Despite opening their eight-game homestand with a dominant 5-0 win over the St. Louis Blues last Sunday, they posted two absolute stinkers against the New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins — the latter of which had me “turn off” the game. (I switched it from my TV to my laptop, but you get the point here.)

The Oilers clearly realized this in uh… some kind of way, clawing back from 3-2, 4-3, and 5-4 deficits to win 6-5 in overtime off the back of Evan Bouchard’s three-goal, six-point night and a pair of goals and five points from Connor McDavid.

BOOOUCH

Evan Bouchard. Doug Crossman. Tom Bladon. Bobby Orr. Sprague Cleghorn. Reg Noble.

All real names, and the only six* defencemen in NHL history to have at least three goals and six points in a game. Reg Noble was the first to do so in February 1918, followed four years later by Ol’ Sprague Cleghorn in January 1922. It took nearly 50 years for 22-year-old Bobby Orr to be the next to do it, and he did it twice more. Bladon did it in 1977 and Crossman in 1992. Beyond Orr, it’s a list of players who make you say “Who?” but more importantly, it highlights how rare of a feat it is for a defenceman to do.

Bouchard was all over the ice Saturday night, putting together what is, quite simply, the best game he’s ever played. He said after the game it was the first time he ever had a hat trick, but you couldn’t really tell with a rather stoic celebration on the ice as hats rained down around him. Maybe he’s saving it for when he treats himself to a new pair of white Asics runners.

It wasn’t just a big night offensively, either, as in his 29 minutes and 25 seconds of ice-time, he wasn’t on the ice for a single goal against, despite the Capitals putting up a five spot. He led all defencemen in even-strength minutes (19:04), power-play minutes (8:19), and in penalty kill minutes (1:58). All the while, the Caps only had two high-danger scoring chances and generated 0.45 expected goals against the Oilers in those minutes in all situations.

*- Stathead, where I pulled the stat from, listed Reg Noble as a LW/D, though the official game sheet from that night had him listed as a centre. Surely, people will debate this until the end of time.

TAKE THAT, HOCKEY CANADA

The group of defencemen that Hockey Canada is taking to the Olympics next month is the exact same as the one they took to Montreal and Boston last February for the 4-Nations Face-Off. Cale Makar, Josh Morrissey, Devon Toews, Travis Sanheim, Shea Theodore, Thomas Harley, Colton Parayko, and Drew Doughty.

It’s a good group, no doubt, evident by Canada hoisting the still unnamed trophy thanks to McDavid’s golden goal. But if we all think back to what we saw from this blueline, there was a contingent not shy from pointing how the difficulties they had in moving the puck and producing offence. Makar is obviously the stallion on that blue line, and Harley showed incredibly well, but this was a major issue for the group. In fact, Canada only had four points — all assists — from defencemen in the tournament, with Harley, Makar, Sanheim and Doughty each getting one. It was the lowest toal from the four countries, Canada, Sweden, Finland and the USA, who were at the tournament.

One has to wonder if the management group for Team Canada’s Olympic team are tugging on their collars, because Bouchard’s performance was nothing short of incredible. The argument against taking Bouchard has been talked about well enough — “he’s soft, he doesn’t kill penalties, blah blah blah” — but the truth of the matter is anybody who watches him on a consistent basis knows how good he is. Couple it with the fact he’s turned into an effective penalty killer, and one has to wonder if Team Canada will realize they made a mistake leaving him off.

“He’s a heckuva player, among a lot of great Canadian defenceman,” said McDavid after the game. “It’s a good problem to have, but I’m sure (Team Canada’s) management has been watching.”

DIGGING IN

Back to the game at hand, and one can only hope that this game becomes a bit of a catalyst for the Oilers turning things around. After the drubbings by the Devils and Penguins, it was pretty apparent the Oilers knew they had to be better. They even said it themselves.

They surely woke up a bit after getting embarassed in their first game back from the seven-game road trip in November, losing 8-3 to the Dallas Stars, as they went 9-3-1 heading into the Christmas break. They’d been nothing short of sluggish coming out of it, though, going 6-6-2 leading into last night’s game since the break. The players talked about how important this homestand is, and they really have a chance to drive that point home here.

They welcome the Anaheim Ducks on Monday, the San Jose Sharks on Thursday, the Minnesota Wild next Saturday, and the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday, February 3rd. It’s a quick trip down to Calgary on the 4th, and then it’s Olympics time. Until then, it’s time to crank things up a notch.