Brown makes noticeable impact
Former Leaf scores first goal for Oilers in front of family, friends
DENVER — His gnarled hands were tucked into his suit pockets, only popping out occasionally during a post-game conservation outside the Edmonton Oilers locker-room.
Skin had been scraped from one knuckle on Mike Brown’s infamous right, but it didn’t match the gash that crossed the top of his nose. Brown just shrugged. The advance billing on Brown was that he was the gritty energy winger the Oilers so desperately needed. He could skate, scrap and maybe squeeze out the occasional goal.
Four games into his tenure with the team, he has been all of that. On his first shift against the Blackhawks in Chicago on Sunday, he took the puck from inside the blue-line and threw it at the net, only to have it get past goalie Ray Emery.
In last Thursday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings, he unleashed a flurry of rights in a bout with Jordin Tootoo. And one night later, in a game against the Nashville Predators, he got into a fight with Rich Clune.
His new Oilers teammates didn’t respond after either fight — despite Brown’s welltimed gamesmanship — which was something captain Shawn Horcoff pointed out during the team meeting on Saturday.
“He got into two spirited fights. I would have liked to have seen us respond, too ... a little bit better,” Horcoff said. “We talked about that.
“But he’s been a really good addition for us ... and the kid can really skate. He really brings what we’re looking for which is an uptempo style, and he’s great in the lockerroom.”
Acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 4, in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2014 entry draft, Brown made his debut against the Columbus Blue Jackets with nothing more than a morning skate under his belt, then quickly settled in.
“The first game was a little goofy. I felt it, but I’ve played these minutes before. It just takes some time to get used to it. I’m totally fine with it now,” said Brown, who willingly finishes his checks.
Used sparingly by the Leafs — he played a total of five minutes in the last two games he played with Toronto — he has since been on the plus side of 10 minutes for most of the games he’s played with Edmonton.
In the 6-5 win over the Blackhawks, in front of a crowd of family and friends that had ballooned to 35 by the time his father had got tickets for everyone, he scored his first goal since Feb. 29, 2012, which was also against Chicago.
Brown, 27, and his wife, are both from the Chicago area.
“First shift, first touch of the puck. It felt good,” he said. “I was just coming around the top of the circle and wanted to put it on the net. It wasn’t the greatest shot, but I had good placement, I guess.”
Veteran Oilers winger Ryan Smyth said he was real glad to see his hardworking linemate get the goal.
“It was really disappointing that in the last two games we played, he fought and we didn’t respond as a team,” said Smyth, “so for him to score and for us to win, is pretty fitting.”