A fine way to start our Saturday. Final Score: 4-1 Oilers
As I wrote in this morning’s GDB, the biggest key to this game, to me, was paying attention to the details in all three zones on the ice to try and limit the Bruins’ ability to attack as much as possible. With the ability to get scoring from throughout their lineup, Boston can be a real handful if you’re playing loose defensively and that made me nervous considering our boys have basically been a colander in the d-zone lately. Needless to say, giving the Bruins more chances than they’ll already manufacture for themselves is a horrible idea and something that the Oilers had to eliminate from their game if they had any chance of pulling two points out of this game.
Over the past couple of games, the Oilers have come out flying and gotten the kind of starts we’ve all been yearning for, but haven’t been able to finish off as strongly. Today, I was hoping that they’d, once again, hit the ground running while also finding a way to maintain the effort for 60 minutes. It was a simple dream but it was a beautiful one. Unfortunately, it was the Bruins that got themselves on the board in the opening minutes despite a strong road period for the Oilers and the boys were forced to chase a team that doesn’t cough up leads very often. Moving into the second period, Edmonton needed to keep chipping away as they had been in the opening frame to try and build upon the foundation they started putting down. Thanks to some hard work and a little bit of luck, they were able to score two unanswered goals, grab the lead, and give themselves a chance for a win with 20 minutes to play.
Heading into the third period with a one-goal lead, the Oilers had to make sure that they didn’t simply sit back and hope to run out the clock as they did against the Sabres. We all knew that Boston would push hard to try and tie things up, and it was up to the boys to make sure that they couldn’t execute. Much to our collective delight, the Oilers kept chipping away and attacking as they could, even extending their lead to two goals on a beautiful passing play from Kassian to McDavid. While the Bruins were certainly running the show in the third period, the Oilers didn’t look as helpless as they had been in their last two outings. Up by two goals with time running out, Edmonton did a fine job of bending without breaking to the Boston pressure that we all knew was coming and they managed to squeak out a fantastic road win in a very tough building.
The wrap.

THE BRIGHT SIDE

  • @Gaetan Haas tied the game up at one after the gift pass he got from Jake DeBrusk and sunk the puck through Halak’s legs for his fourth goal of the season. I just want to take a second to appreciate Haas a little bit. Of all the scratch tickets Holland signed this summer, Haas has been the most effective in his role and I look forward to seeing what he’ll be able to do as he continues to get more at-bats at the NHL level.
  • After going more than 30 games without a goal, @Darnell Nurse gave the Oilers a 2-1 lead with a wide-angle snapshot that beat Halak on the short side. Clearly, the Boston goaltender was unhappy about the brutal softie he let in with only six seconds left in the second period, but that doesn’t matter to us since it was just so nice to be on the other end of one of these for once.
  • @Connor McDavid put the Oilers up by a pair of goals after he took a beautiful spinning pass from @Zack Kassian in full flight and beat Halak with a quick wrister to the blocker side. McDavid was flying all game long and it seemed like only a matter of time before he’d be able to convert on one of his many chances.
  • @Leon Draisaitl put the final nail in the coffin with an empty netter in the dying seconds of the third period to seal the deal for the Edmonton Oilers. Drai finished the day with a pair of points as he looks to be getting himself back into form after a very tough December.
  • @Mike Smith got a second straight start as Mikko Koskinen continues to battle whatever illness Dave Tippett was talking about the other day, and the Oilers were going to need him to be at the top of his game against the Bruins. To his credit, Smith was rock solid from start to finish and gave the Oilers the kind of goaltending that allowed them to weather any storms they faced and gain the confidence they needed to move the play down up ice. In the third period, Smith really shone as he made some tremendous saves that halted the Bruins attack and allowed his team to bend without breaking, something that hasn’t happened a whole lot over the past few games, and he deserves major credit for the way he stepped up. Smith finished the day with 35 saves and a .972 save%.
  • @Kailer Yamamoto continues to impress since being recalled from the Bakersfield Condors last week and I can’t help but wonder if he’s seen his last AHL game of the season. Yeah, I know that’s pretty premature to say after only three games but you have to admit that he adds a different flavour to a top-six group that desperately needed one.
  • Speaking of Yamamoto, I still really like the trio of Nuge-Draisaitl-Yamamoto and I hope that Dave Tippett gives these three a stretch of games together so that they can further develop some chemistry. Could it be that the Oilers finally have a second line?
  • Oscar Klefbom continues to log huge minutes for the Oilers, playing 28:22 in all situations while adding two shots on goal, two blocks, and a +2 beside his name.
  • Gotta love the boys winning 56% of the draws against a veteran team like the Bruins!

THE FACE PALMERS

  • @David Pastrnak opened the scoring for the Bruins with a power play goal less than four minutes into the game with a blast through traffic that deflected off Kris Russell and beat Smith high to the glove side. Not a great start for the Oilers to say the least.
  • Oilers went 0/2 on the power play today and I felt like they kept getting caught trying to force cross-ice passes that just weren’t there. I know that moving the puck through the slot has been something that has worked for them all season long, but I can’t help but feel like they need to add in a Plan B when it’s not working.
  • I thought the Oilers took their foot off the gas a little bit in the third period, and they were lucky to get some very strong goaltending from Mike Smith. That said, we all knew that Boston was going to be pushing hard for the tying goal and, all things considered, I felt like the boys did a decent job of defending the lead.
  • Why do the Oilers have such a hard time hitting empty nets? I know Yamamoto got one against the Rangers and that Leon finally cashed on in late, but it seems like the boys really struggle to close things out with a wide open cage.
  • Oilers were outshot 36-26 as 21 of those shots for Boston came in the third period. Again, thanks to Mike Smith for this one.
  • It wasn’t a great day for Kris Russell as the vet played only 11:51 which is obviously problematic for a guy they’re paying $4 million. He can be better.

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST PERIOD

TIMETEAMDETAILSSCORE
03:10
Boston
PPG – David Pastrnak (31) ASST: Torey Krug (23), Brad Marchand (40)
0-1

2ND PERIOD

TIMETEAMDETAILSSCORE
07:41
Edmonton
Gaetan Haas (4)
1-1
19:53
Edmonton
Darnell Nurse (3) ASST: Leon Draisaitl (41)
2-1

3RD PERIOD

TIMETEAMDETAILSSCORE
01:48
Edmonton
Connor McDavid (23) ASST: Zack Kassian (15), Ethan Bear (10)
3-1
19:51
Edmonton
EN – Leon Draisaitl (24)
4-1

#GOODCONTENT

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