hat trick? Hell yes.
Taylor Hall took a bad luck high sticking penalty in overtime and the Coyotes scored the winner.
Anders Nilsson played reasonably well in his first start since December 27th, but that wasn’t good enough. With Cam Talbot handling the bulk of the work lately, I was interested to see how Nilsson would fill in and he was nothing to write home about. Though I don’t blame Nilsson for all of the goals against, he probably could have had a couple of them. Nilsson finished the night with 27 saves and an .871 save%.
Arizona dominated the faceoff circle 45/27 for 63%.
The penalty kill allowed three goals on four attempts. Brutal.
Why can’t we have a defenseman like OEL? Ridiculously good, and he never seemed to leave the ice.

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST PERIOD
18:43	EDM	Leon Draisaitl (10) Wrist shot – ASST: Jordan Eberle (9), Benoit Pouliot (10)	1 – 0 EDM
2ND PERIOD
06:13	EDM	PPG – Justin Schultz (3) Wrist shot – ASST: Leon Draisaitl (24), Jordan Eberle (10)	2 – 0 EDM
12:37	ARI	Max Domi (11) Wrist shot – ASST: Michael Stone (14), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (18)	2 – 1 EDM
3RD PERIOD
01:02	EDM	PPG – Benoit Pouliot (10) Wrist shot – ASST: Justin Schultz (4), Jordan Eberle (11)	3 – 1 EDM
03:53	ARI	PPG – Max Domi (12) Wrist shot – ASST: Anthony Duclair (12), Oliver Ekman-Larsson(19)	3 – 2 EDM
06:54	ARI	PPG – Max Domi (13) Wrist shot – ASST: Mikkel Boedker (20), Oliver Ekman-Larsson(20)	3 – 3 Tie
OT PERIOD
04:51	ARI	PPG – Oliver Ekman-Larsson (1) Slapshot – ASST: Michael Stone (1)	4 – 3 ARI

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