The Edmonton Oilers were looking to get back in the win column after a disastrous outing against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday, and it didn’t take a rocket surgeon to figure out it was going to take a hell of a lot better effort against the Montreal Canadiens for that result to happen. Fortunately, the boys did their part and came through with a much better showing, and wrapped up a 3-2 win in overtime.
LEON DRAISAITL IS UNDENIABLE
I guess I’m just writing about Leon Draisaitl every game at this point, huh? But if the point of my post-game series is to talk about the three biggest stories from my side of the TV screen, how can I not include the guy who scored his 46th goal of the season and put himself into 4th place all-time in Oilers franchise scoring? Leon Draisaitl is playing the best hockey of his career, and the only problem I have with including him in these articles every night is that I’m not nearly smart enough to come up with new ways to describe how awesome he’s been.
All I know for sure is that Leon Draisaitl has been the Oilers’ most dangerous player more often than not this season, and the guy has me glued to my seat in anticipation of how he’ll score next. Not only is Draisaitl leading the NHL in goals, but he’s running away with the Rocket Richard as if he’s been sent down to the AHL or something. It’s getting ridiculous at this point. And while yours truly may never be talented nor creative enough to come up with fresh ways to describe Draisaitl’s dominance, I’ll happily spend the rest of the season repeating myself if he keeps entertaining us the way he has so far. Leon Hartsaitl, we speak your name.
MORE FLOWERS FOR COREY PERRY
I love being as wrong as I was about Corey Perry, and I’m not even ashamed to admit it. It’s not that I disagreed with the Oilers’ decision to bring him back for another tour — I liked that idea — but I certainly wasn’t expecting him to pace for nearly 20 goals in his 39-year-0ld season. That’s a fantastic stat line for a guy in the twilight of his career and playing around 12 minutes per night. He’s lighting the lamp with less time than many of his teammates, and that’s incredible value for Edmonton. Frankly, Corey Perry has been one of the best stories of the year.
Even though no one expects him to still be the same guy that won the Hart Trophy in Anaheim, it’s remarkable how the hands have held up all these years later. Even though the boots may not be what they once were, Perry’s mitts have aged like fine wine. The goal he scored against the Canadiens was as perfectly placed on the backhand as a shot could possibly be, and it’s been so much fun watching what feels like a resurgence for the future (IMO) Hall of Famer. With 20 games left in the season, I’m eager to see how Corey Perry can keep this run going. I was wrong about what he’d be able to do this season, and I’d love to be even more incorrect when all is said and done.
STUART SKINNER DID HIS PART
It goes without saying that there has been A LOT of noise about Stuart Skinner around here lately, as the spotlight on Edmonton’s goaltending continues to burn bright. But that’s to be expected when you’re the last line of defence, no? Being a goalie in the NHL is one of those positions where you’re blamed for everything that goes wrong and rarely get the credit when things go well, which is why I think it’s only fair to pump Stuart Skinner’s tires after a very strong performance against the Canadiens. Without question, this was his best game in a minute, and I thought he played very well.
With 25 saves and a .925 save percentage, Skinner didn’t have a perfect evening — I thought the Joel Armia goal was one he’d probably want to have back — but I also think that’s nitpicking a win unnecessarily. Outside of that moment, Skinner provided his teammates with the kind of goaltending that wins hockey games more often than not, and I don’t want to be the guy who only speaks his name when things go wrong. At the end of the day, Skinner gave the Oilers the saves they needed to win the game, and if we’re looking to build up some positives, having our starter turn in a performance like that with the barn half-full of opposing fans was a nice step in the right direction. I know it will take more than a single strong game for Skinner to regain much of the fanbase’s confidence, but as always, I’m hopeful this will be the win that kicks off something beautiful.
OTHER THINGS WORTH MENTIONING
1. An underrated part of this win was that the Oilers snapped their four-game losing streak at Rogers Place. The boys need to be a problem on home-ice, and finding ways to win in our barn will be crucial down the stretch. It may not have been the sexiest win we’ll ever see, but finding a way to grind out those two points was a nice first step to getting out of this funk.
2. Connor McDavid looks like he’s starting to heat up, right? I know we’d like him to score a little more than he has this year, but it also feels like those goals are just around the corner if he keeps ramping up the way he has over the last couple of nights. Either way, the two assists McDavid registered against Montreal gives him back-to-back multi-point performances and extends his point streak to six games.
3. Shout out to Maximum Jones for making his Oilers debut after coming over as part of the Trent Frederic trade a couple of days ago. And Jones didn’t take long to contribute either, picking up an assist on Corey Perry’s first period goal to secure his first point as an Oiler. It seemed like Jones was finding ways to contribute almost every time he was on the ice, and it was a very nice first impression for a player I personally did not know much about. Not bad for a guy who just got here, you know?
4. An equal shout out goes to Cam Dineen for making his Oilers debut after grinding away in the AHL for three and a half seasons between big league appearances. For my money, I thought Dineen fared well when called up, and I very much appreciated his willingness to put four shots on net. In the end, he played 14:56 in TOI, including a shift in overtime with McDavid and Draisaitl, and it was nice to see Kris Knoblauch reward the guy for playing well.
5. Can someone explain to me how Zach Hyman was high-sticked in the face and had blood drawn to the point where he was asked to leave the ice, but the penalty was only a two-minute minor? I’ve heard that the inner lip thing is a legitimate rule, but I cannot remember where it popped up before.
6. The Oilers got the special teams sweep on Thursday, killing off both shorthanded situations while scoring one goal on three opportunities with the man advantage. Both the PP and PK have struggled lately, so it was nice to see both units succeed in a tight game like this one.
7. Did you really think I would let you go without informing you that the Oilers won only 46% of the faceoffs? I would never do that to you.
8. Be sure to tune into my live blog all day Friday as I keep you up to date with everything the Oilers do at the trade deadline. We’ve already seen the Trent Frederic and Jake Walman trades land or be close to, and I’m very eager to find out what else Stan Bowman has cooking. I’ll keep the live blog going as long as the news keeps trickling in, and I’d love to have you pop in during the day to hang out.
