Oilers vs. Red Wings Postgame: Sweet, Sweet Victory

Edmonton Oilers: 4

Detroit Red Wings: 1

Well, it was nice to see the Oilers win a game. Unfortunately for me, I was stuck out at my day job and forgot to set the PVR, so I only caught the game after it was already four to one, just watching the third period. I was also flat-out beat, so I’m afraid there aren’t any three stars from me tonight, but I’d love to see some suggested in the comments.

If anyone deserved a flukey goal off of somebody’s stick, it was Patrick O’Sullivan, who fires the puck from everywhere and hadn’t been rewarded to date. The fact that he added a legitimate goal a little later on only made it better. His shooting percentage jumped from an NHL-worst 5.2% to 7.4% tonight; just one point below his career average.

Speaking of which, what on Earth was Jim Howard doing in net on O’Sullivan’s goal?  Crazy stuff.  In fairness, he also had a few brilliant saves, so maybe he can only be beaten by bizarre goals he should have stopped.

Ryan Potulny seems to have been everything Andrew Cogliano needed to kickstart him, and the two had a few very good chances tonight.  They’ve drug Ethan Moreau along with them, and that trio is outplaying the wildest expectations I would have had for them.

Robert Nilsson’s goal was just sick; total domination of an overwhelmed defenceman.  His NHL future is precarious, largely due to faults of his own, but it’s always nice to see those flashes of talent that remind you why so many people have figured at one point or another that he was a player.

As I mentioned earlier, I’m at a considerable disadvantage in covering the game tonight – what did everybody else think?