THE BRIGHT SIDE

• Milan Lucic has really elevated his play over the last quarter of the year and it couldn’t have come at a better time. The big man opened the scoring tonight with his 20th goal of the season by being parked in his office in front of the net.
• Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored his 17th goal of the year after getting himself to the front of the net and keeping his stick on the ice. Jordan Eberle made a nice play behind the net to feed the puck to Nuge out front and Nugey made no mistake. RNH followed up his hard working goal with an absolute beauty that left Quick guessing. Huge night for Nuge.
• Darnell Nurse threw the puck at the net from the blueline and Jonathan Quick fanned on it. Sure, Leon Draisaitl’s stick was swinging downward like a funkin’ lumberjack which probably threw off his focus, but that’s neither here nor there.
• Connor McDavid is five points away from 100. The countdown is on.
• Both Connor and Leon extended their point streak to 11 games.
• The Oilers swept the special teams battle as they went 1/3 with the man advantage while also killing off all three of LA’s chances.

THE FACE PALMERS

• Nick Shore got the Kings on the board by deflecting the puck through Talbot from six feet out in front of the net. Not much Talbot could do on that one.
• Dustin Brown scored off of a quick wrister from the slot, but the problem started long before the puck went in the net. The Oilers couldn’t clear the zone and the Kings were able to keep on the offensive until the d-zone coverage collapsed and the game was tied. Attention to details, boys.
• You could almost feel Nic Dowd’s goal coming. The wheels had fallen off completely and the Kings seemed able to do with the puck as they wished, without any real resistance. The third straight goal almost seemed inevitable.
• Trevor Lewis scored early in the third period but the Oilers weren’t able to answer like they did the first time LA took the lead. It was just another one of those ugly plays that always seem to end up in the net when the Oil aren’t playing well.
• Tanner Pearson’s goal was the dagger that ended it for Edmonton. Even though the Oilers were able to add a fourth on the scoreboard they weren’t able to pull another rabbit out of the hat.
• The Oilers completely bunged up their empty net attempt as Patty Maroon threw a blind pass over to nobody. From there, Drew Doughty threw a strike from his own blue line and the comeback attempt was over.
• What can you say about a second period when the Oilers allowed three straight goals and looked like they weren’t aware the period had started? Aside from Nuge’s beauty, that second period was awful.
• Forgettable night for Cam Talbot as he allowed five goals on 26 shots with a .808 save%. A lot of the goals weren’t his fault, but there were still a few that he probably would like to have back. Shake it off, Dadbot. We’ll see you Thursday.
• The Nurse/Benning combo was not working tonight as they got caught on the ice for three goals. Both Nurse and Benning had a tough nights as they were both fighting the puck and struggling to deal with LA’s forechecking pressure. This pairing shares the green jacket with a -3 on the evening.
• The NHL site has the Oilers only listed with six giveaways but my eyes tell me that that number is way too low.
• Why did the ice look like it had a pinkish hue to it? What was up with that?
• Speaking of TV, why was it so hard for the cameraman to follow the play?

SCORING SUMMARY

BEST OF THE TWEETS

DREAMING OF A VACATION?