Angles Galore Out of Wednesdays Win. What Was the Most Relevant Story To You?
After Wednesdays come from behind win over the Colorado Avs, a blogger like myself had a plethora of story lines to select from.Should I talk about Jeff Deslauriers finally getting some game action, only to start out poorly, worry the entire coaching staff, but make up for it towards the latter half of the game? It would have been scary if the Oilers felt they had to play Khabibulin more than they're already playing him.
Maybe how Tom Gilbert, who has had a rough season to start, was so bad in the first half of the game and directly responsible for the Avs first two goals, that it forced Quinn to bench him. Gilbert received a total of 7:41 seconds of ice time throughout the night. Message sent loud a clear I would guess.
I noticed too, that Ethan Moreau, Zack Stortini and Andrew Cogliano weren't seen or heard from much. I thought Cogs played well when he was on the ice, but Quinn didn't use any of the three that often (I suppose one should account for the 17 penalty minutes served by Stortini).
I could have taken a positive spin and noted that Sam Gagner was a surprise draw in, for an absent Mike Comrie(even though we knew he wasn't 100%). Gagner had a good game scoring a goal after quite a dry spell.
The same happened for Brule, O'Sullivan and Potulny, all who in their own different ways and for different reasons, needed to provide some offense.
Visnovsky, Souray, Smid and Staios all had good games on defence, while Hemsky, Penner and Horcoff were a dangerous first line. The Oilers had some breakdowns, but overall out-shot the Avs 33 to 18 over three periods. With six powerplays, I should hope so.
Speaking of the powerplay, it's an area that still needed a lot of work for Edmonton. They simply falter when pressured by aggressive penalty killers.
All in all though, there was a lot of good to come out that game for Edmonton, who now sits just three points back of a playoff spot and needs every point on this five game home stand, against some tough teams to gain ground.
For myself, I guess I didn't have to choose a topic, it's all right there in a pretty little 6-4 win with a bow on it.
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3 comments:
A very scary slow game for the first half but it finally picked up with some excitement and the comeback. Penner and Hemsky were great and I really enjoyed the Brule and Reddox line.
Hopefully we can pick up some wins going forward.
Quick update note: Ethan Moreau saw limited action because he left the game after the missed elbowing call in the second period. His ice time was not necessarily limited to his rate of play.
His level of injury is not yet 100% known.
I felt that last night's game was one of the most horrific car accidents I have ever had to watch. There was zero flow to the game and the Oiler's look horendious in their own zone.
Tom Gilbert was the worst player on the Oilers and has been for far too many nights this year ... maybe he needs to play on a team coached by MacT where he's the go to guy ... he has basically been a nightmare in my eyes.
I cannot believe how lucky the Oilers were to get 2 points out of that gong show of a night ... Souray seem tentative and JDD was very shaky ... even on the 5-3 for what seemed like half a period, he wasn't all that impressive ... I felt that the Avs shot the puck into his chest multiple times on that PP and JDD just happened to be there. The Oil got VERY luck on that cross crease pass that ended up being stuffed to the outside of the net, otherwise I very much believe we lose that game.
All in all, it was very tough to watch, though Penner looked great again. It is amazing how much havoc he creates by driving to the net. For the last 2 years, I have seen him come down the wing and turn to the corner rather than drive to the net. It's nice to see the change.
Speaking of driving to the net ... Pretty Boy Hemsky should start doing that ... at least once in his career. You have to believe that all NHL teams tell their D to just put 1 ounce of pressure on Hemsky and he will drive AROUND the net ... like he has done his ENTIRE career ... the guy is only effective when he cuts to the middle and let's face it, he doesn't do that.
Hemsky and Nielsen are every D coaches dream.
Okay guys, if Nielsen drives down the left wing and goes to take a slapshot ... you know he is going to fake and end up going into the corner where any bantam player can rub him out.
Hemsky ... keep him on the outside with just enough strength to move a helium balloon and you will drive him around the net or take the puck off his stick.
That's my rant about the Oilers. I love them to death but comeon ... give me something to cheer about.
And win a fucking faceoff. Idiots.
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