Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts

Edmonton Oilers fans stayed up past 1 AM Eastern Time for that?

Just once, I’d like Lukas Dostal to play one bad game against the Oilers. Is only one bad game too much to ask? The final shots total was 47-21, favouring Edmonton, and, if you like to go by the Deserve To Win O’Meter, they had a rating over 90% in Olivier Rodrigue’s first ever NHL start. Congratulations, kid. You got your first taste of hilarious Oilers hockey.

The only amusing thing about losing to the Ducks was Louie DeBrusk calling out the officiating with sarcasm. The referees weren’t funny; his reactions to them were. I haven’t heard if there’s a disciplinary hearing for Radko Gudas doing a chicken wing hit on Corey Perry, but it wasn’t nice. The clap and “Great Job” talk Louie did after Radko punched Corey in the back at center ice was where I laughed.

After Monday night, 97 seems to be the magic point number to officially clinch a Playoff spot. Two of our remaining four games after tonight are against San Jose. If we can’t earn 4 points there, do we even deserve Playoff hockey? Tonight’s opponents are on a much better path than Anaheim. The keys to the game are…

Edmonton Oilers Notes

Guess Whose Back?: April 9th was the targeted game to have Connor McDavid back in the lineup. Guess what today is. April 9th. Eight games later, the captain is expected back. Will he electrify Rogers Place with a highlight reel play? Or will he look like a player coming back from an upper-body injury?

Finish: I know the Oilers have been dealing with injuries, and their power play hasn’t been as dominant as we all remember it to be. But going 0-6 on Monday made the 29th ranked penalty kill look pretty decent. I miss Zach Hyman being a “Tap In Merchant”. I miss Evan Bouchard making up for giveaways with blue line slap shot goals.

Other Side Turnaround: The St. Louis Blues have had an incredible comeback in the standings, currently in the first Wild Card spot but not too far away from 3rd place in the Central division. It’s not quite the same comeback as 2019, but it’s still really good. They had their 12 game winning streak snapped on Monday night as our game was going on. Just like our team after having that 16 game winning streak snapped last year, do they feel a tad bitter about not extending it and want to take it out on someone else?