GDB 59.0 Wrap Up: Pray For Playoffs

7 years ago

WE’RE STILL STREAKING!!! Final score, 3-1 Oilers.

It’s Hockey Day In Canada and the Oilers came into Chicago on a two game winning streak. This was the first game back for Chicago after their bye-week, just like they were our first opponent after our bye-week. The one difference, is that Chicago seemed to have picked up even more momentum after their bye-week, and came out flying.

What started as a disaster, finished with the Oilers trumping the Hawks in their own building. Like most other win’s this season, we owe huge props to Cam Talbot who stood on his head the whole game, especially in the first period. A couple quick goals against would probably have done us in. Fortunately Dadbot did what he did best and kept us in it.

A couple power plays later combined with a few big hits and all of a sudden the Oilers have some momentum. This momentum turns into luck, and you have Matt Benning scoring a huge goal from behind the goal line, after bouncing it in off of a Blackhawks defenceman.

Although we had to hang on for dear life in the third period, I didn’t really feel like we played THAT bad defensively. We blocked a lot of shots, won a lot of battles, and had a lot of sticks in a lot of lanes. Cam Talbot also tends to make us look better than we actually are, so this may be decieving.

At the end of the day, the Oilers have won their third straight game, and begin their six-game road trip with a huge W. We now have sole-possession of second place in the division, and are only two points behind San Jose.

The wrap.

The Bright Side

Even though he got help from absolutely no one, Cam Talbot was hot fire in the first period, keeping the score even. He continued to play solid throughout the whole sixty minutes, making 38 saves.
Matt Benning must have had his best period as an Oiler in the second tonight. He potted one, threw some big hits, and hit a post. He’s proving to be a huge signing for Chiarelli, and continues to impress.
Not sure what McLellan said in the dressing room after the first period, but the OIlers were a completely different team in the second. Good on them for not letting the game go to waste.
The bodies were flying this game which reinforces the idea of how “big” the OIlers have been playing this season. We saw huge hits from Davidson, Benning, Hendricks, Gryba and Letestu all in the second period.
Speaking of Gryba, even though he’s beardless now, he’s still all the man he was once before, dropping the mitts with Hartman.
The Oilers went 3/3 on the PK tonight, and 1/2 on the PP. If we continue to have success on the special teams, we will continue to have success in the standings.
LOOOOCH finally got that monkey off his back. His celebration just shows how much he needed that goal as he practically leaped into the air. This was his first even strength goal since December 6th believe it or not.
Heading into this game, teams coming off of a bye-week this season are 3-10-2 in their first game back. This definitely was a huge advantage for us coming into Chicago, and I’m really glad we took advantage of it.
Connor keeps his Art-Ross bid alive with another goal tonight after a nice pass from Letestu, making it his 20th on the season. The captain is now on a 4-game point streak.

The Face Palmers

One day I hope we can come off a bye-week like the Hawks come off a bye-week. The first period was ALL Blackhawks, outshooting us 12-4.
Kassian took a weak tripping penalty in the first period, giving the Blackhawks even more momentum. We definitely needed the opposite of that.
Kassian then took ANOTHER penalty in the second period, trying to stay on-side while interfering with a Blackhawk defenceman. This time I blame the refs. BOO REFS!
25 year old NHL sophomore, Artemi Panarin was really dangerous out there and was buzzing in the offensive zone all night. Luckily he didn’t score but this game brought back so much resentment on his Calder Trophy win from last year.
Nuge, who had an excellent first period, probably wants to have another crack at the third. He struggled to keep up with Panik, leading to Chicago’s first goal. To top things off, after gaining possession with the goalie pulled in the third period, he somehow passed the puck right back to Chicago, making my heart beat even fast than a healthy amount.
The win is nice, but at the end of the day we got outshot 39-22. I don’t care how good Talbot is, we have to stop doing this to the guy. After all, he’s a dad now!
The Oilers only won 35% of the faceoffs tonight…. need to be better in the circle.

Scoring Summary

1ST PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
No Scoring

2ND PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
05:02	Edmonton	PPG – Matt Benning (3)	1-0

3RD PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
09:50	Edmonton	Milan Lucic (12) ASST: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (17), Jordan Eberle (23)	2-0
15:13	Chicago	Richard Panik (15) ASST: Jonathan Toews (25), Trevor van Riemsdyk (6)	2-1
19:33	Edmonton	EN – Connor McDavid (20) ASST: Mark Letestu (16), Leon Draisaitl (30)	3-1

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