The start of the season has been an emotional rollercoaster for Edmonton Oilers fans, and last night was the peak of that ride.

The team found themselves in an early 2-0 hole on Tuesday evening following a pair of goals from rookie sensation Matvei Michkov. His first was controversial after he appeared to interfere with Stuart Skinner. However, the officials didn&#8217;t see it that way, allowing the goal to stand.
Edmonton&#8217;s frustration started to boil over throughout the first period, with a parade of players heading to the box. The officiating was inconsistent and weak all night, which got the fans involved too. In the third period, with the Oilers still down 3-2, Skinner came out to play the puck to Stecher. Seconds later, Sean Couturier came around the back of the night and laid a hit on the Oilers goaltender, sending him to the ice.
Flashback to Sunday night, Flames captain Mikael Backlund slashed Skinner on the heel. No call was made on the ice and the Oilers failed to react. Extremely disappointing to see. Skinner wasn&#8217;t happy with the officials either, letting them know before heading down the tunnel for the intermission. It&#8217;s fair to assume he may have let his teammates know he wasn&#8217;t happy with the lack of reaction.
Back to last night, that wouldn&#8217;t be the case. Stecher, the smallest player on the team at 5-foot-10, 185 pounds, challenged the Flyers captain immediately. Even with the significant size advantage for Couturier, 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, Stecher stepped in to send a message.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Sean Couturier knocks over Stuart Skinner and Troy Stecher comes to his defence. 💥 <a href="https://t.co/hGtFiHAdLS">pic.twitter.com/hGtFiHAdLS</a>
&mdash; Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1846411924285571134?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Edmonton&#8217;s star players scored goals to secure two points for the first time this season, but Stecher deserves the most credit for finally putting life back into this team.
<blockquote>&#8220;Stech standing up for our goalie getting body-checked behind the net was awesome to see,&#8221; said veteran forward Adam Henrique. &#8220;A guy coming into the lineup the last couple of games, and playing great, wearing his heart on his sleeve was great to see.&#8221;
&#8220;He felt like there player was taking libertys, he felt like he needed to do something, and he did,&#8221; said head coach Kris Knoblauch. &#8220;It created a lot of energy within the building and for our team.&#8221;</blockquote>
The Nation Citizens loved it as well&#8230;
<blockquote>&#8220;Big boys brought the heat. Stick taps for Stecher and Perry dropping mitts. Love the emotion the team brought late in the game,&#8221; said <a href="https://x.com/realdealhom10/status/1846419675443614032">@realdealhom10</a> on X. 
&#8220;Troy Stecher &#8211; I was not familiar with your game. Well done, sir! Thank you for doing what needed to be done to get your team engaged,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/LarisseAtalie/status/1846419369800196355">@LarisseAtalie</a> posted after Stecher&#8217;s fight. 
Baggedmilk said on <a href="https://x.com/jsbmbaggedmilk/status/1846417968403497093">X</a> that &#8220;Troy Stecher fighting Sean Couturier turned the third period luck around. I&#8217;m saying it because he&#8217;s small but mighty.&#8221;
Even <a href="https://x.com/tyleryaremchuk/status/1846411249183347195">Tyler Yaremchuk,</a> while thinking about how he could get out of his cat food bet if the Oilers lost, gave credit to the Oilers defenceman, &#8220;Hell yeah. Give Stecher all the props in the world for that.&#8221;</blockquote>
To little surprise, <a href="https://www.hockeyfights.com/players/23207">Stecher hasn&#8217;t fought much</a> throughout his career but last night was the first time he&#8217;s dropped the mitts. His first career &#8220;fight&#8221; was against Matt Martin when he was on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ironically, he was helped out by his goaltender Ryan Miller, who jumped in soon after Martin dropped the gloves with the undersized defenceman.
Last night wasn&#8217;t the first time Connor McDavid and co had seen Stecher fight in person. Back in the 2017-18 season, Stecher fought Ryan Strome, who was on the Oilers at the time. Not much happened during the fight but it is funny to see the smile on Zack Kassian&#8217;s face in the background and having Milan Lucic and Pat Maroon yell out guidance for Strome.
The fight versus Couturier was Stecher&#8217;s sixth, so don&#8217;t expect to see that from him often, if ever again. Oilers fans won&#8217;t care, though. Stecher left his mark on Oil Country Tuesday night. This is a fanbase that loves players who put pride into the logo on the front of the jersey. A few years ago in Los Angeles, the Oilers season turned around after a fight night at the Staples Centre. Let&#8217;s hope Stecher&#8217;s fight has ignited something into this year&#8217;s roster as they hit the road to face Nashville and Dallas.
<h2>PRESENTED BY STAR MECHANICAL</h2>
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Star Mechanical is one of Edmonton’s biggest locally owned and operated plumbing and heating businesses. They have been working within the community for over 20 years, and many of the homes built in Edmonton over the last two decades have had their plumbing and heating systems installed by Star Mechanical.  Visit them at <a href="http://starmechanical.ca/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://starmechanical.ca&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1707492487512000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2mVs3WUkp8iUCZ0kJRe9lJ">starmechanical.ca</a> to schedule an appointment and let them help keep your home running smoothly.

The start of the season has been an emotional rollercoaster for Edmonton Oilers fans, and last night was the peak of that ride.



The team found themselves in an early 2-0 hole on Tuesday evening following a pair of goals from rookie sensation Matvei Michkov. His first was controversial after he appeared to interfere with Stuart Skinner. However, the officials didn't see it that way, allowing the goal to stand.

Edmonton's frustration started to boil over throughout the first period, with a parade of players heading to the box. The officiating was inconsistent and weak all night, which got the fans involved too. In the third period, with the Oilers still down 3-2, Skinner came out to play the puck to Stecher. Seconds later, Sean Couturier came around the back of the night and laid a hit on the Oilers goaltender, sending him to the ice.

Flashback to Sunday night, Flames captain Mikael Backlund slashed Skinner on the heel. No call was made on the ice and the Oilers failed to react. Extremely disappointing to see. Skinner wasn't happy with the officials either, letting them know before heading down the tunnel for the intermission. It's fair to assume he may have let his teammates know he wasn't happy with the lack of reaction.

Back to last night, that wouldn't be the case. Stecher, the smallest player on the team at 5-foot-10, 185 pounds, challenged the Flyers captain immediately. Even with the significant size advantage for Couturier, 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, Stecher stepped in to send a message.

https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1846411924285571134

Edmonton's star players scored goals to secure two points for the first time this season, but Stecher deserves the most credit for finally putting life back into this team.
<blockquote>"Stech standing up for our goalie getting body-checked behind the net was awesome to see," said veteran forward Adam Henrique. "A guy coming into the lineup the last couple of games, and playing great, wearing his heart on his sleeve was great to see."

"He felt like there player was taking libertys, he felt like he needed to do something, and he did," said head coach Kris Knoblauch. "It created a lot of energy within the building and for our team."</blockquote>
The Nation Citizens loved it as well...
<blockquote>"Big boys brought the heat. Stick taps for Stecher and Perry dropping mitts. Love the emotion the team brought late in the game," said <a href="https://x.com/realdealhom10/status/1846419675443614032">@realdealhom10</a> on X. 

"Troy Stecher - I was not familiar with your game. Well done, sir! Thank you for doing what needed to be done to get your team engaged," <a href="https://x.com/LarisseAtalie/status/1846419369800196355">@LarisseAtalie</a> posted after Stecher's fight. 

Baggedmilk said on <a href="https://x.com/jsbmbaggedmilk/status/1846417968403497093">X</a> that "Troy Stecher fighting Sean Couturier turned the third period luck around. I'm saying it because he's small but mighty."

Even <a href="https://x.com/tyleryaremchuk/status/1846411249183347195">Tyler Yaremchuk,</a> while thinking about how he could get out of his cat food bet if the Oilers lost, gave credit to the Oilers defenceman, "Hell yeah. Give Stecher all the props in the world for that."</blockquote>
To little surprise, <a href="https://www.hockeyfights.com/players/23207">Stecher hasn't fought much</a> throughout his career but last night was the first time he's dropped the mitts. His first career "fight" was against Matt Martin when he was on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ironically, he was helped out by his goaltender Ryan Miller, who jumped in soon after Martin dropped the gloves with the undersized defenceman.

Last night wasn't the first time Connor McDavid and co had seen Stecher fight in person. Back in the 2017-18 season, Stecher fought Ryan Strome, who was on the Oilers at the time. Not much happened during the fight but it is funny to see the smile on Zack Kassian's face in the background and having Milan Lucic and Pat Maroon yell out guidance for Strome.

The fight versus Couturier was Stecher's sixth, so don't expect to see that from him often, if ever again. Oilers fans won't care, though. Stecher left his mark on Oil Country Tuesday night. This is a fanbase that loves players who put pride into the logo on the front of the jersey. A few years ago in Los Angeles, the Oilers season turned around after a fight night at the Staples Centre. Let's hope Stecher's fight has ignited something into this year's roster as they hit the road to face Nashville and Dallas.
<h2>PRESENTED BY STAR MECHANICAL</h2>
<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-146181" src="http://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Article-2-SME.png" alt="" width="728" height="404" />

Star Mechanical is one of Edmonton’s biggest locally owned and operated plumbing and heating businesses. They have been working within the community for over 20 years, and many of the homes built in Edmonton over the last two decades have had their plumbing and heating systems installed by Star Mechanical.  Visit them at <a href="http://starmechanical.ca/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://starmechanical.ca&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1707492487512000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2mVs3WUkp8iUCZ0kJRe9lJ">starmechanical.ca</a> to schedule an appointment and let them help keep your home running smoothly.

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