The Oilers kicked off the week with a swing and a miss in LA, which was not pretty to watch, let alone at 8:30 pm when all I wanted to do was get to bed.
We saw three separate Oilers fight in that game over the silly LA kings (namely Danault) and his temper tantrums (challenging Puljujarvi to fight after a clean hit). This game was super frustrating to watch because you could see that nobody was interested in playing AT ALL. The penalty kill was hot garbage, with 4/6 goals being scored for LA on the powerplay, one of those being an empty net goal. Aren’t the Oilers supposed to be the powerplay merchants of the NHL? Somethings got to give in the way of the penalty kill, because it’s embarrassing. The Oilers fell 6-3 in disappointing fashion, but that was six days ago, and we have way better games to discuss.
Basically…
Moving on to Anaheim, and if you’re a Ducks fan, why would you be though, Kennedy’s got one for you:
And they should be, though, from my understanding, the fan base is all about tanking for Bedard. If my team was THAT disappointing, I would be on that train too.
From the Oilers perspective, Holloway got his first look at the top line, and we loved it — especially after he was able to capitalize with an absolutely disgusting release four minutes into the game. Not long after Hollywood opened the scoring, Nuge scored his 20th of the season, and then without a play-by-play, because I’m not Louie or Jack, we had a goal from Captain Connor, two from slim Klim Kostin, and finally from Leon Draisaitl to cap off our six goals.
After this, devastation struck my life. The gang went to Vegas without me.
The gang celebrated Connor’s birthday from a bar in Vegas watching the Oilers win 7-1 to the Sharks on the Nation Vacation. With a three-point night from the birthday boy (to no surprise), a quiet three-point night from one Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and for the third three-point night, Leon Draisaitl, because of course McDrai would deliver for Connor’s birthday. Klim Kostin, Jesse Puljujarvi, and Ryan McLeod were also able to chip in with goals of their own. Of course, the Oilers can’t not get scored on by ex-Oilers in some kind of capacity, so leave it to Matt Benning’s point shot to be redirected by Oskar Lindblom to get the Sharks on the board with 5 minutes left in the game. Jack Campbell made 26 saves and had a .962 sv%, he’s on the come up big time.
And finally, Las Vegas baby.
After this game, I do feel safe saying that Jack Campbell is well on his way back to being the Jack Campbell we signed to a $5-million dollar contract. In his last three games, he has had save percentages of .900 and over. All to his own credit because last night especially, he was left hanging out by our defence on multiple occasions. Regardless, the Oilers did find a way to come out on top winning 4-3, with Mattias Janmark opening the scoring, and Leon tallying two, surely because Kennedy was in attendance.
Klim Kostin got on the board AGAIN (a trend I absolutely love to see).
There was a lot to like about this vegas game, and winning three straight comes out atop all of them. We are back in this bitch, for real this time 🤞🏼. Oh and shout out Vinny Desharnais, he’s another big boy we definitely needed on this team.
The Scaries:
  1.  Our defence had been a clear issue, and it needs to be addressed NOW, no more sitting back on our heels waiting for a trade deadline acquisition. If we want to make it to the playoffs, this move needs to be made ASAP.
  2. Not to single anyone out because our whole defence has been trash, but Bouchard NEEDS to be more responsible, and just better in his own end. I’ve seen him be the direct cause for a few too many goals in my recent memory, it’s not a good look.
  3. Penalty kill. After the LA game, this is a huge red flag for me.
  4. We need to keep winning. Consistency from here on out is going to be the only thing that gets us into the playoffs. This could easily be a turning point for our season, and I hope it is because I fully plan on vibing through the Edmonton playoffs again this year.
  5. Nuge, not for me, but for other teams. This guy is going absolutely crazy this year, and in my (not) professional opinion is one of if not the most underrated players in the NHL. Kostin is also on my list, but I’m biased, so do with that what you will.
  6. Playing Tampa Bay on Thursday, because well, they’re Tampa Bay.
Send me your thoughts on this week, and your concerns for the upcoming week in the comments, or over ontwitter!!