THE BRIGHT SIDE

• Iiro Pakarinen has been better than I remembered since returning from injury and he got a big goal for the Oilers tonight. Iiro’s first goal of the year gave the Oilers a little bit of life after finding themselves down by two goals.
• Connor McDavid was one of the few highlights tonight. While we can all argue about whether or not he needs to shoot more, he was still the best Oiler forward. Even when he doesn’t get any points, the care factor on McDavid is off the charts. Unfortunately, we need more of his teammates to follow suit. 
• The fact that Oscar Klefbom’s goal was disallowed is ridiculous but that doesn’t change the fact that he was the Oilers best defenceman again tonight. Klefbom finished the night with an assist and a team high 26:46 on the ice. 
• I think Laurent Brossoit had a better start than the stats will necessarily reflect, but he was far from perfect. I’m sure he’d want to have Kucherov’s shot back on the third goal, but I don’t think the first goal was his fault nor was the second. The Lightning produced high quality chances early in periods and they were able to capitalize more so as a result of the team in front of LB rather than his play in the net. That said, having a .889 save% won’t be good enough and he’ll have to lock it up if he wants to stick around past the deadline. 
• Tickets are still available for the #PrayForPlayoffs Party that’s happening this coming Friday at the Pint Downtown starting at 4pm. Get all of the details you need and a link for tickets on our Facebook page.
• Happy Birthday, Smytty!

THE FACE PALMERS

• Brandon Davidson went to take a shot in the offensive zone and his stick burst in his hands. Unfortunately, the Lightning then walked the puck down to the Oilers end on a 2-on-1 and made no mistake on the execution. Bring back wood sticks, I say! Who’s with me!? *crickets*
• Kris Russell got caught on a bad clearing attempt and the Lightning were, once again, able to turn the puck around and convert on their opportunity. Second goal of the night for Ondrej Palat.
• The Oilers weren’t ready to start the period, allowed an easy zone entry, and Kucherov beat Brossoit high over the shoulder. The Oilers chance at a third-period comeback was thwarted before it began. 
• Pat Maroon prevented Namestnikov from doing his thing with an empty net and apparently that means he gets awarded an automatic goal. Who cares? The game was over by then. 
• Adam Larsson left the game in the third period and did not return. Larsson has been nursing a foot injury over the past few weeks is probably the cause of his early exit. That’s a big loss for the Oilers if Larsson can’t go tomorrow. Larsson only played 14:49 tonight before leaving the game.
• The Oilers were 42% in the faceoff circle. *farts loudly*
• How did they only get one power play chance again tonight? What are these refs watching?
• Outshot 28-21 and this isn’t exactly the high flying Lightning that made the Cup finals.
• The NHL site has the Oilers with six giveaways but I don’t think I buy that for a minute. They were way more generous with the puck that that, according to my eyes.
• I’ve said it a million times and I’ll likely say it a million more times but I cannot stand the coach’s challenge. It is the worst rule in the history of sports that does nothing but take away goals from a league that is starved for offence. Tonight, Edmonton had a goal disallowed because a skate was an inch offside and they were only able to pick it out in slow motion. How was that a disadvantage? This wasn’t the Duchene goal from a few years ago. It’s a ridiculous rule that does absolutely nothing for the game apart from slow it down and eliminate offence. Nice job, poindexters  

SCORING SUMMARY

BEST OF THE TWEETS

BOOK A TRIP. GET A PIN. ENTER TO WIN.