John Gibson was on the opposing bench, presumably laughing at us inside.
The Oilers had a very good start to Tuesday night’s game. Calvin Pickard’s first save was on a breakaway, like the game-saving breakaway save in the third period against Carolina. But every game is 60 minutes long, and everything fell apart as per tradition throughout the last month and a half. I will preface by saying that the Anaheim Ducks are a better team than what their record says. In fact, if Calgary lost their game on Tuesday, the Ducks would only be 4 points out of a Wild Card spot. They still have just as much of a chance as anybody if they don’t get into as big of a slump as our team. But as some of Edmonton’s players said, they were deflated. Every mistake is in the back of the net. The 2nd and 4th Anaheim goals couldn’t go in. The 1st was Leon Draisaitl making a rare mistake, and the 3rd was an unlucky bounce off of Brett Kulak’s skate. Stuart Skinner would come into the second period, which is what Pickard did during their last meeting against Colorado. He wasn’t that much help either. The goals against just keep piling up, and joke tweets to trade for Gibson mid-game were rampant.
Matthew Savoie drew back into the lineup, but Jeff Skinner was a healthy scratch. Someone needs to let Kris Knoblauch know that you CAN have both of them playing at the same time. It doesn’t have to be one or the other, especially when your team isn’t scoring a lot lately. Is it any wonder that they struggle to get production from their wingers? With secondary offense and swagger needing to be injected into the locker room, Trent Frederic can’t be ready fast enough.
When the season started, the Montreal Canadiens were a bottom three to bottom five team in the league. I felt that Edmonton’s 3-0 loss to them back in November was a bad one. Four months later, the Habs are only 2 points out of a Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, sporting a five game winning streak. An Eastern Canadian team going into a Western Canadian rink, they’ll be fired to play in front of those Habs fans. It should fire up the Oilers, too. The keys to the game are…
Oilers Pregame Notes:
Shake Off Jitters: Last season, on a game day before the Trade Deadline, some Oilers players played noticeably awful. It looked like they were nervous about potentially being traded, being afraid of change, as it was a very tight group in the locker room. In one of my articles last week, I contemplated whether or not the same feelings were felt by some this season. You just can’t let it get to you. You’re still showing up like you would for any other game. Whether or not more changes are a plan, laying an egg at home won’t make you feel more safe.
Saint Patrik: Forward Patrik Laine missed the first two months of the season due a bad knee injury he got in preseason. Since lacing them up for his new team, he has 24 points in 33 games. He’s helped improve their special teams by scoring 11 of his 14 goals with the man advantage. In Oilers terms, he’s a Powerplay Merchant.
Till The Fat Lady Sings: Not that comebacks for either side should be a game plan, but the Habs blew a 3-0 lead in their last game before eventually winning in Overtime. While the Oilers couldn’t pull it off on Tuesday, they have shown a level of confidence that they can come back at times during the season. Should they be put in that position again(but again, not ideal), maybe that’s the sort of game they need before the Trade Deadline to get themselves feeling good again.
ITR 40: Headed For A Repeat? – Inside The Rink
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