Team wins are magical, aren’t they?
Viktor Arvidsson takes a lot of heat, his shot gets a lucky deflection, and it’s a game-winning goal. Zach Hyman was out of the lineup, Corey Perry took his spot on the powerplay,y and the old man now has 15 goals. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins hasn’t been the Nuge we know and love, he had a 3 assist game. Connor McDavid hasn’t been Connor McDavid by his standards; he scored the insurance goal. Jeff Skinner goes up and down, in and out of the lineup. He also played a great game despite not scoring. He drew two penalties, had scoring chances on McDavid’s line, and even blocked a shot in the third period. Evan Bouchard is one of the two most polarizing players in Edmonton, you couldn’t call him a defensive liability with the plays he made. Do you know how many shots Jake Walman blocked? 6. You know things are alright when there’s a camera shot of 97 and 29 doing a bromance glove tap on the bench.
And, of course, you can’t have a team win without the goaltender. After the Oilers scored the 2-1 go-ahead goal, the Rangers got seven more shots on net in the third period. Skinner held his ground and made the big saves he needed to make. In an earlier article before February, I alluded to how Skinner was good at bouncing back after having a bad game or a bad loss. But we weren’t getting that in the last month and a half. Even his two wins that sandwiched the Trade Deadline were debatable performances. Most Oilers fans assumed Calvin Pickard would be rewarded with the start on Sunday because he was solid against the Islanders. But it’s good for the team to trust Stu and try to help get his confidence back. Some people on Twitter were saying after the game, “The Stu haters are quiet tonight.” No they weren’t, they just cautiously gave credit where it was due. I’m not a Stu hater, but it’s not my job to turn a blind eye when things are good or when they’re bad. He needs to have more good outings like that one leading up to the Playoffs. He needs to realistically go back to the version of himself that wasn’t as bad before the 4 Nations break.
From ending a 4 game road trip to starting a 4 game homestand. The keys to the game are…
Edmonton Oilers Thoughts
Every Shot Counts: So I’m happy with the secondary scoring on Sunday. I’d still like to see Edmonton not pass up on shots or scoring chances. When they tried making one too many passes, the Rangers were effective at getting their sticks in lanes. When you’re wide open anywhere, just shoot the puck. Even if you don’t score, maybe one of your teammates will collect a lucky rebound.
Man Advantage: The Utah Hockey Club have killed off 6 of 7 minor penalties on their 3 game road trip that’s ending tonight. They’re also ranked 13th league wide on the Penalty Kill. The Oilers went 1 for 4 on the powerplay against the Rangers and ended their road trip being 2 for 11. No one can accuse our team of being PP merchants anymore, but it’d be nice to get some of those goals again at a key time.
Chase Down A Record: Another cool thing that happened on Sunday was Leon Draisaitl becoming the 4th all-time Oiler to have an 18 game point streak. Wayne Gretzky pulled it off 8 times, insane even for his era. The other two to do it were Paul Coffey and Jari Kurri. Both Leon and Connor will always tell you that they care more about winning games than they do about records and accolades. But it’s still cool for any player to contribute this way in any franchise’s history. Draisaitl could be the first Oiler to have a point in 19 consecutive games since the Great One in the 1986-87 season.
ITR 30: Down The Stretch – Inside The Rink
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