Out of all the players to get a goal called back, it had to be Connor Brown. We’ve been waiting two and a half months to see him score his first as an Oiler. We’re waiting to see him really get going while he has just one assist on the season, with his performance bonus having kicked in. He had a fist-pumping celebration; his teammates were joyous for him, but the refs decided to take it away during the season of giving. There was goalie interference when the puck crossed the goal line, so you can’t argue with the call. You still can’t help but feel for Brown, though. He was called Zach Hyman-light when he signed the contract. He has certainly been light in the points department. He does all the little things effectively, so at least he’s still impactful that way. But at some point, we need to see those point totals be worth just over $3M, counting on the books next season. Edmonton had a second goal called back at a later point in the game when a referee had the intention of blowing the whistle and no one really knew where the puck was at that time. Good on the Oilers not to let two disallowed goals deflate them, as they still managed to come up with four goals.
A shout out to Calvin Pickard for having a solid game in net with 26 saves. Some key saves I might add. As I write this, I have no idea who is starting in net against the Hawks. But coming off Sunday afternoon, I would not object to Pickard getting another start. You’re playing a weaker opponent, and another night off for Stuart Skinner should give him just a little more energy against tougher opponents in the Lightning and Panthers to close out the homestand. During intermissions and postgame, it was stated that Pickard likes to keep things light and crack jokes. I think seeing him get called up at a time when the Oilers were at their lowest is another indicator of the sudden change in feeling for Edmonton. I don’t want to hate on Jack Campbell, but he is an athlete who gets down on himself way too easily. Soup doesn’t have bad intentions, but maybe management thought the low self-esteem would trickle down through the locker room. Even if Campbell was doing well this season, I can’t imagine him staying in Edmonton next year just for the sake of cap space. I’m still hoping he can keep improving in the AHL and then bounce back okay in the NHL later this year. But that’s a future discussion; let’s bring the focus back to a present one. The keys to the game are…
Never Mind The Standings: The Blackhawks, even with their new shining star, were designed to have another awful season. Being in 31st place is a pretty good indicator of that. No team wins EVERY game, but Edmonton has to win THIS game. We’ve seen the Oilers, time and time again, play down to the level of their opponents. They did not do that against the Wild and Devils last week. Continue to put in 100% at both ends of the ice, no lower than that. Keep playing like a team that’s won seven straight games.
Who Guides Them?: Chicago brought in Taylor Hall and Corey Perry to bring some more NHL experience to the league’s fifth-youngest roster. But sadly, Hall is out for the remainder of the season with an injury, and Perry had his contract terminated for the controversy that happened regarding him not long ago. All young teams make mistakes unintentionally just simply because of age and fewer games played. Edmonton needs to look for when the inexperience on the other side might show itself and make them learn the hard way on the scoreboard.
Connor V Connor: Just as it was exciting to see McDavid play his first NHL game against Sidney Crosby, everybody is looking forward to Bedard’s first game against McDavid. I couldn’t help but watch the first couple of Blackhawks games this season in their entirety to really get a sense of Bedard’s strengths. While he doesn’t have the same jaw-dropping speed that our Connor has, he is almost impossible to take off the puck in the offensive zone. He is very strong on his stick with his upper body. I thought that would be a challenge for him in the Western Conference, where hockey games tend to be played along the boards. He’s like Mats Sundin’s Mini-Me on the ice. Whenever he’s in their zone, the Oilers need to block every lane he has to shoot the puck, because his wrist shot is also a strong asset. Remember that one other Hawks player will want to feed Bedard at particular spots the same way the Oilers look to feed Leon Draisaitl for his one-timers between the face-off dot and goal line.
