They went from having awful second periods and great third periods to having a great second period and awful third periods. Talk about pulling a complete 180. Actually, it’s not even that the third period was bad. Edmonton outshot Minnesota 24-7 in the final frame, but Filip Gustavsson did what Calvin Pickard could not. Coming into this game, Pickard was 6-0 in his last six games. That being said, his play in net was starting to cool down a bit and it cooled down a lot in this one. On the Wild’s 2-1 goal, he got his glove on the puck, and it still went in the net. If you can touch it, you can stop it. While it was a valiant effort for the Oilers to attempt making yet another third-period comeback, that goal was a backbreaker.
There are still positives to take out of this loss. Like I said, the second period was better in this game. They outshot the Wild 13-6, they blocked 16 shots, and they killed off four penalties the whole night. That last point, along with going 2/2 with the man advantage, should spark an improvement on special teams going forward. I was actually surprised to be reminded that Minnesota never scored one powerplay goal against the Oilers. Not even in Edmonton’s 7-4 loss to them when they were having their early-season nightmare. While I’m not the biggest advocate for the extra attacker method, I mentioned a few losses ago that teams should be more patient with pulling their goalie. The Oilers pulled Pickard too soon for my liking, rushed to make something happen, and there was the empty net goal to seal it. You couldn’t help thinking that the second period signaled a big win in the last 20 minutes, but it is what it is. Move on to the next one.
Edmonton could’ve tied the Golden Knights for second in the Pacific Division with a win last night. But the other way to look at it is that the Kings are just one win away from tying the Oilers for third place. I’m still pretty confident that the Playoff teams are set, for the most part. But where each of them finish in the standings will be a tight battle between now and Game 82. The keys to the game are…
Special Teams Reversed: As of tonight’s pre-game, Edmonton has the 4th best powerplay, and, as alluded to in previous articles, their penalty kill has slumped from the top 5 all the way down to 18th. Calgary’s PP is a dreadful 28th, but their PK is ranked 5th. Given how both teams have looked after the All-Star break, this game might be decided by the special teams.
Offensive Rejuvenation: Jonathan Huberdeau has been feeling non-stop heat(no pun intended) among Flames fans since he signed that big contract of his. Between last season and before this month, he wasn’t playing anywhere near a $10.5M player. But ever since the Elias Lindholm trade, Andrei Kuzmenko has been a great linemate for Huberdeau, and he now has eight points in his last eight games. If the chemistry continues, perhaps Calgary sees a Playoff birth and their new Johnny Hockey goes back to being the star that he was in Florida.
Trade Deadline Blue Line Auditions: It’s been reported that the Oilers have strong interest in Chris Tanev. Kevin Weekes tweeted a week ago that Rasmus Andersson may also be traded out of Calgary. If Edmonton wants to make a trade with their provincial rivals(weird, I know), that’ll be a curious debate as to who they’ll want to target more. The right-handed shutdown shot blocker or the right-handed point-getter.
ITR 43: It's Winning Time – Inside The Rink
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