GDB 81.0 Wrap up: Draisaitl’s hunt for 50 continues, Oilers lose 3-2 to Sharks

5 years ago

The final game of the season in Rogers Place concludes. Oilers lose 3-2.

The first period of tonight’s game wasn’t awful. The Oilers, who were eliminated from playoff contention this past week and don’t have a lot to play for, came out pretty strong. This is the final game of the season in front of their home crowd, and it looked like they came out playing with pride for us. After scoring in the first few minutes of the game from a shorthanded breakaway by Draisaitl, the Oilers gave up back to back goals to the Sharks midway through the period. They didn’t let that slow them down and finished the period strong. The shots going into the intermission were 12-9.

The second period remained entertaining as well. If it wasn’t for Leon Draisaitl’s race to 50 goals, or Connor McDavid’s absurd amount of points this season, these last few games would be extremely hard to watch. Instead, our star players are still giving us something to cheer about even after being eliminated. Anthony Stolarz played extremely solid this period, stopping nearly every shot he faced. Leon Draisaitl’s 49th goal of the season tied the game up at two, but with minutes winding down in the period, Nyquist scored to put the Sharks up by one again. Both teams exchanged chances on both ends and went into the dressing room with the shots being 22-20 for the Sharks.

All eyes were on Leon Draisaitl in the third period as he looked to pot his 50th goal of the season. You can tell it was the mission of the entire team as at times they were trying to force him the puck even when the play wasn’t there. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the hatty, and he didn’t get to fifty, but you can’t say he didn’t have his chances. Draisaitl was all over the puck in the third period but couldn’t get anything through the Sharks goalie. In fact, the Oilers were all over the Sharks in the third period but nothing stuck.

It was a fun game to watch and it’s too bad the Oilers couldn’t pull out a win in their last game. I for one am proud of how they played tonight. It definitely isn’t easy to motivate yourself to work hard at this point of the season, but the Oilers found a way. For now, we will go into Calgary on Saturday with all eyes on Leon Draisaitl who looks to score his 50th.

The wrap.

THE BRIGHT SIDE

Leon Draisaitl, who’s been an absolute unit this season picks off a Sharks pass two minutes into the game and takes it down to score on the shorthanded breakaway. This was his 48th of the season and a beauty at that. Friendly reminder that Leon Draisaitl has the best shooting percentage in the league!
Shoutout to Sam Gagner who played his 800th career game tonight. The guy is a beast and I’m still very happy he’s an Oiler again.
Leon Draisaitl one-times home his 49th goal of the season to tie the game up at two in the second period. You know the whole team’s looking for him to score that 50th.
Stolarz hasn’t played much for the Oilers this season, but he sure showed up tonight, especially in the second period and the third when we needed him the most.
Andrej Sekera got absolutely leveled by Timo Meier in the second period and it didn’t take Milan Lucic long at all to pounce. Lucic went right after Meier and gave him a couple of shots to the head. Both players ended up sitting two minutes for roughing, but it was awesome to see Looch jump in to defend a teammate, even if it is in game 81 of the season.
There were more “Let’s go Reider” chants tonight from the Rogers Place crowd and I loved every second of it. He had quite a few scoring chances and the building lit up every time he touched the puck. We’ve all got your back, Toby!
Matt Benning played his first game without the cage and looked fantastic out there. I thought he really stood out in the offensive end and was getting a lot of point shots through to the net. Looking forward to what he has to bring next year!

THE FACE PALMERS

It took the Oilers 42 whole seconds into the game to take a penalty in the offensive end. Draisaitl ended up scoring while we were shorthanded, but c’mon guys, let’s stay out of the box!
Joe Thornton strikes again with that beautiful passing of his. He set himself in Gretzky’s office and dished it to Sorenson who was battling in the slot to put it home behind Stolarz. This goal tied the game up at one and put Thornton in the number eight spot in most career assists in the NHL.
Just a minute after Sorenson’s goal, Brent Burns snipes one upstairs passed Stolarz to put the Sharks up by one. This was an absolute rocket and was a pretty hard shot to stop for Stolarz, who got his second start in an Oilers jersey tonight.
The Sharks got their third goal off the faceoff again near the end of the second period. Brent Burns fired a puck to the net where Nyquist was there to tip it passed Stolarz.

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
02:03	Edmonton	SHG – Leon Draisaitl (48)	0-1
08:52	San Jose	Marcus Sorensen (17) ASST: Joe Thornton (34), Jacob Middleton (1)	1-1
10:04	San Jose	Brent Burns (15) ASST: Tomas Hertl (37)	2-1

2ND PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
03:22	Edmonton	Leon Draisaitl (49) ASST: Matt Benning (12), Connor McDavid (75)	2-2
18:48	San Jose	Gustav Nyquist (21) ASST: Brent Burns (66), Evander Kane (25)	3-2