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Oilers avenge earlier loss to Boston
After coming back from 4-1 down to beat the Winnipeg Jets in overtime, the Edmonton Oilers were looking to make a statement in their home opener Thursday. They did.
Two of them, actually. First, they reaffirmed they don’t really like showing up for the first period.
And second, they showed there is some serious fight in this team.
Down to five defencemen and 11 forwards for more than half the game and reeling after being pistol-whipped in the first period, the Oilers settled down and ground out a clutch 3-2 overtime win over the visiting Boston Bruins.
Leon Draisaitl’s goal 37 seconds into the extra period sealed the victory thanks to a set up from Connor McDavid, whose two-point night gives him 11 in five games.
The 3-2 Oilers were a mess to start this one, though. Boston played the night before, but it was Edmonton that looked dead on its feet. They were being outshot 9-1 through the first 10 minutes and didn’t register their second shot on net until the 14-minute mark.
If it wasn’t for Cam Talbot, they would have been out of it by the first intermission.
Five games into the season and the Oilers haven’t had a lead after 20 minutes yet.
But they weathered the storm, regrouped and broke the .500 barrier for the first time since opening night last year thank to goals from Kailer Yamamoto, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Draisaitl and, of course, a game-saving first period from Talbot.
IT REVERTS TO DEFENCE
The Oilers were down to five defencemen for the second half of the game when Matt Benning left with an injury and didn’t return in the second period. That meant more minutes for Evan Bouchard, but he was fine with it. The kid is poised beyond his years, skates and moves the puck very well and has a cannon for a shot. And it’s not like other more senior defencemen don’t make mistakes from time to time.
ONE TO REMEMBER
Yamamoto has been waiting a while to get his first NHL goal, but he made it a good one. And the timing was perfect. With the Oilers trailing 1-0 in the second period, Yamamoto took a long pass from Adam Larsson, stepped away from Charlie McAvoy and ripped one under the crossbar and just inside the far post to bring the Oilers and the building back to life.
McDavid continues to round out his game. Not only has he added goal-scoring to his repertoire, but he is also coming on strong in the faceoff circle. He won seven of his first nine draws against Patrice Bergeron and finished the game at 60 per cent.
SNOOZE FEST
The Oilers seem to make a habit out of lifeless pre-game videos and this year is no exception. For the second year in a row, they dropped a spoken-word essay on the dumbfounded crowd — some guy droning on for two minutes telling people from Edmonton what it’s like to live in Edmonton. The purpose of these things is to fire up the crowd, that’s why everyone else shows hits, goals, saves and fights to the backdrop of rock music. But the Oilers always need to overthink it. And when it was done, the place was dead silent.
THAT CONFOUNDED BRIDGE
Then came the bridge. The Oilers skated onto the ice through a miniature version of the Walterdale Bridge. Visually, it was fine, but, needless to say, skating through one of the least efficient rebuilding projects in Edmonton history opened the door for a plethora of Twitter jokes. Apparently it’s just a one-time expenditure because the Oilers normally come onto the ice through the bench, not the Zamboni tunnel, which is the only place the bridge will fit.
LATE HITS
Nugent-Hopkins threw a scare into everyone when he left the game briefly after being hit on the foot by a Bergeron shot. The Oilers aren’t exactly deep enough to lose a first-line winger right now, but he was back on the ice within minutes … Unfortunately winger Ty Rattie also left the game in the second period with an undisclosed injury and did not return … Darnell Nurse kept it 0-0 in the final seconds of the first period when he batted away a puck during a wild goalmouth scramble. Nurse saved another one with 1:17 left when he laid out Danton Heinen before he could bang in a loose puck in the crease.