Edmonton Journal

Oilers win high-scoring affair against Bruins

Team setting itself up for more than a token appearance

- TERRY JONES

The awkward stage is almost over.

The awkward time has been during this forgotten glorious yet excruciati­ng experience of going down the stretch to the playoffs for Edmonton fans who haven’t taken the roller-coaster ride in 11 seasons. In the case of many fans, that represents their entire lifetime as a hockey fan

During this time it has been a bit premature to produce a magic number countdown.

During this stretch it has also been too early to write “stick a fork in ’em, they’re done” when it comes to the ninth place team.

It’s also been too soon to start debating what playoff matchup would be in the best interest of the hometown hockey club even though the dream series seems to be the first Battle of Alberta in the Stanley Cup playoffs since the Calgary-Edmonton classic in 1991.

That debate now may begin in earnest.

Do Edmonton fans really want to meet a Calgary team that just ran off a 10-game winning streak? Do Flames fans really want to go up against an Oilers team that just beat Dallas and Boston by the combined count of 14-5 over the last 120 minutes — the first time Edmonton has scored at least seven goals in a back-to-back home games since Wayne Gretzky’s last season in 1988?

Or might they be better off against Anaheim?

With Thursday’s 7-4 over a Boston team that thumped Calgary 5-2 the night before, the Oilers have 83 points. Edmonton has frog-jumped back in front of Calgary by a point.

With the highly impressive win over the Bruins — scoring three goals on the first six shots on Tuukka Rask, the goaltender they gave a rare game off against the Calgary Flames the night before — the last Oilers’ fan should have crawled back from the ledge.

If you view the Oilers remaining dozen games with an eye to how well the team might play when they get to the playoffs, you may still end up out on the ledge, but last night’s game against the Bruins was as good a matchup with that in mind as you are going to find.

Peter Chiarelli, the GM who won a Stanley Cup in Boston, is building Edmonton to be a hard, heavy hockey team like the one he constructe­d in Boston to succeed at this time of year and in the playoffs.

Edmonton and Boston came into the game in near-identical positions in their respective conference­s, well positioned to make the playoffs with some separation above a dogfight for the final wild card spot. The Bruins needed to not fall back into the brawl for the last spot with Toronto, Tampa Bay and the New York Islanders. The Oilers needed to stay clear of the fight between St. Louis and Los Angeles.

The computeriz­ed formula Sports Club Stats site had the Oilers chances of making the playoffs at 98.6 per cent going into the game and Boston at 89.7 per cent.

The Oilers percentage is not only based on the 83 points Edmonton now has banked in the standings but on the remaining dozen games on the schedule which involves three games (including the next one up Saturday night on Hockey Night in Canada) against out-of-theplayoff­s Vancouver Canucks and two against out-of-the-playoffs Colorado Avalanche.

It was tough physical hockey with no lack of fights and battles. Indeed, there was more hockey played by both teams in the first period than some home stands during the previous decade.

As was the case against the Pittsburgh Penguins in that classic early in the home stand, the Oilers gave themselves hope for doing more than finally making a token appearance in post-season play.

The Oilers still have three games against Los Angeles and two against Anaheim and San Jose to judge that.

The awkward time is almost over and you can maybe get back to cheering Connor McDavid in the scoring race for the Art Ross

NOTES: After scoring one goal in his previous 31 games, Benoit Pouliot now has two goals in two games. It would be a major boost for the Oilers if he returns to peak form in time for the stretch drive and beyond …

Trophy and his quest to win the Hart Trophy in as the youngest captain in the history of the NHL. On the other hand, McDavid has proved to be a team-first kid who probably would appreciate David Pastrnak’s 31st goal of 2016-17 ties Patrice Bergeron (2005-06) for second most in a season by a Bruins players 20 or younger … Draisaitl surpassed Marco Sturm for most points in a season by a German-born player. Sturm had 59 with the Bruins in 2005-06 … The Bruins came into the game as the No.1 penalty-killing team in the NHL. They gave up three on the man advantage … McDavid has 23 multi-point games this season, the most in the NHL … Cam Talbot has appeared in an NHL-high 63 games this season. He leads the NHL in minutes played (3,741), in saves (1,670) and is fourth in wins (34) … Drake Caggiula was originally given credit for the Ryan Nugent-Hopkins goal to start the third … Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask got the hook after giving up five goals on 17 shots.

being mentioned in the final paragraph of a column on a game in which he produced three points in a game for the ninth time this season and registered his 23rd multi-point game.

 ?? JASON FRANSON/THE CANADIAN PRESS ?? Boston’s Ryan Spooner crashes into Cam Talbot during the first period Thursday night. With an impressive 7-4 win over Boston, the Oilers leaped past the Calgary Flames by a point. The question now becomes one of who the Oilers will face in the...
JASON FRANSON/THE CANADIAN PRESS Boston’s Ryan Spooner crashes into Cam Talbot during the first period Thursday night. With an impressive 7-4 win over Boston, the Oilers leaped past the Calgary Flames by a point. The question now becomes one of who the Oilers will face in the...
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