THE BRIGHT SIDE
- @Connor McDavid tied the game at one apiece (1-1) with a power play goal after he snapped a low wrister that buzzed by Vasilevskiy low on the blocker side. McDavid scored a second time midway through the third period (4-3) to pull his team to within one after he fired a sexy wrister to the glove side that was made possible when Hyman found him flying through the high slot with speed.
- @Zach Hyman pulled the Oilers back to within a pair (4-2) after Draisaitl found him with a stretch pass that put the winger in alone with enough time and space to make move to his backhand and lift the puck up and over an outstretched goaltender.
- How about another casual three-point night for Leon Draisaitl? The dude is a machine. A well-oiled machine.
- Ryan McLeod deserves more love on the site because he’s developing into a hell of a hockey player, and I’m very excited to see what he turns into once he’s truly figured out how things roll at this level.
- Another big night for @Darnell Nurse on the back end as he finished with three shots, two hits, and a block while playing a team-high 25:01 in TOI.
- I believe in Jay Woodcroft for real.
- I will not post a wrap up without acknowledging Markus Niemalainen for the way he throws his giant body around.
- Congratulations to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on game 700. It’s been a hell of a ride, my friend.
- Despite heavily outplaying the Lightning for most of this hockey game, the Oilers somehow got only one power play chance but at least they did not waste it.
- If you’re into the fancies, I bring you a report from the spreadsheets which states that the Oilers finished the night with a 62.5 CF% and a 61.18 xGF%.
- If you love a good Corski win then you’re probably excited about outshooting the Lightning by a 30-23 margin.
- At least I can tell you that the Oilers won 57% of the faceoffs.
- Sign up for the new ON Newsletter! It’s a weekly thing I’m doing and I’ll have some giveaways, etc happening in there.
THE FACE PALMERS
- Average goaltending would have given us two points in the standings.
- Are you surprised that Pat Maroon opened the scoring? (1-0) You’re not, are you? Maroon got a lucky one as the rebound from his low backhander took a friendly bounce into the net off of Devin Shore’s skate.
- Only a minute and a half after McDavid tied it, Steven Stamkos atoned himself for that penalty with a turn-and-fire goal (2-1) that ramped up off Lagesson’s stick and over Smith’s shoulder. It was the second Tampa goal on only their fifth shot.
- Brayden Point extended Tampa’s lead (3-1) after he found a loose puck right in the crease and was able to take a couple of whacks until eventually pumping it over the line. Another goal that Smith should have made a better play on? I believe so.
- @Corey Perry put the Lightning up by a field goal (4-1) after he deflected Sergachev’s shot from the high slot as he was flying through the crease. Not much chance for Smith on this one, but by then, the boys were in a hole that looked insurmountable.
- Nikita Kucherov iced the game with the empty-netter (5-3) with only a few seconds left on the clock.
- Another game, another power play goal against. We need to figure out how the PK can keep teams off the board, and even though killing 3-of-4 shorthanded situations is horrible by any means, we can still do better.
- The Oilers played well enough to win this hockey game but couldn’t get the level of goaltending that could match their counterparts. That’s not all Smith’s fault, but it is his problem and I don’t even want to talk about it anymore. Smith finished the night with 18 saves and a .818 save%.
SCORING SUMMARY
#GOODCONTENT
7️⃣0️⃣0️⃣‼️#LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/B9D2lSt1cz
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) February 24, 2022
I get that it went off Shore but… cmon.
Maybe I’m being too hard on Smith but I just would like it if the Oilers had a goalie who would stop that.
— Tyler Yaremchuk (@tyleryaremchuk) February 24, 2022
IN 7!!! OF MIKE SMITHS LAST 10 GAMES HES GIVEN UP 2 GOALS ON THE FIRST 6 SHOTS
— Stony (@StonyOil) February 24, 2022
Smith shutting the door after spotting Tampa 4 and now will get mad at his team for not scoring enough.
— Travis Dakin (@TravisDakin) February 24, 2022
zach is 2 away from tying his season high in goals (2018-19 and 2019-20 with 21 goals) and 6 away from tying his season high in points (2018-19 with 41 points), and there’s still 37 games left of the season
✨ zach hyman supremacy ✨
— argie (@willianmylander) February 24, 2022
Considering the opponent, I'd say it's one of the better road games Oilers have played in recent years. No matter the loss, in JW and DM we trust. They've made me a believer again.
Shame Mike Smith ruined the fun..
— dohfOs (Martin Lundén) (@dohfOs) February 24, 2022