A WILD ONE AT ROGERS PLACE
Oilers score seven times to put away Minnesota
Truth be told, this was a game the Oilers were supposed to win.
But if 10 years of hardship and frustration have taught Edmonton fans anything, it’s that there are never any sure things with this team.
That perspective might be changing, however, after the Oilers won for the fifth time in six outings, improving to 6-2-1 under Ken Hitchcock and moving to within one point of a playoff spot with a 7-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild.
With the Wild missing Mikko Koivu and playing their second game in as many nights (and third in the last four), it was one of those games the Oilers needed to grab by the throat and never let go.
And that’s exactly what they did. They scored three quick goals in the first period, withstood the ensuing response in the second stanza, and then, when it looked like the Wild might be coming back to life, fired a handful of third period slugs into the body just to make sure.
Leon Draisaitl scored at 4:14, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored at 7:44 and Connor McDavid scored at 8:42 and this one was in the bag by the midway mark of the opening frame.
The Wild scored to narrow the margin 3-1 and pressed hard to make a game of it, outshooting Edmonton 14-6 at one point in the second period, but veteran goalie Cam Talbot turned in another strong game to keep the Wild at bay until Zack Kassian, Draisaitl, Alex Chiasson and Darnell Nurse all scored to put it out of reach in the third period.
McDavid finished with a goal and three assists for his second four-point night of the season.
FALLOUT BOYS
The Oilers caught a couple of big breaks after the fallout from that nasty finish to the CalgaryMinnesota game on Thursday. They didn’t have to face Koivu after Flames captain Mark Giordano injured him with a kneeon-knee hit.
And they won’t have to face Giordano on Sunday, either, as he’s been suspended two games for the infraction.
Calgary forward Ryan Lomberg also received an automatic onegame suspension for instigating a fight in the final five minutes of a game when he jumped Matt Dumba, and one more for leaving the bench for the sole purpose of starting a fight.
The Flames wanted Lomberg, who had eight fights in the AHL and three in the NHL last year, in the lineup for the resumption of the Battle of Alberta on Sunday.
WAIVING HELLO
Fans got their first look at the most eagerly anticipated waiver wire pickup in recent memory when Valentin Zykov made his Oilers debut. He’s never done much in the NHL, but he has size and speed and teased a lot of people in the hockey world when he led the AHL in goals last year.
He had a number of chances in his first game and looks to have a lot of speed and energy in his game.
KEEPING THE FAITH
As Talbot knows all too well, every goalie struggles at some point.
Talbot is just coming out of his funk while Minnesota’s Devan Dubnyk enters one of his own. In his first 13 starts this year, Dubnyk went 8-3-2 with a 2.13 goals-against average and .933 save percentage. Then, inexplicably, he lost five of his next six and saw his GAA balloon to 3.84 and his save percentage fall to .856.
Friday in Edmonton was another tough night. He got the hook after giving up three goals on six shots in the first 8:42.
QUIET TIME
The Oilers got a big scare in the first period when defenceman Adam Larsson got called to the quiet room after taking an elbow on the button from Jason Zucker.
He missed a large chunk of the opening period but returned before the first intermission.
No team can afford to lose a top pairing defenceman, but the Oilers would be in a world of hurt if Larsson was out for any period of time.
POLICE STATEMENT
Sportsnet analyst Louie DeBrusk did a great interview on Tim and Sid Friday afternoon to discuss the increasing punishment the league’s star players are taking.
DeBrusk, who earned a living for 11 years as a policeman in the NHL, says it’s become open season on the stars now that teams are unable to protect them.
“This is what the league has been asking for,” he said. “This is what the league is now. For all those people who wanted to take guys like myself out of the game and the physicality out of the game, welcome to the new National Hockey League.
“So don’t cry when your top players take shots. There’s really not much you can do about it, because this is the new game.”