THE BRIGHT SIDE

• The hockey gods were on our side after a rough start to the first period as a lucky bounce in front of the net gave Leon Draisaitl a wide open net to give him the easiest goal of his career. This was Draisaitl’s 28th goal of the season and came during a powerplay that looked hopeless at the time to tie the game. Drai definitely made up for his bad penalty to start the game, and we’re now on good terms.
• At least our powerplay is rolling since our penalty kill isn’t. Halfway through the game, Connor McDavid finishes off a beautiful pass from Nuge to tie the game up at two. That’s his 31st goal of the season and he is well on his way to finishing the season with a career-high in goals.
• Darnell Nurse had another solid game today and put up two assists. He has now tied his career high with 26 points on the year with 30 games remaining. He played incredible today, especially while head-manning the powerplay. Nurse continues to show improvement on a yearly basis and is well on his way to becoming a stud defenceman.
• It wouldn’t be an Oilersnation wrap-up if I don’t comment on how good Connor McDavid played this afternoon. He continues to keep me on the edge of my seat game after game and today he was hot fire, again.
• The Oilers scored their second power-play goal of the game in the second period with another Leon Draisaitl goal! A passing play that involved almost everyone on the ice lead to a wide open net goal again by Draisaitl. It’s important to note that the Oilers first of the game came just seconds after their powerplay expired. All three goals have been lay-ups and that’s an impressive thing to pull off.

THE FACE PALMERS

• I hate to remind you, but we gave up four goals on the penalty kill yesterday against the Flyers. The LAST thing we want to do in today’s game takes a penalty, and Matt Benning went ahead to take a slashing penalty in the first two minutes of the game. Obviously, the Habs put the puck on Weber’s stick who made no mistake in rifling one past Koskinen. The Habs have the worst power play in the league, and the Oilers have the worst penalty kill in the league. Unfortunately, that one didn’t go in our favor.
• Seconds after giving up the first powerplay goal, Leon Draisaitl takes a dumb interference penalty in our own zone putting us down for ANOTHER two minutes. What kind of strategy is this? What are they thinking, seriously? I mean, we killed the penalty so maybe this point should go in the Bright Side section… but still.
• Another rough start to a period lead to Max Domi scoring the second goal of the game for the Habs early in the second. It was an unlikely deflection off his stick which created a broken play allowing him to wrap it around into the net. Tough play.
• I felt that Tobias Rieder has had two strong games this weekend, but I’m truly starting to think he’ll never score again. He’s so snake bitten right now it’s hard to wrap my head around it. Rieder had another breakaway tonight along with numerous scoring chances that he couldn’t finish off. I feel bad for the guy, he deserves better.
• Koskinen failed to cover the puck behind the net which leads to a wild scramble in the third period, and Kotkanemi tied the game up for the Habs at three. After playing a pretty good shutdown period, this was disappointing to see with six minutes left in the game.
• We lost again in overtime after an absolute snipe by Drouin. These are heartbreakers but at the end of the day, getting two out of the four points this weekend immediately after the bye-week isn’t the worst thing in the world.

SCORING SUMMARY