THE BRIGHT SIDE

• Zack Kassian opened the scoring with an absolutely beautiful tic-tac-toe goal that all three forwards had a hand in. This goal was the result of a really pretty passing play and for them. I tip my cap in salute of the fourth line.
• Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored his team leading 12th goal of the season on the power play after the second unit effectively moved the puck around the zone until Nuge was left wide open. I’m so pumped on the year that Nuge is having and I’ll hate Peter Chiarelli for the rest of my life if he trades him.
• Matt Benning is going to score plenty of rebound goals if he keeps following Connor McDavid into the offensive zone. Following up on the play with his stick on the ice got Matt Benning his third goal of the year as he beat Bobrovsky with a seeing-eye wrister that gave the Oilers a three-goal lead. Benning was solid tonight, as he finished the game with 22:12 on the ice and two points on the board.
• Milan Lucic seems to be finding some chemistry with Connor McDavid, as he has six points in his last five games. Looch put home his seventh goal of the season on a perfectly executed 2-on-1 with Connor. Honorable mention goes to Leon Draisaitl and his ridiculous saucer pass out of the zone that landed right on the McStick.
• Mark Letestu cashed in a short-handed goal on a breakaway with less than a second remaining on the clock. Normally it’s the Oilers that allow that kind of nonsense so it was nice seeing them on the business end of a late-period goal for once.
• Jesse Puljujarvi scored his fifth goal of the year by being tough on the puck, outworking his man in the slot, and banging home the rebound while falling. That was a man sized goal from a giant sized Finnish man-boy. Incredible effort by Puljujarvi and I love watching whatever he’s building with Connor.
• The fact that Connor McDavid is heating up is probably terrifying news for the NHL. Tonight was just another chapter in the McDavid Show that he’s been putting on at every stop on this road trip and he demolished the competition. I mean, what can you say about another four point night for McDavid (1G, 3A)? He started the game in ninth place in NHL scoring and it didn’t get him long to crack the top five.
• If the Oilers were going to have any chance of winning this hockey game they were going to need Laurent Brossoit to do better than whatever Bobrovsky did at the other end. For the second time in a week, Brossoit outlasted a Vezina winner as Bobrovsky got the hook after two periods and Brossoit finished the night with his third win of the season. Not only that, he got his first NHL point on Matt Benning’s goal to cap off a solid night overall. Brossoit finished the night with 28 saves and a .933 save%.
• Props to the defensive six for working together and making it look like this wasn’t some patchwork defence that was thrown together because of injuries. All three pairings played well tonight.
• The Oilers’ special teams were great tonight. Honest!
  • PP: They scored on the power play twice! And I really mean it!
  • PK: Not only did they score with the man advantage, they also killed off both PKs they faced (though one was like two seconds long).
• It was another good night for the Oilers in the faceoff circle as they won 52% of the draws they took.

THE FACE PALMERS

• Oliver Bjorkstrand ruined the fun by getting Columbus on the board and ending Laurent Brossoit’s bid for a shutout. Rude behaviour from a host, if you ask me.
• Jack Johnson hadn’t scored a goal in ages and it only makes sense for the Oilers to end his scoring drought. Slumpbusting of any variety is kind of our speciality.
• I hate to pick on Brossoit after getting a big win, but that Jack Johnson goal was soft. Aside from that, he played really well but I don’t know what it is about him needing to let in one softie every night.

SCORING SUMMARY

#GOODCONTENT

REAL LIFE PODCAST