GDB 65.0 Wrap Up: Oilers @ Blackhawks

9 years ago

That was the most unexpectedly exciting Oilers game that I’ve watched in a while. Final Score: 2-1 Blackhawks in the shootout.

Tonight’s game was the first of a five game road trip for the Oilers. I had planned on calling this road trip the “we’re coming for you Buffalo” tour of March 2015, but the Oilers played so well that it doesn’t seem to feel right tonight. The Oilers had Chicago tonight, have Detroit on Tuesday, and Pittsburgh on Thursday. The Oilers also have a matinee against Carolina and finish up the road trip against Columbus next Friday, so I thought that maybe they could win those two. But start the road trip with a game like that? Against Chicago? GTFO.

One thing goes with out saying, the Oilers need to find a way how to play like this every night and they need to figure it out quickly. This was by far the most exciting Oilers game I’ve watched in a while, and it was greatly appreciated. I don’t even care that they lost! I was happy to watch the Oilers play an entertaining hockey game. That being said, seeing them play like this also makes that loss against Los Angeles even more annoying. But that’s the Oilers, they have Jekyll and Hyde vibe going on that’s unexplainable and undeniably their own. On some nights (like tonight), they look like they can play with anyone. The problem is the other nights when they look like they should be relegated.

All in all, tonight’s hockey game was a pretty solid start to the Friday. The #TankNation faction probably would have preferred that the Blackhawks end it in regulation, but I don’t even think they can hate on that game. That was the kind of game, and effort, that we’ve been looking for… correction… THREATENING MURDER for. Frankly, if the Oilers found a way to play like that every night they certainly wouldn’t be in the league basement again for the 100th consecutive year. One day, they’ll play games in March that matter. For now, we just have to continue on with our weekend knowing that the Oilers probably deserved a better fate tonight.

We wrap.

THE BRIGHT SIDE

That was a great road game for the Oilers against a very good Chicago team. It was exciting, it was back and forth… it was everything that Oilers games haven’t been for a long time.
The Oilers outshot the Blackhawks 47-39 and probably deserved a better fate than what they got.
Derek Roy scored a beauty goal on a spin-o-rama (his 7th) after Nail Yakupov did some great work in the corners to get him the puck. Really solid play. These two have been great together.
Oscar Klefbom had some good looks on net tonight. I know he’s not known necessarily for his offence, but he played a solid game and had a few shots on net.
Ben Scrivens was dialed in tonight. He bailed the Oilers out way more often than he should have had to. You could probably argue that Scrivens was the reason the Oilers were able to get a point in tonight’s hockey game. He finished with a very impressive 38 saves and a .974 save%

THE FACE PALMERS

One of the more interesting things about the Oilers also happens to be the most annoying thing about them: you never know which Oilers hockey team is going to show up. This did not look like the same hockey team that got blown out by the Kings on Tuesday. The Oilers kept up with the Blackhawks, got strong goaltending, and made things happen all night long. Jekyll and Hyde, man… it’s been a weird ride, this year.
Despite the score, the Oilers had a truck ton of giveaways tonight. They gave the Blackhawks plenty of prime scoring chances, but thanks to Scrivens the Hawks couldn’t cash.
I still can’t believe that
Neither Carolina nor Buffalo can do anything right. They both lost despite having the the lead at one time in both of their respective games. This would have been some fine ELPH had they stuck with the plan.

SCORING SUMMARY

From TSN.ca…

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