GDB 69.0 Wrap Up: Oilers @ Blue Jackets

9 years ago

These Bettman points are killing me! Final Score: 5-4 Blue Jackets in the shootout.

All I hoped for tonight’s game was that it would be half as exciting as the comeback from last night. I don’t know which side of the ELPH fence you’re on, but that was some good watching for those of us hanging out at Camp McDavid. Tonight’s game didn’t have the same sex appeal as playing the Penguins (though it started the same), but the goal remained the same – find a way to lose, and keep it exciting. When the Oilers let the Jackets score 43 seconds into the game, I thought we might be in business.

Early on, the Oilers looked like a team that played last night but they were able to hang around and stay in it. Even though the Jackets controlled the play early on, and jumped out to an early lead, they allowed the Oilers to battle their way back into the game. The Oil kept chipping away and were once again able to climb out of an early deficit to tie things up in the 2nd period. No, I didn’t just copy and paste that from last night’s Wrap Up. The Oilers had apparently found a way to recreate last night’s game in Pittsburgh. If only they were able to get a decent start, now and then, and maybe these comebacks could start out as a lead instead? Dare to dream, right?

One thing this road trip has taught me is that no lead is safe for either team when the Oilers are playing. The Oilers have had leads and blown them, and have found ways to dig themselves out of graves that they’ve dug themselves. I’m still not sure how this game made it to a shoot out. The way this game started, I would have guessed that the Oilers were going to be mailing it in for the last 40 minutes of the game but it didn’t happen. I’m not sure we could have said that earlier in the year. That being said, we still got a point in the standings which puts the Oilers 4 points up on the Sabres. This McJesus lotto is going to come down to the wire.

We wrap.

THE BRIGHT SIDE

I am literally leaving for Crashed Ice right now.
Jordan Eberle scored his 18th goal on the power play with sensational wrister from the left circle. When Eberle is rolling, his hands are like how you felt when you first tasted cheese. That’s good. That’s really good.
Nuge and Eberle have been fantastic since Taylor Hall went down. It will be interesting to see how/if their play changes when Hall comes back. Eberle and Nuge both finished with 2 points each tonight.
Derek Roy has scored 2 amazingly ugly goals in the last two nights. He scored tonight (his 9th) on a weird bounce off the back boards that popped out right onto his stick. From there, all he had to do was tap it in.
Nail Yakupov scored his 11th goal of the season on an absolute rocket from the point. I like seeing Todd Nelson using Yak in a position where he can shoot from. It’s amazing how putting a player in a position to succeed seems to work. Can’t help but notice that the Yak haters seem to have quieted down to a whisper.
The Oilers power play chipped in 3 goals and was a big reason that the Oilers were able to climb out of that early lead.
The Oilers are now 4 points up on Buffalo having played 2 more games than the Sabres. The McJesus lottery is going to come right down to the wire here, people.
Check out the game day predictions by Gregor… The guy is some kind of gypsy.

THE FACE PALMERS

The Blue Jackets scored 43 seconds into the game. In case you’re playing along at home, that is the fastest goal that Columbus has scored all year.
The Oilers looked completely disjointed early in the game. They definitely looked like a team that played last night for those first 20 minutes. There was some sloppy plays and a lot of giveaways. They’re lucky they only got down 2 early.
The Blue Jackets have a cannon in their arena… I assume it’s in case of pirates.
Rough night for Ben Scrivens early. He gave up a goal on the 1st shot of the game, but did improve as the game went on (obviously, right?). Scrivens finished the night with 27 saves and an .871 save%.
On the other end, Bobrovsky didn’t seem to want the Oilers to get a chance at McEichel. He let them get back into this game and register a point in the standings. For shame, Bobrovsky… For shame.
Columbus was on a 5 game losing streak heading into tonight’s game. Slumpbusters, amirite?

SCORING SUMMARY

From TSN.ca…

BEST OF THE TWEETS

Talk to me Twitter… Tweet to @jsbmbaggedmilk or @OilersNation for your shot at Internet glory.

CRASHED ICE IS HAPPENING TONIGHT!

If you don’t have any plans for tonight and tomorrow, you do now. Immediately after posting this Wrap Up I’ll be heading down to check out the opening night and all the festivities surrounding it. If you haven’t driven past the course (at the Shaw Conference Centre) yet, take a few minutes to check it out. The course is pretty gnarly and will surely (hopefully) cause some amazing crashes. As a spectator, I fully expect to see some fully grown men regretting every choice they made that led them to this point. Did I mention that it’s free to check everything out AND there’s a beer garden? I’ll let that soak in for a minute.