Oilers 4, Wild 1 post-game Oil Spills: Talbot shines as Oilers end losing streak
By Cam Lewis
5 years agoThe Oilers badly needed a win last night. Having lost six in a row, the Oilers went into Minnesota for a playoff-like game against the Wild, another team in the Western Conference Zombie Walk. Cam Talbot put forward perhaps his best game of the season to help the Oilers finally get back in the win column.
What happened?
Once an Oiler, always an Oiler! The Oilers opened the scoring early in the first period when Darnell Nurse fired a one-timer from inside the point past Devan Dubnyk. It’s nice being on the other side of an early goal for once.
Ty Rattie was given an opportunity back on the top line last night and he responded by scoring his fourth goal of the season. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins fed a perfect pass into the middle of the nice and Rattie, who was crashing the net, put it past Dubnyk for a 2-0 lead.
Nobody would blame you if you still felt nervous heading into the third period despite Edmonton’s 2-0 lead. The Oilers had blown three third period leads in a row heading into last night’s game and Joel Eriksson Ek scored early in the third to make it 2-1. Uh oh!
But a few minutes after the Wild cut the lead in half, the Oilers regained their two-goal lead when they converted on a gorgeous tic-tac-toe power-play goal. RNH had the puck at the top of the circle, he fed it down to Alex Chiasson beside the goal, and he tipped the puck into the slot for Leon Draisaitl.
By the numbers
The Wild carried the play for the entire game, outshooting the Oilers in each of the three periods. All told, Minnesota had 61 shot attempts to Edmonton’s 27, and the Wild had 11 high danger chances to Edmonton’s five.
Thoughts…
- The difference tonight came down to goaltending. Cam Talbot played, I think, his best game of the season, stopping 35 of 36 shots. Dubnyk wasn’t bad, per se. He allowed one soft goal at the beginning of the game (we were certainly accustomed to the guaranteed one softy from him), but he wasn’t good enough to outduel Talbot. Late in the third, Talbot made two key saves to preserve Edmonton’s two-goal lead before Zack Kassin iced the game with an empty-netter. The Oilers badly needed that performance last night from Talbot to get back in the win column and gain some confidence. If he can get hot and play well like we know he can, it’ll be a huge difference-maker in Edmonton’s playoff drive.
- I hate to be negative after a win, but beyond Talbot’s great showing, there wasn’t all that much to like from last night’s game. The effort was there, but the Oilers looked outmatched by a team they’re competing with for a playoff spot. The Wild were the better team, as they completely dominated the shot differential and possession at even strength. One thing I did like, beyond Talbot, was Edmonton’s special teams. The Oilers killed both of their penalties and they capitalized on a key power play in the third period. The PP has been rolling as of late as they have 10 goals on the man advantage in their last 12 games.
- Kris Russell took a big hit from Jason Zucker early in the third period on this play that looked somewhat dirty. Zucker ended up getting called for interference and Edmonton scored on the power play. I’m not sure Zucker had malicious intentions on that hit, but I think the playw as handled properly. Zucker got the penalty he deserved and nobody felt the need to retaliate afterwards. The best way to retaliate is with a power play goal.
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