I guess you have to beat the other team and the refs these days. Final Score: 4-3 Oilers in the shootout
With the Oilers dropping an all-world turd against the Buffalo Sabres, maybe a date with the Flames is exactly what the doctor ordered? The Oilers are undefeated against Calgary in the past season and a half and I was hoping that the good times would keep rolling. Even with the season on life support, a win against the Flames would go a long way for getting people to put their machetes away. Unfortunately, when you allow the first goal of the game only 92 seconds into the opening period, the table was set for the anger to boil over. After Calgary scored the second goal off of a needless turnover and sloppy zone coverage, it felt like a matter of time before the wheels fell off.
As the game progressed, the Oilers were able to settle down and get themselves back into the mix. Frankly, it was refreshing to see them battle their way back after being down by two goals rather than lay down and wait for their diapers to be changed. It’s amazing what a little effort and anger can do for their game. After giving up the first two, the Oilers started playing a simpler game that was based on firing the puck at the net, getting to the net, and looking for rebounds. This change in approach changed the night for Edmonton as they were not only able to work their way back into a tie, but to take a lead and eventually win the game. It was a sense of resilience that was non-existent in the game against Buffalo and they needed it tonight as some horrible calls meant they were forced to beat the Flames twice to get the job done.
The wrap.

THE BRIGHT SIDE

  • Brandon Davidson got the Oilers on the board with a spin-around wrister from the circle that beat Rittich and gave his team some life. Davy’s goal was his first in 66 games, and it couldn’t have come at a better time as the Oilers looked about as flat as they could get. Davidson wasn’t done there, though. He ripped a clapper past Rittich early in the third period to give the Oilers their first lead of the night. Davy had a great night.
  • Zack Kassian was trying to mix things up in the first period and ended up landing himself a 10 minute misconduct. I’m guessing that he spent the time in the box visualizing how he would tie the game up because that’s exactly what happened. Kassian charged towards the net and had a rebound come right out to him, leaving him a wide open net to knock the puck into. A little bit later, Kass got into a scrap with Ryan Lomberg that ended up getting him tossed from the game.
  • Connor McDavid said the other day that the Oilers need to do a better job at being prepared and he did his part to lead by example tonight. He was all over the ice tonight and used his speed to kill on almost every shift and the fact that he only got the one point (should have been two) is almost shocking. Personally, my favourite Connor moment was when he taunted the refs for calling the goal back after his shootout winner. The fact that he got an ‘Abuse of Official’ call for that just shows how big of a baby these refs can be.
  • After being pulled against the Sabres, the Oilers needed to get a much better effort out of Cam Talbot. After having a tough start to the game, Talbot provided his team with enough saves to keep them in the game and give them a chance to win the hockey game. He was especially great in overtime as he made some huge saves late to get things through to a shootout. Talbot finished the game with 31 saves and a .919 save%.
  • Oscar Klefbom played a team high 26:33 and had four shots on goal, was +2, had two takeaways, and blocked three shots. Great game for Klefbom.
  • The Oilers finished the night at 56% in the faceoff circle and that advantage came in handy as the game went on and the pressure got cranked up.
  • The Oilers haven’t had a perfect game on the penalty kill since December 21st, against St. Louis which was eight games ago. They did it tonight. The Oilers were a perfect 4/4 on the PK, which is something that happens at Rogers Place about as often as a lunar eclipse.

THE FACE PALMERS

  • How many times have the Oilers given up the first goal of the game? 30 times. As if that’s not bad enough, they’ve also allowed that first goal on the first shot of the game an amazing eight times this season.
  • Matt Tkachuk opened the scoring for Calgary on the first shot of the game after Milan Lucic completely blew it with his attempted breakout pass. Tkachuk was the beneficiary of another horrible Oilers turnover midway through the third period as Matt Benning couldn’t clear the puck from behind the net and had Backlund steal it from him. From there, Tkachuk planted himself in front of the net and tied the game at three apiece.
  • Mark Giordano got the Flames’ second goal with a seeing eye shot from the point after the Oilers turned the puck over at the opposing blue line. The Flames were able to walk the puck right back down to Edmonton’s end of the ice and get them scrambling.
  • That goal being called back in overtime for goaltender interference was absolutely awful. After Connor’s skate bumped Rittich’s he had a full two seconds or so to get himself set but that still wasn’t enough time for the NHL. I guess they just hate goals. Gregor may have said it best:
  • Milan Lucic was absolutely awful tonight. He was directly responsible for the first goal and got caught passing the puck to no one in particular on several occassions. Frankly, he was handling the puck like it was a live grenade and it was a complete no show for a guy that is supposed to provide leadership.
  • The Oilers, once again, got nothing done on their power play as they went 0/3 on the night. At some point, I wonder if they’ll start turning them down? Can you do that?
  • Adam Larsson sat out tonight for personal reasons. Those reasons were not disclosed but I still want to send him best wishes anyway.

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST PERIOD

TIMETEAMDETAILSSCORE
01:32
Calgary
Matthew Tkachuk (15) ASST: Troy Brouwer (11), Mikael Backlund (21)
1-0
14:21
Calgary
Mark Giordano (9) ASST: Dougie Hamilton (15)
2-0

2ND PERIOD

TIMETEAMDETAILSSCORE
13:50
Edmonton
Brandon Davidson (1) ASST: Jesse Puljujarvi (6), Ryan Strome (11)
2-1
14:54
Edmonton
Zack Kassian (4) ASST: Leon Draisaitl (28), Connor McDavid (39)
2-2

3RD PERIOD

TIMETEAMDETAILSSCORE
05:16
Edmonton
Brandon Davidson (2) ASST: Ryan Strome (12)
2-3
07:50
Calgary
Matthew Tkachuk (16) ASST: Mikael Backlund (22)
3-3

OT PERIOD

TIMETEAMDETAILSSCORE
No Scoring

SHOOTOUT

TEAMDETAILS
Edmonton
Goal – Michael Cammalleri
Calgary
Missed – Micheal Ferland
Edmonton
Missed – Leon Draisaitl
Calgary
Goal – Matthew Tkachuk
Edmonton
Goal – Connor McDavid
Calgary
Missed – Sean Monahan

#GOODCONTENT

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Source: NHL, Official Game Page, 01/25/2018 – 10:00pm MST