GDB 76.0 Wrap Up: Oilers @ Coyotes

8 years ago

I take dessert over desert every single time. Final Score: 4-2

There are some things in this world that I just don’t understand (along with hundreds of warehouses full). One of those things is how the Edmonton Oilers can be so awful against the equally terrible Arizona Coyotes. Okay, so maybe the Coyotes are marginally less terrible than the Oilers, but they’re not world beaters, is what I’m getting at. Slightly better or not, that still doesn’t mean that the Coyotes should be running the show like they have been. After thinking about it, all I can conclude is that the Oilers are repeatedly lulled to sleep by the Coyotes’ horrible trap style of defense. I get it, man, they’re boring. But how do the Oilers not accidentally win sometimes?

With the way the Oilers started this game I was actually hopefully that this ridiculous Coyotes curse might actually meet its match. Unfortunately, the dark art of Oilersing® themselves into giving their opponents prime scoring chances was on full display, and the Coyotes reaped the benefits. Whether it was power play chances or general Oilersing® in all three areas of the ice, the Coyotes had numerous opportunities to scoop up loose pucks and turn them into scoring chances. When you combine some moments of loose play with the Coyotes curse and another injury to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins what you have there is a textbook recipe for disappointment.

The wrap.

THE BRIGHT SIDE

Connor McDavid finds himself on a five game point streak after picking up two more assists on both Jordan Eberle and Mark Letestu’s power play goals. How there is consideration for anyone other than Connor McDavid to win the Calder trophy is crazy to me. Games played or not, he’s the best rookie.
I was super into the Hall-Nuge-Draisaitl line. They were producing chances and playing sound defensive hockey all night until Nuge went down. That was a line that could have done great things. I hope it gets another chance next season but preferably sooner.
How many nights in a row do we have to talk about Jordan Oesterle before we start buying his jersey? I don’t know whether this is a red hot streak he’s in or if the Oilers have actually developed another defenseman, but he’s looking like a keeper right now. I think he’ll start next season in Bakersfield but will definitely push as the season goes on if he can maintain this level of play. He played over 27 minutes tonight.
Griffin Reinhart played over 23 minutes in what was another solid game for the Big Cat. He’s looked very good paired up with Oesterle and his minutes would show that McLellan agrees.
The power play kept the Oilers in the game, and it was refreshing to see success with the man advantage. They finished the night 2/4 on the power play.
Cam Talbot was good but not great and if that’s his low mark then we’re going to be golden. I think you could definitely say that he’d want the first goal back, but I’m not sure what he could have done on the other two. Talbot finished the night with 27 saves and a .900 save%.

THE FACE PALMERS

The Coyotes curse continues. They are 19-0-4 against the Oilers since 2011. Gross.
The Oilers really couldn’t get much going 5-on-5 and the cycle was virtually non-existent for long stretches of the night.
Anyone who says Nuge is soft hasn’t been paying attention. He got his melon rattled because he was going into the tough areas after a loose puck. If he’s concussed, and this was his last game of the year, I hope it’s not his last game as an Oiler. The Oilers will lose that trade for the next decade+.
Tobias Rieder scores because of course he does. Great call on that one, Tambellini.
Darnell Nurse got caught puck watching on the Alex Tanguay’s goal. Tanguay slipped behind ol’ Darryl and the puck wound up in the back of the net. To be fair to Nurse, Tanguay banged home a rebound that Talbot would have normally handled differently.
The Oilers were 41% in the face off circle tonight. That’s not nearly good enough. It’s tough to win the game when you’re always chasing the puck.
The penalty kill went 1/3. Not bad by any means, but notable.

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST PERIOD
05:38	ARI	Alex Tanguay (8) Wrist shot – ASST: Oliver Ekman-Larsson (31), Anthony Duclair (21)	1 – 0 ARI
09:04	EDM	PPG – Jordan Eberle (23) Wrist shot – ASST: Lauri Korpikoski (10), Connor McDavid (27)	1 – 1 Tie
2ND PERIOD
12:22	ARI	PPG – Martin Hanzal (11) Wrist shot – ASST: Michael Stone (29)	2 – 1 ARI
17:02	ARI	Tobias Rieder (13) Wrist shot – ASST: Brad Richardson (18)	3 – 1 ARI
17:56	EDM	PPG – Mark Letestu (10) Wrist shot – ASST: Andrej Sekera (21), Connor McDavid (28)	3 – 2 ARI
3RD PERIOD
19:14	ARI	EN – Max Domi (18) Wrist shot – ASST: Martin Hanzal (25), Jiri Sekac (4)	4 – 2 ARI

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