So that was fun. Final Score: 6-3 Sharks
If you’re anything like me, you probably came into tonight’s game with the hopes and dreams of an undefeated California road trip dancing through your head. After Sunday night’s dominating win over the @Anaheim Ducks, the Oilers rolled into San Jose to face a team that’s really struggled to keep the puck out of the net. Coming into tonight’s contest, the Sharks had allowed 18 more goals against than the Oilers while also scoring 10 fewer, a combination that had me feeling like this had the makings of a must-win hockey game. That said, the Sharks had also won three straight and are starting to look like they’re going to turn their season around so I knew that a victory was no guarantee, but dammit, I still felt like leaving Cali with four points in tow was entirely doable. I believed. I was ready.
The first step in my plan for Californidomination was that the Oilers had to have another quick start, exactly as they had against both New Jersey and Anaheim. Of course, problems with that plan arose quickly when Brent Burns opened the scoring less than five minutes in, Evander Kane followed up with a second goal a few minutes later, and Patrick Marleau added a third before the first period was even close to being over. Good start? Hell, this was a nightmare. Basically, what I’m trying to say is that spotting the other team an early field goal probably isn’t the best gameplan. I’m no scientist but even I can tell you that despite the Sharks not having a great start to the season and their average age is closing in on 50, they’re still a damned good hockey team and that taking a couple of periods off against them is a horrible idea.
The bad news is that taking a couple of periods off is exactly what the Oilers did, and it wasn’t until the third period when they finally started to get their legs going. At the end of the day, all you can really do is forget about this one and move on.
The wrap.

THE BRIGHT SIDE

  • @Leon Draisaitl pulled the Oilers back to within three (yeah, I said three) goals midway through the second period when his wrist shot from near the point found its way through traffic and beat Martin Jones high over the glove. Are you guys tired of me talking about Leon Draisaitl yet? Too bad — I don’t care. The guy is on a mission to take over the planet and I am here to enjoy every minute of it.
  • @Zack Kassian continued his fine run of late with a third period goal from in tight on Martin Jones after he put in a strong second effort to find a loose puck and bang it into the empty cage. No, the goal didn’t mean jack shit in terms of the final score but it was nice to see Kassian get some continued success.
  • @Sam Gagner got his first goal of the season after posting up behind the goal line and banking the puck in off of Martin Jones’ back. Gagner sat out the last two games for the Oilers and he was absolutely pumped about scoring that goal, obviously hoping that his two-point night will be enough to keep him in the lineup.
  • At least @Connor McDavid got a point on Kassian’s goal? Check me out, always looking for silver linings.
  • Shout out to @Ethan Bear for playing a team-leading 25:02 and being the only defenceman to register a point.
  • The Oilers were perfect on the penalty kill, discarding all three of the shorthanded chances they faced.

THE FACE PALMERS

  • I know I’m supposed to bitch about Brent Burns goal that opened the scoring but I barely saw that puck go in on the replay so I’m going to go ahead and tip my cap to the guy for a hell of a shot.
  • While I didn’t necessarily have a problem with the first goal, I definitely had a problem with Evander Kane’s goal (2-0_ that followed only a few minutes later. By the time Kane scored, the Oilers had snoozed their way through the first eight minutes of the game and it was not at all surprising that the Oilers found themselves down by a pair early.
  • Adding salt to the wound that was starting to become infected, @Patrick Marleau added a third, first period goal for the Sharks after his deflection beat Mike Smith right into the top shelf. There wasn’t much the goalie could do on this one, but there was a lot the team in front of him could have done.
  • @Barclay Goodrow scored the Sharks’ fourth goal of the night and by the time that happened, all I could really think about was how much I’d rather have been watching Mindhunter.
  • Only moments after Leon Draisaitl got the Oilers on the board, @Tomas Hertl restored the Sharks four-goal lead (5-1) with a goal from beside the net that all but killed any dim hopes we could have mustered that the boys could come back.
  • @Timo Meier got the Sharks’ sixth goal of the evening on another deflection generated by a point shot and, admittedly, I was basically checked out by that point.
  • That was easily the Oilers’ worst start of the season and it’s not even close. From the crease on out, it seemed like no one was ready to play and they were punished for it early and often.
  • Considering the Oilers played two of their best games of the year against New Jersey and Anaheim, was anyone else surprised that Dave Tippett decided to change his lineup for tonight? Now, obviously, I don’t know if having the same guys going would have made a difference but it seems like a fair question now that all is said and down.
  • After sitting out the last two games in favour of the red hot Mikko Koskinen, @Mike Smith was back between the pipes tonight and looking for his sixth win on the season. Unfortunately, tonight was not Smith’s night as he was forced to ride through what was easily the worst 60 minutes of hockey that both he and his teammates have played all season. As a result, Smith ate all six of the Sharks goals and his stats took a beating for it. He finished with 19 saves and a .760 save%.
  • Can I just complain about the 8:30pm start for a little while? Clearly, the Oilers aren’t fans of these late ones either. Yeah, I know there are people further east than Edmonton that stayed up even later for this game, making my complaints look ridiculous by comparison, but I still want everyone to know I’m happy about staying up past my bedtime. Thank you.

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST PERIOD

TIMETEAMDETAILSSCORE
04:01
San Jose
Brent Burns (4) ASST: Marcus Sorensen (3), Radim Simek (1)
0-1
07:27
San Jose
Evander Kane (11) ASST: Logan Couture (13), Brenden Dillon (3)
0-2
11:12
San Jose
Patrick Marleau (4) ASST: Tim Heed (1), Joe Thornton (6)
0-3

2ND PERIOD

TIMETEAMDETAILSSCORE
01:26
San Jose
Barclay Goodrow (5) ASST: Timo Meier (6), Erik Karlsson (11)
0-4
09:57
Edmonton
Leon Draisaitl (15) ASST: Sam Gagner (2), Ethan Bear (4)
1-4
17:34
San Jose
Tomas Hertl (8) ASST: Erik Karlsson (12), Logan Couture (14)
1-5

3RD PERIOD

TIMETEAMDETAILSSCORE
09:08
Edmonton
Zack Kassian (6) ASST: Leon Draisaitl (21), Connor McDavid (20)
2-5
10:30
San Jose
Timo Meier (5) ASST: Erik Karlsson (13), Barclay Goodrow (4)
2-6
12:18
Edmonton
Sam Gagner (1) ASST: Patrick Russell (2), Joakim Nygard (1)
3-6

#GOODCONTENT

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Source: NHL, Official Game Page, 11/12/2019 – 11:15 pm MT