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GDB 71.0 Wrap Up: Coyotes @ Oilers

By baggedmilk

Mar 13, 2016, 01:05 ESTUpdated:

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The Oilers refuse to be bad hosts and win nationally televised games on Saturday night. It’s the courteous thing to do. Final Score: 4-0 Coyotes

I’m just going to start this Wrap Up off by pumping Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ tires for a minute. He was noticeably the Oilers best two-way forward tonight, and one of the few to have an eve +/- despite losing by four goals. Even though he hasn’t played in months, Nuge remains the best option in all situations for Todd McLellan. I know everyone keeps looking for problems on the roster, but I promise you that Nuge isn’t one of them. Frankly, the Oilers could use two more just like him. I’ve watched a lot of bad hockey in my time as an Oilers fan, and can say with 100% certainty that #93 is part of the solution on this team. Trade value. I get it. But find another way. There’s always another way.

As for the game itself, I’m still not sure whether or not the Oilers really knew that they were supposed to play tonight. This was a sloppy, sloppy hockey game. To make matters worse, the Oilers didn’t get lights out goaltending from Cam Talbot like they have been recently. Tonight, he did not look like the guy we’ve gotten used to seeing since he resumed the starting role. At the other end of the ice, the Oilers made Mike Smith look like a Vezina candidate despite this being his first start since early December. What is it about Saturday night games that turns the Oilers into welcome mats? The inconsistencies in their game is frustrating. Some nights the Oilers look like they should be making a run at the playoffs, and then there’s nights like tonight where they couldn’t fight their way out of a Fruit Roll-Up.

At the end of the night, what we have is another winnable game that was wasted. It will be forgotten and stacked up with the other disappointing losses before it. Despite handedly outshooting the Coyotes, Edmonton couldn’t get anything past Mike Smith, which seems ridiculous considering he hadn’t played in months (they did hit the post a few times). The Oilers looked like their offense dried up completely, and that no one would ever be allowed to score again. Meanwhile, the Coyotes capitalized on the chances they did have, the won the special teams battle, and are now to blame for another embarrassing Hockey Night in Canada for Oilers fans everywhere.

On the bright side, it’s Saturday night and that means you have all day tomorrow to recover from any Oilers related sadness beers that you ingest.

Wrap it up.

THE BRIGHT SIDE

They put on a great show for the military before the game started. The Oilers always do a nice job when it comes to honouring the military.
It will be surprising to no one that I was absolutely pumped to see Nuge back out there, and, quite frankly, he was one of the best Oilers. His two-way game was strong, he had scoring chances, and he was noteworthy all night long. Welcome back, Nuge.
Connor McDavid’s speed is amazing. The way he can carry the puck through the neutral zone with speed is impressive to say the least. I can only imagine what he’ll be like after he’s spend 200 games in the show. He’s scary good.
Jordan Oesterle seems to get better and better with every game he plays. He lead the Oilers in minutes played tonight with 25:27. He’s played a big role in filling in some of the minutes left by Brandon Davidson. I think I’m most impressed by his ability to skate the puck out of trouble.
Griffin Reinhart played over 20 minutes tonight and was an even +/- on the night. He’s far from perfect, but noticeably better in his decision making since the start of the season.
The Big Rig pre-sale continues for the limited run of tees inspired by the big man (shown above). Get them while you can.

THE FACE PALMERS

Oliver Ekman-Larsson wasn’t even in the lineup and the Oilers still couldn’t steal the two points.
How many posts did the Oilers hit tonight? At least three.
Viktor Tikhonov hadn’t scored a goal in 21 games, but he got one tonight. The Oilers are the world’s greatest slump busters. Someone needs to put together a stat for this kind of thing.
This was not a great night for Cam Talbot. The Coyotes had three goals on 12 shots, at one point. Talbot has been amazing over the past few months but this was a forgettable game for him. It would be best to just forget about this one and move on. Talbot finished the night with 25 saves and an .862 save%.
Nail Yakupov played the second fewest minutes of any forward with 10:59 TOI tonight which seems like another nail (GET IT?!) in the coffin that is Yakupov’s time as an Edmonton Oiler.
Zack Kassian played the fewest minutes (9:54) which isn’t surprising considering he’s been very quiet lately. He also got a 10 minute misconduct which never helps the TOI either.

Nikita Nikitin scares me every time he’s on the ice. Only 11 more games max.

How does Shane Doan continuously get away with dirty plays? He stuck Hall right in front of the benches and no one seemed to see it. I mean… except for everyone that was actually watching the game. Refs hate Oilers.
Connor Murphy blew up both Taylor Hall and Adam Cracknell late in the second period. No message sent by the Oilers. Maybe a strongly worded letter.
Eat. Power play sucks. Sleep. Repeat.
The Oilers went 38% in the faceoff circle. Ugly.

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST PERIOD
12:26	ARI	Viktor Tikhonov (3) Tip-in – ASST: Martin Hanzal (24)	1 – 0 ARI
2ND PERIOD
06:56	ARI	Antoine Vermette (13) Snap shot – ASST: Shane Doan (18), Michael Stone (26)	2 – 0 ARI
10:17	ARI	PPG – Alex Tanguay (7) Snap shot – ASST: Michael Stone (27), Antoine Vermette (19)	3 – 0 ARI
3RD PERIOD
09:34	ARI	Antoine Vermette (14) Wrist shot – ASST: NONE	4 – 0 ARI

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