THE BRIGHT SIDE

• You could tell after about five minutes that McDavid was absolutely buzzing. Heading into this game, he averaged two points per game against the Jackets in his career. He finished the game with three assists, which brings him to 90 points on the season.
• Mikko Koskinen didn’t have to make too many big saves, but he was solid tonight. He didn’t allow very many rebounds and when the game was close, he stood tall. An excellent night for big #19.
• Leon Draisaitl had another dominant game. He scored his 40th of the year but just before scoring that goal, he made a great play in the neutral zone to pick off a pass. He was making good plays in all three zones tonight.
• It’s hard to not smile when Josh Currie scores. He’s a fantastic story and the more I see him play at the NHL level, the more I think the Oilers may have found a player here. He may not have to ride the bus in the AHL for much longer.
• Chiasson is off the schneid! He got his first in 21 games and you could see the relief in his celebration. These final 17 games will go a long way in determining if he’s back in Edmonton next year and what his next contract will look like.
• Not only did the Oilers do a good job of shutting down Columbus, they only took one penalty in the process. One play that stood out was Darnell Nurses effort to come back and prevent Cam Atkinson, who leads the Blue Jackets in goals with 35, from even getting a shot on goal. It seemed like everyone bought into playing a complete 200-foot game.
• We didn’t have to hear that super annoying cannon go off!
• Don’t look now, but the Oilers next two opponents are the Sabres and Canucks. Both of those teams are under .500 in their last ten games. If they play like they did today at Nationwide, they could put together a nice little run here.

THE FACE PALMERS

• Was nice to see goals from Chiasson, Kassian, and Currie, but all of them also involved either McDavid or Draisaitl. They need to get offensive production when 29 & 97 are off the ice if they want to string together multiple wins.
• It never came back to cost them, but the Russell/Nurse pairing had a handful of pretty ugly giveaways.
• It took until late in the third period for them to finally get a chance with the powerplay and it was a very ugly attempt. They couldn’t get any zone time with their top unit on the ice and once their second unit hops over the boards, all hope is generally lost.
• The Oilers did end up getting outshot which is never ideal.
• They’re still five points out of the final playoff spot. That’s not very good.
• The broadcast spent pretty much the entire second intermission talking about the Leafs or Flames. That was pretty annoying.
• I kept seeing social media posts of the rest of the Nation Staff drinking it up at The Canadian Brewhouse for the “Fan Therapy Brunch”. It looked like a lot of fun and I’m incredibly jealous of everyone who attended.

SCORING SUMMARY

#GOODCONTENT