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GDB 12.0 Wrap Up: BACK ON THE BANDWAGON!

By baggedmilk

Nov 5, 2016, 22:02 EDTUpdated:

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So long, New York. We gone. Losing streak over. Final Score: 4-3 Oilers in the shootout.

I won’t lie to you guys. It’s been a little bit crazy around here ever since the Oilers found themselves in the middle of a three-game losing streak. The knives are out, the trade lists are filling up, and it’s almost like the Oilers are four games below .500 instead of the other way around. That said, I understand the frustration. The Oilers have lost three winnable games in a row (Ottawa, Toronto, New York) and people are wondering if the hot start was a mirage or legitimate — I get it. The last time the Oilers played in Brooklyn they got lit up and I sure as hell didn’t want to sit through another one of those.

With the way tonight’s game started out I exactly filled with happy thoughts about how this wrap up was going to go. The Oilers spotted the Islanders two early goals and I don’t think I have to explain that giving the home team two gifts at the start of the game isn’t going to be the best pathway to success. Fortunately for the sanity of Oilers fans everyone, the good guys were able to claw their way out of the hole that they had dug for themselves. After tying the game at two, the Oilers started to look more comfortable and were able to settle things down a little bit. That said, Edmonton still gave up way too many chances and, as a result, it wasn’t overly surprising when the Islanders reclaimed their lead in the second period. The Oilers didn’t quit, though, and they were once again able to tie the game up, giving themselves a chance to win in the third period.

For the third game in a row, the Oilers have given themselves a chance to win the game in the third period. They weren’t able to get the job done against the Leafs and Rangers and they left valuable points up on the board. Edmonton needs to be able to close out tight games and, to this point on the road trip, they haven’t been able to get that done. To their credit, the Oilers had a much better third-period effort tonight than they had against the Rangers. Though Edmonton was outshot throughout the final frame (and the entire game for that matter), they found a way to hang around long enough to get the game into overtime. With one point secured the Oilers played very well in the extra frame and probably should have closed it out. Ultimately, both teams traded chances back and forth, but this game had to be settled in a shootout.

*Mark Letestu’s entry music* .

The wrap.

THE BRIGHT SIDE

The Oilers showed some nice resiliency in their ability to bounce back from the early two-goal deficit they got themselves into.
Patrick Maroon has great hands for a big man and it showed on the deflection goal he scored midway through the first period. Maroon is was in the right place at the right time and tipped the puck perfectly. Maroon looked good on the first line, and you get the feeling that he could be there for a while.
Leon Draisaitl scored a big power-play goal (his 3rd) in the first period that completed the mini comeback that was the Islanders’ first-period lead. The puck bounced out to Leon in the slot and he hammered it home into the open cage.
Milan Lucic responded to his apparent demotion by scoring a big power play goal (his 5th of the season) in the 2nd period to tie the game up at three. The Islanders had been getting a bunch of chances at that point in the game and Lucic’s goal came at a very important time.
Mark Letestu scored the lone goal of the shootout and it was the one the Oilers needed to win it.
Matt Benning had himself his first career multi-point night in the NHL. Benning assisted on both the Maroon and Draisaitl goals in the first period. With Kris Russell out, Benning played more minutes than he normally would have and he did an admirable job of handling the extra responsibility.
Cam Talbot was good but not great tonight, but he made the saves the Oilers needed to get the win. Talbot was particularly sharp late in the game, and you could argue that he stole this win for the Oilers. Dadbot finished the night with 30 saves and a .909 save%
The power play was really good tonight, converting on 2/3 chances.
Not to be outdone, the penalty kill was perfect once again. The Oilers haven’t allowed a power-play goal on the road so far this year.
The Oilers won 52% of the faceoffs tonight, with the centres going: Letestu 78%, McDavid 53%, Draisaitl 47%, Nuge 40%, and Lander 40%

THE FACE PALMERS

Jesse Puljujarvi went down in the first period with an apparent knee injury and, if I’m not mistaken, I think it was the same knee that he had surgery on in the summer. Bad news, my friends.
To add to the injury parade, Zack Kassian also left the game with an undisclosed injury. The right wing depth just took a major blow, and it’s not like the Oilers are ripe with options for the right side.
Absolutely terrible start to this hockey game. Nick Leddy scored only 13 seconds into the game, and he was wiiiiiide open. Brutal.
The ice was absolutely as horrible as people were saying. The puck looked like it was a golf ball, bouncing down the cart path. The sad part is that I’m only exaggerating a little bit. Personally, I think that any guys that have to play in that arena on a regular basis are more likely to get injured because of the horrible ice.
The Oilers were badly outshot tonight (33-23). It wasn’t until midway through the second period that the Oilers got their 12th shot. They were lucky that Halak was feeling generous tonight.
That overtime was both exciting and emotionally draining. So many chances but Halak kept the Islanders in it.

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
00:13	New York	Nick Leddy (2) ASST: Cal Clutterbuck (5), John Tavares (5)	0-1
05:49	New York	Shane Prince (3) ASST: Dennis Seidenberg (3), Calvin de Haan (4)	0-2
08:22	Edmonton	Patrick Maroon (4) ASST: Matthew Benning (1)	1-2
12:13	Edmonton	PPG – Leon Draisaitl (3) ASST: Patrick Maroon (1), Matthew Benning (2)	2-2

2ND PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
11:17	New York	Casey Cizikas (2) ASST: Dennis Seidenberg (4), Nikolay Kulemin (4)	2-3
16:50	Edmonton	PPG – Milan Lucic (5) ASST: Jordan Eberle (5)	3-3

3RD PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
No Scoring

OT PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
No Scoring

SHOOTOUT

TEAM	DETAILS
New York	Missed – Nick Leddy
Edmonton	Missed – Jordan Eberle
New York	Missed – Andrew Ladd
Edmonton	Missed – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
New York	Missed – Jason Chimera
Edmonton	Goal – Mark Letestu