Don’t look now, but the Edmonton Oilers are rolling.
On Saturday evening, the Oilers defeated Dylan Holloway, Philip Broberg, and the St. Louis Blues by a score of 4-2 to bring their season record to 15-10-2, occupying the first Wild Card position. Let’s look at what happened in this game.
The Oilers took the lead just over seven and a half minutes into the first period, as Darnell Nurse’s shot was redirected by Corey Perry in front of the net for his fifth of the season to open the scoring.
The second Oiler goal came just over five minutes into the second period, as Broberg’s clear attempt bounced off his teammate’s leg and right out in the slot for Connor McDavid. As you can imagine, the captain made no mistake.
With about five minutes left in the second period, the Oilers took a 3-0 lead as the Blues took a goalie interference penalty. Of course, it was Zach Hyman who scored, this being his third goal in two games since returning after a five-game absence.
However, the Blues showed some fight in the third period. Their first goal of the game came five minutes into the final frame, as Dylan Holloway scored in his first game back against the team that drafted him. A quick shot from the slot broke up Stuart Skinner’s shutout.
The Blues got within one just under seven minutes left in the final frame, as Edmonton-native Jake Neighbours deflected the puck past Skinner shortly after the first penalty was killed.
Edmonton got a much-needed insurance goal in the flukiest way possible, as Troy Stecher who was in the box on the second Blues’ goal, scored about a minute after with a goal from the half boards.
It wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win, as the Oilers are 9-3-1 in their last 13 games.
Takeaways…
The Oilers were outshot by the opposition for only the third time all season. Netminder Stuart Skinner outdueled Jordan Binngington, saving 29 shots on 31 opportunities. Binnington, on the other hand, allowed four goals on 21 shots. Maybe Skinner should have made Team Canada’s roster over Binnington.
Edmonton’s power play was perfect, scoring a goal on their only opportunity. Unfortunately, their penalty kill allowed a goal to go 1/2. With that being said, at least they killed off the first penalty on the 5 on 3.
There was a very quick whistle in this game, as the puck squeaked by Binnington and sat loose in the crease, allowing Connor Brown to bang it in. However, the whistle blew and the goal didn’t stand after a lengthy discussion.
The Oilers’ best players made an impact, as Leon Draisaitl picked up two assists, Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist, and Zach Hyman scored his third goal in two games. Depth players got on the board as well, as Jeff Skinner picked up his sixth assist, while Corey Perry scored his fifth goal. Troy Stecher also scored his first goal as an Oiler.
As for Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg, the former scored his ninth goal of the season to open the scoring for the Blues. The defenceman didn’t have a great game though, finishing a -1 with an awful turnover on Edmonton’s second goal and was held pointless.
Edmonton returns to action on Tuesday, as they host the Tampa Bay Lightning at 7:00 PM MT, before a brief one-game road trip against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.
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