OILERS, ESKIMOS COME THROUGH IN THE CLUTCH
Both teams were desperate for victories Saturday — and both wound up delivering
OK everybody, come down from the ledge.
It was the same story Saturday for both the Oilers and Eskimos in the city where people care so much it affects the mental health of the populace.
Seldom do you see a city so close to requiring an emergency shipment of thousands of white jackets with the wraparound sleeves as Edmonton was at the beginning of the day Saturday.
For the Oilers, despite the fact the team had flown 17,579 kilometres to Cologne, Germany, to Gothenburg, Sweden, to Boston, to New York and back to Edmonton Saturday evening, the win against the Rangers in New York was clearly a case of averting a crisis for the fans of a franchise that had a full arena for a dozen seasons despite only one trip to the playoffs.
The 2-1 victory at Madison Square Garden allowed Edmonton to exhale.
The Oilers avoided starting 0-3 which, in the minds of many, would have essentially eliminated them from playoff contention again before they’d even played the home opener.
Meanwhile, the city had great expectations that the Eskimos would make it to the 106th Grey Cup game in Commonwealth Stadium. Instead, entering the weekend there was the fear they’d lose a fourth straight game and effectively eliminate themselves from the playoffs.
And that was before Eskimos fans found out quarterback Mike Reilly, who missed Friday’s walkthrough practice, had been up all night with the flu upchucking in the shower.
Yet it was Reilly who played his guts out instead of puking them out, leading the Eskimos to a 34-16 win over the Ottawa Redblacks.
A funny thing happened on the way to Doomsday Saturday for both teams. They not only won, but both teams looked like the team they were supposed to be.
For the Oilers, goaltender Cam Talbot returned to his 2016-17 form. Connor McDavid scored the winner and added an assist, and led the way in every way with an exceptional game.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins finally got some puck luck to match his play. The primarily four-man defence got the job done. The new assistant coaches had their first triumphs on the power play and penalty killing. And there weren’t many passengers.
“We’re obviously happy with the win. We needed one. It provided relief. And we’ll certainly enjoy the flight home more than if the outcome was the other way,” head coach Todd McLellan told reporters in New York.
For the Eskimos, a team that hadn’t scored a touchdown in 152 minutes and 21 seconds, hadn’t scored a point in the fourth quarter in four games, had turned the ball over a dozen times in the previous three games and gave up five sacks the last time out, Saturday was a return to looking like the team that won five of their first seven. The Eskimos scored four touchdowns, scored 10 points in each of the last two quarters, and had no interceptions and no sacks against.
The most impressive performance came from Reilly, who completed 81.6 per cent of his passes for 369 yards, rushed for 72 yards and absolutely forced his will on the game to bring the Eskimos back from nine points down with five minutes remaining in the first half.
“When you don’t win for a while and people are doubting you and you don’t play up to your ability, it’s good to feel good again,” said Eskimos head coach Jason Maas.
One win isn’t going to keep fans from being back on the ledge in short order, of course.
The Oilers head to Winnipeg and then home for games against Boston, Nashville and the Stanley Cup champions of the last three seasons, Pittsburgh and Washington. The early schedule is certainly set up against them. But Saturday they looked like a team that might find some wins in there somewhere.
The Eskimos’ win didn’t end up advancing their cause in the standings. Winnipeg (9-7) and B.C. (8-7) both scored upset wins on the weekend and Edmonton (8-8) remained in fifth place. One team advances to the West semifinal, one team crosses over to the East and one team goes home.
The Eskimos have one advantage. Their final two games are against B.C. and Winnipeg. In both cases, the teams have already played each other twice and the games will decide the season series.
Should the Eskimos defeat the Lions Friday in Vancouver, Edmonton would be 9-8 and B.C. 8-8 and in the event the two teams finished tied in the final standings, Edmonton would finish ahead of B.C. If the Eskimos win their final two regular season games, they’ll be in the playoffs. And the way they played in the final 35 minutes against an 8-7 Ottawa outfit, Edmonton finally looked like they could be that team to finish up the regular season.
As Matt Dunigan said after working the game as TSN colour commentator with Chris Cuthbert: “The final 35 minutes was the best football the Eskimos have played all season.”
Play it again, Connor.
Play it again, Mike.
And all will be well on the banks of the North Saskatchewan.