Team

Navigation

Oilers Talk

Editorials

Shows

Nation Sites

The Nation Network

OilersNation has no direct affiliation to the Edmonton Oilers, Oilers Entertainment Group, NHL, or NHLPA

GDB 64.0 Wrap Up: Islanders @ Oilers

By baggedmilk

Feb 29, 2016, 00:14 ESTUpdated:

Comments

Congrats to the Oilers and congrats to Leo DiCaprio. May we all be beded by supermodels. Final Score: 3-1 Oilers

It’s a bit strange that Oilers’ Twitter was a little more upbeat tonight because Justin Schultz got shipped to Pittsburgh. I can’t help but wonder who the next player to wear the whipping boy throne will be. Which Oiler is set to have endless hatred heaped upon him until he’s completely broken? It’s a pointless prize but around these parts a whipping boy seems to be as necessary as the air we breathe. The absence of a whipping boy results in suppressing Oilers related frustrations. Harmless at first, but goat frustration can lead to mass murder if left unchecked. Probably.

Anyway…

Tonight’s game against the New York Islanders was a grudge match for the Oilers (not so much for the Islanders). The last time they two teams played, the Islanders dummied the Oilers, completely embarrassing them. That game was ugly in every single sense of the word. Don’t like that adjective? Any synonym for horrible will do the trick. Tonight’s game was better than the last meeting in every single way. Goaltending, scoring, defense — they were all better. For the third night in a row, the Oilers looked legitimately interested in competing and, more importantly, they looked like they were trying to win the hockey game. Not only try, they won!

For as much as the Oilers have been bad over the past few weeks, you have to admit they have been good in the past three games. While they couldn’t get the goals they needed to pull out wins in Los Angeles and Anaheim, the Oilers scored timely goals when they needed them tonight against the Islanders. When you combine balanced scoring with stellar goaltending you generally have a good chance to win. Hopefully tonight’s game was a win the Oilers can build off of, and gain confidence from. It has to feel good to respond to an absolute shit kicking in New York with a nice looking win on home ice.

How can you feel bad when the Oilers win and so does Leo?

We wrap.

THE BRIGHT SIDE

Watching Connor McDavid skate through the neutral zone is a joyous occasion. He makes everything look easy like I imagine a wizard would do. McDavid found his way to the scoresheet with the second assist on Davidson’s goal.
Anton Lander scored a goal? ANTON LANDER SCORED A GOAL! Lander put home his first of the season on the power play by shooting when he had the chance. He must feel like the weight of two worlds has been lifted off his back.
Leon Draisaitl scored his 16th goal of the season by driving to the net and getting to a loose puck first. The Hall-Draisaitl-Kassian line had all sorts of chances tonight.
I may make it my life’s work to pump Brandon Davidson’s tires. I’m over talking about how bad Justin Schultz was. Let’s talk about how good Brandon Davidson has been. He scored his fourth goal of the year by ripping a clapper past Halak which gave the Oilers some insurance.
Cam Talbot was solid again tonight. He makes the saves you’d expect him to and gives his team a chance to win. Cam Talbot’s resurgence has been a bright spot late in the season. He finished the night with 36 saves and a .973 save%. Great night for Talbot.
Another solid night for Jordan Oesterle. He’s been making some fine break out passes, and looks calm in the back end. Definitely improved since his last recall.
Nuge is back with the team for practice and you have to hope that he’ll be back sooner than later. I would legitimately like to win some hockey games down the stretch. Nuge will bring some relief to two very young centreman that have been facing tough minutes all season long.
Oilers went 54% in the faceoff circle.

THE FACE PALMERS

Now we can’t blame Justin Schultz for everything!
Adam Clendening gets hit with a puck up high, he goes down, and the Islanders bang home the rebound. That was the most Oilers luck goal of all time.
I don’t know for sure (at the time of this post) but it looked like Pouliot has a shoulder injury. He went into the boards awkwardly and he didn’t look great when he got up.
The Oilers took too many penalties again tonight. Giving the Islanders four chances is four too many. The Islanders only took one penalty tonight at the Oilers failed to score. No harm done in tonight’s special teams battle.
The Oilers still had too many giveaways. Too often they give the puck away at the blue lines. It’s amazing in the worst way possible.
The Oilers gave up way too many shots. I know the “Talbot will bail us out” strategy worked tonight but it may not be advisable long term.
Tonight’s game was the last game the Islanders will ever play at Rexall. There were some amazing playoff series between those two teams in that building. Lots of history there.

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST PERIOD
NONE
2ND PERIOD
17:43	NYI	Casey Cizikas (7) Wrist shot – ASST: Nick Leddy (25), Cal Clutterbuck (7)	1 – 0 NYI
3RD PERIOD
10:12	EDM	Anton Lander (1) Wrist shot – ASST: Jordan Oesterle (1), Brandon Davidson (6)	1 – 1 Tie
11:07	EDM	Leon Draisaitl (16) Backhand shot – ASST: Taylor Hall (34), Zack Kassian (3)	2 – 1 EDM
16:57	EDM	Brandon Davidson (4) Slapshot – ASST: Jordan Eberle (18), Connor McDavid (19)	3 – 1 EDM

BEST OF THE TWEETS

Talk to me Twitter.

THE NORTH X NORTHGRETZ PODCAST

In today’s podcast, the boys take a look at what will happen with the Oilers on deadline day and whether or not Connor McDavid should be given the captaincy. Chris also forces Jeanshorts and Baggedmilk to play a game that he put together only minutes before recording.

As always you can follow North x NorthGretz on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!